Tutorial: How to make a Hooded Towel

I can't believe it's been half a year since I last posted! I know I keep making these empty promises that I will post more...blah blah... I'm just not gonna make promises I can't keep. Sorry! I will post when I can, and I am grateful you are still here to read it. :)

Anyway, here is a tutorial on how to make a hooded towel. My little kiddos have grown out of their baby hooded towels, so I decided to make my own. Here's how you can make one for your kid, as a gift, or even for yourself. ;)

Materials needed:

-bath towel

-hand towel

-fabric

Steps:

1) Get fabric that measures (length of hand towel+3") by 5" (or so...again approximating). Fold the top and bottom of the fabric and iron.

2) Lay the fabric on top of your hand towel an inch or so from the bottom (so that it covers where you folded the hand towel up). Fold the extra fabric under (I like to sandwich it between the fold of the hand towel).

3) Sew all the way around.

4) Fold the hand towel in half lengthwise (fabric facing each other). Sew along the right edge (reference photo below). 

5) Fold the bath towel in half and mark the center with a pin.

6) (Note: I think it is actually better to not cut the bulky stub, but I did so for the one I made here.) Open up the hand towel, so the bottom edge lays flat. Align the centers of the hand towel and bath towel.

7) Sew the hand towel and the bath towel together. I sew at least 3 rows to reinforce.

8) You can applique the initials of your kids so you know which towel belongs to whom.

Let's Go Fishing!

I grew up deep-sea fishing with my dad. We would go out on our boat, get rocked by the waves, but enjoy the peace out on the Pacific Ocean. I can't believe I didn't get sea sick. Just thinking about the rocking now makes me want to throw up.

I'm excited because next week we are going to CA to visit my family and we are going to take C-bub and J-bub out on a boat. It's going to be on a calm lake with no crazy waves, so hopefully no one will get sea sick. Hopefully we will catch some fish. :)

To practice for our upcoming fishing adventure, C-bub has been playing more with the fishing play mat that I made for him a while back. I got inspiration from this adorable fishing set. And for the details of the pond, I got inspiration here.

Here it is~

Frog detail

Lily pad detail

Foxtail detail

Elastic loops to hold the fishing poles in place. There are two loops for the two poles that I made, but of course we have already lost one of the poles. Booo...

I had some Japanese handkerchiefs that I had found at an estate sale a while back. I used them to make the fish so they would look kind of like koi fish. 

Sorry I didn't take photos of the process of making the fish. Basically I cut out the fabric and sewed them wrong sides facing each other (making sure to leave the end of the tail open). Flipped the fish right side out. Then I put the screw in (head of the screw at the "mouth" of the fish) and filled with poly-fil around it. Then sewed shut. Having the head of the screw at the mouth and surrounding the rest of the screw with poly-fil ensured that the magnet would "hook" the fish at the mouth.

Screw that I used

For the hook of the fishing pole I used thick garden wire and shaped it into a hook. I then hot glue gunned a really strong magnet to the bottom of it. Then I used duct tape to wrap the whole thing.

For the "net" I used the bag that my SnoozeShade came in. I just sewed it in between the layers of my mat so that the fish would have a home when not in use.

Happy Sewing! :)

Tutorial: How to make a Dinosaur (Stegosaurus) Taggie Doll

Here is a fun taggie toy that you can make for a baby boy (or girl~). I used soft minky fabric that I got from Joann's, but you can use whatever fabric you have on hand.

Materials needed:

-fabric (2 rectangular pieces approximately 6.5" x 11" each)
-ribbon pieces
-polyfill
-fabric pen
-embroidery floss, button (optional for embellishments)

Steps:

1) Print and cut out template. (Click HERE to retrieve the pdf)

2) (Note: We will be mainly working with one of the pieces of fabric first.) Trace the "hump" part of the dinosaur onto right side of one of your rectangles (from "start" to "end" on the pattern). This way, you will be able to see where to pin and sew your ribbon pieces.

3) Pin your ribbon pieces in place. Make sure the loops are facing inward. Trace the "hump" part again so that you can see where you will be sewing.

4) Sew the ribbons in place, from "start" to "end".

 5) Trace the outline of the dinosaur on the wrong side of fabric. Use the curve that you sewed in previous step as a guide to line up the hump of the dinosaur.

6) Add embellishments if you so desire (i.e. eyes, mouth, initial on the back). I used a brad for the eye and embroidery floss for the mouth. 

7) (Now we will be needing that second piece of fabric.) Now with right sides of fabric facing each other, pin the two layers together. Sew from "start" to "end" (backstitch at the beginning and end). Make sure to leave an opening where you will be flipping the dinosaur right side out. (Note that I do not cut out the outline and then sew a 1/4" seam allowance, but rather I sew along the traced outline itself.)

8) Trim off excess fabric and clip around curves (especially if you are using bulky fabric). Make sure to leave enough fabric where the opening is so that you will be able to sew it closed. Flip right side out very carefully. It might be a bit tight, but as C-bub would say "don't get fustrated, mommy". 

9) Stuff with polyfill. Use a slip stitch to close the opening. Here is a good tutorial on slip stitching. 

I was going to give Stego to my friend's baby, but C-bub loves it and has made it his own. I guess these taggie toys are great for kids of all ages! :) Happy Sewing!

Activity Car Mat

I saw this On-The-Go Car Activity Mat here. My boys love cars, so I knew I had to make it for them. It's great because C-bub can fit 6 little cars (Matchbox and Hot Wheels fit perfectly) in the mat, roll it up and take it wherever he goes.

Here is my version:

I wished I had used iron-on interfacing in between the layers to make sure it didn't get all wrinkly.

Market & Gas: We frequent H-E-B (a supermarket here in Houston) and Costco often, so I included those.

Since I didn't have any black shoelaces on hand,  I used an old cell phone charger for the gas pump.

Church: For the flowers I used brads I got at Michaels.

Our house: C-bub loves to park his car in the driveway.

School: The swings actually move because they are just attached by the strings.

I sewed Velcro onto the ribbon so that I could wrap it up and close it quickly without having to tie it.

All wrapped up and ready to go!

This project was fun to make, and my boys have fun playing with it. The most time consuming part was cutting out all the little felt pieces. (By the way, I suggest using hot glue for the small felt pieces instead of sewing them on.)

Happy Crafting!