Halloween Quiet Book Pattern & Kits

It is Wednesday and I have some Halloween Quiet Book kits all ready and listed in the shop. I've also updated the pattern with two new pages and some fresh fabrics.

 Ghost softie page and witch page

 These are the two new pages. The page on the left is a pocket that holds pumpkin face pieces. The page on the right is a pumpkin that can be 'carved' with the face pieces.

 Removeable spider page and pumpkin with finger puppet page.

The spider has poseable legs.

Halloween Quiet Book Pattern and Kit

This includes everything to make the quiet book!

Or you can get just the pattern. Use your own fabrics and trims to make it truly one of a kind!

Halloween Quiet Book Pattern

Happy Wednedsay...and Happy Halloween Crafting,

LeAnne

What I've Been Up To: Giving a Facelift to...

...this little Halloween goodie.

 The 'original' was made way back in 2009. {Why does that seem like just yesterday?}

Loved it then, love it now. However, it needed a little facelift. So last week I whipped up a new one. New fabrics and a couple new pages. Perfect.

Then I got the crazy idea to make some kits. So over the weekend I took this box of Halloween goodness and assembled some kits.

The updated pattern and kits on track to be listed by Wednesday.

Happy Monday,

LeAnne

tutorial: Ruffled Half/Lap Apron

This is a tutorial I did for another blog a couple of years back. The blog is not actively posting/gone private for the time being. I've gotten quite a few emails asking for it - thanks Pinterest - so I am posting on my blog so you all can see it! Enjoy!

Ruffled Half/Lap Apron Tutorial

- 5/8 yard of cotton fabric - ties & bottom ruffle (red polka dot fabric)
- 1/4 yard each of three cotton fabrics - remaining ruffles (other three fabrics pictured)
- 10.5" x 21" piece or 1/3 yard of cotton fabric (You will not see this fabric, you sew the ruffles to this piece.)
-thread

Notes:
WOF = Width Of Fabric
RST - Right Sides Together
Prewash and dry all fabrics before beginning

1. Cut one 12" x 21" piece from the 1/3 yard of fabric.

2. Cut three 6.5" x WOF (width of fabric - approx 42") pieces from the 1/4 yard pieces. (for ruffles)

3. From the 5/8 yard of fabric cut: (pictured red polka dot fabric)
- one 6.5" x WOF  piece (for ruffle)
- one 6" x 21" piece (for top center band)
- two 6" x 36" pieces (for ties)

4. Take the 12" x 21" piece and fold it into thirds, measure up about 4", fold up to the middle, and iron to crease. Repeat with the top. These will be the marks for your ruffles.

5.  On one long edge of a ruffle piece, fold under 1/4" and press. Repeat. Sew hem in place using 1/8" seam allowance. This will be the bottom edge of the ruffle. Repeat for all the ruffle pieces.

6.  On all but the bottom ruffle piece, repeat step 5 on both short sides of ruffles.

 7. Ruffle the ruffle pieces along the top raw edge. Not sure how to ruffle? Check out my tutorial here.

8. Along the bottom edge of the 12" x 21" piece, pin the bottom ruffle in place with RST and matching the raw edges. (The ruffle will be upside down.) This should be the ruffle with the sides NOT folded under.
Tip: I like pin the sides in place like in the second photo below to help keep the ruffle piece in place.

9. With the ruffle wrong side up, Sew the bottom ruffle in place using, 3/8" seam allowance. 

10. Flip apron to the back and press the seam up towards the top. Serge or zig-zag the raw edge.

11. Top stitch on the front side of the apron about 1/8" from where the bottom ruffle and apron panel meet.

12.  On one side of the apron, fold under 1/4" and press. (From the top of the to the bottom of the ruffle.) Fold under 1/4" and press again. Sew in place 1/8" from the edge. Repeat for the other side.

13. Working from the bottom up, place the next ruffle upside down and right side down on the apron panel. (The right side of the ruffle will be touching the apron.)  Lineup the top raw edge with the first crease from the bottom. Pin in place.

The wrong side of the second ruffle is facing up.

14.  Sewing on the wrong side of the ruffle, sew the ruffle in place. You can sew just on top of the sewing line from ruffling or just beside it, about 3/8" from the edge of the ruffle. Backstitch at beginning and end.

