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