Princess Leia - Crochet Beanie Mini Tutorial

Have you joined the Resistance? We are huge Star Wars fans and proud members of the Rebel Scum. When a dear friend asked if I could create a Princess Leia cap for her baby girl's photo shoot, I jumped at the chance. This crocheted hat is adorable, simple, and you can create it during a nap! Don't crochet? No problem, you could also adapt this to a pre-purchased knit or crocheted hat.

If you love to crochet, but need an easy beenie pattern, I found a fabulous one over at Left In Knots. There are multiple sizes, you could create matching Princess Leia caps for May the 4th!
I used a dark brown acrylic yarn, easy to wash and durable for little kids. I used Vanna's Choice in Chocolate.

Next you will cut 36 pieces of yarn measuring one yard. Pull out that yard stick and let the kiddos help. It doesn't have to be crazy accurate. Divide the stack in half - two sets of 18 pieces. Now with each set you will create a large braid - 3 groups of 6. Just a traditional braid - again, you could enlist you kiddos to help with this. It's a fabulous fine motor activity.

Then gently roll the braid into what kind of looks like a cinnamon roll. Using a yarn needle and another long piece of yarn, sew the bun layers together. Make it nice and tight, don't worry about the seams showing - it all blends in.

Place the beanie on and decide placement of the braid buns, but they are basically low to the cuff and centered. Sew them on and call it a day!

Wasn't that easy? Now you and your strong girls can join the Rebel Alliance or party hard on May the 4th Be With You! Have questions? Drop me an email or comment below.

Isn't my friend's baby the most adorable Princess Leia ever? You can easily adapt this into any size. I'm considering making myself one for snowboarding season!

Are you looking for more Star Wars fun? I have a fun baking blog over at Sweet Jenny Belle. I recently created a round up of all my galactic fun cookie and cupcake tutorials, recipes and ideas. Whether you are with the Rebel Alliance or have gone to the Dark Side, we always have cookies!

XO, 

Jenny

Make your own Camera Strap! | ADORNit Video

Still need a Mother's Day gift? Come check out my camera strap tutorial video that I created with AdornIt! Super easy and a great gift for all mothers!

Easter Pillow Tutorials

Am I the only one that gets a little nutty when Easter lands in March? In my brain, Easter is in April, that way I have proper time to enjoy it. Alas, it is in just a few weeks. Time for the Easter Bunny to get moving on baskets, decor and treats.

If you are looking to add to your Easter holiday decor, I have a couple of pillow tutorials that you may want to check out -- everything from faux chenille to free motion sketching. Running short on time like me? You can use these techniques on gifts for Mothers and Father's Day!

1.) Shabby Chic Eggs

2.) Foundation Pieced Cross Pillow - this also makes a beautiful Baptism/Christening gift!

3.) Faux Chenille  and Reverse Applique - Good or Bad Egg Pillows

4.) Free Motion Sketched - Bunnies at Church Pillow

5.) Crochet Embellished Easter Egg Pillow

DIY - Salt Dough 'Thank You' Tags

It is amazing how much packaging of items can play a part in our level of happiness. I'm always striving to create cute shipping & packaging for my Etsy items. I want people to receive my item and feel like that special care was taken, that their purchase has become a memorable gift.

I've decided to raise the bar a bit and make something a bit extra to show my appreciation. This afternoon I decided I would create salt dough gift tags. There are a number of DIY salt dough recipes on the internet, but if you are interested, the one I used is here. After rolling them out, I used my Making Memories metal tag stamps to create the "Thank You". Metal stamps are pretty popular these days; you should be able to find them in your local craft store or even some hardware stores like Harbor Freight.

Once these come out of the oven, I will give them a light wash of color and highlight the text. Then pull a yummy ribbon or baker's twine through them and wrap them up with my outgoing orders.

It seems like these days customer service is so rare that we remember the few places we find it.
I hope this will help my clients feel treasured and appreciated!

**
Linking up to: Today's Creative Blog

Christmas Tree Skirt Tutorials

Last year I designed two tree skirt tutorials, one for a Christmas tree and one for a table top tree. In case you are looking for some inspiration, I thought I would repost the tutorial links!

This is my Ribbon Candy tree skirt that I designed for Moda. You could easily change the serger thread or jelly roll fabric to any desired color for a different colored "candy".

And this is my paper pieced skirt for a table top tree that I designed for Riley Blake. If that much paper piecing gives you the shivers, you can easily replace those panels with coordinating fabric.

I have both of these skirts on our trees now and love the quilted touch. If you can believe it, I still have not made stockings for my family - we use store bought ones (boo!) That will be on my to-do list next summer.

What are your favorite holiday tutorials?

Hey, Hey We're Monkeys!

Are you ready to see my next project using Sharon Kropp's new line Little Monkey for Blend Fabrics? Earlier this week I did a tutorial on how to create a traditional quiet book, perfect for learning your numbers. But this fabric line is just perfect of course to create a song book for "No More Monkeys Jumping On The Bed"!

