Little Bunnies and Spring Bags

February 9, 2013 by 8 Comments

They are forecasting nearly a foot of snow here this weekend. What better plan than to sew up some spring bags and bunnies. I started with the Modern Folksy Bunny pattern.

Image of Modern Folksy Bunny PDF Sewing Pattern

Source: Gingercake Patterns

This pattern was super clear, simple, and easy to sew up. It went together really fast. You can play with the size of your bunny by playing with the scaling on your printer.

modern folksy bunny

Now if you want your bunny to stand up on it’s own I would recommend filling the bottom to the bunny with dried beans before you stuff it. This will give you a more weighted base and you bunny will be more cooperative for photo shoots.

Need help making a pom-pom?

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Filed Under: DIY Craft Projects, DIY Sewing Projects

Create Two Styles of Hanging Towels (Tutorial and free pattern)

January 22, 2013 by 10 Comments

Two styles hanging towels (pattern and tuttorial) Once Upon a Sewing MachineHere it is, the third week in January! That is hard to believe. It seems like just yesterday we were all in a hustle mode trying to get Christmas ready, plan menus, and figure out where everyone was going to sleep. Our four children are spread across a 350-mile-range, so holidays are always a production, and as more grandchildren are added, the production gets larger. Now, it’s always a great time once we get it figured out, but with so many families there always seems to be a glitch or two. I was still finding a few stray Christmas things this week as I was thinking that I really don’t have many decorations for Valentines Day.

That holiday always seems to slip past as we plan for Easter and the spring. Spring is a big deal here in the Midwest, even if we happen to be having a mild winter.

There are some things that I am rather compulsive about….here is where Rachel is laughing….and one of them is changing out my kitchen towels. I change my towels with the holiday or season. It is now time to tuck away the Christmas towels and switch over to something else. Now I do have a few snowmen and generally winter-themed hand towels, but no Valentines and very few Easter towels.

I like to hang them from my drawer handles next to the sink. They take a beating and really need to be replaced frequently. There are two methods of making hanging towels, both of which are pretty easy.

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Peppermint Candy Coasters

December 7, 2012 by 28 Comments

christmas coastersIt’s December and we’re actually getting a little crafting done! Today we’re going to show you how to make these little peppermint candy Christmas coasters. These little coasters will work great if you are looking for handmade Christmas gifts, or if you are going to have a house full of people mingling about with drinks.

These are done with some minimal sewing, and really you could probably manage them without a sewing machine if you like. Here is what you will need.

handmade christmas gifts

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A Kid’s Reading Nook

October 24, 2012 by 2 Comments

My husband and I are both book nerds. Though since having kids my books have been more board book and Seuss than great American novel. I have buckets and bins of books in the kids rooms, the living room, the basement play area, and it is not unusual to see a favorite that has been dragged to another secret local.

Now my little ones are 3 and 18 months so they don’t “read” of course. But they happily page through books when not being read to, and my 3 yr. old has some favorites he can recite. He also likes to “read” to his sister. These moments make the days when he won’t stop body tackling her and I’ve used the phrase “Just stay away from your sister!” too many times to count a little easier.

That said I would like to create a reading nook for them in the main play space. I’ve finally picked a spot. Now I just need to decide how to do it! Here are a few of my favorite ideas so far!

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Filed Under: DIY Craft Projects, DIY Sewing Projects, Into the Sewing Cabinet

No Sew Halloween Shirt

October 7, 2012 by 2 Comments

This is a fun project using only scraps and supplies that I had on hand. I took a plain
black t-shirt that I had made a while ago, it was just sitting in the sewing room
waiting for a home. I went to my fabric stash and found some bright orange as well as
some lightweight fusible interfacing and stitch witchery.

Halloween shirt

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Matchbox Car Shelves in 6 Steps

September 19, 2012 by 4 Comments

Matchbox Car Shelves by Once Upon a Sewing Machine

At our house cars are a big deal. They currently live on a 3 seasons porch. With the Fall weather moving in, and the mornings getting colder they needed a new home. Something my 3 year old would find exciting enough to entice him to stay in the house with his cars.

Today’s project was not made on a sewing machine. For this project I broke out my next favorite tool, the table saw. There isn’t any complex woodwork here so don’t be to intimidated!

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Easel Buddy- Organizing Art Supplies for Kids

August 29, 2012 by 6 Comments

Easel Buddy #OnceUponaSewingMachine

We found a great easel for the kids, and they love it. It was a super inexpensive (thank you Ikea) and features a dry erase board on one side, chalkboard on the other, and a dowel to roll paper over either.

The problem? There is only a tray on one side. Where do your supplies go when you are working on the side without the tray? May not seem like a huge deal, but the kids can get territorial over their side of the easel, and somebody ends up high and dry.

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Easy Activity Board- The Wild Kratts

August 21, 2012 by 4 Comments

Wild Kratts #OnceUponaSewingMachine #WildKratts

My little man is in love with the PBS show Wild Kratts. If you aren’t familiar, the basic premise goes like this. The Kratt Brothers, Chris and Martin, explore, rescue, and just get into general adventures with an assortment of wild creatures. They wear “creature power suits” designed by Aviva, their super hi-tech scientist/inventor friend. These suits transform them and allow them to take on the abilities of the animal that episode is focused on.

It’s funny, easy to watch for parents, and educational. If you want to check it you can find them here on PBS. This show is meant for 5-8 year olds, but my 3 year old follows it, and now can name and identify a crazy number of animals. It also has led to some fantastic moments, like when he told his dad he was not as tough as a honey badger. It’s good to know where you stand ;)

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Filed Under: DIY Craft Projects, Tutorials

Felt Trucks: Template and Tutorial

August 18, 2012 by 22 Comments

Felt Trucks Template and Tutorial This was a special request project! My little guy asked me to make him something (I guess one too many sister projects!). When I asked him what he wanted he requested trucks! That’s what I get for asking.

So I took this as an opportunity to make a quick felt board. We haven’t done a felt project yet, and I’ve seen some tempting projects. To make it even better, I had felt on hand.

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What We’re Up To

August 16, 2012 by 2 Comments

Look what we’re up to today! My little guy loves these, he picked out which of his trucks we modeled them after- he is comparing for accuracy. I passed whewww.  Felt car/truck post and tutorial and template to follow.

 

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Filed Under: DIY Craft Projects
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