Drawstring Playmat Tutorial

I saw these amazing playmats that cinch into bags a little while ago and wanted one desperately.  They're super cool and so practical.  I decided I wanted one for my makeup, for my kids' legos, my daughter's "makeup," my hairclips, etc.  Then I looked at their prices.



They're not THAT cool.

So naturally I made one.

This looks like an honest, family-run company, so I hate to take business from them, but I just couldn't believe the prices.  If you want their heavy duty drawstring and fabric, do order from them, but if you're like me and need a $2- $3 option, here it is.

Your average fabric from Joanns or whatever will run around 42" wide, so that's as big as you could make this unless you piece some fabric together, which you could do.  Your playmat would then have a seam in the middle of it, but it could be ginormous.  I started small with the owl fabric, and then made a large one with some striped Jersey.

To start, you need a circle of fabric.  It doesn't have to be a perfect circle, just a rough one.  You can trace something circular or you can do this:

Fold up a corner of your fabric to create a square and cut it out.  (Similar to the way you would make a square out of a rectangular piece of paper.)

Fold it in half diagonally several times to get a little triangular shape like this.

Measure from the center point to the edge at the shortest side, then move your tape (ruler, yardstick)along the fabric, marking every half inch or so, keeping your left thumb tightly down on the center point of your circle.  You should have a little arc marked.

Cut along this line and unfold.  It should be pretty much circular.

Then you just hem the entire edge at about a half inch, leaving a small space at the end for the drawstring to poke through.  I did this without pinning or pressing, but you could press and pin first if you want it perfect.  As long as you can get a drawstring through it, it will work.  Even if you have to bunch it up like this in a few places, it will be fine:

I had enough scrap fabric to cut a long piece like this from the fabric, to use as the drawstring. 
You can sort of see I cut it in a "U" shape ( up the right side and back down the middle) because I needed it to be nice and long and didn't want to piece it together.

Then attach a safety pin to one end and feed it through the casing you created.  You'll bunch the fabric around the safety pin and slowly feel your way through to the other side. 

Then lay it out flat to see if you have any excess drawstring.  Keep enough to tie a knot.  Tie it in a knot so the child won't lose the string inside the casing.

For a more durable drawstring, you'll want to cut it about 3 inches wide, then fold the raw edges into the center.  Fold in half again and sew all the way around the edge.  This will create a more finished look.


You're done! 

The owl one is for my daughter's nail polish, and the other one is for blocks.  I try to keep them in their various boxes, but I *might* be able to train them to play ON this mat and keep it a little more contained.  Maybe :)

Fat quarters would be IDEAL for little bags like this.  I'm going to make one for makeup so I can spread it out on the counter in the morning and then cinch it back up :)

Project HOPE

Pardon my absence in the early part of this month....Desperate Housewives took over my life for awhile but I'm better now.  So:



A few times a years, volunteers with Project HOPE hand-deliver handmade items to children in need in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  Check it out here.  A friend of mine organized a night for us to all get together and sew up some dresses for the project.


We used this free pattern from Oliver + S.  It's a great little take on a pillow case dress, with some extra detail at the top and armholes but still totally simple.

I made two so I could take one home to my little living dressform :)  It's perfect for this warm climate, even in October.

Something like this would be extra-fun for someone who doesn't have girls and never gets to make dresses!!

Bubble Dress!!

I was just starting to see and hear of bubble dresses this summer when I came across one in a little expensive boutique for, like, eighty percent off, so I snagged it up.  When I brought it home to my daughter, I thought she'd never take it off, so I set out to make one.


This tutorial by Straight Grain recently popped up on pinterest and has received a lot of positive feedback.

Here's my take on it.

I added ribbon at the waistline to improve the look of the seam on the large print (which is Michael Miller Andalucia Dots).  The dress is a little shorter than I like, so I'll make the next one longer.  Once the pieces were cut from the pattern, it went together in a little over an hour, and she's crazy about it :)

I used a snap to close it at the top instead of a button.  I'd like to use a zipper next time.  The dress made its debut at the pumpkin patch this morning to rave reviews :)

Serendipity Quilt

I love quilting.  I love everything about it.  I love picking out fabrics.  I love cutting into fabrics.  I love watching online tutorials and sewing and cutting again, and piecing and basting and backing and bordering and binding.  When I finish one, it's right onto the next.