15.  Adjust the ruffle so it now points down to the bottom ruffle. Press. Turn the apron to the back and press with an iron to make sure the apron panel is smooth.

16. Turn the apron over to the front. Press the ruffle again if necessary. Sewing from the front, sew the ruffle in place about 1/2" from top edge of the ruffle. If you lift up the ruffle, all your raw edges should be enclosed.

17. Repeat steps 13 - 16 for the next ruffle. This time line up the ruffle with the next crease line.

18. For the top ruffle, simply line up the raw edges of the apron panel with the top edge of the ruffle. (Wrong side of the ruffle will be touching the apron panel.) Sew in place with 3/8" seam allowance.

19. Sew the ties and top band together RST. (The center band needs to be in the middle and a tie on either side.) It will be WAYYYY long. Press seams open. Fold in half the long way, wrong sides together, and press.

19. Center the WAYYY long band/ties over the apron panel RST and pin. The seams should be on either side of the apron panel. Sew only to the apron panel using 1/2" seam allowance. Do not sew onto the free hanging ties.

20. Press the seam and place the band/ties up as shown below. You should now see the right side of the band/ties. Press well.

21. Now fold the band/ties down, RST so the raw edges of the free hanging ties meet. Pin the free hanging ties every few inches.

22. Start sewing at the end of one tie and continue sewing. Stop when you get to the apron panel. Skip over the apron panel and continue sewing the other tie together. Clip corners at the ends. Press. You will have an opening over the apron panel.

23. Turn the ties right side out. Push the end back through the tie with a wooden spoon or pen.

 24. Working from the back of the apron, tuck the raw edge of the band/tie to the inside and press. Pin in place from the front, being sure to catch the back of the band with your pins. Top stitch 1/4" from the edge starting at one of the ties continuing onto the apron, closing the opening, and ending at the end of the other tie. Press well when completed.

You are done! Enjoy your fun ruffly apron or have fun making it for a friend! Either way, these fun ruffles make wearing an apron just a little more fun and sassy!

Happy Sewing!

LeAnne

Naptime Crafting: Fall Wreath

I love fall.

LOVE it.

Maybe it is because I am from the East coast where falls are full of spectacular colors, the smell of burning leaves, raking leaves, REAL pumpkin patches, and every other fall event imaginable.

I've been dying to make a pretty fall wreath for my front door and today was the day.  I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to wreaths - never made one before - so it was a little interesting. I've been having lots of fun with my hot glue gun, wire, and scissors. Only a few burned fingers...so far

Here is my progress so far....

Loving it so far. There is another spot in my house that needs a similar wreath..hmmm. I am liking this wreath making thing.

Now come on AZ get out of the 90s so I can pull out my long sleeved shirts and curl up with a cuddly quilt...and make a batch or two of pumpkin bars.

I love fall. 

Happy Monday,

LeAnne

What I've Been Up To: New Pattern

I am excited to give you a sneak peek of a new pattern!

This item has been highly requested by customers and I hope it won't disappoint. I just finished a sample and I love how it turned out. It needs a little tweaking so I am making a couple more samples before I say done and done. (So yes, I may have a couple for sale in the shop for you non-sewers!) This new pattern will have lots of options and really be a fun project to make for your family. Lots of traditions could stem from this item. So here is a little sneak peak....

Any guesses? I am sure I am making it far too easy....

Happy Thursday!

LeAnne

What I've Been Up To: Busy Bags

It's been two months since I've shared anything over on this little blog...yikes! Sorry about that! Nothing earth shattering has happened, just being mom to two littles under three, life, and other projects. I want to be a better blogger, but when push comes to shove, this little blog gets the push and the shove. :( Sorry little blog.

One big thing I was up to was hosting a Busy Bag Swap. Soon after I joined Pinterest I saw all sorts of ideas for Busy Bags. I started pinning away with the intention of hosting a swap...eventually. Well, eventually finally came and I hosted a Busy Bag Swap with 15 friends and friends of friends. It was a great success and we all walked away with 16 different and awesome Busy Bags. Hosting the event wasn't stressful and I would do another swap in a heart beat!

