Ruffled Flower Headband

I just finished revising our Ruffled Flower pattern for The Cloth Parcel, and I just had to share!  I love how this pattern turned out.  We added an elastic headband option to the pattern, along with instructions for using regular cotton material.  Originally, this pattern was written for using denim material, like in our Scarf and Ruffled Flower craft kit.  I thought it could use a little update, since it was one of our very first patterns written just about a year ago.  In the last year, we have learned quite a bit about how we like our patterns to be laid out, taking product photos, and how to write things to be a little more readable.

I am so pleased with how this pattern turned out!  These flowers are the perfect embellishment for every little girl.  The headbands make the sweetest little baby shower gifts, stocking stuffers, and the pins work for ladies of all ages.

 

"A Day in the Field" Fabric

I've been back at designing fabric again.  The theme for this design was to be inspired by pen and ink/watercolor drawings.  I did a larger scale than I normally do, and I really like it.  I learned some new things about Illustrator, which is always a plus.  I don't know if these flowers exist, since I made them up as I went.  I'm sure there is something that looks close to them out there somewhere?

Another thing I tried differently was the random pattern (which I have done before) with some white space in there to keep it from getting too busy.  Wouldn't this make a great over-sized tote or purse?

Posey Patch Quilt

When I first finished my Craft Room v2.0, I had to borrow a quilt from my mom's collection on account of the news coming to my house to interview me about my Etsy shop.  We found that her "Posey Garden" quilt (modified Pauline Smith's Chelsea Quilt pattern from Kaffe Fassett's Quilts in the Sun book) matched the color of my walls perfectly.  It was so perfect, and I loved it and didn't want to give back.  But, I did give it back, which left me with an empty wall.  My mom graciously offered to help me make my own.  We followed the same basic pattern, but some of the fabric it used was out of print, so we had to make do with a couple of replacements.  The photo below shows my mom's quilt in my art room:

My quilt ended up more of a square, since we didn't do as many borders for my but it actually works better since it is more out of reach of little kid fingers.  I named my version "Posey Patch".

I love having this cheery quilt to brighten up my basement craft room.  Right now I'm down there working on Easter dresses for my girls.  It's my first time using a pattern in years, so there is a lot of refresher learning, and it's my first time making dresses, so there is also a lot of new learning going on.  The pattern said "easy", but I am beginning to doubt that. . .

Linked: TT&J

Felt Flower Grapevine Wreath

As some of you know, I have this grapevine wreath that I got with a plan to reincarnate it all the time.  It's been a fall wreath and a winter wreath chandelier, then it took a break in my closet for about a year.  During that time, I tried out some other kinds of wreaths and door decor, like the tulle wreath, candy corn hanger, and red feather wreath.

Here it is again!  It's about time I busted this thing out.  This go-round, I was going for a more season-neutral theme, to a point.  I didn't want something that I would necessarily have to take down because a certain season just ended, but I also don't plan to leave it up all year.

While I was making these felt flowers, I thought that some of them would make really cute hair clips for my girls.  So, in the spirit of interchangeable wreath, I just put each flower on its own clip, so now I can rearrange the flowers and use them as hair clips when we're ready to switch things out again.  I can also switch out the color scheme very easily.

I found a bunch of super easy tutorials for the flowers from Craftiness is not Optional.  I used the rolled felt flowers, scalloped mini flowers, and the layered felt flowers.  I also threw in a simple spiral flower, similar to the ones I did on the modern baby shoes.

Another thing that I added to the wreath that you can't see in the photo is a felt lining on the back.  This is the only wreath I have that scratches my front door's paint, so I cut one-inch strips of black felt and hot glued them all the way around the wreath on the back, so they created a big circle.  It's great, because now I don't wince every time someone opens the door!

I was pleasantly surprised at the easiness of this project.  Seriously, felt is so forgiving, and I was able to do all of these in one day.  I recommend using wool felt.  It is much thicker, looks higher-end, and comes in so many cool colors.  I found mine at a quilt shop.  All I needed was about four sheets of felt, a glue gun, and some hair clips to make these (all of which I had on-hand).  These flowers would make great accents to girls' headbands or even as a gift bow.

Linked up: Tatertots & Jello 

Fall Wreath and Flower Hair Clips

I started working on my projects list this week.  I realized that I am running out of time before the baby comes!  Today I finished a fall wreath I have been thinking about and made some flower hair clips for both the girl we have and the one that is coming.

The wreath was easy, because I had the wooden wreath form already.  I bought a fall garland at Walmart and wrapped the ribbon and tied a bow.  The streaming ribbon ends are actually another piece of ribbon that I then tied around the middle of the bow.  

Easy peasy.  Plus, I can easily change it up for the next season or whenever I get tired of it.

Here are the flower clips I made.  These were super easy as well.  All I did is get a bunch of fake flowers at Walmart, take them apart, and put them back together how I wanted.  Some of them, like the giant daisy, I didn't even change.  I hot-glued them to ribbon-covered clips and glued a fancy button in the center.  Done.  

Besides burning my fingertips a bajillion times, this project went great!

After today's adventures, here is my updated project list:

• Make fabric boxes for the new changing table (still looking for a great tutorial, will let you know when I find one!)
• Finish fall wreath (work in progress!)
• Paint birdcage cream or light yellow
• Find a buffet to paint for the dining area
• Get chairs for the front porch
• Get potted plants for the driveway
• Build shelves on either side of the washer and dryer
• Take door off coat closet, paint, and put cubbies inside
• New couch pillows
• Install wall shelf in main bathroom
• Refinish piano
• Make some green frames to match green stained table
• Fix leg on green table
• Get or build a picnic table for the backyard
• Sew kitchen curtain (work in progress!)
• Sew changing pad covers
• Make flower hairclips
• Turn craft room into nursery
• Laundry room makeover

Tomorrow, I may have a chance to finish the kitchen curtain that I have assembled all the supplies for.

Just to be clear, I am not planning on finishing all of these projects before our baby is born.  Especially since that will be in like 10-11 weeks.