Wednesday, August 19, 2009

September Project

OK so this month we are doing the No sew simple aprons! I love doing these because not only are they super easy to make but they are something that I use all the time. Some people have purse or shoe addictions. . . I have and apron addiction. I kid you not I have one in every color and for every possible mood that I may be in! I mean come on if you are going to be spending all your time in the kitchen you had better do it with style! OK so back to business.


Materials needed:
1 yard of washable material. I love duck cloth or a poly cotton blend. These are thick and wash great!! I usually get it at walmart for $1.50 a yard. Also a note. 1 yard will make 1 adult size apron. 1 yard at 60" wide will make 4 child size aprons. you should be able to make between 2-4 child sized aprons out of 1 yard. It will just depend on your width.


Ribbon for ties. 80 inches for adult size 40 inches for child size. (2-9) Older children (10 or older) may need a few extra inches.

2 buttons (these are for decoration only and are optional)

1 roll of heat-n-bond (walmart $1.97) one roll goes a long way! You can use any type of no sew product you like this is just the one a prefer cause it is super easy and mess free! Not to mention that is washes extremely well!!

1 snap (This is for the child size only)


needle and thread to sew on buttons and snap


and of course an iron and ironing board


1.pin your pattern on fabric putting long edge on center fold. Unfold and iron out crease in center


this is what you should have.









2.Cut out 1 piece of ribbon 25" long (neck piece) Cut 2 pieces of ribbon at 22" long(ties)

Child apron(not pictured) cut 2 pieces of ribbon at 8" long (neck pieces) cut 2 pieces of ribbon at 12" long (ties)












3.In curved sides of apron press under 1/4" with your iron. This will help to keep material from fraying in wash.











4. Fold and press under again putting the heat-n-bond in between as pictured. Press with Iron making sure that entire edge is sealed.











Your apron should now look like this









Repeat steps 3 and 4 on bottom of apron.

5.Now we are attaching the neck strap. With the right side of your apron facing you place the edges of your ribbon in the corners securing them with small pieces of heat-n-bond. It should look like this. It is important that you let the heat-n-bond cool before trying to pick the ties up. If you don't they will not adhere properly and you will have slipping ties!







6. follow steps 3 and 4 again for seam. Remember to allow time to cool before picking up.









7. Now we will add the side ties. You will follow the same steps as you did for the neck strap. Put your apron right side facing you. (As shown in the picture below) Put ribbon in the corners securing with small pieces of heat-n-bond. Hem as before following steps 3 & 4 (and yes that is my foot in the picture. I just didn't notice it until I was writing the sentence just before this one!)








Finish up by adding buttons at the neck. If you are doing the child size add your snaps to each end of your neck ties.

All right you are all done! See I told you these would be simple. Of course this is a very basic pattern you could add pockets and all sort of cute things on these to personalize them! Have fun making tons of these. I'm warning you they are addicting!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Reciepe Card holder

Materials needed:



1 Wooden frame. 5x7 for recipe card size. (I purchased mine from the dollar store)

piece of chicken wire to fit opening. (Lowes 10'x 24" was $3-4 you can purchase some from me for 1penny an inch)

wire cutters

Staple gun

hammer

decorative paper, wrapping paper, wall paper . . . I think that you get the idea. Cut to fit in your frame

buttons or other type of embellishments if wanted and glue to adhere them

mod-podge and paint brush



OK so lets get started.

1. So to start off you will want to remove the back and glass from your frame. You can throw the glass out but keep the backing you will need this later!


2. Cut a piece of chicken wire to fit the inside of your frame. Staple and hammer into place one side at a time pulling tight and shaping the wire as you go. Make sure that you staple all "loose ends" you don't want your wire to unravel when you trim it. Use your wire cutters to curl in your ends so that you have no sharp edges. The back of your frame should look something like this at this point. (Just a note -make sure that your chicken wire is going in the same direction pictured. If not your reciepe card may not fit.)









3. Use the back of your hammer to push the wire into the grooves on your frame so that you can fit your backing into it later.









4. Take your decorative paper and mod-podge on to the backing of your frame and also on the back of your paper. This will help to maker sure that your edges do not curl up as it dries. Place paper on the frame backing and apply pressure to make sure that you have no bubbles. When dry Mod-podge over the front of your paper. This is an Important step. This seals your paper so that if you should spill or get splatters you can wipe it off without messing things up.
5. Glue on any embellishments that you want to add.

6. Put backing into the frame

And you are done! See that was painless wasn't it! This is a project that you could put into many different sizes to organize may different things. This is great for little girl hair accessories. If you add alligator clips this is a very easy way to organize your mail and keys. The options are endless!