Free Child's Apron Pattern link, Sewing with the Girls Again!

Working with my young sewing students is my favorite hours of the week. They are all so much fun to teach and watch them grow. Last weeks lesson for my two little princesses was to finish up those aprons from their Daddy's old shirts. We decided to try a two hour lesson and it worked out really well. We got so much done during two hours and the finished results were proof.

If you are reading this for the first time, we used a free pattern download from Ithinksew.com. You will need to register with them to use the free pattern downloads.

Our project was intended to teach them some sewing skills and also be Eco Friendly so the girls upcycled shirts from their fathers.

Watching their small delicate hands move the fabric through their machines always makes me thrill just a little at them. What a marvel children are? I feel so blessed to know them. In these photos you just see those precious small fingers working away and getting more graceful with each lesson. My tiny seamstresses are looking like pros already.

A Two Hour lesson requires a bit of break time so don't think the princesses just sewed away like little workers without a bit of antics. My son Lane (the mechanic) had ordered some tires of all things on line and they were sitting in my living room all week. The cat enjoyed them as a new playground toy but so did my students.

With the aprons done and ironed, the girls needed to model for me. One was quite happy to model, the other one felt some sillies coming on and hid behind her friend.

This pattern has attached ties at the waist, which were intended to have velcro closures but both the girls were so slim that tying them worked out better for us. We did use the velcro on the neck straps. Sewing through velcro is not a favorite activity as it can be a bit tricky but we managed finally with only one jam up.

Adding the neck band in all one piece was also a different way to go for the pattern but what I liked about this was that it gave the students a chance to practice pivoting and we had many seams that had to be torn out and started again. After having this longer lesson, the pivoting was much easier. The girls started to retain the fact that they needed to leave that needled DOWN before they lifted the foot to pivot the fabric.

I finally got my "shy" girl in her apron. Believe me, she is not shy at all.

My daughter Audrey and her friend Ji were playing video games toward the end of the lesson and I got this cute shot of my little princesses watching the big teenage girls gaming that shows the back of their aprons.

Meanwhile, my Fashionista Monica worked hard on her project this week after getting a wonderful surprise from her Nana.

I feel a bit responsible that her Nana bought her this new machine after I blogged that the other one was having so many mechanical failures. But Monica was so happy with this wonderful gift and could not control the speed,etc..much easier. We spent a bit of time going over the new machine, setting it up and practicing the different stitches so she would get a feel for it.

Since Monica is creating her own pattern for her small messenger bag, we spent time adjusting the pattern to fit correctly. Its really different when you make your own pattern because everything is not just ready for you but her desire to be a designer wins out and she is patient as we discuss the corrections needed. We hope to put her pattern on this site after completion.

Ironing as you sew is so important and makes the difference between something looking homemade and handmade.

Monica is anxious to finish this bag and move on to her designer skirt idea. We are planning a two hour lesson for next week since she is out of school for a Holiday.

At the end of her time we had the entire lining together, the outside of the bag and had attached the flap. Next we have to put on straps or handles, attach those and put the lining into the bag so we can move on to that awesome skirt. I can't wait to take some photos of that for my readers.

We still are selling those Valentine Arm Warmers in our etsy shop, Sew4Munchkins. Not quite as crazy as Christmas but still quite popular.

Tonight is Audrey's Anti-Valentine's Day party so we will be taking pictures and blogging our party ideas and recipes tomorrow.

Have a great weekend everyone and remember to create something wonderful!

Easy Peanut Butter Fudge

My beautiful and talented Godchild, Melody, has a passion for cooking and baking just like me! Today we came up with the idea to start blogging some of our favorite easy recipes for teens. This is the first in a series of recipes for young chef's with Melody and my daughter Audrey doing the cooking.

This is a picture of Mel...there is nothing better than starting out my blog with a picture of a really cute girl to get everyone's attention out on the net.

This Peanut Butter Fudge is super simple and delicious!

