Looking for some simple artwork for a sewing room? The kids and I made these quick and easy sun prints with photo-sensitive sun print paper.

Simply choose your favorite objects from the sewing room and arrange them on the paper indoors. Two-dimensional objects can be covered with a clear piece of plexiglass to hold them in place. Then move the paper and objects outdoors in direct sunlight for about two minutes, being careful not to bump around the objects. Rinse the paper and let it dry. That’s all there is to it.

Here we used scissors, eyelet trim, buttons, thread, safety pins and burlap and mounted them to a linen-covered board.

Here’s a pattern for a kids’ drawing case that holds 8 colored pencils and a notebook and folds over with a Velcro tab closure. Handy for travel, it also makes a quick and easy gift for kids of most any age. I made several of these over the weekend for birthday gifts.

You could embroider the child’s name, add an appliqué design, or customize it in any way you choose. I made two of these without the quilt batting, but found that the use of batting provides an added cushion and weight. You can use a lightweight cotton canvas or any cotton fabric. For the notebook, I used a 5″ x 8 1/4″ moleskine, available here.

Want to make one? Click here to download the .pdf file with instructions. If you make one, show us by uploading your photos to the Flickr Make it Monday group.

Here’s a quick project as you get ready for warmer weather. A linen runner made from two different fabrics for a reversible effect. I used a die-cut linen that I found locally, but you could create this textured look with lace, eyelet, an old tablecloth, sheer embroidered linen, or a single gauze cotton. This runner would be perfect for a summer dinner party and would also make a nice Mother’s Day gift. The finished size is 16″ x 60″, but you will have enough fabric to make the center pieces larger to suit your needs.

And look at that, my mother’s irises finally bloomed in our yard after coming up with no blooms for five years.

Here are the instructions:

Supplies:
Linen, 2 yards (1 yard each of two colors)
Matching thread

Seam allowance: 1/2″

1. CUT FABRIC: Cut fabric according to the dimensions shown below.

2. SEW PIECES TOGETHER: Sew the two opposite shorter pieces to each long piece, right sides together. See below for fabric layout. Trim the excess fabric and press the seams flat. If you are concerned about your fabric fraying, finish the raw edges with an overcasting stitch.

3. SEW RUNNER TOGETHER: Place pieced sides right sides together and pin them in place, being sure to align the seams. Sew around all sides, leaving a 6″ opening to turn the fabric right sides out, as shown below. Trim the excess fabric and sew an overcasting stitch, if desired. Turn right sides out and poke out the corners with a blunt tool. Sew the opening closed by hand.

I made these before Christmas this past year, thinking they would be good ornaments. But the egg-shape of them really made me think of spring. I was inspired by this yarn bowl, but I think Martha Stewart has done something similar as well. This fiber bowl also looks like a fun spring craft project.

Anyway, I found a nice knit cotton sweater at the thrift store, then the kids and I unraveled it, dipped each strand in a mixture of equal parts white school glue and water and wrapped the yarn around balloons. We left the eggs on wax paper to dry overnight, then popped and removed the balloons. As simple as that. Messy and fun.

I know it’s not spring yet, just wishful thinking. I happen to have a large number of scraps in my sewing room at the moment in these lovely beach-inspired colors. And I just received a review copy of Alabama Studio Style, which has a lot of string-pieced projects (more on that later in the week).

So here’s a quick tutorial for string-pieced coasters. It seems that I do a lot of coaster tutorials here, but I’m a fan of quick, easy and useful things. And this is a great project for fabric scraps.

Supplies (for 4 coasters):

• Fabric scraps: min. 24″ length
• Backing fabric: 5 1/2″ x 22″
• Quilt batting: 5 1/2″ x 22″
• Matching thread

1. Cut fabric scraps with minimum 24″ length. Cuts should not be straight.
2. Sew right sides together until you have a width of 6″ or more.
3. Press.
4. Cut off sides and top to form a rectangle 5 1/2″ x 22.
5. Cut out tops, batting and backing fabric in 5 1/2″ squares.
6. Sew around, leaving an opening to turn right sides out. Opening should be on a side with one continuous piece. Clip off the corners.
7. Turn right sides out, press and hand stitch the opening closed.

