Miss Piggy T-Shirt

I love this t-shirt so much! This was a gift for my sister's birthday this month. Back in December I found an adorable vintage-style Miss Piggy cameo ring. I loved it, but I wanted something similar on a t-shirt and couldn't find anything. Usually, I am lazy and I do everything in Photoshop, but since my desktop computer is on the fritz, I actually drew this by hand. I took a still off of a Muppet video in YouTube and drew this onto a piece of paper, then transferred my image onto freezer paper and made a print onto a gray Old Navy t-shirt. I used Jaquard's Lumiere paint in Halo Pink Gold (I bought this set from Michael's with a 40% off coupon--love it!). It turned out more of a copper color on the dark background, but I still really like it.

Easy(ish) Lap Quilt

My Project Linus quilt is finished!



Ta-da!
Pretty cute, if I do say so me self! For the most part, I used Bend-the-Rules Sewing as a guide for this project. However, I ended up using a pre-made quilt binding, and I machine-stitched it on. The book calls for you to make your own binding out of the same fabric that is in the quilt, with random patterned pieces thrown in. For her example in the book that looks great, but the colors she chose were all in the same family. For my quilt's much bolder, contrasty color scheme, I think the dark brown binding pulls it all together very neatly. I made an attempt at making my own binding, but my bias tape maker was too small and I don't have the mad binding skillz necessary to use skinny bias tape. I got pretty frustrated and had to put it away for a bit before I finally decided to go for the commercially produced stuff. Ultimately, I love the thicker, simple dark brown binding.

Map to Taco Bell

Huck has recently gotten very interested in maps. Again, this is a Wii inspired obsession. We play Animal Crossing with my family over WiFi quite a bit, and one of the options the game has is to view a map of our town and maps of the towns we visit. He enjoys looking at the maps and talking about the different buildings and landmarks on them. He has been wanting me to draw maps for him, and he asks to incorporate elements from Animal Crossing, Super Mario Brothers and from our real life (!!!). One element he always wants on the map is Taco Bell. We don't even eat at Taco Bell very often, and our Taco Bell isn't particularly kid-friendly or fun, but for some reason he always wants me to draw him a map to Taco Bell!
Since he has been into the map thing so much, I wanted to make him a cool one out of fabric. I took a piece of unbleached cotton and did some color washes with diluted fabric paints for the land and sea. I did a zig-zag stitch in gold thread around the edge, but otherwise left it raw with the hopes that it will fray naturally. I also added some of the Jaquard's Lumiere metallic fabric paint to give it a little bit of a shimmer. When the paint dried, I used several of my sewing machine's embroidery stitches to outline the edges and make trees, grass and water. Then, I created little applique elements for the buildings. I used Lite Steam-a-Seam 2 on the backs of several scraps of fabrics which I drew on with my trusty Crayola fabric markers to make landmarks and such. I then cut out the elements and ironed them onto my map. The last step was to label everything, which I did by first printing out the names in a fancy calligraphy font and then I used a lightbox to trace the words onto the map. I wish I had gotten a little fancier with "The Boundless Sea" but otherwise I think it came out very nicely. I still may add a compass rose to the top corner, but maybe not.
I loved this project and was so excited about the way it came out. Afterwards I thought of a bunch of ideas for more maps, and different ways to make them, and I have three more maps with the base paint washes drying right now!

Superhero Colors Mario Cape + Mario Mustache Tutorial

Huck is at the age where he is never "Huck" anymore. Call him "Huck," and he will insist that he is NOT HUCK, he is Pinocchio or Mickey Mouse or Superhero Colors Mario.
"Excuse me, who?" you ask. Superhero Colors Mario. We got the New Super Mario Brothers for Wii and Huck loves it when Mario gets the star and he flashes a bunch of different colors. He called himself Colors Mario for awhile. Then he found a cape I made for him a couple of Halloweens ago, and when he put it on he became Superhero Colors Mario. The cape was a quick'n'dirty job, so I wanted to make him something that was a better quality, and that would better suit his new persona.


First I cut out my cape from a medium-weight black fabric that I have a bunch of. For the star applique, I applied Lite Steam-a-Seam Double Sided Fusible Web to the rainbow fabric, then traced and cut out a circle. Then I made a star out of yellow polar fleece and just sewed it onto to the rainbow circle--no fusible web since fleece doesn't fray. I painted eyes onto the star and let it dry for a few hours. Then I removed the backing and ironed on my "patch" to the black cape, and then used an embroidery stitch on my machine to do a red circle around it just inside the border, then another gold circle right on the edge. This was the first time I used an embroidery stitch on my machine and I loved the results! I think I will be doing this a lot more with appliques. It gives it just a little oomph andlooks professionally finished. Anyway, it was then a simple matter of sewing the cape to a piece of uncut gold organza (Slippery sucker! Use pins!), right sides together with a little opening at the bottom. I cut out the organza with pinking shears, then flipped it right side out. Then edge stitched all around with gold thread, a little extra on the collar, and some sticky velcro to close it up. That was it!