I like pre-cut fabrics because they give you a wide variety of fabrics that still go well together, and are already cut into perfect little pieces for you to play with.  I also love the amount of tutorials online you can find for precut fabrics.


This one comes from Jenny at the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

A lot of precut tutorials leave you with a scrappy look.  It's busy and a little messy and it's not my favorite look, but I was dying to try this serendipity quilt.  She calls it a serendipity quilt because, by nature of the construction of the block, you get another block, almost by accident, completely different from the first.

It was really fun to construct and piece back together like a puzzle.

I was really good at geometry in high school and was always disappointed that you had to take two years of algebra but only one of geometry.  Now I finally get to use all of that and make pretty things :)

I had some leftover blocks that I couldn't get to look right on the front, so I put them on the back.  In hindsight I should have purchased two charm packs to go with my one jelly roll, which I ended up using as the sashing.  It turned out nicely but I could have had a lot more blocks to work with if I'd had an extra charm pack.  Then I could have used white sashing and it would be less busy.

I'm going to bind it in white and let it hang out on my middle daughter's bed.  It's not quite a twin size but I think it will work just fine on her bed.

This was a really fun, really quick technique and Jenny is so much fun to watch.  You can get lost forever on her YouTube channel.  Check it out sometime :)

Jazz Up That Box of Mac and Cheese

Who are we kidding, no amount of perfect crock pot recipes or thirty minute meals is going to save us from the "ohcrapIhavetomakedinner" moments.  The hubs-is-working-late, baby-is-fussy, I-need-to-go-grocery-shopping moments.

Enter the blue box.  The cheesiest.  The one and only.

By itself, made with milk and butter, it can hardly be called nutritious.  (What's in that glorious yellow powder, anyway?)  BUT with a little creativity, you can feel quite a bit better about your kids scarfing the stuff down.  I downed quite a bit of this last batch myself.  You know it comes in whole-grain now!  HOLLA!


The secret is mix-ins, my friends.  You can add just about anything to this wonderful cheesy concoction, and the kids will still love it.  I have another post on homemade baby food that touches on this, but I wanted to highlight some of my favorite ways to healthify that favorite of all easy foods.  Enjoy.

Can of chicken and steam-in-bag broccoli.

Can of tuna and frozen or canned peas (boiled with pasta).

Pureed sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, applesauce, broccoli, squash, or pumpkin instead of the dairy.

Yes, I said PUMPKIN MAC AND CHEESE.  Need I say more?

Leftover chicken, pureed veggie, and extra cheddar, fresh grated on top. 

Ground beef and green beans or chopped tomatoes

.................................................................


While the water is boiling, I get out the other ingredients and steam them in the bag they come in, then give them a rough chop.  When the pasta is done, it alllllll gets stirred in there with the yellowy goodness.

My kids add extra parmesan cheese at the table, right from the green can, on top of all varieties.  While Pumpkin Parmesan Macaroni may not sound good to you, your children will beg to differ.

As one-pot balanced meals go, it's the quickest and yummiest, not to mention cheap.  :) :)

Americana Quilt

I learn a new craft like this and I immediately start thinking of excuses to practice.  This usually turns into Christmas gifts for the grandparents.

I don't think they mind TOOO terribly much.


For one of my mothers-in-law (I have two) I went with this beautiful assortment of rustic reds, whites, and blues.  I thought a quilt like this would feel right at home tucked away in the country in their beautiful home in the woods.

At first I wanted to do a simple patchwork flag, but after taking Amy Gibson's Craftsy class, I just knew stars would be perfect!!  Check her out at Stitchery Dickory Dock .  It's chock full of adorable inspiration.  This block is called Ohio Star.  It's very traditional and I love the way it looks with star-printed fabric.  They were meant to be!

I was worried it might be a little bit illegal to sew a flag so I looked it up, haha :)  The flag code states that you cannot recreate the image of the flag on blankets, tshirts, or anything of any kind.  I'm pretty sure Old Navy makes a ton of money doing this exact thing every year, so I'm not worried about it.  It also states violations of the flag code are not punishable by law.  Good to know!!

After I had all the blocks done I decided they needed a little more, so I added the triangles, foundation-pieced to the corners, to create the center squares in the finished quilt top.  Then I had quite a bit more fabric, so I decided to jazz up the back a bit.