It's constructed different than a traditional soft book and will be lots of fun for the older toddlers.

Want to know how much fun.. well you can see my monkeys in action with it here..

Little Monkey Song Book

Materials Needed:
1 panel of Little Monkey - multi numbers
1 yard of woven, fusible interfacing
1 yard of No More Monkeys - blue
1 fat quarter of Chevron - light blue
scraps of fabric from Little Monkey line
scraps of heavy no-sew fusible web
8 sew on snaps

Directions:
1.) Cut out each of the numbers (0-9) and trim down to 7.5"x 10.25". Cut out 10 pieces of interfacing measuring 7.5" x10.25" and iron on to the back of the fabric numbers.

2.) With a 1/4" seam allowance sew the numbers together in descending order (9-0). See reference photo below.

3.) Cut two rectangles out of the No More Monkey blue fabric measuring 10.25" x 35.25". With right sides together, sew the rectangles together to form a piece measuring 10.25" x70". This will be the back panel to your book.
** You could patchwork the back with various fabrics from this line, just be sure your final shape is 10.25" x 70"

4.) Cut four rectangles out of the Chevron fabric measuring 2" x 17.5". Take two of the rectangles and place them right sides together. With a 1/4" seam allowance, sew the two long sides and one short side. Turn the strap right side out and press. Repeat with remaining two rectangles. These will be the fabric ties. Set them aside for now.

5.) Iron on the fusible webbing to the backs of the scrap fabric pieces. Fussy cut out various monkeys and shapes to decorate the songbook cover. See reference photo below. Since it is a heavy duty fusible webbing, you will not need to sew them in place, just iron them on and you're done!

6.) Pin straps on top of the number panel - one centered on either end. Lay the back panel piece right sides together to the number panel (your straps should be sandwiched in between the two panels). With a 1/4" seam allowance, sew along the perimeter leaving a 4" gap. Clip corners up to the stitching line and then pull right side out. Press.

7.) Topstitch the perimeter of the book with a 1/8" seam allowance - this will close your gap and give it a more professional appearance. I also stitched in the ditch between each of the number panels.

8.) Your book is almost completed, to complete the accordion fold out construction, we will now hand sew between the pages. On the backs of each number panel, sew a snap into the top and bottom corner. (See reference photo below)

9.) That's it! The pages will snap together and the book comes together with the fabric ties. Older toddlers will love singing the song, counting the monkeys, and learning fine motor skills with the snaps.

I have one more inspiration project to share with you later this month. An improved quilt built around the number panels. I can't wait to show you!

Little Monkey Counting Book - Tutorial

I really love making my children toys and books. There is something so peaceful about knowing exactly what materials were used. I especially love when I can create a soft, fabric toy for them. My youngest is almost two and still loves to chew and rip books. I was elated when I saw Sharon Kropp's new line for Blend Fabrics, Little Monkey. The line is full of sweet monkeys, chevrons, and more. The numbers panel in particular is quite versatile. I made a counting book, song accordion book, and have an improv quilt in the works. Today I will be show you how to create this fun counting book that is sure to be hit with your children.

Little Monkey Counting Book

Materials Needed:
1 panel of Little Monkey- multi numbers
1 fat quarter of the Chevron - light blue
1 fat quarter No More Monkeys - brown
Scrap of Jungle - light blue
Scrap of fusible fleece
1 yard of woven fusible interfacing

Directions:
1.) Cut out each of the numbers (0-9) and trim them down to 8.25" x11.25".

2.) Cut out (1) 8.25"x11.25" rectangle from each of the two fat quarters - these two pieces will be the front and back covers.

3.)Fussy cut out a monkey from the scrap piece of Jungle and iron on a piece of fusible interfacing to the back of the fabric. Cut a 6" square of Chevron with pinking shears and iron on a piece of fusible fleece to the back of the fabric. Now you will place these pieces on top of the brown No More Monkeys rectangle and free motion applique them in place. If you are not comfortable with free motion sewing, you can of course use a decorative sewing machine stitch instead.

4.) Cut out (12) pieces of fusible interfacing measuring 8.25" x 11.25" - iron these to wrong side of each fabric rectangle. This interfacing will give your book more weight and body. You could use fusible fleece or batting instead, but I prefer the weight of interfacing.

5.) With right sides together, sew the front and back cover along the left long side with a 1/4" seam allowance. See placement picture below.

6.) Continue sewing page panels together in the following order:
0-9
8-1
2-7
6-3
4-5

**If this page construction seems odd or wrong, jump down below to see photos of finished pages**

7.) You are almost done! Now we will complete the page panel construction. First place your front/back page panel right sides together with the 0-9 page panel.

Pin them together and sew along the perimeter with a 1/4" seam allowance - leave a 3" opening.

