Obi Belts

Quite awhile ago I saw a cute obi style belt on Pinterest - which I didn't pin! Luckily I found it again when I thought it would make a great birthday gift for my sister. Note to self: pin it if you like it! 

While I had originally decided to make this belt for my sister, I did make this for someone else as their birthday was first. It turned out great, but this blue leopard print one I made was too big for me - which meant it would be too big for my sister as well. 

When I made the first one for my sister I reduced the length by about 3 inches (from the back piece as well as the sides). It was still slightly too big for me so I decided to hold off making the second one until she tried it on. 

And it turns out I needed to take off another two inches which I just did from the two sides this time. Lesson learnt - measure your waist first when making belts! 

It was an easy belt to sew up, and you really can make it from one fat quarter! You can get the Obi-Style Belt tutorial and pattern from Sew Mama Sew and you can also visit Casa Crafty who created the Obi-Style Belt!

Quick & Easy Trivets

Last month I finally got around to making some trivets to use in our kitchen. Normally we just sit baking dishes or pots on the stove but that can be a problem when you are using the stove! 

You might remember this post where I attempted to use scrapbook paper on tiles to make trivets. I did look into heatproof varnishes but didn't have much luck and then moved onto more interesting things. 

So I decided to just stick little feet on the backs of some spare tiles and use those as trivets. 

These foam feet are normally used for protecting furniture and floors, but you could just glue felt or cork to the bottom. 

It really is a quick and super simple project that will protect your benchtops. These would also make great gifts, especially if you can find tiles to match the recipients kitchen. 

One day I will find some nice tiles, but for now these will do the job!

Create for 365 days - November 2012

I've finally uploaded the photos of my crafts from November 2012. 

246: One of two cushion covers for my MIL for Xmas
247: The second cushion for my MIL for Xmas
248: Two cushion inserts - it is a lot cheaper to buy pillows and use the stuffing to make your own inserts
249: My first attempts at German Paper Stars - YouTube tutorial and my blog post about them
250: The first cushion cover for my little sister for Xmas
251: Six tiny German Paper Stars - YouTube tutorial and my blog post about them
252: Cute koi cross stitch wall coaster - free pattern from Cross Stitch Happy and my blog post about it
253: Our newly renovated bedroom - finally rid of our pink walls! I blogged about it here
254: The second cushion for my little sister for Xmas
255: Two tiny German Paper Stars - YouTube tutorial and my blog post about them
256: Five more tiny German Paper Stars - YouTube tutorial and my blog post about them
257: Three more tiny German Paper Stars - YouTube tutorial and my blog post about them
258: Another Xmas cushion - envelope style which I have decided I don't like.
259: I finally finished my Cherry Blossom Cross Stitch! Blogged here
260: An etched beer mug for a 30th birthday. I found this mug at Ikea, love being able to buy one as I need it rather than a whole set.
261: Three silver German Paper Stars - YouTube tutorial and my blog post about them
262: Two silver German Paper Stars - YouTube tutorial and my blog post about them
263: Another Xmas cushion - again in envelope style
264: Two more cushion inserts made from a pillow
265: Snowflake ornaments made from baking soda clay - recipe from here
266: One of two 'fishscale' Xmas cushions
267: I made these hotpads for my SIL's birthday. I used two layers of Insul-Bright but it turned out really thin. And it was horrible to sew!
268: Glittered stars on a red gift tag
269: The second 'fishscale' Xmas cushion
270: And etched wine glass for a 30th birthday
271: Two more cushion inserts from a pillow
272: Five more silver German Paper Stars - YouTube tutorial and my blog post about them
273: Another cushion insert made from a pillow
274: One silver and one red German Paper Stars - YouTube tutorial and my blog post about them
275: One red German Paper Stars - YouTube tutorial and my blog post about them

A tie for my dad!

It was my dad's birthday last month, and it took me almost a month to finally finish his birthday present! Luckily he is patient, and doesn't mind. 

I decided to attempt making him a tie using some blue leopard print fabric I found. I now know why ties seem so expensive... 

They take a lot more material than I thought, and it took me so long to sew it all together - especially hand sewing that last seam! 

I did forget to add the little bit of ribbon on the back to hold the end of the tie, eventually I will remember to finish it off for him. 

The pattern tutorial I used was this one from Georgia Leigh. Since I used quilting cotton for my tie I opted to only use interfacing in the front piece, not through the whole tie. I also added about an inch to the length since my dad is tall. Using the cotton makes the tie a little difficult to tie, and slide around to readjust. 

Overall, I am happy with how the tie turned out, but I don't think I will be making another one anytime soon!

Colour-in pencil case!

For Christmas I planned on using fabric from Ikea to make a colour-in cushion for my nephew out of that cool fabric which would be perfect for colouring in. But when I went to Ikea they had sold out. Then last week we went to Ikea again and saw they had a new style of colour-in fabric... but again it was sold out! 

