Monster Pillow for Tooth Fairy or Just of Fun

My one son has lost 3 baby teeth so far and I think 1 made it under his pillow.  He seems to think it's a bad thing to loose his teeth.  We bought and read books to him about loosing teeth and talked to him about it and he has an older brother who's lost teeth and gotten money for it.  So I don't understand why he threw his latest lost tooth in the trash and didn't even tell us he had lost it.  It wasn't until my husband noticed and asked when he had lost it.  I didn't know either but I had remembered him throwing something away at breakfast the other morning saying "eeewww, something hard." When we asked him when he lost his tooth he burst into tears saying it was at breakfast the other morning.  We told him it's not a bad thing and he could leave a note for the tooth fairy, but he didn't want to do that either.  

So I was thinking maybe he's afraid of the tooth fairy coming in his room and going under his pillow.  And I thought I'd make him a special pillow he could put his lost tooth in and he can set it next to his bed, on his bed or next to his door if he wanted.   Whatever the reason for him not being excited about loosing teeth and throwing them away... hopefully a cute monster pillow will help!

I looked on Pinterest and wasn't 100% in love with any of them, so I drew up my own.  I had some 16" pillow forms in the attic I got out and thought I would use one of them.  I also just used some fabric I already had.  I used felt for the eyes and teeth and that minky stuff (I think that's what people call it) for the horns and the back.

For the teeth I left one side open for a pocket to put a tooth and where the Tooth Fairy can leave the money.

I like multi functional things.  If the pillow was just for teeth then soon he'll be done with it.  I wanted it to also be for other stuff and get more use out if.  So for the mouth I put a zipper and I overlapped the bottom fabric to cover the teeth so it would be softer if the face part is laid against.  I sewed another fabric to the top piece to create a big pocket, the size of the pillow.  You can put books or whatever you'd like in there.

I scanned in my drawing and then touched it up a bit.  When I would do my own quilts, I drew up those as well, colored them in and wrote measurements.  I guess I'm a bit of a nerd, I have to draw out my plans or use ones with measurements and stuff already.  But it seems I often change plans of someones else's too.  In junior high I took a mechanical drawing class and I loved it!  I felt like I was back in that class drawing the teeth, going over 1.5" and up 5"...  LOL!  It was fun, maybe that's why I drew out a lot of my own quilt designs too, I enjoy it.  Anyway here is my drawing after I touched it up in Photoshop...

 I also made a pattern for the eyes, teeth and horns.  Hopefully you can right click it, save it to your computer and then print it out.  You cannot print it with a border if you want it as big as I did mine.  The patterns go right to the edge of the paper.  For the horns I used the teeth pattern, but put about a 1/2" border around it.  Using your cutting ruler and mat, put the half inch line of your ruler on the edge of your pattern and cut.  Hmmm... sorry maybe I should have taken a picture of that.

What you'll need... 

You will need two 17" squares one for the back piece (I use that soft minky stuff) and one for the piece you'll put under the top to make the big pocket. So you could just use a fat quarter for these pieces.

For the face you'll need to cut 17"x 12.5"

For the mouth piece you'll need to cut 17" x 7" (I cut it 17" x 7.5" and ended up trimming 1/2" off, always better to be safe then sorry.)

For the face and mouth pieces you could also use fat quarters, or buy 1/2 yard cuts of fabric, depending on the direction of the pattern and how you want the direction of the pattern to go.

I had the felt on hand, but if you're going out to buy it you can just buy 1/4 of a yard, the biggest piece is 6" in diameter.  Or you could use the felt sheets.  Don't forget you will need to cut 2 of each on the pattern.  Then another set of the triangles for the horns, but I did not use felt for the horns.

You don't have to use felt, I chose it because it didn't fray.  But because I had the cheap felt, it pilled up after my son threw the pillow all around and played with it.  I'm going to try the premium felt for the next one and see if that's better.  You can use any fabric you want.  If you don't want it to fray and don't want to use felt, you can use that minky stuff or fleece too.

A 16" pillow form.

You will need 2 zippers, a regular zipper for the mouth, I had to buy an 18" one.  And a zipper for the pillow itself.  I used an 12-14" invisible zipper.  You can hand sew the pillow shut if you choose, but I find it easier to sew in a zipper.  Also you can take it off for cleaning and repairs to the pillow.

And you will need all the basic sewing stuff... machine, pins, thread, etc.

Now how to make the Monster Pillow...

