Sunday Special - Hand Warmer Tutorial

I have been wanting to post tutorials for awhile now,

but just have not had the chance.

So my new goal is to post at least 1 a month

- a Sunday Special.

You will be able to find them again in the future

by either using the search engine or the keyword "tutorial" in my word box.

Today we will be making a hand/bed warmer.

It is still mighty cold here in Utah and many parts of the country.

This is a perfect sweet gift for Valentine's Day.

From your sweetheart to sweet Grandma,

these will be well received!

Materials:

(2) 5x5" scraps of muslin

(2) 5x5" scraps of Valentine fabric

brown embroidery floss

embroidery needle

rice

Directions:

1.) Draw your embroidery pattern on to both pieces of muslin.

I just doodled a heart and "Be Mine".

2.) With 2 long pieces of brown embroidery floss,

back stitch the image.

3.)Take 1 embroidered muslin piece and 1 Valentine fabric piece,

place right sides together.

Machine or hand stich a 1/4" seam, leaving a 1" opening for turning.

Clip corners making sure not to cut stitches.

4.) Turn warmers right side out.

Gently poke corners and iron out.

5.) With a funnel, fill warmers with plain white rice.

You want these full, but not overstuffed.

6.) You can either machine top stitch the warmer closed

or hand sew the opening shut.

Pop them in the microwave for 90 seconds

for warm goodness!

Don't want to make them?

You can buy a set here

at The Quiet Stitch

Isa in the Valentine Dress

Toddler Dress In A Nap.. I Mean Snap..

While searching for even more crafty challenges online,

I came across Project Run & Play

Very similar to Project Runway,

designers are given challenges and voted off each week.

However, they have decided to let readers submit as well.

Granted the readers are not in the running for prizes,

it is still an awesome creativity generator.

And I'm a glutton for punishment.

And Isabelle told me yesterday that I am to make

her a Valentine dress.. with hearts.

(She tried to throw in a Halloween motif as well

but luckily I was able to veto that without a tantrum)

This week we were tasked to reinterpert

Leila and Ben's "Sweet Dress"

I love this dress!

Now.. the sleeves were done in a way

I have never done before, so I just had to trust them..

and it's fab!

Totally do-able in an hour

(if you don't have a gassy baby waking every 10 minutes

grumble grumble grumble)

Now since this was my first time working with the dress

and I am by no means a pattern designer,

I only made a few changes.

I made it with 2 fabrics,

I added the pockets,

and the ruffle on the bottom.

The pockets are simply a 5x5 square,

each sided ironed in 1/2".

I free motion embroidered the heart

(After spending a TON of money on a machine

that will do computer generated embroidery..

I favor my own free motion..go figure!)

The ruffle was just a long stretch of 4" fabric,

folded in half and run through

the ruffler at 12:1.

Looking back I wish I had serged the top of the ribbon

before sewing to the hem..

I did it after, and the serger caught a small

bit of the dress.

Not super noticeable, but it annoys me that I

could have *easily* avoided that..

Hope you like it!

Hope Isa likes it..

I will get pics of her in it after her nap..

**And not to be outdone by her big Sis,

I'll make a itty bitty one for Jules this weekend**

I'M PUBLISHED

I know my ethusaism may be hard to read,

but I'm SUPER EXCITED!!

((Doing goofy happy dance!!))

I didn't even rank, but Taste of Home named

my pub onion rings as a honorable mention!

I received my free TOH Cookbook yesterday which was a happy surprise,

but TODAY,TODAY,TODAY

I got my complimentary issue of the magazine..

With MY recipe in it..

There is the mag

And there is my name and recipe!

As I mentioned.. I'm only slightly excited..

It is my first ever *cooking* related publicized mention.

After doing this for less than a year with a large maternity break,

I'm pretty proud.

OK..

tooting of horn is completed.

Back to my normal schedule of poopy diapers, ungrateful toddlers,

and large stack of dishes..

P.S. Did I mention I was in a magazine??

Results for WOW #3 - Details for WOW #4

I hope ya'll were able to find some fun with 7 deadly sins.

Thanks to Urban Stitches, I was able to

hand embroider this beauty.

After stitching the picture all in black,

I then went back and "colored" in with fabric markers.

I had seen this technique done by Mary Engelbreit,

and I have been wanting to do it for months.

So much fun - a grown up's coloring book!

My sin could be interpreted in a number of ways.. wrath, envy, lust

It's all about the original temptation.

Want it for the temptress in your life? It's in the store!

And I just adore Kathleen's Sue Envy!

Love the thought and love the art.

This kind of nails who I am too..

I've always loved the country & the city.

Too, too cute!

The challenge this week is

to do a valentine and do not use pink or red!

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

Please leave your links here by Tuesday at midnight (MTN).

It can be anything..quilt, food, photography, etc..

You can read more about WOW here

If we can get 5 crafters to enter,

the prize this week will be a

Sweet & Savory Spice Kit for Popcorn

by DellcoveSpices on Etsy