Here’s another craft standard that we’re using for Valentine’s Day. After seeing these polymer clay hearts that I linked to yesterday, I found this project. So we decided to make these little salt dough hearts for my five-year-old’s class.

Though I think it would have been adorable to make them shaped like candies and it would have made a useful gift to add a magnet, I questioned the wisdom of giving small children something shaped like candy, particularly with a magnet attached. Then my husband proved how delicious these hearts look when he actually attempted to eat one, thinking they were cookies. (Take note, April Fool’s Day pranksters). See, don’t they look delicious?

We used a small heart-shaped cookie cutter and this standard salt dough recipe: 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup warm water, 1 cup flour. My five-year-old enjoyed rolling out the dough and cutting the hearts. Then we poked large holes for the string, baked them at 250 for around two hours (until hard all the way through), painted with acrylic paints and dusted them with glitter while the paint was still wet. Easy!

We’re planning ahead for Valentine’s Day. Since it was a gloomy weekend, the kids and I made some melted heart crayons for my first-grader’s Valentine’s Day cards. If you haven’t ever tried this project, it’s simple with great results and is a nice way to recycle broken crayons. We followed the directions from Marie at Make and Takes. The only advice I have is that the brighter colors look much better, so hide the browns, blacks and dark blues from your kids. I also used a knife on one batch to cut the crayons into even smaller bits, which I think worked well.

I made two versions of this card. One can be used without the crayon in the center, and the other has an open middle to attach the crayon. We used foam adhesive tape to attach the hearts to the cards. Simply click on an image below to download the .pdf file, print it out on card stock and cut. We also used a corner punch to create rounded corners.

My daughter is going to send the crayons with her own drawing below, which we scanned in and will print out. That way she can decorate them as much as she likes, but if she gets tired of it, they are still done. I’ve got another idea for my five-year-old’s valentines because she really requires that everything be covered in glitter. The teachers will love that.

I took some old ribbon scraps and made a sleeve for a glass jar. This is a quick and easy project, a good way to use your embroidered ribbon scraps, and a free project if you’re using an old glass jar or tin can. You could also make smaller versions with votive holders or a larger version with a wide vase. Just be sure that the sides of the jar are straight (not tapered).

Simply cut pieces of ribbon approximately 1″ longer than the circumference of the jar and sew each ribbon right sides facing with barely any seam allowance until you have one large rectangular shaped piece. Press after each additional ribbon is sewn. Fold the piece over and sew right sides together with a 1/2″ seam allowance, forming a sleeve. Easy! I planted a primrose in this jar, but put some rocks in the bottom for drainage. I’m sure to kill it, but then I can use the jar for fresh flowers or as a pencil holder.

Ten minutes. Really. This is sort of a variation on the elf skittles that I posted about last week. But even easier. I think these would make cute additions to gifts for family, friends or teachers. The kids can help make these if you skip the glue gun and use regular school glue. You  could sign them on the back and add the year.  You could use even smaller wooden balls to make teeny tiny Santas. Or you can take it a step further and make a little body with chenille stems, a larger ball for the belly and beads for the arms and legs.

Supplies:

• wooden ball (1 1/2″ diameter)
• red and white felt scraps
• black acrylic paint
• white chenille stem (cut to 2″)
• twine
• glue gun

1. Cut out the hat and beard from felt according to this template.
2. Bend the end of your chenille stem and cut to 2″.
3. Insert the chenille stem in the top of the hat felt and sew, right sides together, using a scant 1/4″ seam allowance. Turn right sides out and poke out the tip with a blunt tool.
4. Place a couple of drops of glue on the inside rim of the hat and fit onto the wooden ball. Glue the beard on as well, just meeting the hat at the corners.
5. Draw eyes with a pencil and then paint them on with black acrylic paint.
6. Loop twine through the chenille stem and tie in a knot. Trim off the ends and put a tiny drop of glue to hold the knot in place just at the chenille stem. All done!

