make-believe cape, the tutorial

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i am sorry that it has taken so long to get the promised cape tutorial to you. it is so simple a project that really you do not need a proper tutorial to accomplish the making of it. which is good! because this is not much of a tutorial when all is said & done. still, i shall do my best.

items to gather:

*2 receiving blankets

*measuring tape

*scissors (yes, spell-check, i do realize that it is not spelled "scisoors". go away.)

*pencil

*round object, approximately 5 inches across

*sewing machine

*1 square of velcro, both halves

the first thing you want to do is make a pattern. i had sheets of very large paper, but if you do not, you can use newspaper, or brown craft paper. how large a piece of paper you'll need will depend on how tall your child is. 

let me say here that elfling is a smallish 3.5yo, being just shy of 3 feet tall. rounding up, that makes him 14 inches taller than the height of the paper; my sheet of paper being the perfect size for him, at 22 x 16 (inches). you are on your own for the math adjustments - though i imagine you could just add however much taller your child to the height of my pattern. sorry if this is confusing, i am allergic to math.

once you've figured out the measurements, cut out the whatever-by-whatever rectangle from your pattern paper, & fold it in half lengthwise. you can see the crease from this in the above photograph.

now you draw your pattern, but only half of it. begin at the top edge of the fold, & curve downward, until you have come to the edge of your paper. on mine, this is 5 inches down from the top.

next, you'll take your round object (i used a lid), place it on the top edge of the fold (with the mid-point of the circle following the fold), & slide it down until the space at the top edge measures 2 inches. draw around the half-circle. later, this will be the neck opening. 

keep the paper folded, & cut away the excess at the top, as well as the half-circle. 

lay your receiving blankets down, one atop the other, smooth out wrinkles, & fold in half lengthwise. place the pattern over this (folded edges matching), pin the whole lot together, & cut it out. 

remove the pattern, & open your fabrics. these two pieces should like identical to the pictured pattern when opened. 

keeping the two pieces together, cut a slit in the top of the circle. this creates the opening for the neck.

re-pin the fabric, & stitch all the way around the edges with a zig-zag stitch. to reinforce, go back around with a straight stitch, at the inner edge of the zig, or, um, the zag. we aren't going for beauty here, merely for quick & sturdy.

see? nobody could accuse me of going for beauty with that stitchery.

it is time to add your closure. pin one half of your velcro square to the topside of one arm of the neck, & the other half to the underside of the other arm. make sure you do this, because you want your arm ends to overlap. stitch on all four sides of each, then stitch an x through each, to make them strong. if i'm not being clear, you can see what i mean in the above photo.

that is all there is to it! because i wanted to keep elfling's cape ambiguous, i did not embellish the fabric. most of the capes i see online have superhero emblems, which you would want to stitch onto the center of the outer fabric, before sewing the two halves together.

happy sewing!
~peace.

pure genius!

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on our recent road trip i needed something in which to store the various cables. (gone are the days of the most important thing to remember being your toothbrush.) in poking through my studio, i came across this terribly photographed bag that i had altered a bunch of years ago. it worked wonderfully! so much so, in fact, that i now use it as a camera bag.

in the main of the bag sits the camera, as well as the little pouch i use when i just want to toss the camera into my diaper bag. the large pocket to the left holds the cables, with the smaller pockets on the right holding batteries, & miscellanea.

the bag was meant as a travel case, i believe. it was a sponsor gift at one of manlyman's tournies. the outside was black, with callaway written in large white letters. ever so sporty, & ever not so kat. knowing i could find a use for the bag, if only it was not so sporty, i sewed a slipcover for it.

it wasn't all that hard to do. i traced the case on kraft paper, adding an inch extra at the top, a bit more for the sides, & a bit more than that for the bottom. you'd need to take into consideration the shape of your case when deciding how much extra to add. for instance: if yours had a flat bottom, or wide sides, you'd need to allow for that. mine did not, so i did not.

one i made the pattern, i cut out two pieces of fabric. i used samples, & they being small, i needed to use two different designs in the same colors. you can just fold your fabric in half, & cut once. does that make sense? let me know if i am not being clear.

i then sewed the sides & bottom together, right sides facing in, on the machine. no need to do anything fancy, they'll be on the inside, & never seen.

next i folded the opening twice, & ironed it flat. then came the fun part; hand-stitching. i love to sew by hand.

as you can see, i stitched the cover to the bag itself, making sure to give the zipper enough room to work properly. oh, & i used embroidery floss, with a larger needle. i no longer recall why i did, but i am sure there was a reason :)

that is all there was to it. of course, it is not perfect, but i like a bit of imperfection.

the buttons are not an option; they are an integral part of the function of the entire bag. or something like that.

this idea is not limited to travel bags, you know. you could do the same thing to those ugly lunch bags, actual camera bags, & so on. heck, i even made damask sleeves for my freezer packs. happy sewing!

