This is continued from Tuesday: Christmas Presents For the Kids: Tristan part 1
Once the zipper pull is past the place where you have already sewn, then lower the zipper foot and finished sewing in this side of the zipper. This helps to keep your zipper sewn in straight.
Hello everyone!
I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Mine was perfect! I love spending time at home with my family.
Starting this week, I am working on making Christmas presents for my children. We have a tradition that every Christmas eve, the children get to open one present from the family. That present is always some form of sleepwear. That way the children have nice new pajamas on for all the photos that are taken Christmas morning. My children love their pajamas that I have made each year. Each year I try to do something different for each child, and this year is no exception.
This post is about what I made for Tristan. Tristan is my wonderful 4.5 month old baby who is very wiggly at nights. He does not like to stay under any blankets. To help him keep warm on this cold winter nights, I want to sew him a sleeper sack like I have had for my Girls.
Hello everyone,
It has been a beautiful November for us! I love the Fall.
This week I did not do any repurposing. I actually made some new items from fabric that I purchased from the store. I do have more repurposing to come, but I did not have anything that I could use to make pajama bottoms for Cameron and a new Sunday Dress for Leatha.
My children love to go to the store with me and pick out their fabric for me to sew their new items. Leatha enjoyed watching me sew so much, that last year for Christmas we purchased her, a sewing machine on Black Friday. The sale was fantastic! If you have a child or teenager, that you would like to get a sewing machine for, check out the Black Friday sales. Get a great deal!
Now Leatha has her own sewing machine, so I do not have to share mine. Leatha used to take all of my scraps and sew them into stuffed animal clothing, doll clothing and aprons for her brother and sister. Now she can take my scraps and sew what she wants, when she wants. She has even made a few layer ruffle dresses for school. I am glad that she enjoys sewing as much as I do.
Yesterday we talked about how to start making a Roman Shade. We talked about sizes and then sewing on the Roman shade Tape with rings on the back of the shade. Today we continue:
The top of the shade is then wrapped around the 1×2 header board (that is the length of the window) until the shade was the length that I desired.
There are several ways to mount a Roman shade. One recommended way to get length industrial Velcro that is the size of the window, and place it on the shade and the window where you want the shade placed. This way you can take the shade down when needed.
Another way to hang the shade is to get Curtain or Shade Brackets from the store that will hold your header board.
I decided to just attach the shade with wood screws through the header board directly into the window casing. I did this because my children have pulled the other curtains and blinds off the wall and broken them. I wanted something that would stay up longer. I decided I could spot clean or steam clean any mess I needed to. I also picked darker colors so they would look nicer longer.
I placed the Shade just inside each window, until the header board was flush with the wall and screwed it into the casing. I screwed it directly through the wrapped fabric of the shade. You have to be careful with that or the screw will catch the fabric and twist funny. If this happens, just unscrew, reset the fabric and screw in the screws again. The shade is now hanging in the window and awaiting stringing.
Hello everyone!
I hope that you are having a great FALL!! I love this season! Well the weather here has been snowy, rainy and cold. When the weather turns colder, I like to make sure that my windows are covered. This year I decided to add Roman shades to my children’s windows. The thick fabric that I decided to use will help keep the cold air out, as well as sunlight and will provide some privacy when my children need it.
First thing I did was measure my children’s windows. Lucky for me they were both the same size. I then went and picked out some heavy cotton fabric that my children would enjoy. For the little kid’s room I picked out a blue back ground with bright orange circles. It is a fun pattern. For my oldest daughter, she already had white muslin curtains with a purple sheer fabric covering them, so I wanted something that would go with what she already had. So I chose a medium gray with tons of white flowers all over it. The end result is wonderful in her room.
Wow,
What a Wonderful and busy Halloween season. My family and I had tons of fun this year. We hope that you also had a wonderful season! We had a great time decorating and trying new things this year. We loved the family activities that helped to decorate for Halloween.
But Halloween is over and the decorations are being but away. So it is time to get ready for the next season. No, it is not Thanksgiving yet! It is the great season of FOOTBALL. Football is what my family does from now until we set up for Christmas. Now, I am not the hugest football fan, however my family is full of huge fans. I love to support what they love. My idea of watching football, involves watching the first 5 minutes of the game, then leaving the room to go work on any craft, then I return at the end to see who won. I leave the family to enjoy the sport. I do however love watching a football game in person. I enjoy the game more. For family nights this year we are going to try and attend some games from the local high school or even some University games.
