Pattye Duffner's Blog

Halloween 2010

 
 
 
 
 

back to school in style

 

I used this pattern and made way too many of these skirts out of left over fabric from pervious projects.  I am not much of a clothing maker, I do love to sew but I always say I can only sew a straight line.  So when I do something you know anyone can do it.  I followed the pattern and it worked!!!  I added some covered button hair ties for a little girl’s matchy matchy complete outfit.  And let me tell you at 8 Ella is being so kind and saying she loves them and wants to wear one on the first day of school.  I scored a point here…

 

Pocket Pillow

Making a pillow case with a pocket on the front is fun for the kids to add some goodies… flashlight, batteries, book, journal, pen, slippers what ever!  This has been a birthday party gift for a few little ones.  Could not be easer!

Robot Valentine

Another Valentine idea!

Braeden loved making these.  He even came up with the words...  Happy Valentine's Day  
 

Gift ideas

Getting ready for Christmas around here includes party planning, Santa’s lists, and crafting, shopping, card making along side the every day jobs.  Having a new baby in the mix too!  This year I am going to find 1 thing to make and hopefully it will work for a number of gifts.  Teachers, nieces, friends, sisters etc.  While I am searching I wanted to share some of  years past handmade holiday ideas…   Hopefully I will get on schedule soon, running behind this year!

 

handmade crayons

letter blocks

 

chalk board mat

personalized score cards

 
 

Could not be easer ruffle apron

 

Having a ruffle foot for your sewing machine can make a quick gift.  A ruffled apron for the holidays can make kitchen duties a bit more fun. 

·   Cut the skirt piece 23” x width of fabric (mine was 44”) two times.

·   Attach 2 pieces together (this makes center seam)

·   Finish edges ¼” under on three sides (leaving top unfinished)

·   Cut 6” x width of fabric two times for waistband.

·   Fold waistband in ½ sew edge and flip thru for finished edge. 

·   Attach skirt to waistband with ruffle foot. 

This turned out so easy and cute I think I may try to make some children’s ones for the next birthday party Ella is invited to. 

It is possible to make without a ruffle foot, simple hand ruffle before attaching to waistband. I like to start in the center and work my way out from there.

Handmade Valentines

 

 

This year I am making the valentines with the kids…  I can’t say it is cuter then any store bought ones but it was fun to make together and it is homemade.   

 

 

I had each kiddo write on a blank sheet of paper “Happy Valentines Day From --------” or what ever they wanted to add.  Ella added the word “friends” on hers (so cute) and the boys drew a heart.  After they each wrote their own valentines on their own sheets of paper I scanned the image and saved it as a jpeg.  I opened elements 5 and started…  Open a blank file to be the size of my colored sheets of paper (mine were 8.5 x 11).  Opened the jpeg of their original written words.  Simply dragging and resizing the words to fit on the page as I wanted,  (over and over and over and over) I had a finished image.  Flattened the jpeg and renamed it. 

 

 

 

From here I printed this new image onto colored paper.  Used a play doe cutter to trace onto the backsides of the colored paper and cut!    Using a small hole punch cut 2 holes for the sucker to weave through….  I put the finished valentines on glass bowls around the house for Valentine decorations. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

07: Handmade Holiday Bed Pockets

Trying to figure out what to give a sister that has everything…  I made her and her husband a little something she could fit between her mattress and box spring.  It holds 2 magazines on each side as well as her glasses, ipod, tissues, paper pens, remote control, even a flashlight if needed.  This was super easy to make after a lot of planning.  I am not sure what I enjoy more about making these goodies, the planning and figuring out how it will all come together or the fabrics or the actual sewing???  I took the width of their mattress and added 24 inches to each side.  Sewed up an 18” fabric band.  Folded up the ends to make the pockets and stitched the seams to finish it off.  This would even be fun to make for a college student… If you are interested in more detailed how to let me know and I will make one.  Christmas countdown…

06: Handmade Holidays Photo Gifts

 

Making traditional books digitally is easy enough.  I used snapfish and shutterfly to make several calendars and photo books for presents.  I am hoping the in-laws will like them as much as I do.  I am having a hard time wrapping them up to give away.  I may need to make additional ones for me J 

05: Handmade Holidays Babysitter Checklist

 

A paper-covered clipboard with a funny pad of paper attached is a creative Christmas gift.  Why conjure up the same information for the babysitter over and over again? Parents can now keep the kids safe and happy the fill-in-the-blank way. With prompts for all possibilities, you’ll remember to clarify everything from food quirks to bedtime rituals. “Don’t Kill The Kids” is found here…

04: Handmade Holidays Crayon Apron

If your little one likes to color as much as mine do this crayon apron is a handy way to hold your crayons…

Materials Needed

Two pieces of 13 ½ ” X 17 ½ ” for the body

One piece of 4 ¼” X 13 ½ “ for the pocket

47 ½” of decorative ribbon

Thread

 

Matching the right sides of the body fabric, sew together ¼ “ seam allowance along the 2 long sides.  Fold the pocket in half long way, press and sew together.  Unfold the pocket pieces and press.  Cut and sew on decorative ribbon to front of pocket along the length. 

 

Aligning raw edges on both sides.   Input the pocket to the body.  Leaving a ½” opening on both sides for turning, sew the sides together.  Make sure to catch the pocket, turn right side out and press. Cut the remaining decorative ribbon in half.  Topstitch around the apron ¼” from the edge including the ribbon ties on the topsides.  Sew from top to bottom every 1 ½” to divide the pocket into sections. 

 

03: Handmade Holidays Grosgrain Ribbon Belts

Making belts out of different widths of ribbon is an easy and quick Christmas gift. Two lengths of 1 ½” ribbon (waist size plus 9”)  Sew one end around 2 1-1/2" D-Rings. Hem one end of the belt by folding it over twice approximately 1/2" each time. Stitch across the hem to finish and you have it! You can even layer the ribbon to get different color combinations.  Simple, quick and easy. 

02:Handmade Holidays Personalize Family Night

Making personalized scorecards for a Christmas gifts was an effective way to include the entire family in one gift.  I printed out 10 pages with each family members names in each line.  Some smaller families have room for guests.  I downloaded the free template here.  Cut them apart and attached them to cardstock on the back with embroidery string.  Jerry and I have loved playing tri-ominos ever since we first learned it on a trip to New York to visit Jerry’s Grandfather.  We were hooked.  When the kiddos came along they have been wrangled in to play as well.  They too are hooked.  It is a good family game…

01: Handmade Holidays

With the amount of people we buy for at Christmas time I have to be creative in order to stay with in budget and still give.  8 brothers and sisters, in-laws and countless nieces and nephews (30 plus at last count) all ranging in ages, teachers, friends…  I have decided to make as many gifts as I can.  I will put them all in one category called Handmade Holidays for easy reference.  They will all be simple and inexpensive, with four kids to keep after I need to start now! 

Girly Handbag