Dishtowel Aprons

I made my first set of dishtowel aprons back in the early 2000's with a little help from Martha Stewart.  I subscribed to Living back then and got the idea from that.

This project is going to be a birthday gift for a friend and I made a matching one for her daughter.

You will need only a few items:

• Dishtowel, any size
• Twill tape (any width, I used 3/4" wide)
• This is bought at Joann's in the zipper section
• Scissors
• Needle & thread

First, I went shopping for some cute dish towels.  The ones I found were really long so I got another idea from that.  Then you will need one package of twill tape for each towel you make.

I cut a portion off the bottom and will make a pocket from this.  A fabulous idea, if I don't say so myself!

To do this, I flipped the towel over so wrong side is facing up.  I placed my pocket, also wrong side facing up, lining up the raw edges.  I sewed a 1/4" seam on the raw edge.

I took the pocket and flipped it to the front.  This has both the towel and pocket right sides facing out.  I sewed up the sides and along the bottom again.  This just so the pocket is not puffy, but is flat against the towel.

I sewed up the middle of the pocket to bisect it.  I sewed right up the middle blue stripe.

Next, take the twill tape and cut a length that is comfortable length around your neck, about 20-23".  This is the neck strap.  Fold the top left corner in 2" and then back to meet the fold 1".  Place one end of the neck strap in-between one of the folds.  Pin.  Do the same for the right side.  Try the apron on and adjust one side until it is comfortable.

Sew through all layers of the fold and twill tape.  I used a zipper foot to get close to the towel's seams.

Take the remainder of the twill tape and fold in half to determine the middle.  Cut so you have two equal lengths.  Try the apron on again and mark where your natural waist is.  Pin the twill tape end to the two places that were marked on the wrong side of the apron.  Pin it so the tape is coming out of the side of the apron.  Sew in place.

I made the daughter's apron first, where she is tiny, so the apron top is very taken in.

For the neck of the daughter's apron, I left the twill tape as two separate straps so that her Mom can adjust it as she grows.

Here they are...this is a really quick project.  Perfect for a housewarming gift or a gift to a new bride.

Of course, I have to model everything...

Try your hand at a dishtowel apron.  Have fun!

Birthday - 2012

Happy Birthday To Me!

I'm so lucky, where I am celebrating my birthday all weekend long.  Let me go over what I've been doing so far. 

First, there was a Friday night Happy Hour at a marina bar called Rick's on the River in Tampa on the Hillsborough River.  We celebrated my friend Cathy's birthday which was last weekend and my birthday, which is Monday.  Unfortunately, I did not bring out my camera until after Cathy had gone home already.  Here are a few snapshots of some funny moments:

A few of the Ladies from the group

Hey, I'm supposed to be giving Vince a smooch!

Can't have a B-Day HH without doing a shot or two!

Even Elvis came to the HH!

Second, Vince took me out for dinner on Saturday night to Roy's Restaurant: Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine in Tampa.  He had made reservations and the menu had a nice birthday message in it.

A nice pic before we left

Birthday message with confetti

Ahi tuna for my app

Tiger shrimp with mixed veggie and rice

Another nice couple pic

Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle

The dinner was delicious.  Vince's appetizer was baked calamari and his entree was macadamia nut crusted mahi mahi.  Roy's has a gluten-free menu, which I had no problem choosing items from.  The dessert was so delicious, that between the two of us, it was gone faster than it took me to blow out my candle!

Tonight, Sunday, we are having Vince's family over for cornish game hens and gluten-free banana cupcakes.  Stay tuned for those yummy pictures.

Sock Project Bag

Merry Christmas!  Well, the day after, anyway.  My sister has been knitting socks like they are going out of style.  I believe she started knitting socks for everyone for Christmas in the summer.  Smart thinking, Lady!

She may have been sick of socks by the time I gave this to her, but I sewed her a Sock Project Bag.  What is that? you say.  It is a mini drawstring bag that holds one ball of yarn and the in-process socks with needles so you can carry it wherever you go.

I saw an ad for it on the Lion Brand website:

Original Bag from Lion Brand

Yes, the socks-on-the-clothes-line pattern is very cute, but it was sold out when I looked into buying it.  Like everything else, I thought, "I can make that, no problem!" 

It has a round-bottom, a drawstring and a wrist strap.  Oh and the retail one is reversible.  Bring it on, Lion Brand!

Fabric on the Right is for the Sock Bag

I made this over Thanksgiving weekend, the same day I made the Knitting Needle Wrap.  This will be for my sister's birthday, which is right after Christmas, but I gave it to her early, while I was visiting this month.  She can never wait until her birthday to open her presents.

I will try and condense this into a tutorial.  I took a ton of pics, so I hope that it is helpful.