Recipe:
1 Can Sweetened Condensed Milk 14oz)
2 Cups ( 1 package) of White Chocolate Chips
1/2 Cup Smooth Peanut Butter
cooking spray

Optional: Hershey's Chocolate Kisses

Equipment:
Can opener
Rubber Spatula
Large Microwave Safe Bowl
Square 9x9" pan or rectangular 12"x8" pan
Microwave oven

First get your pan ready. We like to line it with parchment or tin foil. In this case, Melody is using parchment cut to fit and folded over the sides of the pan.

Spray non-stick cooking spray onto the parchment paper liner. Later you will be glad you did because the fudge comes out easier and the pan is easier to wash!

Next get ready to mix. Make sure all of your ingredients are ready. You will have to use a can opener on the condensed milk can. DO NOT USE EVAPORATED MILK INSTEAD!
IT WON'T WORK. Pour all of it into the microwave safe bowl.

Add in the 1/c cup of Peanut Butter by filling up a half cup measuring cup and making sure to smooth it across the top so that it is full completely. The recipe turns out less firm if you do not use the correct amount.

Next add in the entire package of White Chocolate Chips. Not all brands are equal in this department. The Ghirardelli brand is superior to others available in the grocery store that still cost around $3.00 or less per package.

Your mixture does not need to be stirred at this point. You will next put it into the microwave just as it is without mixing! Set the microwave for 2 minutes on high and wait for it to finish.

I know it's hard to wait and kind of boring but 2 minutes is not that long. During this time, make sure you have room in the fridge for chilling your fudge after you are done.

Get the mixture out, it will look like this:

Mix it for about 2 minutes with your rubber spatula until it is smooth and resembles a light tan color like this photo.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan very carefully, it will be slightly hot still but you won't get burned because it has cooled enough while you were stirring it.

Using your rubber spatula, spread and smooth the mixture out to the edges of the pan. It is okay if it does not perfectly go into the corners because of the paper. You will trim these sides off later and probably be forced to eat them so you don't waste any! Its one of the horrible things you MUST do when creating candy confections...eat them first so you know if it's safe to let family and friends try them out later. (if not, you might have to eat all of it yourself)

Put the pan in to cool for at least 2 hours. Again, it's difficult to wait but the fudge needs to set up.

After you take it out, it will resemble a tan slab.

Using a butter knife, score lines on the fudge but dragging the knife about 1/4" down in a straight (ish) line to make the rows. Melody did four rows vertically and 8 rows horizontally. It is up to you how large you want the pieces of fudge.

We put the pieces of cut fudge into some cute mini-cupcake papers with stripes in brown and aqua on white and some plain brown papers. The colors looked good with the peanut butter's tan color. I find lots of cute cupcake papers at stores like Michael's Crafts. But my favorite source is an Etsy shop, Sweet Treat supplies.

Sweet Treats Supplies is super fast at shipping out my orders and have the best prices. It makes a huge difference with your finished confections to have them presented in these adorable little papers in my opinion. Its around $3-3.50 for 50 liners.

Plain or decorate! It's up to you. This fudge won't last for long.

Melody finished her treats and put them on a cute heart shaped plate. Since she has someone special in mind this Valentine's Day, she decided to make the candy extra festive and add a chocolate kiss on each piece. Either way, the results are sure to make that special guy feel really lucky on February 14th.

Seriously, isn't she adorable? And as beautiful inside as out.
If you like our recipes and blog ideas, please consider joining our blog, Stumble us with a Thumbs Up and adding us to your Tumblr. ( all things I learned about from Melody!)

Yummy!!!



Next posting will be the all Chocolate Version of the Fudge with a special twist by Audrey.

Going Green with the Laundry, DIY Washi Tape Clothespins

Last Fall I got an email from my darling Zoe* aka Jess.
Readers will remember her from the summer's sewing lesson features.She's the one that actually finished her skirt!(hint to Audrey!)

Zoe sent me a photo and asked me if I could make the item in this photo and how much would it cost.

Maybe it was just the small size of the photos in my email or that I was reading it late at night but I had no idea what this thing was supposed to be? I asked everyone in my family to look at it. Everyone had a guess at it. Was it a tiny baby dress? No, the shape was too strange...a doll dress...
Wait, they have two dogs so maybe it's a dog outfit. Zoe's family did not seem like the type to dress up the dogs but Halloween was coming. So, I decided it was a doggy apron. I wrote back to Zoe about making the "doggy apron" to get more details.

