Vintage Pillowcase Apron

Several years ago, I bought a bunch of vintage embroidered pillowcases from an antique mall with the plan to turn them into aprons. I finally made one this week for a friend’s birthday gift.

Here is the pillowcase I used. It even came with the lace trim already sewn on the edge.

Turning it into an apron is super easy. After determining how long I wanted the apron to be, I just cut off the the top part of the pillowcase, gathered it slightly,  and attached a very basic waistband and ties. That’s it.

Memory T-Shirt Quilt

I finished the T-shirt quilt that I’ve been making for my grandma out of my uncle Mike’s t-shirts. He passed away earlier this year and I asked her for some of his old shirts so I could make her a memory quilt. She  is one of those people who is always cold (I can totally relate), but soon she will be able to wrap herself up in a warm, snuggly quilt filled with memories of her youngest son.

I used a featherweight fusible stabilizer on the inside of the t-shirts  before I cut them out. This helped the squares keep their shape while cutting and piecing them. Some of the leftover backs were used to make the superhero capes for my nephew’s birthday.

I used flannel for the sashing, backing, and binding so it is extra warm and cozy. I had to hand quilt it because it was too bulky for my cheap-o sewing machine to handle, so I kept it extremely basic and just quilted around each square. It’s a simple quilt filled with lots of love and memories.

A few more just for fun

A bookmark for clowning around—These totally make me smile!

A ballerina bookmark:

I’m linking up:

What kind of shoes would your bookmark wear?

About a month ago, I saw the cutest bookmarks on SneakPeeq and actually bought one for a friend. Considering the book marks are regularly $25 through the Etsy shop MyBookmark, I got a pretty good deal.

 

These things are so cute that I decided I was going to try and attempt to make a couple myself because I can’t afford to keep paying that kind of money for a bookmark.  I have never really worked with clay before and have very minimal painting skills, but I went for it anyway. Although they aren’t nearly as good as the one’s sold at MyBookmark's, I think they are cute. I made one for myself and one for my dad for Father’s Day.

 

My dad has worn cowboys boots everyday of his life that I have known him and he also enjoys reading so I made him these. I thought the individual boots looked pretty even until I attached them to the bookmark. One leg goes higher than the other but we’ll just say that it adds to the charm.  

 

The bookmark I bought for my friend was called “Wicked.” She is moving away so everyone in the book club is going to give her a bookmark that has some sort of meaning behind it and she is a huge “Wicked” fan. I loved her bookmark so much when it came in the mail, that I decided to  make myself a copycat one. I’m pretty excited about the way it turned out and am seriously in L-O-V-E with the ruby red slippers.

I need to work on my clay sculpting skills, but I think these may become a staple in my gift giving repertoire for all my book loving friends.

 

So…What kind of shoes would your bookmark wear?

I’m linking up:

Recycled T-shirt Super Hero Capes

My uncle passed away a few months ago and I couldn’t make it back home for the funeral, but I asked my Grandma to send me some of his favorite T-shirts so I could make her a memory quilt out of them. I finished the top to the quilt this week but I still need to sandwich, quilt, and bind it so no pictures yet. BUT, after cutting out all the pictures from the fronts of the shirts, I decided to use the leftover backs of the shirts to make my nephew some Super Hero capes for his upcoming birthday.

They were so quick and easy to put together. I just cut off the arms and freehanded a basic cape shape of what was left of the t-shirt, making sure to leave the entire neckband attached. This way, I didn’t even have to worry about using velcro or making ties to hold it on. I found different Super Hero logo images online and printed them out to use as patterns for the logos on the capes, which I cut out of felt.

I just ordered a couple of Super Hero books to go along with the capes so I can get them sent off before his big day.

Usually when I’m crafting, I’m happy I have all girls because there are so many cute things out there to make for them. This was definitely an exception. These were so fun to make, it almost made me wish I had a boy. Luckily, I have nephews!

Dr. Seuss Teacher Quilt

As an end of year “Thank You” gift for the twins’ kindergarten teacher, I decided to make her a quilt. Months ago, I went in during lunch time and traced all the kids’ hands without the teacher knowing. I used the tracings to make blocks that consist of each kids name and handprint. I used a Dr. Seuss font I found online to print the kids names on printable fabric. The rest of fabrics are all from the Celebrate Seuss! By Dr. Seuss Enterprises for Robert Kaufman Fabrics line of fabrics.

There are 19 kids in the class so I was one block short of being able to make a rectangle.  I wrote a poem and printed it on fabric to make the final block. It was the first poem that I have written in about 20 years. I attempted to make it Dr. Seuss-ish. The twins thought it was great, but they are 6, so please don’t judge me on my poor poetry skills.

The front of the quilt:

My attempt at poetry:

Payton’s block:

Taylor’s block:

The back of the quilt:

Close-up of the fabric on the back:

I’m going to have the kids present it to her at Kindergarten graduation next Friday. I can’t believe the year is almost over. I’m more than ready for summer break, but sad that Kindergarten is just about over for my girls.

I’m linking up at:

I was only 4 weeks late

but I finally got my girls’ Easter dresses made. I bought the fabric and pattern for the dresses a few months ago, but I just didn’t find the time to actually  make them before Easter. I buckled down this weekend and did the little girls dresses,  my older daughter’s skirt, and a hair accessory for each of them in just 2 days. Needless to say, my house is a wreck because not much else got done.