So first step... Cut those pieces from the fabric for your pillow as I mentioned above.

Then cut out your pattern pieces, I did mine on card stock so I can use them several times.  I have 3 kids, so I figured I'd be making at least 3 of these.

Fold your felt in half so you can cut the 2 pieces you'll need at once.  Pin your pattern piece to it and cut out your eyes and teeth.

Next sew your mouth zipper to the bottom of the face, follow the directions that come with the zipper.  I had my fabric hanging off the zipper edge a little bit, about 1/8".

 Then I folded and ironed the edge under (don't make your iron too hot!  I had mine all the way up and melted my zipper a little), then I sewed the edge down to the zipper to prevent fraying.  You can zig-zag the end if you wish, for me this was easy and looks nice.

After I folded in down and sewed it to prevent fraying.

 Then I folded it over (open) and top stitched it down to the zipper.

 Here's the top stitch...

Remember I said I melted the zipper with the iron, see how it bows a little?  That's from melting it, but it still works.

Get your teeth pieces, pin them down and sew then on 2 sides to leave a pocket.  I made sure mine cover the green, so they sort of connected to the teeth of the zipper, but don't get too close so you can still open and close the zipper.

I decided to sew a little on the side where the pocket would be, I thought it would make it a little sturdier or something.  I sewed down 1.5" from the top and up an inch from the bottom.  I marked where I wanted to stop with my Mark-B-Gone pen, I love it!  You just get your mark wet and it disappears.  Don't forget to back stitch when you stop and start. 

Next pin and sew on your eye pieces.  You can sew them all together first if you'd like, but I didn't, I sewed each one on to the face, starting with the biggest circle.  I wanted my stitch to sort of be hidden, I'm not great at sewing circles, so I used a matching thread for each eye piece.

Almost done and looking good!

Next take your mouth piece fabric and iron a 1" fold at the top.  Line the fold up with the zipper as in the picture below...

Open up the mouth piece of fabric and line it up with the green to make sure the sides will be straight.    

Pin the zipper down, basically it will be like when you sewed the face piece to the zipper, you will have about 1/8" of an inch hanging over the edge of the zipper.  So I guess you really don't have to line up the fold, it just will be lined up anyway.

Since my zipper was bigger then the fabric this part was easy... open the zipper so the pull is out of the way and sew the fabric to the zipper.

With the face (green) piece I folded the edge under and sewed it down to prevent frayed or I said you could zig-zag stitch it.  You can do that here.  I did not, because I left the salvage end there knowing it won't be seen and it won't fray.

Then fold the edge where you previously ironed in a fold and top stitch it down.  This part may be tricky because you can't see the zipper, but you can use the left side as your guide on your sewing machine, so pay attention to where the left side (the fold) hits on your machine and use that for you guide.

Now your face is all sewn together.  Get your pocket piece, the 17" square... put both face (right side) up, with the face of the monster on top, line them up and sew them together, sew with just under a 1/2" seam allowance.  Sew all the way around, all 4 edges.

After I had lined mine up was when I trimmed the extra 1/2" off my mouth (the blue), remember I had cut it big knowing I may trim some off.  The zipper adds a of bit of length to your face.  It's always better to trim your edges when done then not have enough.

Look... you have a cute little pocket!  Almost done!  So exciting!!!

Make your horns... cut your horns out, sew 2 sides together with right sides facing, turn inside out, stuff, sew end shut.

I put mine 4 inches from the edges.  Turn them down, opposite of how they will look when done, line them up with the edge of the face and sew them down.  I go over them a couple of times to secure them good, knowing they will be pulled on and stuff.

Next get your zipper for the pillow and sew it on following the instructions it came with.  Or skip this step if you are hand sewing it shut.

After your zipper is sewn on, with right sides facing sew the remainder of the pillow together with a 1/2" seam, make sure to leave your zipper most of the way opened so you have a hole to turn our pillow right side out.  Again I went over where the horns are a few times, make sure your horns are tucked in when you sew the pillow together.

Clip your corners and zig-zag stitch all the way around to prevent fraying, especially if you put a zipper in which means it will opened.

Turn your pillow right side out, insert pillow form and zipper it shut... Ta-Da!!!  All done!!!  

So easy and cute!!!!

Happy sewing!!!

Here is the girl version I made for my daughter...

 I bought the premium felt for hers and it seems to not be pilling up like the cheaper felt did.  I also used the minky stuff for the colored part of the eyes and added a little yarn hair.

She Loves it!

