Burpin' it

Looka, yet another burp cloth!  This time it's flannel gingham backed toile with ribbon taggie trim and embroidery.  Seriously? Babies are gonna puke on this blue cuteness?

Cuff it up

Old necktie, some ribbon and a broken rhinestone bracelet = 2 custom cuffs

Trippin' on ribbon

Being a ribbon whore/hoarder, I have plenty of grosgrain stash to make the (say it in a high-pitched tone) fabulous cosmetic bags!

Sew some ribbons together then add a zipper. With right sides together, sew one narrow side and long side. Make sure the zipper is open. Fold other narrow side and sew.


(Wish like heck I could give credit for the concept but I cannot remember the ribbon craft book title.)

Craft supply suggestion: buy in bulk from eBay.

Waist not, want not

Have been on a tear lately, what with altering seams, hems and such to personally tailor ill fitting garb. Chrysanthemum gave me a Burberry plaid skirt and the waist band either made me cry ~or~ I wouldn't button it. Even moving the button over wouldn't cure the problem but the skirt otherwise fit perfectly. Instead of blaming my own body, I deemed it to be a manufacturing misfit as the waistband was simply too small. But you know I loves me some plaid so out comes the seam ripper.

The waist band is gone, I tell ya.

Serged the lining and the skirt together.




Attached grosgrain ribbon from my stash.

Folded the ribbon to the interior of skirt.


Hand sewed the ribbon for hidden stitches.


Top stitched the skirt, following the tartan plaid for less obvious machine sewn lines.


WooHoo!
It's plaid!
It's a skirt with a no-cry waist band!

Crazy cute Crocs

My mom has opined ugly parents often produce beautiful spawn.
And here's an example and perhaps proof of her hypothesis.

God awful 80's jewelry parts from my jewelry cemetery + plastic Croc shoes. Those giant shiny bits are from Dawn's People Give Me Stuff largesse.


Mix together and imagine the worst but smile at the crazy cute combination.


Yes, as I've said before, almost everything can be helped with a little plaid ribbon.

Enjoy your cute shoes, little girl grown ass lady RikkiTikkiTavi!

Frog skirt

Had a small scrap of frog fabric and made a tiny hiney skirt for a tiny hiney little girl. It's a curse and a blessing, I tell ya, to not toss fabric scraps because little girl skirts are super fast and super easy so why not make them?


Folded over top for elastic casing and had a stroke of genius.
Instead of also stringing ribbon through the casing, I simply tied it between the button holes. It makes for easy removal for laundering or switching ribbon colors plus a great way to use shorter lengths of scarce or costly ribbon. This ribbon is neither.

This is why I shouldn't sew while drowsy. I sewed the button holes through 2 layers of fabric. The fix: a small patch of fabric and lots of zigzag stitches.

How's about a cute hem? It's harder for me to tell ya how I did it than just doing it.

Turn skirt right side out.
Serge or zigzag raw hem edge.
Turn eyelet trim wrong side up.
Line up eyelet trim straight edge to skirt hem.
Pin.
Machine stitch close to edge.

Fold eyelet down.
Iron to press crease.
Top stitch.

Press again without creasing the eyelet ruffles.

Deliver to little girl and prepare to be delighted when her mom sends you a phone photo of said girl modeling "her new favorite skirt".

Lace and ribbon flower

Gathered a 12" length of grosgrain ribbon with a triangular pattern running stitch in a coordinating thread
Adjusted the gathering for consistent ruffle.

Knotted thread and sewed ends together.
Stacked ribbon atop gathered lace and topped with large vintage button.
An easy and thrifty corsage flower.

Notebook organizers

Made a batch of notebook portfolio organizers for my volunteer committee. Take a look!

Pulled the navy blue preppy turtle motif ribbon from my stash but reverse side isn't so pretty with easily frayed woven threads so I layered it atop slightly wider green ribbon. Thinking myself to be clever, used navy thread on top with green thread in bobbin but look, the tension is so tight that little green bobbin threads are pulled to the top. Not a typically desired effect but it kinda works.

Ribbon whore strikes again!

It's been a looooooong time since this ribbon whore has added more ribbon to the obsession but much like a giant snake that waits to feed, I have bided my time. Have ya ever seen footage of a goat being swallowed by snake*? That's me and my new ribbon acquisition. Whatchathink?

That's 100 yards of ribbon goodness, people!

Would you like to indulge your inner ribbon whore? Check out this link to The Ribbon Factory close-outs but look at the other pages for more temptation. This is my first order and I will definitely add them to the good ribbon source bookmark list. Quick shipping and good quality.

*Ho-ly Mother Of Pearl - I just googled "snake swallows goat" for images and . . .well, I needed a Poise pad. Still shaking off the creepy creeps. You're welcome for my NOT posting it for you.

Bookmark tags

Crafting on the sofa with a remote control nearby, it is the best, I tell ya! On Saturday, while it rained all day, I watched tons of television and made a dozen bookmark tags for my "Girl's Night Out" group.

Just a few rubber stamps, 12 tags and a basket of ribbon remnants.

An outline here, some water color there, a few gel pen accents.

Look closely and you'll see ribbon re-purposed from a box of chocolates, fabric selvage scraps, bias binding and rick rack. Craft hoarding is sometimes a good thing. I feel those Depression era grandmothers and great-grandmothers smiling on me.

Caped brats

Baby sister Rikki Tikki Tavi and I made 20 small capes for Walter's Super Heroes themed birthday party this weekend. Super cheap fabric from WalMart, serged edges and leftover ribbon sewn at corners.

Rikki hates sewing and such so was probably surprised when I asked her to serge while I sewed ribbons. Pretty sure she hated it but she is a Super Mom thus, she suffered for the enjoyment of the invited Super Heroes.

Did I mention we made TWENTY? There is a certain freedom in making something super fast. You cannot entertain goals of super detailed finishing. Heck, this fabric would MELT if ironed!

However, I must point out the "leftover" ribbon. How many kid's capes include pretty Neiman Marcus gift ribbon?

Rikki found only 1 yard of black fabric so reserved that for later sewing because her brats are into Star Wars and she thought they would want it for whatever character wears black capes. (I am the only person in America that has never watched a Star Wars movie.) I asked Gregory if he would like a black cape for Star Wars play. Yes. Last month, he shunned sewn capes. Do you want me to put a "G" on it for Gregory? No. Plain. Just black.
It made me laugh because he sounded just like me. Not a fan of embellishment. Love plain. Love simple.

In a bind for twine

Ya know I have a ribbon fetish, right?

One day while picking up something at an electrical supply business, I spied a big roll of waxed twine. What the heck waxed twine has to do with electrical parts I dunno but I snatched it up in my greedy little hands and asked the counter guy "what's this used for?" He didn't know. Okay, how much? He didn't know the item number nor description so after a few minutes of tapping on his computer keys, he became exasperated enough to just shove it toward me and growl "take it". WooHoo, if it is FREE, it's for me!! I thanked him and bolted out of there before he changed his mind.

Waxed twine works for gift wrapping and all kinds of little household uses. Not good for macrame, it's too sticky.

Little did I know that there are fancy baker's twine out there in cool colors. Looka! 240 yards for $15.00 ~ that's .06 a yard!

Oh wait, here's a roll of 3,360 yards of packing twine for $17.40!! Available in red/white or green/white.

I smell another obsession~~~