~peace.
ps :: the genius button was from a museum outing, eons ago. the other two (insanely adorable) buttons were found in seattle last month. they are, of course, the work of miss emily, she of black apple fame. i do not see any buttons in her shop currently, but you can ask her yourself if she plans to add any.

keep calm it's a diy

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recently i found this fun diy memo board on pinterest. not having the perfect shabby frame lying about, i tried a temporary board with a boring one found in the garage. 

once i popped in a piece of paper that looks like a faded old british map (a nod to the london olympics), & liberated a window marker from thehobbit, i gave it a go.

sure enough, it wiped right off! we have made good use of this board already: yesterday we wrote birthday wishes to elfling, & today i left manlyman a love note. 

as soon as i find the perfect frame, i'll make one using some vintage linen. you need to go make one now. shoo!

~peace.

ps :: i am not writing a birthday post for elfling as i am still in denial. in my head he is 2yrs & 12 months old.

i spy a road-trip!

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thebelfries are hitting the road - woo & hoo, baby!

because the smallest of us is not a fan of being in the car for longer than an hour, i had to come up with a bag of tricks to occupy him. the first thing i made was this i spy bottle. he fell in love with one at a friend's house, so i knew we needed one for our holiday.

i bought the water bottle at my beloved japanese $2 store (for $4, don't ask), the bag of rice at the 99c store, & gathered the miniatures from around thebelfry, with most coming from our borrowers' house. definitely an affordable diy.

originally i had planned to use only things found in nature (stones, acorns, shells, etc), but i left the gathering until the last minute. ah well.

it is hard to tell in the above photo, but the dark rectangle is a miniature book. an actual flip-the-pages book!

if you have never played with an i spy bottle before: when you turn or gently shake the bottle, the rice shifts. as it does, the items within are revealed, as others are hidden. in addition to the things seen in these photos there are, buttons, shells, miniature toys, & even a teensy plastic buddha hidden in the rice-y depths. hours of fun! i hope.


tomorrow i'll tell you what other fabulous tricks i have planned :)
~peace.

it's raining pinterest

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photo :: found on pinterest

all plans were cancelled on account of rain. i am taking advantage of not having to rush to get ready by poking around pinterest. thehobbit & i were looking at photos of other people's rain, instead of looking out the window at our own. (we had already ooh'd & ahh'd out the window this morn.) the above photo was my favorite from the collection.

here are a few more pinteresty (real word) things that have me swoony:

* a dandelion hot air balloon with chimney sweeps? yes, please! here.

* i want this party dress ever so badly.

* this out-of-doors bar is the prettiest i have seen.

* a diy jar of faeries!

* i cannot stop going back to stare at this tattoo. have i ever chatted with you about my alice in wonderland obsession?

there is so much more to share with you, but i am out of time. if you like the things i pinned, you are welcome to look at my boards. enjoy!

~peace.

thursday things - make it yourself

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photo :: my new toddler-sized birthday crown, for sale soon!

i have decided to do away with all pretense, & just admit that i am already working on the winter holiday stuff. sigh. it is not that i want to, i have no choice. if prezzies are going to get made, & theshop is going to overflow with goodies for sale, then i cannot wait for the actual season to arrive. blah.

this week's thursday things focuses on prezzies you can make. hoorah, tutorials!!!

* wooden alphabet magnets this is the set i am making for elfling. i had been searching for new magnets for him, as his set is missing a few letters. it was fine when the magnets were just for moving around the front of my washing machine, but now that he is learning his letters, it's probably best to have them all. 

* mp3 player arm band thehobbit needs one of these! i won't bother with the patchwork (though i do love it myself) & just make it all black, or dark gray. those are the only colors he'll wear these days. i think it's the teen uniform here in los angeles she wrote, ignoring the fact that those are pretty much the only colors she wears as well.

* wrist cuff oh yes! both manlyman & thehobbit are getting an upcycled wrist cuff. 

ack! he is awake? already? sigh. ok, my sweet one & only reader, that will have to be it for today. happy crafting!

~peace.

sweet is the shade ...