I was in Kmart on Friday where they had the pack of 8 Sharpie fabric markers for $10, so I bought a pack for my nephew, and another pack for myself! (If you want the 4 pack you can get it for $5 from BigW - from 17 Jan to 30 Jan.) Since Ikea didn't have the fabric I wanted, for his birthday I decided I would just buy some fabric to make a plain tote which he could draw on and colour-in. 

Now I'm not sure about you, but I tend to have my best ideas when I am trying to get to sleep at night. Last night I realised my nephew would need a plain white pencil case to put his fabric markers in and also to decorate. 

Fast forward to this afternoon and one pencil case was made with a little drawing from his Aunty to get him started. I really hope he enjoys his birthday gift this year! 

And I had to switch my posts around a little so I could let you know the markers are on sale (in Australia)! 

Items I am thinking would be great: 

Pillowcase

Canvas shoes

Cap

T-shirt

Wallet

Lunchbox

Tote bag

I've had a little play with my set of fabric markers and the only thing that I don't like is that the yellow, orange and pink markers are fluro. I expected it since they are marketed towards teenagers, but I'm hoping they will bring out a bigger variety of fabric marker colours!

Zip Samples

As you know from my blog post last week, I made cushions for everyone on my Christmas list last year. Originally I decided that each cushion would simply have a black or white zip to match the backing fabric. But then I remembered really liking the red zip I used on one of the cushions I made for our couch. 

So I thought my feature zip idea was great when I was buying the fabric in a store where I could match the zip at the same time. It was still a good idea when I remembered to take a photo of the fabric with my phone or take the fabric with me to buy zips. But then as I got busier and didn't have time to go shopping I just ended up reverting to my original plan of black or white zips. 

Enter my brilliant idea to keep the scrap ends of my zips and their tags so I can match fabric to zip before I visit the store! 

Thanks to thinking up this idea relatively early in my Christmas cushion sewing I now have seven zip samples to make life that little bit easier when buying either fabric or zips online. 

If you want to start your own zip sample collection, simply buy a zip bigger than your project requires so you have extra leftover for your sample. I remove the original staple, then staple the two sides back onto the card. 

I hope you find this tip useful, I hope I remember to keep it up whenever I buy a new zip colour!

Linking to: 

Create for 365 days - October 2012

I have been putting off uploading the photos for my 365 days in the hopes that I would remember to get a photo of a gift I made and forgot to photograph - lets face it, that isn't going to happen so a description will have to do!

215: A simple wire wrapped pendant
216: A wire wrapped pendant for a birthday present
217: Another wall coaster with a photo from our wedding.
218: A quick and easy gift tag using a cut out from scrapbook paper
219: Another rolled flower hair clip using this tutorial: http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2011/11/rolled-felt-flowers.html
220: No Photo! I made two luggage tags for my mum before her trip to Europe.
221: Some stones to label my vegie garden.
222: The first of two cushions for my SIL for Xmas
223: A new wall hook plaque to hold the main things we use if we take Trixie somewhere.
224: More gift tags using cut outs from scrapbook paper
225: Finished the second cushion for my SIL's xmas present
226: Fixed some cracks and snapped parts on my husbands little helicopter
227: Mini gift card with a quick drawing using silver pen
228: Two cushion inserts made from a pillow
229: Another two rolled flower hair clips using this tutorial: http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2011/11/rolled-felt-flowers.html
230: The first baby dress I made. I blogged about it here: http://krydasu.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/little-girls-peasant-dresses.html And the tutorial for this one is from here: http://www.scatteredthoughtsofacraftymom.com/2012/11/howtomakeapeasantdress.html
231: My bamboo cross stitch coaster pattern - blogged here: http://krydasu.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/bamboo-cross-stitch-pattern.html
232: Simple scrapbook paper gift tag
233: A wire wrapped agate pendant I made for my SIL's birthday
234: The second baby dress I made. I blogged about it here: http://krydasu.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/little-girls-peasant-dresses.html And the tutorial for this one is from here: http://www.sew-much-ado.com/2012/01/infant-peasant-dress-free-pattern-and.html#
235: A birthday card using watercolour pencils.
236: Another rolled flower hair clip using this tutorial: http://www.craftinessisnotoptional.com/2011/11/rolled-felt-flowers.html
237: Another photo coaster for my wall. This was a really old photo print which reacted funnily with the glue :(
238: Made two cushion inserts for my big sisters Xmas cushions
239: Finished the first of two cushion covers for my big sister for Xmas!
240: Two origami gift boxes - I used this video tutorial: http://goorigami.com/single-sheet-origami/boxinabox-origami-box-by-akiko-yamanashi/2019
241: I finished a second Xmas gift for my big sister!
242: Love Bird cross stitch wall coaster - see my tutorial on how to mount cross stitch to MDF: http://krydasu.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/mounting-cross-stitch-to-mdf-coaster.html
243: My love bird cross stitch pattern: http://krydasu.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/love-birds-cross-stitch-pattern.html
244: Two cushion inserts made from a pillow
245: Quick little case for my cross stitch scissors.