New Fall Wreath

 For a while now, I've been wanting some kind of yellow wreath for our front door.  There are so many amazing instructions for DIY wreaths, I pretty much look, get overwhelmed, and move on to something else.  Until, I saw 2 really great Halloween wreaths made by Roselee at Jane of All Trades.

The wonderful thing about this wreath is that it takes so little time to make.  I sprayed 2 coats of spray paint before dinner and made and glued the felt flowers after the kids went to bed.  Done. 

 I used a technique similar to this for the felt rosettes.  I like mine to be a little more irregular, so I made my spiral a little more jagged and less smooth.  I added some green felt leaves and put it all in place with lots of hot glue.

This wreath is super satisfying to make.  Thanks for the inspiration Roselee!

Boatneck Lady Skater and French Cuff TUTORIAL

Well, I couldn't restrain myself.  I had to make another Lady Skater Dress.  I've worn my previous, ahem, 3 dresses quite a bit.  I've had my eye on this dress, but the fit isn't the most flattering on me.

I happened to find almost the exact same color ponte knit at Joanns, so why not another Lady Skater?

This time I made a boatneck.  In a nutshell, here's what I did for the neck.   

 I brought the scoop neck up and widened it, making it dip a little bit lower in the front.  Before sewing the shoulder seams, I applied some Steam-A-Seam Lite to neck.  I turned the neck to wrong side, sewed the shoulder seams, then top-stitched all the way around.

Okay, now for the fun French Cuff. Measure the circumference of the sleeve you want to add the cuff to.  Cut a shape like below using the circumference and your desired cuff length being sure to add your seam allowance (SA).  My cuff length was about 4 inches.

Apply a lightweight interfacing to the wrong side of half the cuff.  With right sides together, fold the cuff in half and sew the sides.

 Turn the cuff to the right side and press.

 This step is really important, so follow along carefully.  Turn your dress sleeve inside out.  Fold your cuff in half, matching the angled side. Align the fold of the cuff to the seam of the sleeve.

Pin the cuff to the wrong side of the sleeve, all the way around, so the angled sides end up directly opposite of the sleeve seam.

 Sew the cuff to the sleeve.

 Turn your sleeve to the right side.

 Fold the cuff back, press and add a cute button.

 Hope this tutorial makes sense.  It's really pretty simple once you sit down and actually do it.  And, it's adds a really nice touch to a simple dress.

Kimono Slippers

 The leaves are changing color and the air is crisp and cool.  It's officially slipper season.  

Every year I feel like it's a bit of a struggle finding the perfect, cozy slippers.  Duh, why not make my own.

 I settled on this pattern.  I love the instant gratification of a PDF pattern.

 Mine came out cute and cozy, but not nearly as cute as the ones pictured.  The pattern is fairly easy to follow, though there were times I could have used a little more detail.  I read a review that said the pattern ran small.  I cut a size 7, which is my size, and found that for me, the pattern ran way big!  I had to alter the sizing quite a bit.

 To make the insole, I ended up sandwiching Peltex between 2 layers of fleece, cutting it to size, and then sewing a zig zig stitch all the way around. 

I also used some grippy fabric for the bottoms for functionality.  Not so cute, but comes in handy when chasing kids around the house.

Overall, I like the slippers and I like the pattern.  I'm looking forward to making another pair for me and maybe some for the kids.  The pattern isn't sized for kids, but I think I can figure out how to size it down.

 

Do you have a favorite slipper pattern?  I'd love to hear about it.