Felt Sewing Kit for Kids

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Jen

This project is so fun and a great way to let kiddos try an easy bit of sewing. My son wanted to make a pirate sewing kit so that’s what we did and it turned out super cute!

He learned some very handy things by making this sewing kit: how to thread a needle, how to stop and start his stitching, running stitch, and how to sew on buttons.

Here is the inside. It has a pocket for his scissors, a pocket with a button closure to hold extra thread, and a small piece of felt to hold pins and needles.

Supplies:

felt – 4-5 colors
needle
thread
2 buttons
scissors

1. Cut your felt. I will put the colors we used next to the sizes in inches.

Black – 6 x 8

Green – 3.5 x 3.5

Red – 3 x 2

Blue (pocket)- 3.5 x 7.5

Blue – 5 x 7

Black (button tab) – 1.5 x 4

2. Sew your pocket together. To make a pocket out of your long rectangle, fold the bottom up 2.5 inches. You can pin it to hold it and then sew a running stitch from the top of the fold on one side, down around the bottom, and back up the other side. We made our flap look like a triangle by cutting the corners off, but you can make it rounded too if you prefer. Sew your button on by making an X with your thread, we did it three times. Once the button is on, fold your flap over and pinch where the button lays so you can snip a hole with your scissors.

3. Attach pockets and needle holder. We pinned our pieces in place and then stitched them onto the blue background piece with running stitch. Make sure you only stitch around three sides for your scissor pocket!

4. Attach your design. This is when you can design the front of your kit. My guy wanted a skull and crossbones so I just freehanded with a marker onto a piece of white felt and we cut it out. I cut out circles for the eyes and he added details for the nose and mouth with stitches after all the pieces were attached.

5. Put it all together. Now you get to sew on the blue piece with all of the pockets to the cover (the black piece for us). Pin it together and then sew a running stitch all the way around the edges. It’s ok if you have to stitch along a pocket again, our green pocket has extra stitches over it.

6. Sew your button tab and attach your button. Sew about 1/2 of your tab to the back of your cover first. Close your kit and see where the tab lines up. This is where you want to sew your button on. Once your button is on, fold your tab over and pinch so you can snip a hole.

He did such a fantastic job for his first try, I’m so proud of him! He’s thinking about making a bag or pillow next.

Now I need to go make one for myself because I’m constantly using my couch as a pincushion!

Would you try this with your kids? What design would you put on the front of yours?

Linking up this week to Tatertots & Jello, Flamingo Toes, I Heart Naptime, Whipperberry, Skip to my Lou, Craft-o-maniac, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, PolkaDots on Parade, Someday Crafts, Ginger Snap Crafts, House of Hepworths, The Girl Creative, Reasons to skip the housework.

5 Handmade Gift Wrap Ideas

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Jen

I’ve been stuck in the gift bag rut for a few years. I don’t really like to wrap gifts because I’m not that good at it. I don’t have perfectly folded corners and I usually end up ripping the paper somewhere so there’s random tape stuck on it. At Christmas I will attempt to wrap with paper, but I don’t take the time to add ribbons and bows on most so it’s still kind of boring.

After searching around a bit I have realized how beautiful a nicely wrapped gift can be and we can even be a little green in the process by using what we already have. I’m not the only one with stacks of brown bags in a closet right?

So I decided on a little experiment for myself. Come up with five different gift wrap ideas using only my brown bags (kraft paper like), ribbons, papers, twine, fabric, markers, buttons, and things from nature. It’s all stuff I have on hand so it’s free gift wrap plus it’s unique and creative just like all of us!

First gather your supplies from around the house. Don’t think about it too much, this project is all about freedom with your creativity because it really can be anything when you have a brown bag base.

Here is my pile of wrapped gifts. Pretty boring at the moment. Let’s make them pretty!

Fabric is your friend and if you think you don’t have any fabric lying around to use just take a peek in your closet and pull something out that you don’t wear anymore. Have you seen how cute tshirt flowers are? Do a search on pinterest for them.

For my first package I made a sweet little rolled fabric flower. Wrap twine, ribbon, yarn, (seriously, anything) around the package a few times first. To attach the flower I cut out a circle of cardstock, slipped it under the twine, put hot glue on it and stuck the flower on. It worked great because the flower is not stuck to the actual gift.

Was the flower too intimidating? Don’t worry, this one’s even easier. Find a piece of fabric long enough to tie around your gift. Tie it on, make a knot, attach a tag if you’re so inclined, and you’re finished!

Nature is beautiful and we can use it on our gifts. This is the perfect way to make your gift wrap seasonal. Can you picture mums and leaves for the fall or pine for Christmas? Gorgeous!

I went out my back door and broke a sprig off the bush sitting right there because fresh new growth works for spring. I cut out circles of cardstock and layered them on. You could use scraps of any kind of paper though. Book pages or scrapbook paper would look adorable! Twine is wrapped around this one too. I just love the layered look.

Are you thinking about what you can use from around the house now?