To support Cameron’s love of football, he wanted a new Broncos shirt. But he wanted my old Bronco shirt that I made for me years ago, but worn seldom. The shirt was in great condition, so again I am repurposing one of my shirts into a shift for one of my children. You will notice that even with a button up shirt, it is the same guidelines to repurpose the shirt into a smaller size as with the other shirts that I have done.
Here is what the Witches costume looked like before. 
To get the weather-worn look, I cut the hems off of the skeleton skirt and the sleeves.
I then went around the skirt in a jagged zig-zag patten, to make large triangle cuts.
I then took the fabric and sewed a straight line following this new zig-zag patten. When sewing this line, decide how much more you want the fabric to fray to give you the weathered look. I wanted about one inch of fraying, so I sewed one inch away from the edge of the raw fabric.
To help with the fraying, I then cut the fabric up to the new sewed line, all the way around each zig-zag about 1/4 to 1/2 inch apart. see attached examples.
After I washed the outfit the fabric frayed up to the sewed line giving it this great weather-worn look. I repeated the zig-zag cutting pattern on the sleeves. However with the sewing the support line around the zig-zags, I made just a straight line around. I wanted the entire zig-zagged portion of the sleeves to fray. The sleeves look great after they were washed.
The next project for me was to make the skirt longer and more modest. I decided to add an under layer to the skirt that went under the skull fabric and the black netting. I took the costume to the fabric store with Leatha and allowed her to choose any color fabric she wanted. She wanted the shiny silver costume fabric. Which was great for me, for it was only $2.00 a yard. I also had Leatha pick out a contrast color for her belt/scarf, and her head scarf. She choose a wonderful dark purple in the same costume fabric.
I took the silver fabric and sewed up the side of the fabric, so the fabric was one large tube shape. I then cut off the extra length from the bottom of the fabric. Next I sewed a long straight stitch around the top and used the bobbin thread to gather the silver fabric until it was the same size as the existing skull fabric. I then layered the silver skirt under the netting and the skull fabric so all the rights sides of the fabric were facing the same way. Next I pinned, then sewed the silver fabric in place on top of the already made seam from the skull skirt.
Leatha put on the dress and I cut slits in both side of the skirt up to her knee. I then sewed a straight stitch around the silver skirt about 12 inches from the bottom of the skirt. Next I went around the bottom of the silver fabric and cut some long slits all around the skirt up to the 12 inch sew line. After Leatha put on the skirt I realized that I needed two slits on the sides of the sliver skirt to give her more room when she was walking. These slits I cut went up to the side of her knees. At the top of the log slits I sewed a small straight stitch to help control the fraying of the fabric. After the new Vampirate costume was washed, it had a wonderful worn frayed look.
Leatha wanted a lace up top look, so on the top of the dress I sewed a small purple ribbon back and forth in a cross pattern from her waist to the neck line. I left enough ribbon at the neck to tie a bow. It was a great addition to help tie in the purple color she wanted to add.
With the dark purple fabric I purchased a yard for $2.00, I cut it from one corner to another, turning it into two large triangles. One triangle I tied around her waist to make a belt/scarf and add a punch of color to her dark costume. I then took the other triangle and I tied it around her head as a bandanna. This will help to hold on the wig that she wants to wear with the costume.
To finish the look, I placed a pirate hat and wild wig, I already had on her head. I also gave her a eye patch to wear (That is tied on with purple ribbon) , added a purple ribbon choker necklace and gave her black stockings.
Leatha looked great! She loved the look and was excited that she was going to be the only Vampirate at school! I loved the fact that the entire costume change from a Witch to a Vampirate only cost me $8.00!!!! and some creativity.
Well I hope that you enjoyed this post. Halloween is a wonderful holiday that can also be affordable! Just use your creativity! you can do it!
Hey Folks, how are we today? I hope all is going well for you. We are looking at fall and even winter weather here in Salt Lake this week so we will be more than ready for Halloween! I hope you are all ready for it!
This week we have been working on Halloween costumes! Brenda will have another post about that on Tuesday. I have been working on adding more and more things to our shop, there are several new items as well as some lower prices! Send your friends over to the shop from either the link above or here for some spooky signs and fun items.
Thank you to everyone who is signed up on our mailing list, there should be an email out tomorrow or the next day with a special discount in it. If you haven’t signed up, please do so, there is a spot to sign up on the sidebar there.