If you make this project or anything else from the Make it Monday series, be sure to post a photo in the Make it Monday Flickr group.

Well, maybe I can make all of our holiday decorations from two thrifted sweaters.  Here’s a quick tutorial for a felted sweater stocking.  I never can seem to find any good striped sweaters at the thrift store, so I thought I’d make my own.  I have a sneaking suspicion that Betz White has visited every thrift store in the land and is hoarding all the cool sweaters in her closet.

This makes a 12″ long stocking, but you could increase or decrease the pattern to suit your needs.  Print the template here.

1. First, you’ll need 100% wool sweaters, washed and dried.
2. I cut my sweaters into 1 1/2″ strips (the width of my yard stick).  I used about 15 strips in all.  I sewed them with a straight stitch right sides together until I had a somewhat rectangular striped piece.
3. I then cut the pattern front from this piece, adding 1/2″ around the outside for the seam allowance.  I cut the back from a solid color (with a band at the top).  Be sure to cut the front and back in mirror image.  I then inserted a quick loop and sewed it all together.

This wouldn’t be a sewing blog without a picture of a cat, would it?  Here’s the the best cat in the world with her new stocking.  Seriously, this cat comes when you call her and she would meow at my door when the girls were babies and cried at night.  She was the only family member who didn’t have a stocking yet.  I will not be making one for the fish.

I just made another set of placemats and napkins for my younger daughter to use at her Montessori school. She is starting to have lunch at school and on her way to becoming an “afternoon child”, so she’ll stay in the afternoons and do some more serious learning. This is a big step for her!

Anyway, since I made some more of these, I thought I’d share again. This is such a simple project and a great one for beginners. You can use the same instructions for adult-sized placemats and napkins as well. I think it would also be nice to sew in some ribbon or twill tape to tie the placemat into a roll.  And these are reversible! This time I made my version a bit larger from the original instructions, which really make some pint-sized linens. I used 16″x16″ uncut dimensions for the napkins and 12″x16″ uncut dimensions for the placemats. This turned out to be just the right size. You can find the instructions here from my post last year.

I made the placemats pictured above with some cute kokka fabrics (deer and pandas) with a gingham and a stripe on the reverse side.

I made this dress-up crown as part of a birthday gift for a very sweet three-year-old girl.  I’m also going to make her one of these capes to go with it.  With Halloween coming up, I thought a quick how-to for the crown might be useful.  It’s reversible too.  This fits both of my young kids, but you might want to measure to be sure.

The dotted fabric is Sunspots from the Love collection by Amy Butler.  And the hot pink is an Echino solid from Etsuko Furuya.

Supplies:

• Fabric (approximately 7″x26″ or a quarter yard of each fabric)
• Heavyweight fusible interfacing (7″x26″)
• Velcro (3″ length of 1″ wide velcro)
• Thread
• Wooden beads (optional–for older children)

Step 1: Cut fabric and interfacing according to template (be sure to add the extra 2″ which will form the tab).  Iron the interfacing onto one piece of your fabric.  If you are using very lightweight fabrics, you might want to use interfacing on both fabric pieces.

Step 2:  Using a zig-zag stitch,  sew one side of 3″ velcro to the right tab of the front of one crown piece.  Leave about 1/2″ from all edges for the seam allowance.  Repeat with the other piece of velcro, also sewing the velcro onto the right tab of the front of the fabric.

Step 3: With right sides together, sew around the sides and peaks of the crown.

Step 4: Turn right sides out and press the peaks of the crown as you pull the fabric to make neat corners.  Press under the bottom seam by 1/4″ and sew in place.  I used a decorative stitch.

Step 5 (optional): Sew beads onto tips of the crown, pulling your knots through to the inside.