In my studio: Serious stash-busting Owls (just in time for Christmas!)

With the holidays quickly approaching, I've been trying to think of ways to use my stash of fabric and fabric scraps to make presents. My daughter just loves to have a doll or stuffed animal to hold and squeeze so I drew up two basic owl shapes to use as a pattern for making toys.

If you would like to make some of your own, here is what you need:

Pattern (owl 1 and owl 2), fabric, poly-fill stuffing and basic sewing supplies

Step 1: Trace pattern on fabric scraps and cut out. (I wanted to make quite of few of these so I made my pattern using manila folders.)

Step 2: Pin facial features to fabric.

Step 3: Set zig-zag length to 3 and stitch length to 1 1/2

Step 4: Sew nose, inside eye shape then outside eye shape. For the outside eye (the whites), I put blue thread in the bobbin so just specks of blue would show through.

Step 5: Place front and back pieces right sides together and sew using a 1/4" seam allowance (leave a wide enough hole to allow for piece to be turned right-side out).

Step 6: Press seams and make little clips around the curved seams.

Step 7: Turn right-side out and use a pointy object to push out the corners. 

Step 8: Press seams again.

 Step 9: Top-stitch around upper portion of owl.

Step 10: Stuff animal with poly-fill making sure to fill corner spots.
Step 11: Stitch opening closed. (here is a great video tutorial)

And you're done!! Since I am making more than I am planning on giving away for Christmas, I am not stuffing the extras to save much needed studio storage space!

I hope this helps all of you get rid of some of your scrap collection and get ready for Christmas!!

In my studio: stash-busting through weaving

It hit me all of a sudden last week that the end of the year is approaching, and I have not de-stashed nearly as much yarn as I would have liked.

Granted, a lot of that is due to the fact that my little guy had MSPI and most of my creative time had to be put on hold for a bit while that all got sorted out. 

The yarn that I always want to get rid of is my Peaches and Cream yarn but, I was having a hard time getting excited about knitting more dishcloths!

Thanks to my in-laws, I received a Hobby Lobby gift card for my birthday and knew just how to use it!

With my handy-dandy weaving loom, I'm able to bust through large amounts of stash without having to knit!! Yay!!

Hand-made holidays: a few of my favorite tutorials

Just wanted to share some of my favorite holiday tutorials with you!!

Marbleized ornaments

German ornament wreath

Christmas ornament mobile

Make iced branches

Hand-stitched ornaments

DIY Christmas stockings

Mistletoe kissing ball

Burlap and tulle garland

Happy making!!

In my sketchbook: back to stay?

Well, color is definitely back and maybe it will stick around for awhile!

In my sketchbook: geometric fun

In my sketchbook: leaf outline