Materials:

• Half yard of two different fabrics, Color 1 (C1) and Color 2 (C2)
• Matching Thread
• About 1 yard of Grosgrain Ribbon, 5/8" wide 
• Toggle
• Scissors / Rotary Cutter & Mat
• Ruler
• Marker or Pen
• Calculator (Yes, there is Math involved)
• Iron & Ironing Board

Start by ironing the fabric.  Take a ball of sock yarn to use as a guide in determining how round the bottom needs to be.  I used my flour canister lid and traced it onto a corner of both fabrics.

Tracing Isn't Just For Kindergarten

Cut out each circle.  I will call the olive green fabric C1 and the brown/aqua fabric C2.  It really doesn't matter which is which, since it's reversible, but for the sake of it, they are labeled.

Measure the diameter of the circle (from one edge to the opposite edge).  To calculate the circumference, multiply the diameter by pi.  Yes, pi.  (Isn't this exciting, using math while sewing)?!  My calculator has a pi button, but if yours doesn't, then take the diameter and multiply it by 3.14.  

My diameter was 7".  So 7 x 3.14 = 21.98".  Let's round up to 22" and add another half inch for the seam allowance (22.5").  This is the width of the tube needed to fit your round bottom.  Don't you feel smart now?

Perfectly Calculated Pieces

Once the width is cut to what your circumference worked out to be, cut the height to about 11.5".  It only needs to fit a ball of yarn, needles and the working socks.

Now, the retail bag has pockets on one of the fabric sides.  Since there is extra fabric, take a scrap piece and use it as a pocket.  I chose to use C1 as the pocketed fabric.  Fold and press a 1/4" edge on the wrong side, along the top.  Sew.  Then press another edge on the flanking sides. 

Pocket Action

Line up the bottom edge that was not folded, along the bottom raw edge of the fabric in the middle (like in above pic).  Sew just the pocket down along the 2 sides and bottom.  I also sewed a line up the middle, bisecting the pocket.  Put aside.

Bottom Pinned

Take C2 fabric and attach the round bottom to the tube.  Place right sides together and work your way around the circle, pinning the tube.  When you get to the end, you have extra fabric for the tube.  This is so you can sew the side seam so it fits the bottom exactly.  (Just in case your math was a bit off, the added extra half inch seam allowance is here to save the day).  Pin the tube side and sew the whole length.  Now pin that last section onto the circle.

This is the tough part: sew the bottom to the tube, using about a 1/4" seam allowance.  A little story here (going off on a tangent) is that I tried making a wine gift bag out of fabric when I was about 19 years old.  I had no idea what I was doing, using my mom's sewing machine.  I was Miss Know-It-All back then, so I  didn't ask for help.  Well, the bag was pretty sad looking and I had not sewn a round bottom bag since then.  I feel pretty good that I did it well this time.

Phew, My Round Bottom Phobia Has Been Cured!

Turn the tube right side out.  Yea, one bag down, one more to go.

Take the fabric with the pocket, C1, and do the same thing as you did for C2.  One exception, when sewing the side of the tube, leave about a 2" hole for turning.  Trust me.

Turning Hole - A Fabric Miracle

For the drawstring, we need to make a hole on one of the fabric top edges.  I chose C1 to have the hole.  Find the middle of the top edge, opposite of the side seam.  Measure about 1" from top edge and place a mark.

Button Hole Mark

Make a button hole at the mark, going horizontal.

Now the fun part:  take both bags and turn C1 inside out and C2 right side out, if they are not already like that.  Place C2 inside C1; the right sides of the fabric should be facing each other.  Line up the side seams.  Just to check yourself, the one with the pocket, turning hole and button hole is on the outside and the other bag is on the inside as in the below pic.

Make Sure It Looks Like This

Pin the top raw edges together and sew a 1/4" seam allowance.  Turn this beauty out with the turning hole.  It will look like the bags are end to end.

Nothing Is Wrong, Really!

Now, fit C2 into C1.  Press the top seam.  From this top edge, sew 1" down.  This will be the casing for the drawstring.  

Take the ribbon and make a loose bracelet around your wrist, big enough to easily slide off.  Add 1" to that length.  On the outside, top edge, on the side seam, topstitch the ribbon in place at the very top edge and where the bottom of the drawstring casing.

Wrist Strap - For the On-The-Go Knitter

Once sewn, take the remaining length of ribbon and thread it through the button hole (safety pin works well).

Or Use a Handy Threader

Once the ribbon is in place, thread the ends through the toggle.  With the drawstring at it's loosest, adjust the ribbon.  Make a knot a few inches from the toggle.  Cut the ribbon near the knot.  Sear the edges of the ribbon edges with a lighter or flame, being very careful (you don't want your project to literally go up in flames).

