DIY Hello Kitty Key Cover

I was told that I needed to blog more, so here is a quickie :P

We bought a used Durango last December and the one and only key didn't have a ring/clasp and the buttons were missing. That's my luck. But the vehicle had AC and living in 100+ degree weather 8 months out of the year (exaggeration) I didn't much care about the condition of the key. 

My husband globbed some kind of industrial glue to the back of it and stuck a ring on it because he liked it I guess (see what I did there.) It lasted for a few months, then the glue started to crack and then the ring fell off. So here I am trying to keep up with a loose key along with my other keys! And I am the type of person that is always losing my keys. So it's a pain in the butt but I still kept putting off a fix. Until I nearly dropped the stupid thing down a storm drain the other day! So it was time to do something, so I made my own case in a very small amount of time while sitting next to my kiddo while he played on the Xbox.

So here it is. Dang that thing is a big piece o'crap.

And here are the materials I scrounged up:

First thing I did was made the tiniest, tiniest hole in the center of the felt square:

Now trim a little itty-bitty snippet off that corner to make your key slot.

I trimmed a little bit off felt off the sides and top of the flaps and stitched them together.

For Hello Kitty's Face, I cut out an oval from white scrap felt. Then I cut out a bow and then hot glued them to the case. If you can tell from the first picture, I also hot glued two strips of felt the the sides of the case for reinforcement and to cover up my crappy stitching job. Then I took a fine point sharpie and drew the face. and TA-DA! The felt may be a weak fabric to use, but it will hold me over for now. 

Skyrim Themed "Arrow In The Heart" Valentine Scroll

 Yes the whole “arrow to the knee” phrase/joke is overused, but Oxboxer over at Tumblr made several super-cute Skyrim themed Valentine cards and I fell in love with them! This one in particular is perfect for my husband. We've used the phrase so much that it's completely replaced the name of the game that you just lost by the way). We rarely mention or hear the word "Skyrim.

And yeah, I nerded the Valentine up to another level. I didn't want to simply print it on some dumb piece of boring paper and have it laying about the house or tossed in with the bills. I wanted it to be extra dorky special! Plus I was dying to try this new technique I discovered on the wonderful world of Pinterest from The Country Chic Cottage blog: transferring images on fabric using an ink jet printer. So I grabbed some spray adhesive, muslin, and card stock and started playing.

   

I ironed the muslin so that there were no wrinkles (unless you are going for the rough, imperfect look, then it turns out nicely). Then I lightly spray glued to the card stock and placed the muslin on top. After I smoothed out the fabric to get rid of wrinkles and bubbles, the excess fabric was trimmed off the edges of the card stock. Then the card+muslin was placed in my ink jet printer, ready to be tested (that's when the DIY Dork in me got really excited)! I was uncertain how colored images would turn out seeing how the tutorial I learned from only used gray scale, but the results ended up being really cool! I am in love with this technique! Can't wait to use it on Halloween!

The original dark pink color in the upper text of the original artwork didn't show up well on the the muslin. The words blended in with the background and made it difficult to read. I had to brighten the font color and reprint. Good thing muslin is cheap!

After I let the ink dry for a bit, I sprayed a few light layers of Mod Podge Matte Clear Acrylic Sealer and let that dry, too. Then I gently peeled the muslin off the card stock and it came off so easily! NEAT-O!

The muslin was sewn to the burlap using a regular straight stitch and then a tight zig-zag stitch around the edge of the burlap to keep the darn stuff from shedding. Hopefully this will hold!

   

I had some hot pink twine and fabric hearts just lying around so I decided to finally put them to use. I punched a hole in the heart and dabbed the edges with Dritz Fray Check. Then rolled up the burlap, wrapped it with the twine, slipped on the heart, and tied a bow.

And now I have a sweet Valentine made with love!

.hack//SIGN "Macha" Cosplay DIY Hat with Kitty Ears

I went ahead and posted a pic and brief summary of the kitty cat ears on cutoutandkeep.net (awesome site by the way) since that's where I found the easy tutorial on how to make them. The original version and tutorial is by "Cat Morley" on the same website. Hers are definately better, but I still got compliments on it.

The hat I made myself using brown felt and the McCalls costume pattern 3789 (Misses'/Men's/Teens/Children's/Boy's and Girl's Witches /Wizards Costumes).

It was my first time making a hat and it was fairly easy except for one step: matching the two pieces together! I piddled with it for days and got so frustrated, but I eventually threw my hands in the air and said, "Screw it!" and sewed it together. It ended up looking good, lol.

I cosplayed Macha at A-kon 21 in Dallas this past June. I still haven't posted pics of the kon yet and I'm sorry! Wedding planning and my getting my kiddo prepared to start school has made me into a busy Queen Bee. But A-kon was fun, as always, and I got to cosplay as "Macha" from .hack//SIGN and "Zoey" from Left for Dead (she was way fun!).

Boys Flannel Hockey Pajamas using New Look Pattern 6131.

