Fabulous Friend Friday

Oh, am I excited to share today's friend!!!!

She has written a tutorial for you today on how to make
 baby/little girl leg warmers.

So, let's get right to it!!!

Today's friend is ....

Shelley C.
Shelley is a terrific wife, mom, nurse, friend to everyone, photographer, scrapbooker, and so much more!!! I am thrilled and so excited she is sharing today!!! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!!!

Shelley is going to be my guest blogger today so without further ado here's Shelley.....

These are adorable and they only take about 10 minutes to make.  For real!  I love an instant-satisfaction sewing project and that is exactly what these are!  First let me say that this is not my original idea.  But all the best ideas are copied, right?!

So run out and get you a pair of fun knee-high socks.  I used women’s because I have three girls.  But you can find some cute argyle socks that would be great for a baby boy too. By the way, these leg warmers fit all three of my girls.   One is 6 years old, one is almost 4 and one is 2 months!  So, they are very versatile!  I bought these socks at Target for $2.  Such a bargain.

 

First of all, cut off the toes and cut off the heels.  You can throw those toes and heels away…I can’t think of anything I could use them for.

Next take what remains of the foot part and fold it inside of itself, so that the wrong sides are facing each other. This ends up being the bottom cuff of the leg warmer. 

Then tuck the leg part of the sock inside the folded tube part of the sock, lining up all of the cut edges.

Next, if you want (and you’re a perfectionist like that) you can pin the layers together (I don’t!).  Then,  stitch together the three layers all the way around near the cut edges (you don’t sew all six layers or else you would sew the sock shut).  

I’m not really a seamstress, but I do know how to sew a straight line!  And luckily, that’s the only skill required for this project.  I don’t know what settings you should actually have on your sewing machine, but this is what I did and it works for me.  I have read that a serger would be really nice to do around the edge to keep it from fraying but I have no such machine!

You’re done!  So, turn the cuff down the right way and go put them on a cute little baby or stylish toddler or spunky big girl.  So fast and easy!

THANK YOU Shelley for sharing with us today!!!! What a WONDERFUL tutorial!!! I hope each of you were totally inspired to go make your own leg warmers! Have fun and let me hear how yours turned out!!! I love to hear your comments!

Have a great weekend!!

~ Katy

Fabric Frames

I found the COOLEST idea from a fellow blogger and wanted to share it with you. The blog is called...

GRACE VIOLET

This gal has really got it together!! Her ideas are FABULOUS!!!

The idea I want to share with you today is this....

This is an arrangement of 20 5x7 picture frames filled with fabric. She used this to decorate a wall in her craft room. I LOVE this idea!!!!! It really fills the wall with color!!! She said she bought the frames for 0.96 a piece, not bad! Check this out on her blog!!

I will post more of her ideas in the future so make sure you check back.

~ Katy

How It Works

I have had a lot of people ask how my embroidery machine works. So, I wanted to share a few pictures and describe how it works. I use a Baby Lock brand machine and here are a few things about it.


This is the screen on my embroidery machine. I create the design on my computer and then transfer it to my machine via USB flash drive. I make any adjustments that need to be made on the embroidery machine screen.

Then I place the item in the correct hoop. This is why the item must lay flat.

Next I press start and watch to make sure it is doing what it is suppose to do.

Then after it is done. I take it off the hoop and take the stabilizer off. Then I turn to the backside of the item and cut the excess thread from where the bobbin thread and color thread have been tied to hold the design. I have to make sure it is perfect!

These are the basic steps that I go through to embroider items. There are a lot of little things in between these steps like measuring the item in the hoop to make sure it is straight, placing the stabilizer where it needs to go, making sure the bobbin is full, making sure the placement is right and the tension is perfect. It is a really fun process! I love to take something plain and transform it to have personality!

My machine is also a sewing machine.
Do you have a sewing machine? What kind do you have? I would love to hear!!!





 ~ Katy



Who's Your Team?

