Sunday, February 13, 2011

Valentine's Day Wall Hanging

This is a cute wall hanging my husband and I created on paper.  I used a 16 1/2" square up to create the wall hanging's size.  To create the appliques, I used Heat 'n Bond - Firm on fleece and the Cricut and Gypsy machines.  On the gypsy, I pulled up all the hearts for my cartridges and decided to use George and Basics for the regular heart shapes, and Gypsy Wanderings for the key-to-my-heart design. The X's came from Cuttin' Up.   I used a deep cutting blade, low speed, max pressure and double cuts.  Most of the shapes turned out decent with a little clean up needed.  If I had to do it again, I would have used a slightly thinner fabric.  I created the design on a purple cotton remnant, and sewed it to white quilted backing.  I put a 1 1/2 border along the back of the hanging and cut slits into it to hang. 

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

sleep pants for the Hubby!

 
On to the sleep pants.  While browsing JoAnn Fabrics, I found a remnant of Buffalo Bills fleece.  I knew it may not be enough for a full pair of pants, but my hubby doesn't mind wearing different things around the house.  I got the pattern for these sleep pants, with pockets, from McCalls.  I made the front of the pants with the Bills fleece, and the back of the pants with a coordinating blue fleece.  The results were great, and I only paid $8.50 for the fleece!!  This was my second experience with making pants, and I remembered to pay close attention to the front and back pannels, as I had to do a lot of ripping on my first pair of pants.  (Somehow I managed to sew a front pannel to a front pannel on the left side of the pants and a back pannel to a back pannel on the right side of the pants!)  Anyways, Jimmy loves the pants and the pockets turned out fantastic. 

A Simple Apron

It has been really busy at the Huzl house since the new year.  I did, however, find some time to make four aprons and sleep pants.  First, the apron.  You won't believe that I found the material at Walmart.  I really liked the way the brown border matched the print.  I found this simple apron pattern  at Auntie's Attic in Niagara Falls, NY.  It's across from the Outlet Malls.  First and foremost, I washed the fabric and ironed it without starch or steam.  Then, I measured and cut all the material.  The longest part of the project was making the straps.  I personally like to use a dowl to invert the fabric, and then iron it down to keep its form.  Once all of the pieces are ready, It took literally 15 minutes to sew it together.