Clip corners up to the stitching line and pull right side out through the 3" opening. Press and topstitch with 1/8" seam allowance - this will close your opening and provide a nice finished look to the pages.

8.) The second page panel set is 8-1 and 2-7 (see reference photo below). Construct as described in step 7.

9.) Your final page panel set is 6-3 and 4-5 (see reference photo below) and construct as described in
 step 7.

10.) Now you will lay the three completed page panels on top of each other in order.

After carefully lining up the pages, sew a straight line down the center of the seam.

That's it! It makes a fabulous gift for babies and toddlers paired up with a coordinating blanket or quilt.
My Kiddo loved counting the monkeys on each page.

Come back later this week to learn how to create a song book for "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" in an accordion style construction with snaps and ribbon tie.

The Adorable & Easy Sewing Machine Cover

Lately I'm all about hand embroidery. I love how portable it is; I can work on it for a few minutes throughout the day with the rare moments my crazy girls give me. I originally started this embroidery for the 4th of July, but since I pursue happiness almost daily on my sewing machine, it seemed appropriate. And I loved how this line of Blend fabric designed by Charlotte Lyons coordinates with the patriotic colors.

The embroidery pattern can be downloaded here. I used 2 strands of floss for the pinwheels and a single strand for the grass and words.

This is a super easy project and is fabulous way to showcase a piece of embroidery or some pieces of special fabric. You can create this with a few fat quarters and lengths of ribbon!

1.) Measure your machine from the bottom at the front to the bottom of the back (as seen in picture below), my machine measured in at 27". You will also need to measure the width of your machine, mine was 18".

2.) We will now cut the fabric for the inside of the sewing cover. Cut your desired fabric a 1/2 larger than each measurement you just calculated. So, my inside fabric was cut 27.5" x 18.5". I choose to use muslin fabric, but you can create this to be a reversible cover.

3.) The back of my fabric was a single piece of fabric - that was cut to 18.5" x 14".

4.) Now depending on your machine size, your final measurements for the front of your cover will vary, but I will show you my layout for your reference. The measurements listed include a 1/4" seam allowance and were pieced in alphabetical order.

5.) Once the front is pieced, you will need to sew the front and back of the top together (see picture below for reference.) Now you have a completed top piece that should measure 27.5" x 18.5"

6.) Before I completed the cover I added just a little bit more embroidery on the cover as seen below.

7.) Now we will need to prepare our ties for the sides - cut (4) lengths of ribbon 20" long. You will pin these 4" up from each corner.

8.) Now place the two fabric pieces (inside and outside cover) right sides together, lining up the corners, and pin every couple of inches. **Be sure that your ribbon pieces are sandwiched between the two layers**.

9.) With a 1/4 seam allowance, sew along the perimeter of the cover.***Leave a 3-4" gap to turn it right side out*** Clip corners and turn.

10.) Give it a nice hot press and top stitch around the perimeter. Enjoy and pursue happiness!

If you have any questions or you spot an error (ack!), please feel free to email me at allthingsbelle@hotmail.com

I would love to see if you make one!

Peek at the Sewing Machine Cover Tutorial

Tutorial & embroidery pattern coming this week!

Prepping for Quilt Market

Today I'm guest posting over at Quilting Gallery - one of my favorite quilting sites! I'm presenting how to create my business card pouches. I made these for a few special contacts at Quilt Market (and yes I'm counting the hours till I board the plane!)

Want to read more about my inspiration to go above and beyond with my cards? Check out my friend, Topsy Turvy's post on her AMAZING cake pop/business cards. Such a creative way to leave a lasting impression! 

Hope to see you at Quilt Market! May the shopping and dreaming begin..

Smitten With Samantha

To say I adore Samantha Walker's fabric maybe an understatement; Kiddo's nursery is completely decked out in her cowgirl design. When the opportunity arose to design for her, I jumped at the chance. Today on her blog,  I have a tutorial on how to do a fussy cut, reverse applique table runner using her Decadence line. I love this line! The colors are rich and the motif is around nature - a fabulous combination to use in your outdoor living spaces. I will have several more tutorials featuring this line later in the month on my blog, including the over sized pillow seen with the table runner.

I hope you will stop by Samantha's blog today and look around; she is one of my favorite designers and I know you will love her work!

Fun Easter Projects From 2011

I ended up not being ready to quilt again last night. No, I'm not afraid of my machine - the swelling and pain was just a little too much to try to work around. In the meantime, I am presenting my Easter project tutorials & freebies from last year. I did a ton! Apparently Easter is great inspiration for me!

Hope you enjoy! Many of these projects are on my Tutorial page for future reference.

 FREEBIE - Easter Subway Art File

Edible Easter Basket Dessert 

Thread Egg Decor

Egg & Bunny Tail Garland

(A great projects for kids!)

Golden Egg Topiary

Peeps Wreath

Peek A Boo Bunny Lamp

Pottery Barn Knockoff - Egg Hunt Garden Stake