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in the summer we are lucky to have mild weather. all around us the city bakes, yet it remains most of the time quite comfortable at ye olde belfry. it has to do with how far we are from the ocean, the valley that leads from the beach, to thebelfry, & the hill upon which it sits. that is about as much of an explanation i can offer. i am fine with not understanding completely, because i need not understand to be ever so happy that i am not sweltering. those new to kitb: i am a miserable wretch when it's hotter than 70f do not do so well in hot weather.

on monday we hosted a small birthday-party-masquerading-as-the-fourth-of-july bbq. manlyman, 2 friends, & 2 minis had either just had, or were this week having, birthdays. i am sure they would have all been happy in the sun, but elfling & i needed shade. no longer having a structure, we hastily rigged our own sanctuary. what you see in these photos is the result.

i had initially decided not to take photos to share with you, because of the hasty nature with which it was created. martha stewart would cringe. so i let the day pass. & yesterday as well. today though? today i decided to take photos. & yes, it is still up there. please don't tell me this surprises you. we both know what a lazy thing i am.

we have the type of garage that is set apart, & back, from the house. our neighbor does as well. strung between the garages are five clotheslines, hung not long after we moved in. i am embarrassed to say that i have not hung as much laundry as i should have. over these lines we laid 5 large cloths (tablecloth, bedding, fabric) from my collection. the outer edges were secured with clothespins, & the inner with safety pins. not the prettiest way, but we were short of on time.

it worked better than i'd imagined! the area was shady, & oh so comfortable. i wish i could leave it up always, but the elements would destroy the beautiful fabrics. perhaps manlyman will finally agree to buy a few roles of that mesh cloth, meant for this purpose. a gel can dream ;)

how do you create shade? i'd love to hear.

~peace.

ampersand, the update

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still looking a bit wonky, but not terribly so. the next step - thickening & contouring with layers of paper. stay tuned!

~peace.

from scraps to doodles

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for the first time in the nearly 10 (gasp!) years we've been homeschooling, we ended the school  year with a stack of worksheets. i wanted an alternative to tossing them into the recycling bin, so turned them into doodle pads for elfling.

here is how i did it:

* make sure the papers are all blank-side up.

* cut them in half, across the middle.

* separate into manageable stacks. too thick & you could break your needle.

* cut covers for each (fronts & backs) from grocery bags.

* place a front & a back on either side of each stack.

* choose a short side to be the top, & sew a straight stitch 1/4 an inch from the edge.

* go back to the beginning, & sew (at the edge) a zig-zag stitch.

* repeat for each doodle pad.

i recommend that you do this when you are not bone-weary from lack of sleep. i was that, & the result is the worst sewing job. ever. 

i'm in love with the illustrations on trader joe's grocery bags, which is what i used to cover these doodle pads. if you want to see what else i do with the bags, read this tutorial.

i hope you are inspired to reuse paper that still has one blank side. if so, let me know what you come up with!

~peace.

are you sitting down?

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look! i actually found the time to make something for myself! long ago i gave up wallets, in favor of little zippered pouches. they were just easier for me to use, i could never find a wallet that i loved, & well, zippered pouches are oh so cute.

enter elfling, also known as he-of-the-faster-than-light-grabby-hands. apparently love of zippered pouches is genetic, because every time i open my pouch, in goes one of his grabby hands, & my belongings go flying. i needed a wallet.

the majority of things in the zippered pouch can stay there: tiny pad & pencil, gift cards, tylenol, biz cards, etc. truly, i only need a few cards in my wallet: license, insurance, aaa, stores, library, debit, & coffee gift card. you know, the must-haves.

now before you start worrying that i've begun drinking whilst sewing, i can assure you i've not. the wallet was made for only me, & i am drawn to the shabby. the raggedy edges were done purposely.

the wallet's body was a scrap left over from a drink sling. pockets (& the top's reinforcement) were curtain tabs! long ago i used the curtain to make market totes. i saved the top tabs, sure i would find a use for them one day. boy, am i glad i did. oh! the closure was a tab also.

because i wasn't thinking, i sewed the pockets, on either side of the fold, going in opposite direction. once the wallet was opened, the cards on the bottom half fell to the floor. duh. were i to do it again, i'd have the pockets all face the same way.

no way was i going to rip out the pockets. instead, i added a little triangle of fabric on either side of the fold, but it wasn't enough. to keep the wallet from completely flopping open, i had to add the ribbon you see in the photos.

in the end it took more time to add the fixes, than it would have had i ripped out the wrong-way pockets. oh well. i'm just happy to have my raggedy little wallet.

what are you going to make for yourself?

~peace.