Fabric Flowers

     I have so many projects to share but so little time. That's the story of my life,lol. Just a quick update, my mom is still in rehab but comes home Wednesday which is not soon enough for her. In the meantime I have made her new curtains from material she has had sitting around forever! I also had a chance to mat and frame some of her wedding photos to hang in her bedroom. She will be so surprised.
     Anyways, a while back when I was making all those aprons, I had a pile of scraps. (You know how I hate scraps)! I had decided they would make cute flowers for headbands.

     First off I used spray starch on both the front and backside of the fabric. I know all the directions say to use an iron on interfacing but with small scraps that would be pretty tough. I thought if I sprayed it it just might be stiff enough to go through my Sizzix machine. I used Tim Holtz Tattered flowers and it went thru without a hitch.
     Sorry but I forgot to take a picture of the next step. I sprayed the flowers with Beacon's Stiffen Stuff  and then while it was still wet I scrunched them up to give them a ruffled petal look. Once they were dry I layered about 8 layers to get a nice fluffy flower and added a brad to the center for a little bling. The mix and match patterns made some great flower patterns. All I had to do was to use some Beacon's 3 in 1 craft glue to adhere them to the headbands. If you haven't used this glue before I highly recommend it. It grabs quick and dries fast.

     As you can see they match the apron. Hope you enjoyed this quick post. Promise I'll be back shortly with some elegant Thanksgiving Day cards. If you can't wait for the post you can see them in my etsy store.

Party Favors

     Sorry I haven't been posting much lately but I have a good excuse. It has nothing to do with the Hurricane Irene but rather with preparing for a baking themed birthday party. So, without further adieu:

     Yup, it's aprons, all 25 of them!!! You read that right, 12 girls and 13 boys. I made my own pattern and the the boys are the chef apron out of character fabric. Some are Batman, some Star Wars, and some are Spiderman. How flippin' cute is that! The girls' aprons are girlie prints with a ruffle around the bottom and side edges. The waistband and neck tie have velcro enclosures making it easy for the little ones to put on themselves.
     The kids range in age from 7 months to 9 years old which meant I had to make several sizes. It may seem like an overwhelming task but not really. I have been sewing for more years than I care to count so I have a serger which helped a lot plus gives it a real professional look. It actually takes more time to cut them out than to actually construct them, lol. Start to finish it took me 2 weeks. Not bad for a power sewer!
     Here's a closer look:

Star Wars Apron

Spiderman Apron

     Here are all the boys including 2 Batman versions. They are all reversible. The straps and waist tie are also from the co ordinating fabric.Now for the girls:

        Such girlie girls!

     Now that's one happy little 5 year old! Happy Birthday Mia Sofia!

     I'll be back tomorrow to share with you what a baking Birthday Party looks like. I'll also have a few pics of the tropical downpour in Massachusetts prior to Irene's arrival. You just can't picture this with approximately 60 people gathered for several celebrations!

I'll Always Have A Helping Hand.

          I always wanted to try printing on fabric, so when this was one of the lessons in the mixed media class, I knew this was the class for me. I am in the process of redoing our youngest son Steve's room with a nautical theme.
     There is 15 years 4 days difference between our oldest and youngest. Mike was going away to college and Steve was entering nursery school, lol. The photo was taken on Cape Cod while the 2  brothers were climbing on rocks. Steve (the younger one) was very nervous, so his big brother (Mike) reached out his hands and coaxed him up. The colors were just perfect for what I was looking for.
     I printed out the perfect sentiment: "I'll always be there with a helping hand." The solid light blue color is from a pair of my favorite capris. They were so worn I really had to replace them but couldn't bring myself to throw them away. They were so comfy. Glad I saved them because they were just the right color.
     Next I went through my buttons and found these that have a greyish tone with a black stripe in them. They go perfect with the rocks in the photo.
     I finished the edges with some French Knots with a darning cotton to add a little dimension to the piece. I really love how this turned out (as well as my sons, lol). Steve graduates college in another month AND has a job( as well as a cute girl friend!). Mike is married, lives in Florida, has a lovely wife and 2 wonderful children, Alexis and Nicholas. He also owns his own company. I'm sure this will become a conversation piece in this bedroom as well as making me smile every time I walk by.