little boxlings

So you've no doubt heard of the cuteness that is seed bombs, but this is for those of us with a wee bit more patience and some recycling on our hands. I find that these are a bit more gratifying to receive but much less inconspicuous to plant.

You will need:
plant seeds- I chose carrot, bell pepper and wildflower seeds.
a paper bag or newspaper or just old office paper for folding
Dirt, water& a sunny spot

I used a Trader Joe's paper bag because it was handy and because they say "recycle this bag!"

The bag will compost eventually when you drop your little seedling off in the wild wild world, or when you carefully transplant it into your garden space.

Step one: make a box. You will need a square of paper about 4.5x4.5inches.
It doesn't need to be perfect because you're just filling it with dirt :)


Fold your square in half each way, then unfold and fold in half the other way.

Repeat this diagonally. It will look like this:

Then, Fold the corners in to the center so they touch, unfold.

Fold the tips of the corners in this way:

and now fold each edge into itself and across diagonally:

unfold again, and then repeat all the way around of course.
Next, unfold completely, find a corner, point it away from you, and label it with what seeds you will be planting, like this:
(be as fancy as you like!)

Now fold two corners in towards the center,

Fold up their edges,

and then fold the ends up to close!

Finish the other side
(yay! a box!)
fill with dirt,sprinkle seeds in, water gently and set in a nice sunny spot until you're ready to drop it off somewhere lovely...and repeat!


These would make sweet gifts for your small friends, neighbors, or left in a pretty line at the park

The sweetheart bag, a tutorial

This is a very simple bag. The first one made of patchwork pieces takes longer as you have to sew together a few strips of different fabric. Do that first if you want to make that kind.
The first step is to chose two fabrics. I chose a pretty cotton print and a stiffer corduroy. The corduroy is for the liner, and help keep the bags shape, though it certainly isn't required.

Chose your bag size- I made two different sizes. I did not measure or make it perfect, just cut them into a square (you'll need two pieces of each fabric in equal sizes) that suited my fancy.

After you've cut your four squares (or rectangles if that's more your style) of equal size, cut a half-circle (this will be your bag closure) from each fabric. Place these right sides together and sew.


Then turn out and set aside.


Sew the right sides of the pretty outer fabric to the inner fabric just at the top



on the second side (this is the opening to the bag in the end), you want to tuck in the turned bag closure like this:

then proceed stitching those layers together. It should be -pretty outer fabric facing up, rounded circle closure, inner fabric facing down.

stitch those together securely, then turn like this:

and stitch the pretty fabrics together (wrong side should face out) and the inner fabric should not be tucked in.
It will look like this...

As you can see, you now have a sort of tube. Double stitch to make sure your seams are strong, then you're going to push the corners of the outer bag into triangles before turning the bag...

and stitch across in a straight line on both sides.


But wait! Now you want to stitch up the inner layer of fabric to make a long tube. Be sure not to sew down the flap which is your bag closure, and leave one side unsewn so you can turn it (I chose the very bottom)!

Now turn your bag...






Sew the space where you turned the bag right side out, put a button on the closure, and voila! You are done!
This is a sweet, fun project for any level sewer, you could make it larger and put handles on, leave the closure off for a book tote..or make it longer than mine and use it as a pencil case...have fun with it!

Friday Faves

I've been saving some links lately and I want to share them with you.
I've been making, making, making!!
I was inspired by these bookmarks
and these tee shirts
I've been making these cloth diapers for Little Berry's babies.
I've been admiring these sweet mousies and making something like these soft baby shoes except felted, and folding these sweet cards to get back in touch with friends...and last but not least, making these perfect box bags
check them out! Get inspired!

How to add sleeves to a onesie or other small tyke's shirt (and make it look layered)

It’s beautiful weather in these parts. Saturday dawned clear and beautiful, we had expected rain and the skies were clear, which made me oh so happy. Cuppycake has all these precious onesies that she hasn’t outgrown yet, but that have no sleeves. Unfortunately, the weather is really too cool for her to be wearing short sleeve onesies, and putting a sweater on her to go to the car is a pain. Especially when it’s cool enough to wear a long-sleeve shirt and a hat but too warm for a sweater. So. Pappa Starbucks has been bugging me to go buy some onesies for her that have sleeves, just so we can put her in jeans and a onesie again, or snuggly leggings and a onesie- but oh no. I’m too cheap way too creative for that, so I dug out the sewing machine and put sleeves on her Eensie. Teensie. Onesies.
It was really much much easier than I expected, although I really haven’t finished them all yet since our professors are in that phase where they assign six papers a week and 800 pages of reading per class period, so we’re struggling to keep our assignment level caught up enough that we can actually use the dinner table for, well, dinner.
Here’s how to put sleeves on a onesie, or other shirt. The sizes I added them to are 3-6 months, and although I don’t have measurements for other sizes, all you need to do is:
Measure the length of you child’s arm from where their current sleeve ends to their wrist. I used short sleeve onesies, and for 3-6 months, this length was 6 ½ inches long,and don't forget I used the seam at the bottom for the cuff and 5 1/2 inches wide .



The fabric I chose was some of my old (maternity) tee shirts in plain colors that I knew would correspond with her pant selection so that there wouldn’t be too much ‘funkyness’ in her closet. I've tried it with several fabrics, and old tee shirts are by far the softest, but you could use anything.


Next, pin your sleeve together, wrong side out, like I did, and sew along the top. This will be the bottom of the sleeve once you’re done. I sewed my sleeves twice, just because cuppycake LOVES to chew on them. And I didn’t want to have to regret putting them on there later. Once you’ve made a sleeve, turn it right side out, and then comes the hard part. I’m not a big pin user, but. These onesies are tiny, and if you don’t pin these sleeves to the onesie, then the chances are that you will mess up you’re going to get really frustrated.




Yes, my camera stinks, and the flash is totally killing this photo. But. What you need to do is make sure that the seam of your sleeve is lined up with the seam of the smaller sleeve: both are on the bottom. You are going to pin, pin, pin like crazy because these guys ares so very small.

I always sew from the outside, and I either chose a thread that matches the onesie, or that contrasts with cuteness. I've done one black onesie with black sleeves and black thread and it was SO easy. On all the others, I've used white thread and very tiny stitches so it will hold well, and it has worked great.


This way, I can follow the seam that's already on the onesie sleeve: because I want it to look layered. If you want to make the sleeve look like a continuation, that's a whole different post.
And then, you sew. I sew from the outside of the onesie to make sure I am following the pre-existing seam. You can sew from the inside if you want. The nice thing about these onesies is that theY are forgiving! I've made a few mistakes, but in general, they just look all the cuter for it.

Have fun!!