If you just don’t want to sign up for the list but still want to buy items, you can use code “emaillist” (no quotes) at checkout to have and additional 10% off!
And remember, all shipping is $4.95 per order. You can buy the whole shop out and I will ship it for $4.95!
That is about it for this week, we are going to start on Christmas items soon, if you have any requests please let us know in the comments below or via email. There is a contact form in the sidebar —–> or you can mail justin@brendasquiltshop.com or brenda@brendasquiltshop.com with any ideas, questions, concerns, recipies, weather reports, insect counts, etc.
Have a great weekend, get out and do something fun for Halloween this week!
-Justin
Hello everyone,
For those of you who know me, you know that my family LOVES Halloween. We decorate our house as much for Halloween as we do for Christmas. I know it can get expensive to celebrate and decorate for the holidays, but there is affordable ways to celebrate every holiday. Around each holiday I will write a post and share with you my tips and tricks. So for this post, I thought I would start with some of my favorite affordable Halloween decoration ideas.
First it is never too early to prepare for Halloween. I start on November 1st every year. For the next year. Before Halloween I pay attention
and keep a list of all of the new items that I liked and where I saw them. But I do not buy them at that time. I only get 1-2 new Halloween items each year, (which I pay full price for). The rest of my Halloween supply I get on November 1st. I am a patient person, and money is tight for
me as well as a lot of people. I cannot justify spending full price on most items to decorate my house, so I will wait. Stores however are very
IMPATIENT! The day after Halloween, they want to get everything off the shelves so they can finish putting out the Christmas items. (I say finish, because most stores start putting up Christmas in September!) To clear out the holiday items FAST, they will sell the items for 50 %- 75% off the first day. 4 days after Halloween almost all the items will be 80%-90% off!!
This is a great deal. I love to decorate with the fine spun white spider web, but these sometime cost as much as $3.50 before Halloween. However after Halloween they are only .15-25 Cents! I will spend $1.00 and I can place spider webs all over my house the next year. Halloween decorations do not expire, most are good from one Halloween to another. I love the plastic spiders , Halloween pencils, Vampire teeth, Trick or Treat Pumpkins, wigs, Black lights, strobe lights, Fog juice, orange and purple string lights, Halloween glitter nail polish (Leatha uses these all year long), and a few non-candy items for next year Trick-or-Treaters that cannot eat candy. (I always have a Halloween
toy for those kids; everyone needs a treat they can enjoy).
Every year when I set up and decorate for Halloween I am surprised with what I have purchased on sale from the November before. It is always fun when I unwrap a cute new candle holder that I forgot I had purchased. You can get some wonderful items to help you decorate for next year.
For those of you, who want to do something this year and have very little money, look no further than your closest $1.00 store or two. I have found wonderful items for Halloween over the years from $1.00 stores. Some of my favorite items, I purchased last year, were three Halloween
menus; they are currently hanging up in my kitchen. (Aren’t they cute!) I have also four small ceramic hunted houses with ghosts that I also have from a $1.00 store.
My point is… do not discount (wink wink) getting Holiday Supplies from $1.00 stores, they have great items for any holiday. You can also get great Halloween signs for a great price here on the shop or through the “Items Currently For Sale” link above.
We have several items available, ranging from wall signs and table plaques, etched glass items, as well as my Halloween table runners. I am charging only $4.95 for the entire order to ship priority mail. So you will get your New Halloween items in 2-3 business days. You still have plenty of time to order before Halloween. I also offer local pick-up of any items for no shipping and handling charges. You can pay on the web or in person! Check out this option during checkout in the Shop!
I have some great items that you will love, that will go with anyone’s decor. Most of the items that I make are for Classic Halloween.
I am not much into the bloody and gory decorations, so I do not make them. I like the cute Halloween figures and sayings.
My next tip for affordable Halloween decorations (Besides my wonderful stuff I have for sale) is the air-inflatable nylon characters. I love
these. They come in all sizes and all prices. They are also 75% off, on November 1st. The best part about these inflatable decorations, are they are easy to store. I have a Frankenstein, 2 witches, a pirate Mickey Mouse, and a Skeleton all a cute cartoon inflatable character. They are only 4 feet tall, but they are colorful and fun to have in the house around the fireplace. When they are ready to be stored they collapse into near nothing, and are great to store in any plastic tote. My children love these and they have lasted 8 years and are still in perfect condition.