Believe it or not, the project is done!

Side With Pocket Out

Or turn it the other way:

Pocket Is On the Inside

I'll admit, this took awhile, but it came out so cute, that I really did not mind.  It was worth the time to make my sister something useful for her birthday.

Not Too Shabby!

My sister did, in fact, teach me how to knit socks, maybe I can get her to follow my tutorial to make me a Sock Project Bag for my birthday.  What'cha think, Kathy??

Thanksgiving Weekend

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm thankful for all my friends and family, my health, and to all that make this country a free one!  Without these things, how would we make it through?  Vince traveled to California to see his family, while I stayed in Florida.  I went to his parent's house, where his eldest daughter roasted the turkey.

Mouth Watering

This was her first time roasting a turkey and she did a great job.  I was in charge of the desserts.  I made a Pumpkin Ribbon Cake:

Ribbon of Cream Cheese Inside

I made a second dessert that was a Sweet Potato Pie:

Gluten-Free Crust

I also made an appetizer that was a Baked Apricot Spread:

Serve with Ritz and Nut Thins

The parents also invited two other couples over.  They also brought food.  Vince's dad baked a ham.  We had a ton of food.  For the food finale, Vince's mom made her infamous flan.  This is to die for and you really can't get enough:

Family Recipe - Cannot Share!!

It was a great day with beautiful weather.  Vince's mom gets the house ready for Christmas early, so here is me in front of the tree:

A Bit Early...Whatever!

Once the holiday was done, I had to make this a project filled weekend.  I'm only going to show what materials I had to work with, but not the projects.  I know it's a teaser, but it's too early to reveal Christmas gifts!

Fabric

So, I have two sewing projects.  One for Vince's daughter (fabric on the left) and one for my sister (fabric on the right).  They are different projects...so, Kathy, you won't know until your birthday!! (I told my sister what I was making for the daughter, so just so she knows, it's not the same thing)!

Yarn

This yarn is for making two projects for my friend's girls.  Who knows, if they don't come out good, then I'm just buying something.  I hate when projects don't work out, so I'm not going to stress about it.

More Yarn

This is another knitted project.  I don't know when I'm actually going to have time for all this, but I can always finish it and give as a birthday present.

I'm practically done with my Christmas shopping.  I am traveling in Dec to see my sister and parents, so I had to have them done early.  I hope to learn how to knit socks with my sister.  I also hope to go to Foxwood's Casino for some BINGO!  (Love Bingo)....

Time to work my fingers to the bone on the knitting needles....

Odd Balls Flower Pot

This post is coming from my picture archives.  Back in March, my friend Stephanie and I wanted to make something special for our friend Cathy for her birthday.   Some background: we are on a bowling team with Vince and we call ourselves the Odd Balls.  Her birthday was falling on a bowling night, so we had to do something special.

Stephanie came up with the idea of doing a potted plant.  But we just can't buy a plant and say, "Here."  So we decided to take a plain terracotta planter and paint it.  For this we bought kids paint, sponges and brushes.  Stephanie had yellow paint already for a home decor project that did not go well (for the record, none of her rooms are this color yellow!).

Stephanie painted the pot with with few coats before we got together, so we would not have to sit and watch paint dry.  When we got together, we made "stamps" out of the sponges.  This was done by printing out an outline of a pin onto paper and cutting it out.  Then we traced the outlines of the bowling pin and drew a circle for the ball on a sponge.  Once they were traced on the sponges, we cut out the surrounding sponge so the pin and ball were raised from the sponge.  Very clever thinking!

Pin Sponge Stamp

We used paper plates as the paint tray but found out that if we paint the paint onto the sponge, we would get a more even coat.

Blue Bowling Ball Stamp

Once we got the kinks out of our painting technique, we were off and painting.  She did the bowling balls and I did the white pins.

Pins Are On!

Here is another view:

Balls Are On!

Cathy's bowling ball is like a Star Trek ball where it is a dark blue swirl with a hint of glitter, like the galaxy.  So, to add that special touch, while the blue paint was still wet, Stephanie took a gift bag that had glitter on it and scrapped it onto a plate and blew the glitter onto the ball.  It stuck!  She did well!

Around the rim we painted Odd Balls, Cathy, 2011.

Lettering Is Complete

We let the artwork (and it was a piece of art, let me tell you) dry overnight.  Stephanie sprayed it with a sealant so it can withstand the weather and not chip.  She also went out and bought a few different plants and flowers and planted a small container garden in the pot.  We brought it to bowling the following day with balloons on fishing weights and buried them in the soil.  We celebrated with cheesecake!

Finished

We were pleased as punch that it came out so well.  Happy Birthday (again), Cathy!