College sport rivalries impact most Americans no matter what state you live in. No matter what sport you enjoy you always want to support your team by sporting their colors or logo. What better way to make your personal belonging more special than to put your school logo on it! Here are a couple of things I have done to give you some ideas...

A Blanket

A Sports Bag

Here's your challenge...

Look through your stuff and see what you can put your team colors on to make them a little more special.

Who's your favorite team??? I would love to hear your comments!!!



FABULOUS FRIEND FRIDAY

Okay Everyone...Friday is here again!!!

I love FABULOUS FRIEND FRIDAYS because I get to share with you about some really AWESOME people!!! Today's friend is no different! She has started a blog that will knock your socks off!

I know everyone has heard of The Pioneer Woman...Well today's friend hosts...

The Overwhelmed Woman

This awesome lady is...

Nicole Arbuckle

She and her family live in Arkansas. Her husband is on staff at a local church in their town.

Nicole writes about life as a woman with many roles and demands. She writes on topics dealing with children, marriage, self issues, household management, and a lot more!

The title of her blog is so perfect because a lot of times we do try to fit "the mold" and we become overwhelmed at the unrealistic expectations we set for ourselves. Juggling all the many roles that we carry as women can be a huge challenge and Nicole has created her blog to encourage women. Her blog is going to be a GREAT sounding board for women to share with each other and discuss how life has overwhelmed them, allowing them to gain encouragement from others facing the same struggles! What a JOYFUL thought...women encouraging women for the glory of God!!! Thank you Nicole for opening up the door for such an event!

Here is a quote from Nicole's blog...

"I sometimes find myself relieved when a “perfect” (someone I view as perfect) woman does not have everything together. In reality, we are all a mess and overwhelmed.

I wanted to start this blog as a chronicle and encouragement to other women who, like me, are OVERWHELMED.

I’ve had a family blog and transferred some posts that I thought we be relevant.

I hope you will join me on this journey in my “overwhelmed” world."

- Nicole

Okay, Ladies...

GO VISIT...

GO COMMENT...

~ Katy

Fabric

There are a lot of different places to buy fabric and there are a lot of fabric options out there. I want to share a few places where I have bought fabric. These are places that I would recommend looking at the next time you need fabric.

1. Denver Fabrics:

I have used this site a few times and have really been pleased with the service. It comes within a week and the best thing about it is I don't have to wait in line to get my fabric cut!!! WooHoo!!

2. Fabric.com

This site is also really good. I have ordered from them as well and had a really good experience. I also received my fabric within a week and again I did not have to stand in line!!! Yippee!!

With both of these online sites you can sign up to receive emails to be informed of sales they are having. This is great because you can get what you need at a really cheap price! Both of these sites are VERY budget friendly!

3. Hobby Lobby

I am sure EVERYONE knows about Hobby Lobby's GREAT selection of fabric. However, I love Hobby Lobby so much that I had to include it in my list! If you have never shopped for fabric at Hobby Lobby you must go! They almost always have their fabric on sale.

4. JoAnn Fabric and Hancock Fabric are a couple of others that I have used. These are good places to shop, they are just big chain stores and I always have to wait in the longest line for fabric cutting! However, they do have a VERY large selection of fabric. 

These are a just a few places. There are many other REALLY great local fabric stores out there. You just have to get out and find them.

Here's a challenge for you this week...
Find one local fabric store in your area and go visit it.
I would LOVE to hear about it!!!! Please share your fabric store choices!!! I always want to visit new stores to get new ideas!!!
~ Katy

Tshirts and cute shirts

Something I have really enjoyed doing lately is creating applique tshirts and other cute shirts.

I recently reconnected with a life long friend and she is going to have her 6th little one and she wanted tshirts for the kids to wear when the baby was born. So, I went to work on her t-shirts and here is how they turned out... 

Now all I need is a picture of her precious little ones to model them.

I had another friend who wanted an embellishment on a cute little green shirt she had bought for her daughter. I added her initials with an applique font for the perfect embellishment...