The laughs went round at her house, where the heck did Tracey get "doggy apron" out of a clothespin holder?? A what?? OH! I finally got it. It was an old calico clothespin holder that was torn beyond repair. I felt quite silly, especially since there were actually clothespins in the pocket!! Her mom had to ask for it back to hang up her laundry.

I would love to post the pattern that I made off of the old one but I have no clue how to make a PDF file for the pieces. Sorry and if I can figure it out ( I even asked Carl) at some point I will post it on this blog.

The results were quite cute and I listed it on my Etsy shop and accidentally sold one to another person before Zoe's mom could even see her custom listing. I think you will agree these are darn adorable.

One thing was missing though to make it special enough for a gift and that was some nice clothespins.

A visit to the Japanese Book Store in San Jose provided me with the solution. They had a display of Washi tape and along with it some clothespins decorated with this wonderful japanese tape. Washi tape comes in many patterns and colors and sticks well to everything but also can be pulled back up to reposition it.

I made up my own directions and felt they looked pretty good. I have seen a number of sellers on Etsy making a tidy profit off of these clothespins. I tried the Dollar Tree Clothespins first, 50 for $1 but they were pretty inferior to the Target Brand that cost $2 for 50 but are much sturdier.

You can find Washi Tape on Etsy from many different sellers. I like "Pretty Tape" for their excellent selection of full rolls. Don't get tricked into buying some from a person that sells you a yard rolled around a little cardboard tag for a few dollars. You should be paying about $3-4 per roll and it will be 15m in length.

First you will need a roll of Washi tape, clothespins, a cutting board and an Exacto Knife.

You want to cut off a piece of tape that is a bit longer on each end than your clothespin. Mine are 3 inches long so I cut off about 3 and a half inch piece.
You lay the edge along the side with the metal bar, not the side without it to make it easier to trim.

Now turn the clothespin upside down on the cutting board and trim off the edge that is hanging over with your Exacto knife very carefully. You will end up with a long skinny piece about 1/4" wide. I used it to seal some packages, decorate cards or add another color of trim on some of the clothespins.

Next, turn over your clothespin and fold down the tape on each end and press securely. That's it!

Voila, you have adorable clothespins. You can repeat this on the other side or some people I noticed whitewash one side. These also can become fridge magnets but gluing a nice strong magnet on the backside. Great gift for a school teachers or family and friends. I have even seen them used to clip closed a paper bag for a cute wrapping paper instead of using tape.

Have fun making these!

Now for that *

I call her Zoe instead of Jess because that is my pet name for her. She is quite a unique child and I have known her since she was a wee small third grader. Zoe has always reminded me a lot of myself! An avid reader and fantasy nut, she would visit me at the library for more books and walk out with a stack higher than herself.

Her natural ability at cooking and crafting and sewing was so much like me. As if she has always known how to do it all. Her love for young children and nurturing tendencies to everyone in need always touched me. Her temper that could flare out of no place ( however rarely either of us would let that happen !) and the sweetness that is there in her most of time, well it just hit me in the gut and I felt a kindred spirit in her. Audrey is lucky to have such a great friend.

Our joke between us and her mom is that I will steal her away from her parents, dye her hair jet black and name her Zoe. ( we even discussed the 'cutest' spelling) We will roam around the World like gypsies, selling our wares while wearing long and colorful swishy skirts, lots of bangles and scarves in our long flowing hair. We will come back periodically to visit the "folks" and show them our latest creative projects and back out we will go to Worlds Unknown, always singing in our perfect soprano voices.

