Twiddler Tag Blankie Tutorial

Cindy made our son, Rylan, the cutest little tag blanket shortly before the babe was born. Rylan's just at the age where he's enjoying the tags moreso than the toy it's attached to...so I've made a second one. This makes a great shower gift too. (Thanks Cindy!)

The process was simple and is summarized in the following tutorial:

1. Cut 2 pieces of Minky fabric to be 14" x 14". (I used two different colors, but you may use two of the same instead).



2. Rob your ribbon stash to select numerous colors, sizes and textures of visually interesting ribbon. These will become the tags sewn along the side of the blankie. Cut ribbons into varying lengths, between 2 & 4 inches in length. Use loud colors so your little twiddler can't resist the tags. I added 12 tags to two sides of the blanket. You may adjust this according to your preferences.



3. Folding Ribbons in half, (so that they form a double-sided tag), create tags to be about 1" to 2" long, for safety reasons. Align the raw edges of the ribbon with the raw edges of the Minky blanket fabric - so right sides are touching. Pin Ribbons in place, nicely spaced along two edges of the blankie.

I did opposing edges, so that it leaves the middle & two sides of the little blankie, nice & snuggly. You can embellish any combination of two edges or even all four sides with the ribbon tags, as you prefer.



4. Attach ribbons to one side of the blanket with a single seam, removing pins along the way. Attach ribbons on the second side of the blanket with another single seam.



5. Cut away excess ribbon overhang, if necessary.



6. Fold your ribbons to the right side of the fabric on both ends. Sandwich the ribbons between both pieces of Minky fabric. Pin in place around all four blanket sides. Your blanket will be inside out, at this point. Run a seam around the perimeter, leaving a three inch gap un-sewn. Using the gap, turn your blanket right side out.



7. After turning the blanket right side out, push out the corners. Fold the edges of the opening over to close up the gap, & pin closed. Run a final seam around the entire blanket perimeter, careful to align both sides of the fabric correctly. This seam is decorative in nature and will keep the two sides laying nicely - as they may go wonky when washed if left unsewn.



8. Your baby is probably napping during your little blankie making session, right? Lay it aside and wait for notice that the nap has ended.



9. Naptime over?? Let the wee one commence with twiddling the tags and snuggling with his new blankie.



10. Commence with picture taking of your adorable creation{s}. Well done, Mama.

Tutu + Tutorial = Tuturial

Okay, bad joke in the title. My apologies.

I put this tutorial for a super-fluffy "NO SEW" tutu together long ago, but it nearly got lost in the archives. I've been asked "a few" times recently how to design a tutu... So, here's a tutorial for those of you don't want to wrestle tulle, invisible thread, and a sewing machine in order to create the tutu of your little girl's dreams. It's so easy - a child can do it herself! (that is, if she can tie her own shoes!)

Step 1: Cut and sew elastic to form waistband. I use 20 inches for most of my tutus, which fits most kiddos.
Tutu Tiplet: If you wanna go all pro - there are even fun colored elastic cords that can be used instead of plain old elastic. Or you can use a belt!

Step 2: Cut AT LEAST 4-5 yards of tulle into strips. And, cut, cut, cut some more. I do some thicker strips, some thinner. I use 52" wide tulle, so if your tulle is less wide, count on more yardage.
Tutu Tiplet: You can use solely tulle. You can also add in streamers of ribbon, or other whimsies tied in here and there. You can use a solid color tulle, or alternate amongst a few different colors.

Step 3: Tie your strips onto the elastic. I vary the length of some, just to give it more poof and visual layering. Align your knots all on one side of the waistband, of course. They don't HAVE to be crammed together. As long as you use 4 yards worth of 52" wide tulle, the tutu will be immensely fluffy.
Tutu Tiplet: I put the waist band around my leg, slide up thigh-high..and it makes tying and controlling the tulle a lot easier!



Voila. An easy-peasy tutu in three easy steps (not counting the hours and hours of laborious tying BEST SPENT IN FRONT OF THE TV.)
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Tutu Tiplet: If it's a tutu emergency and you'd like to save yourself the headache - there's always tutu offerings at The Doodle Factory . I don't sell this style, however. :)

***you can also make a mini-version and use for a pony-tail holder!

Questions, answers & a quilt

Thanks lovely readers for your comments, emails, etc. I find it a bit humorous that I enjoy comments so much, but I'll humbly admit that I do. Sometimes when it's quiet around here, I lose a bit of motivation to keep this part of my blog up. I don't mind so much that no one comments on Kenzie's Doodles (I really keep that site up for her - which is a poor excuse for a baby album... ahem, which I sucked royally at keeping up with)...but my Mama's Doodles is all for me..me..me... And, who doesn't like a compliment anyway??

Anyway, there have been a few questions lately. With no email address to reply to, I began leaving answers in my comments section..but I don't know if the question asker might not think to go back and check for an answer - so:

1. About the cuffs (this is for Samantha) -- The cuffs are made of good 'ole vinyl or pleather. :) I had a bit of a supply left over from some chalkboard placemats that I made (& intended to reproduce)...and I used that, and beads, and material, and a bit of embroidery floss as well. After adding the embellishments, I covered up all the ugly ends with a fabric backing. Not terribly sophisticated..but I like the end result. I imagine that a leather would be more lovely, but harder to handsew. I actually caught a glimpse of Brooke Shields and Lisa Rinna (sp??) wearing similar cuffs today (in a photo, of course). I'd like these cuffs even if the celebrities weren't wearing them, but since they are fond of the style - it seems an affirmation of my coolness. he..he..

