Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

By Sewing Contributor Jessica, from the blog “Life Sew Good”. 

Anybody watch Portlandia? This season’s 2nd Episode has a sketch called “Put a Bird On It”. This was brought to my attention when I got comments from friends about one of my previous posts with the little birdie on the onesie tutu. When I watched it, I laughed. And I made an apron with birds on it!

Why? (We’re not talking about birds anymore, by the way—I meant WHY did I make the apron!) I made myself a super-simple ½ apron about a year ago. The problem? I spill WAY more on my top half than my legs. This dish towel apron is perfect because it gives nice upper body coverage to really take the splatters and whooshes of flour. It’s an easy, inexpensive and quick project!

You need:

2 Dish Towels—coordinating fabrics is good!
Ribbon at least 1 ½” wide
Thread
Scissors
Iron

1. Choose which towel will be the main body for the apron and which you want to use for the straps. Take the one you want to use for the straps & lay it flat. For the waist straps, cut along the LONG side a 2″ piece. Repeat, making another 2″ strip along the opposite long side. You should have 2 pieces that each have one “finished” side and one raw edge.

2. Take the strips, flip them to the wrong side. Measure ½” along the raw edge and press toward the center.

3. Before sewing, create a pointed end by following the picture illustrations below.

4. After folding entire length of your pressed strap over, sew close the edge, the entire length. Because the dishtowel is already finished on one part, you will see 2 lines of stitching. I think it looks good!

5. Repeat for other waist strap.

6. Fold you apron in ½ and press if you are making the apron for a bustier, or long-waisted person. If you are making it for a smaller person, then fold it in ½, then measure about 2″ up and press.

7. Open the main towel and lay flat with right side up. Take your ribbon and place it across the pressed fold. Leave enough ribbon on each end so you fold under the raw edges and stitch them under.

8. Baste the ribbon down the center to the main towel. *I recommend using a different color thread that you want to use! This will help you take it out after you sew your permanent seam! I forget to do this and regret it every time!

9. Pull on one thread (bobbin thread) to create gathers. The amount you want gathered it completely up to you. For a smaller person, you will create more gathers. For a bigger person, create less gathers. After the gathers look even and the apron is a good width, sew a regular seam down the middle.

10. At the top of your apron, create gathers again by basting across the top. Again, the amount of gathers you create is up to you. Sew a regular seam to hold the gathers in place.

11. Make your halter straps. The easiest way, in my opinion, is to measure your strips and pressing lines all at one time and make marks on your fabric before cutting. For 3″ straps, you’ll want to make 4″ strips. Below you’ll see I measured ½”, created a line, measured 3″, created a line, then 1/2″ again and created a line. I repeated that for the second strip. The ½” lines are just guides for me to know where I’m going to press my straps toward the center. The width of your strip should be 4″.

12. After cutting the 4″ strips, press ½” toward center on each side. (Hopefully, if you created the marks like in the picture above, you will clearly see where ½” is!)Create a point on one short end to create a pointed edge by following the picture illustrations below. Then, fold in ½ lengthwise.

13. Sew close to the edge the entire length. Repeat for other strap.

14. Attach your straps! The squared side of the waist straps should be attached on the wrong side of the apron, near the edge. The pointed edge should be at the very end of the strap (don’t attach that side!) Make sure you line it up with the ribbon waistline, or just above. Reinforce it well, by sewing a square, thereby attaching the ribbon in more than one place.

15. Use the same technique attaching the halter straps.

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

I love that Doodlebug creates a sheet of die cuts to match each of their collections. Because I am both a cardmaker and scrapbooker, I can use the die cuts for any project. Die cuts are also flat, so that is especially nice if you are planning to mail your card. I have two cards to show you using the Doodlebug Welcome Home Die Cuts.

To create the New House Card:

• Adhere a piece of the Doodlebug patterned paper to a white card base.
• Adhere Doodlebug Welcome Home die cut to right edge of card.
• Using mini alphabet stickers create sentiment. My tip is to start the sentiment backwards – starting on the right side and spell in reverse. I have learned my lesson the hard way in the past…I often run out of space if I go from left to right. You can also use a ruler and adere them to the edge so that you know you have enough space before sticking them down.
• Adhere jewel to center of the sun with a Glue Dot.

To creat the Hello Card:

• Adhere a piece of the Bazzill White Embossed Cardstock to a white card base. You can also use plain white cardstock and emboss using the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder.
• Adhere Doodlebug Welcome Home die cut to center of card.
• Use American Crafts Thickers to spell sentiment.

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

Buttons are one of my favorite embellishments to use – they are very versatile, not very expensive and they come in every color under the sun. They can also be dressed up, but that is for another post. On this project I grabbed a handful of green buttons and went to work. In my organization process I haven’t sorted my buttons by color yet, but instead keep them in a variety of jars and buckets and enjoy digging thru them to find what I’m looking for. Some people do sort their buttons by color and that works well too. Do whatever works for your creative process. I used a variety of shades and sizes and used a lighter green thread to tie them all together.