Yep, Zoe has inspired several projects for my etsy shop even. I got some bunny charms just for her because she is also known as Zoe Bunny. She is a lovely young woman now, almost 16 and her awesome parents know just how lucky they are to have such a blessed daughter♥

new babies

Everyone is having a baby right now and I have been looking all over Etsy for great ideas for baby gifts. I must say, there are tons. I love this pair of baby ugg type boots in lavender from Funkyshapes at Etsy,

And these baby hats just kill me, they are so cute from For Stitches Sake.http://www.etsy.com/listing/90222690/on-sale-twin-set-lil-teddy-bear-ears?ref=sr__&sref=&ga_search_query=&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_listing_id=90222690&ga_async=1&ga_method=listing&ga_search_type=all&ga_facet=handmade

I bought a pattern to make the baby kimono shoes , http://www.etsy.com/listing/90769922/cotton-kimono-baby-booties-baby-shoes?ref=sr__&sref=&ga_ref=auto&ga_search_query=&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_ship_to=US&ga_listing_id=90769922&ga_async=1&ga_method=listing&ga_search_type=all&ga_facet=handmade

I have got to find a source for affordable Japanese fabrics that I can buy first before I make these up. It has to be the authentic fabric. I just paid fifteen dollars a meter for some with owls and pandas but that is just way too much.

We have been selling some cute appliqued bibs in Sew4Munchkins, our children's shop. http://www.etsy.com/listing/85643748/star-baby-bib-for-boys-or-girls-brown
We just hit 100 sales this past week and the shop is almost 3 months old now. I love doing the shops with Audrey and Barrett. We work hard to get the photos and listings done weekly. Its so much work but rewarding.

I am hoping for more feedback on potential ideas for new blog posts besides writing about my students. Also, don't forget to fan us on Facebook at Jewels4Thought and Sew4Munchkins fan pages. We are hosting a give away each month.

The Next Coco or Vera?? I think so!

My newest sewing student is a 12 year old fashion designer...at least she wants to be. Monica already has a head for Fashion and sewing is a natural for her. She has a sketch book full of ideas and during our first two lessons, I listened as even more creative ideas came powering out of her. I could see her mind churning with even more and I knew she had a gift.

For her first project, instead of just making a simple tote bag like usual, we have taken a purse that she already owns and drafted a pattern off of it. Using brown paper bags, we made a pattern for a small messenger bag which is fully lined. Even adding an inside pocket.

Monica took to pattern drafting right away. Often, it is tough for me to explain to an adult how a sleeve fits into their garment or how replacing the zipper on their jeans would be difficult since that zipper was one of the first things sewn and not easily replaced. But Monica and I have connected seamstress to seamstress.

Here is a sample of one of her sketches for an outfit. She has a book full of them. Her next plan after this purse is to make a layered skirt from one of her old Halloween Costumes. I just have to teach her the building blocks to get to that point.

Making the purse is not a quick project since we have started literally from scratch. But her genius for picking up on the nuances of matching the pieces and taking each step of construction in order is really remarkable.

Its not all been easy for her. A decision to add a small 3" heart pocket on the outside proved frustrating. Sewing on the curve of the heart was too difficult at this point in lessons. Part of this is the older sewing machine model without a speed control. Even I find it hard to keep her machine sewing at an even pace as the foot just seems to not work until pushed to full throttle.

I often tell my students that sewing is kind of like driving a car. Learning to stick to your side of the road or fabric, following the lines and taking the curves a little slower. So the heart was set aside for now. She did some practicing on paper hearts and hopefully next week she will feel more comfortable or I will give in a bring my machine over so she can test drive it as the different speeds.

After this last lesson, the inside of the purse is done, including a contrasting pocket. Monica was happy with her work and quite frankly if her mom had not come back to take her to a school function...well we might have sewn much longer that day.

I told her when she becomes famous, I hope she will remember me as her first teacher. It is really so rewarding to see each of my students blossoming and pass on my craft to the next generation.

When I was a teenager, I used to go buy fabric on Saturday morning to make a new dress for my date that night. Sewing later for my children so they could be well dressed on a budget was just a natural thing to do. Now, Audrey and I are enjoying two successful Etsy Shops because of our love for sewing and crafts. Learning to do things for yourself like working on your car or baking your own cake and in Monica's case, making that fabulous layered skirt to wear to school knowing no one else can ever have one is...well AWESOME!