I hope you enjoyed these as much as I enjoyed making them.

~ Katy 

Birthday Surprises

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

For Valentine's Day I am going to share something pink with you and it includes some fun birthday ideas! 

We attended a birthday party recently hostessed by a lady who if you look under CREATIVE in the dictionary her name is in BOLD! Serious, creative stuff comes out of her head!!!! It is a gift that she has! I know you are just dying to know her name so I'm going to tell you....it's

MICHELLE TOMBRELLA.

She threw her little girl the most creative ballerina birthday party! I want to share with you the invitation she made by hand...

  

So impressive, huh??

She even hand glued every pearl on the top!!! That's dedication! So for the rest of the party she had pink everything! Pink jello, pink marshmallows, pink cake, pink popcorn, pink bread, pink chip dip, pink punch, and she even had pink ballerinas stamped on the sandwiches! She monogrammed canvas bags for all the girls with their names in pink and let them stamp pink ballerinas on the bags for a craft. She had pink "dance" streamers for every girl ready for their real ballet lesson from a real ballerina. It was a real hit! Everything was so creative!!! I just wish I had pictures to show you everything!

Need help hosting a creative party? 

Leave a comment about your party ideas and maybe others can help by leaving comments with some creative ideas for you!  

I want to share what we took for our present to the party. I made a applique shirt with the birthday girl's initial on the front. I also bought a bag and monogrammed her initial on it and garnished it with a bow she can use for her bag or her hair. Take a look...

I hope this inspires you to go out and be creative the next time you are planning a party of any kind. I would LOVE to hear your party ideas...Leave a comment and share!!!

~ Katy 



Fabulous Friend Friday

It's that time again...It's Friday!!! Yippee!! I love Fridays! Fridays always give me a little energy kick to finish the week strong! Friday also brings Fabulous Friend Day and for today's fabulous friend I have a very special guest who is an amazing young lady! I am featuring her today in honor of her birthday which was yesterday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Her name is......

LEIGH CARTER

Leigh Carter is a woman that everyone ought to meet!!! She is amazing! She can do it all!! She is talented in EVERYTHING she does! She recently worked as a servant overseas in another country and used her amazing talents for His glory! She just returned back home recently after a long stint away and we are all grateful she is back and healthy and safe. She truly is a great servant and I want to share her blog with you so you can see what she has been up to in the most recent chapter of her life. Hopefully you will be inspired by this amazing woman! Click HERE for her blog.

AND THE WINNER IS....

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO ENTERED THE THIRTY-ONE GIFTS GIVEAWAY!!

It was fun to see everybody's comments! Let me say, even if you did not win you can still order something from Randi or better yet host a party for Randi and get some AWESOME hostess rewards!!! Contact her TODAY... 31Randi@gmail.com !!





Okay now on to business!!! Let's see who the lucky winner is.............

This is the part of the show that the beautiful lady stands up to reveal the winner and the drum rolls and the male, radio announcer voice says, "And the winner is....

CLAIRE COMBS!

Congratulations Claire!!! Way to go!!!

You will need to contact me at sewthatslife@gmail.com by Friday, February 11th.

Thank you again to Randi for the wonderful giveaway!!

Stay tuned for more giveaways from other great people in the future.

~ Katy

FREE Thirty-One Giveaway!!!

Yesterday I blogged about my friend Randi, the Thirty-One consultant and today I am going to follow up with that post with some REALLY good news.

The GOOD NEWS is...

a FREE Thirty- One GIVEAWAY starts TODAY!!!

The lucky winner will receive a $10 gift certificate for

 Thirty-One Gifts!

(WOW!!! I want it!!)

So here's what you need to do to get your name in the drawing...

STEP 1: Become a follower of this blog.

STEP 2: Go to the Thirty-One Gifts website and look around.

STEP 3: Come back to this blog and post a comment on February 7th's post telling us what you think about the Thirty-One Gifts Products.

That's all you have to do!!

You have until noon (cst) on Wednesday to post your comment!