I also have a large 12 foot tall Grim Reaper outside that holds his arm and sickle up for those that are trick-or-treating to walk under. He is very large when blown up. He makes a great impression outside.
Here is Amelia standing outside in front of my Grim Reaper. She is not even up to his waist! This inflatable is also very easy and compact to store. All of my inflatables go inside one plastic tote with all of my outdoor lights and outdoor signs on top. These are great for those who want easy clean up and small storage with large fun Halloween decorations.
My last tip for this year is something my husband and I added to our outside decorations this year. It is a homemade large spider web made out of super cheap nylon rope. This rope is sold as clothesline and is only $2.88 for a 50 foot hunk at our local super department store. We used about 175 feet to make this web. and it took us 2 bunches to complete this design. So for less than $8.00, and a little time, you can create the same spider web outside your house. This will also be easy to store and re-use for next year.
We started by hooking the center rope to the top of the side of the house. Then we pulled it out, to where we wanted it to end and placed a tent spike in ¾ of the way into the ground. We then tied the center string onto the tent stake. We then did the same to the two outside ends of the web and tied each of them onto the same tent stake. We then placed the two middle strings ½ way between the outside and the center strings and
tied them to the house then to the tent stake.
We then pounded the tent stake the rest of the way into the ground. This will hold the web in place. We then placed the strings that were going to form the horizontal parts of the web.
Each layer is tied on one of the outside edges then tied around each center string until the other side is reached. The rope is then cut. To keep the ends of the rope from fraying, melt the ends with a lighter. This will help ensure the web will last a few years. The center vertical strings are tight and the horizontal layers are loose as they go up the web. This allows some movement in the wind. Finish the web, by making layers all the way up to the top of the house. When you are done you will have a wonderful cheap large outside decoration.
To add excitement at night, place a small strobe light at the bottom of the web. This will highlight the web at night. You will have a wonderful decoration at night as well as during the day. Strobe lights are also very affordable on November 1st. Grab one for next year. A regular garden spot light can also be used. My husband likes the strobe effect so we have a strobe light on top of the tent stake.
You can make a large spider out of black garbage bags with paper stuffed inside if you want to place a spider on your web. I love the web plain, with my children caught underneath.
(I also made the skirt Amelia is wearing and the dress Leatha is wearing. They love to pick out their own fabrics.)
For my next post I will write about how I am turing this Witches dress I made 2 years ago, into a Pirate costume for Leatha. Or as she calls it a
Vampirate costume! (She loves those books.)
This dress is way too short for her to wear again this year. And Witches are “So last year” if you ask Leatha. But the fabric is great. Plus, I will only spend $8.00 to make her into a Vampirate. You will love the transformation into a weathered pirate. Thank you for reading my blog. I hope that you learned something new. I look forward to your comments and responses. Let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks again,
Brenda
I have been doing several things as of late. While my main focus has been on writing and then working on the sales site here at Brenda’s Quilt Shop, I have noticed that no matter what, I am always thinking of what I am going to do next.
Bloggers and internet people have been talking about this for a long time. You have to create product. Create, create, create. While I haven’t done much as far as electronic creation and things to help people make money on the net, I have poured tons of time and energy into this site. During the summer we have been creating and pushing halloween items. I am already thinking about Christmas stuff though!
In order to reach our end goal of making a living on the internet, we have to create products that people will want to purchase. And then create some more. And some more.
Brenda has been getting restless lately because she has not been doing much since the new baby was born. She is getting antsy and you can see the results on the last couple of posts as she is repurposing sweaters and scrub tops. she has the drive to keep doing things and creating new things.
We can all have that drive. Entrepreneurs have the drive like that. New ideas will come and go but it is acting on them that can be hard. I have a book full of ideas for things that are just starting or in a half done stage. You have to complete what you create or it does no one any good.
I am going to give everyone who read this homework this week. Think about something to create. And then create it. Do something if it is just a quick one page summary of your goals, a letter to Santa, or founding a new business, Create something! and then come back and tell us about it in the comments.
Brenda will be here tomorrow with a post that should help you think about your creation.
Thanks for reading!
And remember, Halloweenis just around the corner. Table Runners, Signs, Candle holders and glasses are waiting for you in the “Currently For Sale” section above! and don’t forget to sign up for our mailing list!
-Justin