I am not going to recreate the wheel and go into the details of hosting a swap. I used this great post over at  Second Story Window as my guide in planning and organizing my swap. I basically did everything she tells you to do. If you need ideas for the busy bags see the links at the bottom of this post. She also has a great busy bag board and I think my busy bag board is pretty good too!

A few little things that were helpful to me as a host:

1. Make a board on Pinterest to collect ideas. Best way to do it. Then select your favorite twenty or so and put into a spreadsheet for people to choose from. This way no one has to search for their own idea. (See more on this in #3)

2. Send out an email that clearly explains what busy bags are and how a swap works. I typed up a document and attached it to the email that initially went out. (You can see mine here.) Make your guidelines and budget very clear. Also emphasize that the ideas are just that - ideas. Encourage people to change or modify to fit the budget and to add their personal touch.  I allowed about 4 weeks from the time sign-ups ended to when we had our swap.

3. I uploaded our sign-up sheet to Google Docs and shared it - check the option to share with those who only have the link and include the link in the email. (Otherwise it would be searchable online and the sheet has people's names and emails.) I also enabled the document to be edited by others.  This way people could sign-up immediately - the document auto-saves- instead of emailing me, waiting for me to respond back, recording who is doing what, and then having the chance of two people wanting the same thing. Very helpful for me! (You can see mine here.)

4. Also, we had 16 people in our swap. That seemed like a good number. It wasn't too many bags to make and you still walked away with a lot  of bags. I've talked to some friends about doing a smaller scale swap, like 5 - 6, but where the bags are a little more involved and you could have a larger budget, like here.

Here are the pictures and links to the bags that we made in our swap. Everyone did a fantastic job. I did a rage of activities for older toddlers to preschool age. My little miss, almost three, can do most of the bags below.

1. Popsicle Stick Puzzles

2. ABC City Game

3. Color Popsicle Stick Matching - The maker of this bag added a neat twist for older kiddos. See the Popsicle sticks written with black? She wrote the colors in black and on the reverse side is a flavor that is associate with the color.  So for red it said cherry, orange said mango, purple said grape, etc. Your child then can try and match the color of Popsicle to the 'flavor'.

4. Pattern Matching Game  - She used scrapbook paper she had on hand and was still able to laminate the cards for us and stay within budget! Yay!

5. Button Snake - This one is a favorite. I added more felt pieces after the swap.

6. Lacing Cards

7. Tracing Shapes with Stickers - My little miss has a more interest in sticking the stickers wherever she can. :)

8. Hot Glue Rubbing PLates - Cardboard with shapes made from hotglue/puffy paint. She even included a homemade crayon!

9. Decorate a Cupcake - This was my bag. I had been saving cereal boxes 'just because' and I had a couple yards of flannel that I wanted to get rid of. So I made everyone a mini- flannel board to go with their cupcakes. Don't be that impressed with the 'toppings'. I have a little die cut machine that I used to cut out the flowers, hearts, and stars. 

10. Mini-Chalkboard - These were 5"x7" boards painted with chalkboard paint. Fabulous!

11. Scooping/Transferring Activity - Perfect for toddlers. 

12. Shapes in a Square - Love this one! My little miss isn't quite ready for this one, but great activity. The point is to fit all the squares into the shape.

13. Playdough Mats - She ran four copies off for each of us and made some playdough. She also passed out a the link where we can print off more.

14. Color Number Wheel - Double sided circle with clothes pins with numbers/colors on them. Simply match! (My little miss ran off with one clothespin!)

Color side:

Number side:

 15. Clothes Line - A favorite in our house. This is out almost daily. The maker gave the idea of hanging it outside between two chairs and having your child 'wash' the clothes and hang them up. Perfect for the summer!

 16. Ice Cream Shoppe - So cute!

That's a wrap of our Busy Bag Swap! I love all the bags and so does my little miss. 

Now the only thing I have to figure out is how to store these gems! They are still sitting in the box I collected them in from the night of the swap. Any ideas anyone?

 

That was my Busy Bag Swap experience! It was awesome. I didn't think hosting the swap was stressful and I would totally host one again. As long as you have clear guidelines and you give deadlines and dates upfront, it really isn't a big deal to organize one. There are so many wonderful Busy Bag ideas out there...so grab a few friends and make some! You won't regret it.

Happy Monday,

LeAnne