Towel Cake Tutorial

Above is a towel cake that I made for a friend a couple of months ago. I also made Towel Cupcakes too!

I have seen many examples of these and also a couple of tutorials on how to make these. I looked around at a few different options and then just came up with my own design by using what I already had around the house for the decorations.

To make the large towel cake, I bought the towels from a local department store, going for bright colours. I then bought a couple of ribbons to match from the local craft shop. I already had a couple of bows and bead decorations in the house.

For the small towel cupcakes, I bought some ramekin dishes and some bright coloured facecloths. As mentioned before, I already had some bows in the house for these. To finish all the completed Towel Cakes I needed the clear plastic wrappingl. I bought this from the local florist by the metre.

I was quite pleased with my first attempt at these, my friend said that she had never seen these before!

Here is a link showing you what you need and how to make one of the large towel cakes. http://www.handmadebabyquilts.org/bridal-shower-or-housewarming-towel-cake-tutorial.html

Here is a link to a towel cupcake tutorial:
 http://homemade.tipjunkie.com/tea-towel-cupcake-tutorial/

If you are interested in making these for a housewarming or baby shower present, it is worth having a search through online photographs to get some inspiration. They really aren't that hard to make, you should give it a try.

Crochet Flower

Above is a photograph of one of the crochet flowers that I made recently. I needed some orange hair accessories to match my daughters orange dress I made for her. I had only made a crochet flower once before, so it took a little longer than normal to get it right the first time. The last time I made a crochet flower was when I made the crochet hat which I posted about last month, here is a link to that post. http://www.karimascrafts.com/2011/02/crochet-hat.html Once I knew how to do it again, I made some more, it really was quite easy. I made a large one, which could be used as a hairband or added to a headband. I made smaller ones that I fastened to hairclips.

Here is link to a free pattern for a crochet flower, which also has a great short video tutorial to go with it. http://littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-to-crochet-flower-video-tutorial.html It is well worth a look, it really does show you how easy it is to make a crochet flower.

Below is a photograph of the large flower and the small flower hairclip I made.

3 Hour Dress

Today I am sharing a link of a great tutorial from another blog which I came across recently.  The link is http://sewsaucy.blogspot.com/2010/06/sarahs-3-hour-sundress-how-to.html This blog has a great tutorial with step by step instructions with many photographs.

I have never attempted to make this dress, but it is one that I may try to make in the future.  The photograph of the girl in the dress is so adorable, I love her matching hairbows.  I found this tutorial by looking at another website http://www.allfreesewing.com/ they advertise many free patterns and turorials.  It is a site that I frequently visit when looking for inspiration or patterns.

Mother's Day Gift

Above is a photograph of a handmade Mothers Day Gift I made.

Mothers Day is fast approaching here in the UK. It is celebrated on the Sunday 3rd April this year. In the US it falls in the month of May, so still a while longer to go. The shops here in the UK have their shelves full with gifts, chocolates and cards. My kids always like to make their own cards, I think it is more personal than the ready made shop ones. My daughter especially likes to spend her time designing cards for the family. I think the family appreciate them more, when they know that the child has put time and effort into them. If I remember I will post a photograph of the cards I will be receiving this year (hopefully!).

I wanted to share with you today a Mothers Day Gift that I have previously made for my mum. I made an 'Apron set' which included, an apron, tea towels and a small bag, I bought this particular fabric especially for this project as it was quite unique. I loved the fact that this fabric was designed with words relating to the kitchen and I also loved the colour. I used black apron strings, which I bought especially for the apron.

I didn’t follow any particular pattern for the apron, but there are many free tutorials out there if you were wanting one. Here is a link to one of the websites that gives you instructions and also a pattern link. http://www.marthastewart.com/article/bakers-apron. The reason I made a small matching bag to go with this, is so that my mum can keep the apron folded up and kept inside a kitchen drawer. I always like to keep my apron handy on a hook in the kitchen, but my mum doesn’t do this, so this was the better option for her personally.

You don’t really need any tutorials for the tea towels either, I just made them with the remaining fabric so the size wasn’t relevant to me. Here is a link for those interested, which gives details on how to make basic tea towels. http://www.ehow.co.uk/way_5778474_tea-towel-sewing-projects.html

I would love to hear from anyone who wants to share any handmade projects they have made for their Mothers.

I am linking this article to http://www.tipjunkie.com/

Reversible Blanket or Duvet Cover

The above photo shows a project that I made for a baby boy present. I wanted to make a baby blanket that wasn’t the typical cute baby design.  I wanted something that could be used when he was a little older, like a pushchair blanket, carseat blanket or house blanket.

I bought two pieces of matching fabric from the Dunelm Store. This was ideal as the fabric had the same design but one was in red fabric and the other in blue fabric. I made one side with blue fabric and a red border and the other side with red fabric and blue border. I then just stitched these together, leaving an opening so this could also be used as a cot duvet cover. I didn’t follow any pattern with this, I just made it to a size that would also cover a cot duvet.

I know I found it hard to find a small blanket for the pushchair when my kids were younger. I often had to use baby blankets for my toddlers. So I thought it would be good to make a blanket that was more boyish than babyish, so hopefully it can be used for longer.

Handmade Shopping Bag

Above, is a photograph of a shopping bag I recently made for my grandmother. She was a bit fed up with her old shopping bag and had always had problems trying to find her keys in the bottom of the bag. So recently she had been searching for another bag, but this time she wanted one with some inside pockets to keep her keys safe. After much looking, she could not find one that she was happy with, so she asked me if I could make her one.

I found some material that she was happy with (it was actually from an old throw she had donated to me over a year ago!). I used straps that I had taken from another bag that I had managed to salvage. I also used a washable vinyl type of material for the bag lining, which I already had in the house. This bag is great for my gran because it is also machine washable.

I didn’t follow any particular pattern for this bag. I normally just play around with sizes, I have made a few bags now, and they are all individual designs. I made a few pockets for the inside of the bag and a large one for the outside of the bag. Now she can keep her keys and other small objects inside the pockets, so she doesn’t need to be fumbling around at the bottom of her bag anymore.

Here is a link to a tutorial for a bag very similar to the one I made. http://www.thelongestyear.typepad.com/EasyToteTut.pdf

If you like looking at free tutorials, then please visit the www.thelongestyear.typepad.com blog because it has quite a few other great tutorials, there are some under 'tutorials' and under 'How to make' section. I noticed there were quite a few sewing ones amongst them.

10 minute headband

Above are the photographs of how I made a 10 Minute Headband.  I found a great tutorial on how to make these, and they really are made in less than 10 minutes because I timed myself!  Here is the link to the great tutorial. http://bluebirdstudio.blogspot.com/2008/09/ten-minute-headband-tutorial.html The bluebirdstudio website also has some other great free tutorials, it is worth a visit to look at her other creations.

The material I used for this headband was the remnants from the denim dress that I made into a bag, which I featured in an earlier post.  Here is a link to that post. http://www.karimascrafts.com/2011/01/upcycling-dress-into-bag.html the small frill on the bottom of the dress is the material in question. There was just the exact amount of material leftover to make this headband.

 

I make lots of hairbands, in different styles, but I really do like this option.  You must make sure that you use good elastic hairbands, as some elastic hairbands lose their elastic very quickly.  This is a very easy sewing project, my 8 year old daughter is able to manage this project unaided.