To create the card:

I selected a lightly patterned brown paper for my card base. You can use any color of patterned paper or cardstock for this. Each color will set a slightly different mood to the card.

I cut the tree from my patterned paper, but if you do not have one that is preprinted, you can easily make your own tree by tracing ttree and trunks shapes onto paper. I like things that are quick and easy…so I cheat when I can and cut directly from the patterned paper.

Adhere alphabet stickers to spell your sentiment.

Using green thread, thread thru each button hole, tying a knot on the back. Here is where I cheat again. Instead of threading them thru the paper, I use my favorite adhesive…Glue Dots! Adhere the threaded buttons to the tree and you are done!

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

Paper Frills are a must have for your crafting collection.  They work well for cards, borders on layout, home decor projects, the options are endless.  Most frills come in long strips, but they are easy to cut down to size.  Paper Frills are also nice when you don’t have a border punch in that style.  Paper Frills can even be altered using glitter, ink, etc to create a different look. On this card I tucked a frill behind a strip of paper to make the words on that paper stand out.   

To create this card:

• Create card base from cardstock or solid colored patterned paper.
• Cut rectangle from patterened paper slightly smaller, use border punch on the bottom edge and adhere to the card.
• Cut smaller piece of patterned paper and adhere to center of card.
• Cut strip of word paper to this paper and adhere to bottom of that paper.
• Adhere frill to card, tucking behind the word paper strip.
• Add small pearls to word strip.

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

I love to use glitter to add sparkle to my projects.  It comes in a variety of colors and sizes, is fairly inexpensive and it seems to last forever.  The one downside is that my face is usually pretty sparkly for a day or two after I use it!  Wet wipes for cleanup of your face and hands work pretty well. 

My favorite way to apply glitter to a project is with a glue pen.  I always have a few Sakura Quickie Glue Pens on hand.  I love to outline or fill in sections of patterned paper using my glue pen, add a little glitter and it gives your project a whole new look.   

To create this card:

• Create card using pink patterned paper.
• Cut a smaller piece of pink patterned paper, use the border punch on the top and bottom and adhere paper to card.
• Cut rectangle of black glitter paper the same width as the smaller pink paper and adhere.  If you do not have glittered cardstock you can add some shimmer by using a spray adhesive or Mod Podge and then sprinkle with glitter.
• Cut Be Mine rectangle from patterned paper and adhere to black cardstock.
• Using your glue pen, color in the wings and sprinkle with chunky glitter.  Since chunky glitter is a lot bigger than fine glitter, it works better when you have a larger space such as the wings to color in with glue and glitter.  If you are outlining a pattern and not filling in, then use a fine glitter.
• Adhere pearls to card.

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

I love to use lace cardstock because you can use a little, or a lot.  You can use an entire piece as a background for your layout or cut a small piece and use on a card or gift bag.  There are a variety of companies that make pretty lace cardstock including Martha Stewart and K & Company.  Another way I like to cheat when making cards is to use Bo Bunny paper.  In each collection they usually have a piece of paper that has 4 different 6×6 squares…a great card size.

I used:

Bo Bunny Valentine’s Paper

Die Cut Paper

K&Company Valentine Sticker

Rub-on Alphabet

Pearl Stickers

To make this card:

• Using one of the 6×6 squares from the Bo Bunny paper, adhere to front of 6×6 card base. If you cut a piece of 12×12 cardstock in half this works perfectly. You can then use a Scoring Board to make a perfect crease on the card.
• The larger white flower is part of the patterned paper. Add a blue die cut flower shape to the center.
• Cut two birds from the lace cardstock and adhere to flower die cut.
• Add a 3 dimensional Valentine heart sticker to center of the birds.
• Apply rub-ons to spell sentiment.
• Adhere pearls near sentiment.

By Scrapbook & Paper Crafts Contributor Jennifer, from the blog “So Many Products, So Little Time”.

I love premade die cuts. They are easy and quick accents for cards and other paper crafting projects. Premade diecuts will either come already punched out in a package such as these K&Company die cuts or come in a sheet such as these by Doodlebug. One tip I do have if using die cuts from a sheet, have a nice sharp pair of scissors on hand to cut off rough edges where they were attached to the sheet. The scissors I use for everything are the EK Success Honey Bees. I actually own 3 pairs because I am constantly losing them in the mess on my scrap desk. The black bladed scissors also keep the adhesive from sticking to the blades and the sharp point gets into those hard to cut places. Word to the wise…they are sharp! I have poked myself before.

To create this card:

Create card base from lightly patterned paper.

Punch out various die cuts (trim edges if needed).

Adhere to card and layer them. For added dimension use foam dots behind some.

That couldn’t get much easier! If you feel that you need a little sparkle, you can always add some jewels or glitter to this project.