I made these flannel Hockey PJs for my son last November and just realized that I never posted a picture of them! Now, I'm not a master seamstress, but this project was pretty easy. A bit time consuming for me because I was learning a few new techniques that I have never worked with before, like button holes (I used blue buttons, see them? lol).

First off, I made a "mock-up" with the shirt pattern out of an old ninja turtle bed sheet. I do that on some projects as a test and it helps me see my mistakes so I don't ruin the actual project. I had a few old sheets in my towel closet that I've been using, but I hear Muslin works good for that too because it's inexpensive. The Ninja Turtle shirt looks incomplete on the inside because I didn't follow the instructions like I was supposed to (hence why I do the mock-up in the first place!), but it turned out to be a cute little shirt too.

And look! The pj shirt also has a cute pocket on the right side of the picture, with the word "hockey" right in the middle! Considering the print on the fabric, you can't see it very well. I am very proud of that cute, little pocket tho!

Here is the pattern information: New Look 6131.

I had to use a different size for the top than the bottoms because, like every child, he wasn't going to fit in just one size. Also, since the pants were elastic AND drawstring, I made them a couple of sizes bigger and an with adjustable leg hems so he can grow into them. I also made the shirt bigger too.

As for the kiddo's approval? He loves them! They are very soft, comfy, and he loves wearing them around the house. This was probably the very first sewing project I finished that was nearly flawless. I am very proud of them and they were easy to make!

Today's DIY Sewing Projects: Cars Pillow and a Teddy Bear Shirt.

I had the Cars fabric remnant just hanging around, so I figured it was time to do something with it. Hancock's had their pillow forms on sale, so I ran over there and bought one.
Also, I made a shirt for one of the kiddo's little teddy bears using the leftover fabric from the PJs. I'll post pics of the PJs later, the top is finished, pants are still in pieces.
That's what I've done so far tonight, I am moving on to another project!

DIY Sewing Machine Cover Using Scrap Fabric.

I've been working on a few projects these past few weekends but haven't had the chance to post any of it yet. So here's one of my first projects after I finished my Loli Bloomers: A Sewing Machine Cover.

I got tired of putting my sewing machine in the box everyday, or leaving it sitting out on my desk collecting dust in between weekend projects. And since A-kon is just around the corner, I wanted to keep my machine ready at a moment's notice so I can sit down and get to crackin' whenever I could.

I had some awesome remnant flannel fabric that was just sitting in my sewing trunk. It was too small for anything else, but I just loved the design. So I worked with it and viola! Here it is:

Here's a brief explanation on how I did it:
I couldn't make the remnant fit properly, it was really long but not wide enough to cover the whole thing. This is what it looked like:


But luckily I just learned how to make ruffles! So those could give me the extra length I needed to cover it completely in the front and back.
I measured how much would cover the sewing machine, then I trimed off the extra length and set it aside for ruffles. Next I postioned it on my sewing machine, centered it, then pinned along all 4 sides to make long darts for an almost snug fit. I didn't get any cool pics of all that, but if you know about darts, then I'm sure you get the gist. If not, then watch this vid that taught me how to sew darts last year. This is what my finished darts looked like:

Once the darts were finished, I took the remaining piece and cut it in half  lengthwise and made the ruffles. Then I sewed once ruffle on the front, and then one on the back (there was enough length on the sides to make sort of a 'lip,' so no ruffle was needed there). Then it was finished!
      

Loli Bloomers

I plan on wearing a Lolita outfit to A-kon 20 this summer, and so far all I have managed to put together are the bloomers. Here's a picture of them!

I used Simplicity's pattern 2777 and a black poly/cotton blend fabric.

Considering that I am still a novice seamstress, these were pretty easy! They gave me a few problems when it came to the leg bands. They were so wide that it looked like I was wearing boy boxers with ruffles. 

After calling my Mom and fellow cosplay buddy, I was still confuzzled on how to fix them without taking it all apart. The legs were made up of 3 sections: the ruffle, the leg band, and then bloomers themselves. I noticed that some of my seam allowances from the bloomers and the ruffles were sewn together, and it looked like it could make a perfect casing for elastic. So I grabbed a huge safety pin, ripped open only a few seams, and started threading some elastic through. Sure enough, it had made it's own casing! There were a few parts that I had to hand stitch to complete the casing, but it was WAY better than ripping it all apart. When that was finished, I re-adjusted the mock-bows and they turned out perfect! 

Also, instead of using a drawstring waist, I added elastic to that as well. I figure since it's an undergarment that's going to sit under a petticoat AND a dress, I wasn't going to want to fool around with keeping a drawstring tied. Then I added another mock-bow at the waistline and then viola! I have my first pair of Lolita Bloomers! 

Now that I've made my first pair, I am thinking of making one or two more to sell on Etsy. Maybe a white pair and a black pair.

I always learn something new with every thing I sew. The bloomers taught me how to gather for the cutie ruffles. It's so easy and it was so much fun :)