I found this gorgeous star block online with no tutorial, so I just figured it out.  I think it looks great against the Kona Bone background and is a perfect compliment to the front of the quilt.

I'm not sure how I'll bind it yet.  It's tucked away in my closet waiting patiently for some batting to arrive, and hoping to grace its recipient's doorstep in time for her birthday (and if that fails, Christmas).

Laid-back

I think I've decided why having two kids was a breeze for me and the third did me in.

It's the individual kids themselves.

I've had this conversation a few times; people say "Oh, I bet the third was nothing after having two!  It's really hard for me to have two!"  and that's what most people say.   That the hardest transition is from one kid to two, but I just had a different experience, and I think I've figured out why.

Today I took all three of mine to the park by myself for the first time since my youngest started climbing, AND there was no swing to put her in to contain her.  She is a daredevil like my oldest, so I spent the entire time chasing her, frantically trying to keep an eye on the other two.  My middle one is a scaredy cat and my oldest is nearly five so I don't worry about them hurting themselves too much.

When my oldest was this age, I'd chase her , no problem.  Not like I had anything else to do.

My youngest never did this.  I could put her on the ground and she would happily watch for hours and not move.  But now?  I have three climbing all at the same time, and there's the difference.

Audrey has always been independent so she didn't care when Ayla came along to be snuggled and carried.  Ayla has never wanted to do half the stuff that Audrey does  She's chill.  But Aurelia is just like Audrey, and Ayla is almost three and wanting to do all those big kid things that her sisters have been doing since they were six months old. 

When Aurelia was a newborn, though, and she needed undivided, hands-full attention, the others would fight and I was powerless to do anything about it.  But when I had only two, Ayla could receive her attention and Audrey was always doing her own thing.  Having three was immensely harder.

I recently met a new, sleep-deprived mother of a newborn, and she said, "I just know this is the hardest part and it will only get easier."  I wanted to laugh in her face.  Your baby doesn't move!  She doesn't talk!  She cries, you feed her, she goes to sleep!  I've just always thought newborns were the easiest form of child to take care of, despite the crippling fear they will suddenly stop breathing for no reason. 

This is also how I felt about having two kids.  The baby didn't move; didn't need anything the older one needed and would sit still for hours at a time.  What's so hard about that?  Take care of the one who moves first.  Now I just take of the one who is screaming the loudest first.  But every kid is SO different, it can be hard to believe they came from the same gene pool.
I find that with every new age and stage, there is something that is easier than the previous one and something that is harder.

People say to me, "You're so laid back and your kids are so well-behaved.  How do you get all that crafting done?"  Once I get over my shock, my usual response is, "Uhhhh......" or "We have our moments," or "....MY kids are well-behaved??"

I think the appropriate response should be, "Don't worry, my house is a wreck."  Which is the absolute truth.  I was discussing this with a friend the other day and we decided it was a choice we make.  My creative outlets are more important to me than a clean house.  I know there are people out there who have to have a spotless house before they will do ANYTHING else, and I am NOT one of those people.  So my kids sort of have to be laid-back to survive, haha :)  The sewing machine is out at all times (turned off and unplugged, but out), so I have access to it to finish a seam here and there.  I don't mind being constantly interrupted.  If you're expecting to have days at a time with no kids before you can craft anything, it's not going to happen.  And personally, I would rather my kids be exposed to this kind of thing, and see me enjoying myself and learning a new skill so they can see that personal fulfillment is as important as anything else in life.

Hubs and I play board games during the day while they're awake, too.  We set it up on the kitchen counter.  We take breaks, explain the game to them, let them "help," and take hours to play one game, but we think they should see us having fun and enjoying each others' company.  If it means there are toys everywhere at the end of the day, so be it.

We do so many playdates, outings, educational play, unstructured learning, and WORK, that I think an equal amount of free play and *GASP* age-appropriate TV is just as beneficial.  Everybody needs down time.  I think two hours of chasing them at the park is worth a half hour of sewing.  I think three hours of homeschooling in the morning is worth two hours of daycare at the gym in the afternoon.  Maybe that makes me laid-back. 

It's funny because a proportional amount of people would say that I am too strict.  It's laughable to me but you can't please or impress everybody, so you have to do it your own way.