I will use random.org to select the winner. The winner will be chosen on Wednesday night and announced on Thursday morning!!! If you are the winner you will need to contact me by Friday, February 11th to get your prize. If the winner does not contact me by then I will pick another winner.

PLEASE TELL ALL YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY!!!

This is a GREAT prize and you WILL NOT want to be left out!!!

Here is another picture of their products to get you more excited...

I CAN'T WAIT TO ANNOUNCE THE WINNER!!!  I hope you will get excited too!!!

~ Katy

Bags and More Bags

Last week I showed you some bags I monogrammed for a wedding party and this week I want to show you another VERY cute bag. My friend Randi is a Thirty-One Gifts consultant and she had a Thirty-One bag she needed monogrammed with her sweet Adalynne's name on it. So here's how it turned out...

I thought the bag was precious and the canvas bag will be so versatile for her! If you would like to learn more about Thirty-One gifts check out the online catalog and email Randi if you want to order anything... 31Randi@gmail.com ! She would love to hear from you!

I would love to hear back from you! Please comment on what you think about Thirty-One Gifts. If I get enough feedback there might just have to be a FREE GIVEAWAY!!!! So check it out and let me know!!!

Click the picture for the Thirty-One Gifts website ....

~ Katy

Fabulous Friend Friday

The second FABULOUS FRIEND FRIDAY is here and you are not going to want to miss this one! Let's get right to the announcement so you can enjoy this lady's blog...

Today's FABULOUS FRIEND is.........

BRITTANY ESTES

of

Brittany is a mom of three precious little ones. Two boys and a girl. She is a spunky, fun loving gal that loves her family and her razorbacks. She has a hilarious blog that outlines her crazy but fun life and she also has a new page called "Stretch Marks" where she shares things she is learning from her walk with the LORD. Her title is perfect because we should be growing in the LORD and stretch marks are a physical sign that we have grown. Brittany is a talented lady with lots of great ideas. I would love for you to meet her through her blog. I can guarantee you will enjoy your visit. Thanks Brittany for sharing!

Click Here To Visit Brittany's Blog

~ Katy

How To Make A Burp Cloth

Today I want to share with you how to make your own burp cloth. These are always practical and make great gifts. I am going to share with you how I make them. This is not the only way to make them of course. This is just what I have found to work for me.

STEP 1: You need to pick out your favorite print fabric, a backing fabric, and a terrycloth fabric. I use flannel as my backing but I have seen minky used as well. These are soft and absorbent fabrics that will catch all that you need it to.

STEP 2: Measure and cut all three pieces of fabric the same size. The size is your preference but I cut mine 18 inches by 12 inches. For example, I cut the print/front fabric, the terrycloth and the flannel backing fabric all 18 by 12 inches.

STEP 3: Then with right sides of the front and back together match all the corners. Then place the inside terrycloth on top and pin all corners together and then pin the sides together. This will hold the fabric together when sewing. You will have three fabric layers. A front, middle and back.

STEP 4: Now it's time to sew. I give myself a 1/4 inch allowance all the way around but you can give yourself 1/2.  I start on one side about half way down and sew with a straight stitch all the way around. When I get to the corners I don't lift my needle only the pressure foot to turn the fabric. Stop when you get about 1.5 inches from where you started.

STEP 5: Trim the excess fabric all the way around if you have any. Especially around the corners. Now at the opening turn the burp cloth right side out. Use a pencil (eraser end) to push out your corners.

STEP 6: Once you have all the corners nice and pointed and all the sides striaght you have two choices.
               1. Hand sew the opening closed.
               2. Fold the opening in and iron down then machine sew the
                   edge all the way around the burp        
                   cloth. This option holds up better in my opinion.

STEP 7: Iron and you are done!

This is so easy to make and a lot of fun! One thing you can do to add a little pizzazz is personalize it with a name. I hope you have fun making your own burp cloth and let me know how it goes. Leave a comment! I would love to hear! If you have any questions just let me know!!    

~ Katy