CarissaCarissa

a new quilted pillow to lay my head on

I'm going to show you something very embarrassing and you have to promise not to laugh or be disgusted.  Ok, promise?  This is the pillow that my mom made for me I can't even tell you how many years ago.  Some kids have blankets that they keep forever, I have a pillow.  And this pillow has gone past the point where I can ignore how gross it is that I sleep on it.

Yup, that's see through.

My new pillow came together a bit on accident.  I have been thinking about making a new one for some time now but wasn't sure what I wanted it to look like (I'm not quite as in to Mickey or random beach things as I was).  I kept putting it off and putting it off.  Until one day, I was cleaning out my closet and saw a quilt that I had started oh so long ago.  I was about to throw it out when I realized that it would make an adorable pillow!  So I quickly folded it in half, stitched up 3 sides, stuffed it, and sealed it.  The whole thing took me about 6.8 minutes and I'm completely in love with it (those are my favorite sorts of things).

Let's not get started on that bear from 1987.  Baby steps, people.  Baby freaking steps.

my favorite quilt

I would like to say that everything I make is my favorite, but the truth is, I love some things so much more than others.  This is the 3rd quilt I've made and it's easily my favorite (see one of the other ones here).  There are a few things really set this quilt apart from the others I've done.  

(sorry for the photo quality- these were all taken with my trusty iPhone)

1.  It's a lap quilt.  Which means I got it done fast i.e. I didn't get sick of it, rush to finish, and end up hating it.

2.  It's not a block quilt.  I decided that I wanted to do a different shape than my other ones and chose a hexagon. 

3.  It's my first handmade binding.  On my 2 other quilts, all I did was fold the backing fabric over and sew it to make the binding.  I really wanted to try something new with this one so, I made my own binding!  Hint: it's the easiest thing I've ever done and will never go back.

Pretend this is your fabric- cut diagonally and stitch the pieces together to create your bias tape.

4.  It's my first hand stitched binding.  I really wanted to do this one right so instead of machine sewing the edge of the binding, I hand stitched it.  It takes a bit more time but I love the look.  

5.  It's all about saving money.  I already had the top colors (for a few quilts I had planned on doing a few months ago) and the binding was some leftover fabric from some pillow covers I had made.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do about the back but knew I didn't want to spend any more than I had to.  I went to Wal Mart to see what they had for sheets and completely lucked out.  Since I didn't have a color in mind, I was completely open minded and got this hot pink sheet on clearance for $2.50.  Combine that with the thread I had to buy and the whole things was less than $10.  Score one for frugality.

6.  It's machine quilted.  I stitched around each hexagon and I love the pattern it made on the back.  There were a few touch and go moments when I accidentally stitched it onto itself and there were a few times it got thrown across the room, but I love it!

7.  It's colorful.  I am obsessed with these colors.  The mix of spring colors with black is my new favorite thing.  Combined with the hot pink back- I want to wear it around everywhere.

 

diy no sew fabric covered headbands

I've only recently discovered the power of a hot glue gun.  I used it when I was younger but I don't remember it working quite so well.  It's my new favorite crafting gear.

For this headband you'll need a few supplies

• headbands (I got a pack of 3 for about $4)
• strips of fabric about twice the width and about an inch longer than your headband
• hot glue gun + glue
• an iron

To get started, measure your headband.  Mine was 14.5" x 1".  You want to cut your fabric so that you can wrap it around and not have any loose ends out so I cut mine to 15.5" x 2".

Iron a 1/4" seam around all 4 sides.

Mark the halfway point on your headband and fabric and put a little dab of glue to keep it in place.

Working from the middle --> out, place a good amount of glue along the bottom edge of the headband and wrap the fabric (the photo does a better job explaining).

When you get the whole thing wrapped, put a dab of glue on the end and tuck it under.

Too cute! Plus, you don't have to worry about those annoying pokers digging into your head all day!

diy clutch

I would love to be one of those women who carries a tiny clutch everywhere she goes.  Never has to dig in her giant bag for her keys, sunglasses, wallet, bobby pin.  I'm not one of those women yet, but this clutch may just change all of that.  Don't get me wrong, this is still a pretty big clutch, but it's about a third of the size of my other bag I was carrying.

I used this super easy to follow tutorial as my starting point.  I made mine about 15" x 10" (Folded over, it's about 8x10).

I had some faux leather that I had picked up from the JoAnn's clearance bin awhile ago and attached that to a piece of leftover pillow fabric for the outside.

I lined it with duck canvas so that it's super sturdy and can still hold my keys, wallet, phone, notebook, lotion, chapstick, sunglasses, reading glasses, etc, etc.

I may have just started a whole new chapter in my life.

canvas star bag

Bags are my bag. I love 'em. I have to run through the front of Target when I go so I don't into the purse section.  When I saw this tutorial from A Beautiful Mess, I knew that I wanted to make one of my own.

This is one of my favorite quotes of all time and that is one of my favorite photos.  Bringing them together seemed natural.

To make this bag, you'll need:

canvas bag (I got a 3 pack for $8.99 - 40% at Joann's)

a yard and a half of strap fabric (this makes your straps about 26")

iron on transfer paper

this photo

seam ripper

thread

sewing machine

iron

Take off the canvas bag handles with the seam ripper.  Cut your strap in half so you have 2 straps and sew each of them onto the inside of the bag (where you removed the ones it came with).  I sewed them to the inside, because it looks better with the strap material I got.  Print the mirror image of the photo onto the iron on paper and follow the directions to apply it to the fabric.  That's it!

Love that font?  It's called Bentham and you can get it for free right here!