Now Superhero Colors Mario would not be Mario without a proper mustache. Here is a very easy tutorial to make one for yourself.

click illustration to see it larger
numbers in illustration correspond to steps below

Materials:
Mustache template (see below)
Chalk or fabric marker for dark material
Fabric scissors
Black felt
Black thread
soft elastic cord
toothpick

1) Click on, print and cut out this template:



Hold up the template to your face and make sure it is a good size. If not, there is a larger image here click! that you can resize to fit your face.

2) Trace the template onto one piece of black felt and cut it out. Leave the other piece of black felt uncut.

3) Prepare your elastic cord. Cut the cord so that it is a length that comfortably stretches to fit around your head, over your ears and about to the edges of your lips. Somewhere between 10"-16" (different cords have a different amount of stretch/stiffness, so the easiest way to gauge length is to stretch the cord around your head and make sure it feels comfy). Tie 2-3 knots in each end and yank it tight to make sure it is very secure.

4) Place the cut piece of felt (front piece) onto a slightly larger, uncut piece of felt (back piece) (please note, for the purpose of this tutorial, I'm showing the front piece in black/gray and the back piece in blue so that it is easier to differentiate between the two pieces. For the actual project, I would use black felt for both pieces.) Felt sticks together pretty well, so you probably don't have to pin it, but you can if that is more comfortable for you. Mark dots where the cord will be inserted.

5) Begin to sew along the top of the mustache as close to the edge as possible. When you get to a corner, with the needle all the way down, lift the presser foot and pivot the mustache.

6) Tuck one knot end in between the fabrics at your marked spot and replace the presser foot. Slowly stitch, taking care not to shift the elastic and once you stitch over the elastic, backstitch over it again to secure. (note: you are NOT stitching on the knot itself, the knot should be behind the edge stitch)

7) Continue to stitch around the scalloped bottom edge, going slowly and lightly bringing up the presser foot and pivoting the fabric a bit when necessary.

8) As you approach the second elastic insertion mark, make sure the needle is all the way down and lift the presser foot again. Insert the second knotted end between the fabric, using a toothpick to shift it into the correct position. Once again, carefully stitch over it and then backstitch to secure.

9) Complete stitching all the way around the mustache. End with a backstitch and remove from the machine.

10) Cut the back felt piece out to match the front piece.

11) It's a-go!

If you complete a project based on this tutorial, I would love to see it posted it to my Flickr group: http://www.flickr.com/groups/1309748@N20/

Geaux, Saints! King Cake!

I grew up an Air Force brat, but my dad retired from the military as I was graduating from high school. Not really knowing what to do with myself, I followed my parents to Louisiana, where I lived in the Greater New Orleans area from 1996-2004. As far as I'm concerned, New Orleans is my home, and I can not wait to see the Saints win the Superbowl today! I've never cared about a football game in my life (aside from the Dillon Panthers going to State, of course), but I have turned into one of those crazy sports people for this year's Superbowl. Geaux, Saints! Who dat?
To honor the occasion, I decided to make a king cake. The first time I had king cake was at my friend Russell's house when I was in college. I was surrounded by native New Orleanians who were amazed that I had never had king cake. Nobody understood how I had managed to get through my life without ever even having heard of the stuff. It was a pretty big deal. I was presented with a piece of bread with a lot of ugly frosting and tons of sugar crystals on top. It wasn't even a "cake" at all. I took a bite and said, "Oh, it's like a cinnamon roll." The conversation at the table stopped dead. I looked up and they were all staring at me with disgust. Then there was a loud uproar about how it was KING cake and how dare I compare it to a cinnamon roll! This was royalty among pastry-type breads, and my plebeian tongue should just as well be cut out for that kind of heresy!
I kind of thought they were nutso, but I never, ever called king cake a cinnamon roll again.
I used Southern Living's King Cake recipe and the flavor was exactly right. Unfortunately, I messed up the texture a bit by slathering too much butter on the inside, which I think soaked the bread a little too much and made it more dense than it should have been. The joined end pieces, which had less butter, were perfect in texture and flavor.
In fact, I think I'm going to go have another bite right now!