Swaps! Lanyard idea

I am a leader of a Brownie Troop, and my girls are ga-ga over swaps. As we prepare for our first camporee of the school year, we will be making swaps at our next meeting. So each of them would have a nice lanyard for the swaps I made these for them. You can let your girls sew these, it honestly takes only a few minutes for each one! For the swaps, check out Pinterest. Just a warning, there are a million and you can spend all day (OK, a few days) lost looking at Girl Scout Swaps!

Yes, the s'mores swap is the hands down favorite!

The lanyard accessories are available really cheap at craft stores and Walmart in the kid craft section.

Start with a strip of fabric 2 1/2 inches wide by WOF (42-44) long. Put a key ring around the fabric. It is just easier to do this now before you sew and move it around than try to thread it through at the end. Then carefully take your fabric around to one side, careful not to get it twisted. Place ends crossed, right sides together like the photo and pin the ends like the photo.

See where the pins are? You are going to sew on that diagonal. If you have ever done quilt binding, this will be super easy. Sew on the diagonal as pinned. Then trim to 1/4 inch.

Take this to the ironing board, press the seam open.

Then fold and press the whole thing in half, moving the ring around as you go. This is tricky since it is a loop and not a flat piece of fabric.

Then open it up, folding the two ends into the center.

Fold again on the center you pressed first, so the ends are neatly tucked in.

Press like there is no tomorrow! Then take to the machine and stitch as close to the open end as your can.

Find the seam where you made the circle, and pull it down to the bottom. Fold around the ring, and sew about an inch up from the bottom.

All you have to do now is add your lanyard clip and you are done!

For the name tags, I took a blank business card stock and printed their names on them, then used thick packing tape to laminate them! I used a standard hole punch to add the hole at the top and that was it!

Now off the Pinterest to see what other Swaps we can do...

little gift

I am always looking for teacher appreciation gift ideas, and make things year round so I am ready for Christmas and end of year! This pencil/supplies container is perfect for any classroom. This size can fit a whole pack of sharpies, and you can still put the lid on!

My 8 year old and I were spending time in the sewing room yesterday, and she came up with this idea for her teacher! We are all about recycling and using up scrap fabric, so this is perfect for us! She was able to do all the stitching, this is that easy to make! We used applique because my daughter loves to applique, but any teacher would love to have their name embroidered on one!

The base is just an empty large Strawberry Quik container.

Measure the height, in this case it was 5.75 inches from base to top. So, I cut a strip from scrap 6.75 inches by the width of fabric, which was 22 inches. All we are worried about to start is the height.

Now, fold in the top and bottom 1/2 inch each and press. You don't need to double fold, as this side will be glued to the container.

Next, take to the sewing machine and add a decorative stitch to the top and bottom. Rena chose this pretty snowflake stitch, because everything in our house is still all about Frozen. 

Next we will add the applique. I printed out a block letter A. Don't forget to print your letter in reverse so when you trace it with wonderunder then cut it out of fabric all is facing the right way!

Use fusible interfacing for the applique. If you are new to applique, fusible interfacing is really easy to use, and keeps everything in place and makes it really easy to sew! Stitch around your applique. 

Position so your applique is center front. Then, grab your glue gun! Glue the front down first, getting the edges really well.

Flip around to the back. Take the right side and trip so it is about in the middle of the container. Glue that side down, getting the edges really well.

Bring the other side around, trim so it is about an inch over the first side, then fold over about 1/2 inch. Glue fabric fold first, then glue down.

Ta-da! How easy was that? Now to find more containers to recover....

Recovery

I do have a really cool project to share, but first a little update. Surgery to remove the Melanoma was June 5. They biopsied a few lymph nodes and all was clear, so I am officially cancer free and just recovering from the surgery. It was on my left hand, which is my dominate hand, so I have not been able to sew or do much these past few weeks. Even now I am pecking this out awkwardly with my right index finger. I am relieved and grateful. Luckily, my Aunt is also a skin cancer survivor and has been visiting us to help! It has been awesome having someone to talk to who has been where I am. Plus the kids are having a blast!

Since I can't sew right now, here is a quick scrap project that will also protect your skin from the sun!

Let's make a pretty sun hat! First, check out your local shops for an inexpensive sunhat. I found this one for about $5 at Walmart.

It's pretty, plain and has sparkles! Next, get a bunch of your scraps. For the flower on the hat use the tutorial here. Then cut three strips 1 1/2 inches wide by width of fabric. The length needed will depend on if you do a tight or loose braid. I used about 26 inches to do mine, its tighter but not super tight.

Sew the strips at the top, making sure they all face the same direction.

Then fold the strips to make tubes with the pretty side of the fabric facing out and start braiding. This is so the design on the fabric shows! I tape the top down to the table to keep it steady while I braid.

Then break out the hot glue gun! Start by gluing the sewn end down, then slowly and gently glue the braid around the hat. When you reach the beginning again, cut about  1/2 inch over, glue all three strips together so they won't start to come undone, then gently place over the start point.

I place the flower over the raw spot to cover and presto! Now my sunhat went from plain to pretty!

Sew sweet and sew easy! Don't forget to protect your skin from the sun!

dress

I had a bit of fabric left over from the bag, so I whipped this up today! I kind of made up the pattern, tracing the top part from a jumper and then rotary cutting the bottom.


Of course, I am procrastinating with my current quilt. I am doing the blocks in steps, so it is going slow. I have also been making hair accessories!

We added buttons to Evie's yo-yo's!

Flowers made from knit fabrics. 

a bunch of lace and tulle bows.

A brocade flower.

Large brocade flower.

I had a lot of fun, and it is nice to have handwork I can do when Bubba and I are playing on the floor!