Embroidery floss is so inexpensive that this can be a fun way to add in current color trends. Here I added coral and minty goodness around the gift. Add a fun element like a clothespin to clip your tag on and your done!

Baker’s twine is another fun way to add color to your gifts. Wrap it around and make your own paper bow. All I did was cut strips of paper, looped them in half, and layered them up to make a bow. I think a button center would look even cuter and would add extra color.

I hope you can see how easy it can be to wrap up your gifts the handmade way with found items around the house. For more inspiration check out my gift wrap pinboard.

Do you have any more ideas to add? I’d love to hear them!

Project Friday: Valentine’s Day Sign

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Jen

Here is a super easy Valentine’s sign for you to make in under 30 minutes. That’s my kind of project!

You need:

coffee filters (just 2 of them)
red fabric
white felt
cardboard or chipboard (I used the side of a cereal box)
buttons
hot glue
scissors

Cut out one side of your cereal box. In this case size doesn’t really matter as long as your fabric fits around it. Lay your fabric right side down and center your cardboard.

Hot glue two sides down. On the ends fold the corners over and glue. Then fold the side over and glue. I like to do the corners this way because you get a cleaner edge.

Accordian fold your two coffee filters.

Hot glue the bottoms and the middle top together. It makes a heart shape all on its own! Glue the heart to the left side of your sign.

Cut some letters our of your felt. I just freehanded mine, but if you prefer you can draw the letters onto your felt first. Glue them down the right side of your sign.

Embellish with a button if you so choose, glue a piece of twine to the back for a picture hanger, and find a cute place to hang your sign!

Any questions just ask!

Project Friday: Valentine’s Day Wreath

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Jen

I wasn’t going to make anything for Valentine’s Day, but all of the cute stuff around the web changed my mind. All of the reds and pinks were totally inspiring. Of course pink is already on my mind with Baby Girl on the way!

You Need:

Yarn
Paint chips (I had some spares) or cardstock
Lined paper
Embroidery floss
Scissors
Cardboard or foam board
Needle
Hot glue gun
Pencil

Cut your paper into strips about 3 inches wide. Once you start forming your wreath you will be able to tell how many you need. Start with about 10-20 if using notebook paper.

Start folding the strips so they have rounded edges.

Make sure you have a needle and thread ready to go, with a knot on one end of the thread. Once you have a folded piece of paper stick your needle through the middle.

You can see we are sort of making a garland. Cut out a circle from your cardboard or foam board the size you want your wreath to be. We are going to keep stringing paper loops on our thread until it’s big enough to go all the way around our circle.

Cut out a piece of your lined paper to cover your cardboard circle. Write a sentiment with red marker and glue it on.

Now heat up your glue gun and start gluing your paper loop garland onto your wreath. Just smush the edges gently into the glue, it holds I promise. And it doesn’t have to be perfect, just circular enough!

I whipped up some finger knitting with my red yarn because I wanted to hide the raw edges of the foam board and the wreath needed more color. If you don’t know how to finger knit, check out this finger knitting tutorial by Flax and Twine. It’s one of the easiest crafts I’ve ever come across, my seven year old is a pro.

You can embellish your wreath however you want. I decided to make a tiny heart garland out of paint chips and embroidered doodle hearts.

Cut out a circle, doodle your heart on the back, punch some holes, and stitch a running stitch around your doodle.

Hot glue your hearts to a piece of yarn and your yarn to your wreath and you are finished.

I hope you enjoy this sweet little project!

Linked up this week to Tatertots & Jello, House of Hepworths, One Creative Mommy, Funky Junk Interiors, Making the World Cuter, Under the Table and Dreaming, Craft-O-Maniac, Skip To My Lou, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, The Girl Creative, Six Sisters’ Stuff, Ginger Snap Crafts, Someday Crafts, Polkadots on Parade, Whipperberry, and Little Inspiration.

Felt Valentine’s Day Mail

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Jen

We don’t do too much around our house for Valentine’s day, but I do like to give our kids something fun to wake up to. I made these little pouches to fill with some stickers and a little piece of candy and a tiny note.

Supplies Needed:

Felt (red and white)
Embroidery floss (I used DMC 321 and DMC white)
Button
Needle
Scissors
Marker or pen

Cut a rectangle 3.5″ x 6.5″ out of your red felt. Find a circular object to trace around one end to get the rounded look. I just used a glass out of my cabinet. You could also just freehand it. It would also be cute as a pointed edge since it’s an envelope.

From your white felt cut out a 1″ x 2″ piece and a half inch square.

Fold the bottom of your rectangle up about 2 inches and stitch the edges closed. I used a blanket stitch, but a running stitch would also work.

To cut a slit for your buttonhole fold the rounded edge in half and cut a slit about half the size of your button. Then when you open it up the button should fit through.

Fold your rounded corner down and make a pen mark through the slit so you know where to sew your button on. Sew and button up to see how cute it is!

Stitch a heart on your tiny square, that’s your stamp, and stitch a name or a sentiment onto the label. Use a running stitch to attach them to your envelope.