2. For kittykat: The pillowcase dresses have been two separate styles, both just winged in the making. For the first one (the yellow) I basically took one of my daughter's dresses that fit well, and laid it on top of the pillowcase to give me a basic template of where to cut. The first style was the more successful of the attempts, but the second one - I used my neighbors pillowcase dress (you might remember that this is where I got the idea in the first place?) and used it as a pattern. The second version was much simpler in the making. Essentially, you use the existing opening - which becomes the bottom of the dress. You make three cuts, and you're ready to sew!! (see my attached visual, which hopefully explains the SIMPLE process). I plan to make another, so if these directions are clear as mud - let me know and I can photograph the steps.



The results:



3. YES! yes, YeS!! My doorknocker idea is working beautifully. We've had no unsollicited door knocks and the neighborhood kids get a kick out of it. It's the talk of the neighborhood..and the kids are very respectful of the "process." Sleep well, my girl... :)



Finally, on the high productivity - because my husband's away - front: I have begun work on Kenzie's big-girl bedding. I intend for this to be a decorative bedspread, probably folded along the foot of the bed - because it has some precious family history attached. As stated before - it's just a quilt top made by a distant relative (whom I never had the pleasure of meeting) and I've decided to back it and turn it into a "quilt." Afraid to ruin it...afraid of machine quilting...and wishing to finish it before she's 12 (therefore ruling out hand quilting) -- I've gone with red buttons. (Yes, now I fully expect hatemail from those fabulous quilters out there who would be horrified by this approach). But, I think it's going to be fantastically adorable!! I'm thinking a light blue on the walls. Some flowers and bugs, painted here and there. White furniture, and we'll jazz it up with some bold curtains and rug.

And, speaking of quilting - I just got a whole row of buttons done waiting for blogger to upload these durned photos. What's up with Blogger lately? It's painfully. freaking. frustratingly slow!! And, I'd also like to complain about flickr - which isn't really fair given I haven't ponied up for a Pro account, not to mention, I'm sure the rules are posted somewhere I haven't bothered to review...but my complaint roots back to my sock puppets postings. I had a groovy idea to load photos of all the critters separately ~ and generate a collage shot of them collectively. I loaded the pics. I decided that I didn't like the way they were being chopped to pieces in the collage formation. I deleted the pictures. Then, I decide to load my next crafty creation and I'm told that I've exceeded my upload limit. *&^%!!!! But, I didn't "technically" upload -anything- for crap's sakes. So, flickr is boycotting me for the rest of the month. I should just silence my gripes, and be thankful for the FREE internet technology (except for the cost of making my blood boil on occasion).

(I'm going to "publish post" now, after knock, knock, knocking on wood. I'm sure the blogger-gods can make this very lengthy post and time investment vanish into thin air - for all the complaining I just did. Cringe.)

Chalkboard Placemat Tutorial

After a few requests for this, I offer it now, as a community service to those who may be remotely interested...

Warning, this is a labor intensive process and not an instant gratification project, like those that I tend to prefer! I completed my four mats over the course of two days. Day one is for painting and drying. Day two is for wrestling the sewing portion of the project.

To make your own chalkboard placemats you'll need to the following materials:
Vinyl Placemat of any variety or, sheet vinyl (I found mine in the remnants section for very cheap!)
If not using a double sided placemat - then you'll want a fabric for the reverse side!
Chalkboard Paint
Paint Brush
Fine Sandpaper
Chalk

Instructions:
I used water based chalkboard paint and did not prime my placemat with any product. Sand off the shine, so that it allows the paint to adhere nicely. Paint your placemat using your choice of chalkboard paint (I used black) and allow the paint to dry. Follow the directions on the paint can, but I impatiently fudged a little - with no negative consequences.

Lightly sand the dry painted surface and wipe clean with a damp cloth. Paint another coat of paint and allow it to dry. Sand lightly once your paint is dry and apply any additional coats of chalkboard paint that may be required. It took 3 coats of paint for a nice finish on my placemat.

Allow your chalkboard to dry completely before using or rolling it! Once all your paint is dry, using the side of a piece of chalk, cover the entire placemat with chalk (this will condition your chalkboard for use), wipe away with a felt eraser or cloth and clean your mat with a damp cloth.

My placemats are double sided, with a pretty decorative side and the chalkboard on the reverse. After a short wrestling match, I sewed the two sides together and used a quilt binding as a decorative edging. Depending on the fabric and vinyl thickness - make sure you use an appropriate sized needle!! I attached a button and a cord, so that the mat could be rolled up. (i.e. to lend itself to easy travel and for restaruant use). This can be omitted of course, if the placemat will only be used at home.

Alternative for paint:
I found a recipe for chalkboard paint here. I was concerned about the toxicity of this, since the premise of the chalkboard placement would imply that a wee one might actually be eating in close proximity to it. Use this at your own risk. I did mix it up and it worked perfectly -- but I chickened out and bought the non-toxic paint at a store! (Home Depot for $10.99)


Good luck..and I'd love to see your finished product if you give this a shot!