I Made Matching Easter Outfits

I wanted to make Mackenzie a dress and the boys matching ties last year but I never did.  However, I did this year!  And I made Dave a tie and myself a matching skirt!

I think they turned out great!  Unfortunately it was drizzling so we couldn't go outside to get a better picture.  Oh well, we're still cute!  :)

Here is everything I made...

I made Mackenzie an easy peasant dress and I added some silk flowers I made, to fancy it up a bit.  Here is the link to the pattern for the dress that I used.

A friend of mine, Jessica, had made one and it was so cute, she gave me the pattern to make one for Mackenzie and I went from there.  I decided to make myself a skirt and the boys matching ties.

 Close up of the silk flowers I made.  All hand sewn together of course.  For a little girls dress or just for a little girl, I really don't trust it the flowers to be glues together.  One for when you wash the dress and two if the girl pulls on it or something.  It's just safer to be hand sewn.

 Here is the back.  I sewed the sash onto the front of the dress and left it hang at the side seams to be tied in the back. 

Here are the ties.  I sort of used a pattern for in.  Looking at the picture below the tie on the right hand side (-->) is the tie I used following this pattern.  Then Dave tied the knot and decided that it got fatter too soon and part of the fat part was in the knot.  And they have you putting the seam right in the knot as well, which doesn't really work out.  I also wanted to make it longer for Jayden.  I made Jayden's one long piece with no seam.  And I had the tie get skinner sooner.  Also, I kept it one width from that point on.  The pattern has it tapering again at the end.  But none of Dave's ties do that.  They are all the same width from that one point on.

So I printed this pattern for Daves tie, same site just the mens tie.  And the bottom part was as wide as the boys ties... that doesn't work!  So I drew up another one.  And I made Dave's tie much longer!  He needs a tall tie.  I measured one of his current ties to draw up another pattern.

Also with the ties I only folded the middle (in the back) part over once and I used pinking shears to cut it so it wouldn't fray.  I found if I doubled folded it it was too thick in the middle of the tie.  I couldn't find the interfacing they talked about.  However I fold a fleece interfacing that you could iron on.  I thought that worked real nice!

 Here is the back of the tie!  It looks like a real tie!  Unlike all the other tutorials I've seen that have you sew it and turn it inside out, leaving a seam right along the edge.  Some people may think hand sewing is more work, but that is how the ties are that you buy.  And I enjoy a little hand sewing!  And I love that it looks like a real tie!

One thing I forgot and I didn't realize till it was too late... I didn't put that tag on the back so they could tuck the back of the tie through it.  I meant to sew a little piece of ribbon there.  So I will have to go back and do it.

 Here is the skirt I made myself!  I even lined the skirt so I didn't have to wear a slip with it.

I read and read all these pins on making skirts.  Really, I spent so many hours reading all these different patterns!  And I finally just took my favorite skirt and traced it!  I guessed about how long I wanted the ruffle based how long I did it on the apron I made.  And I doubled the width of the skirt for the ruffle.  and I know how to sew an invisible zipper in.  I used a twin needle for the hem in the ruffle, top stitching down the ruffle at the top of it and at the top of the skirt to keep the lining down and stuff.  It gives it a nice detailed finish!  Sorry I didn't take a closer picture of the that!

Sorry I can't be more helpful with how to make a skirt.  If you know how to sew, you can trace a skirt and sew this one up in your size.  But if not, there are thousands of tutorials out there on to make a skirt!!!

Nerf Gun Vest

My kids LOVE Nerf guns!  We (my husband and I, yes I like to get rough and play with the kids too) often run around our house with our 7 year old having Nerf guns battles.  I had seen on Pinterest someone made her son a Nerf Gun vest, but didn't have instructions, just pictures.  So I sat down and and studied the picture of the one you can buy and made one for my boys.  I plan on making a second one so they can each have one, but thought I'd just make one since I was figuring it all out.  And I have thought of something different to do when I make the next one. 

I did take pictures along the way, so I will remember how to do the next one so it will go quicker.  And so I can make a tutorial.  So eventually I will have a tutorial to post.

But for now here are the pictures of it...

Jayden, who the vest made for, was not feeling so good and so there are no pictures of his face, because he was not happy in the pictures.

But my younger son loved it and smiled cute... 

I still need to add a strap to put around the handle of the gun to hold it in place better.  The boys have 2 different guns that can fit here, so I will make the strap with snaps to fit the 2 different sized guns.  And I want to add a little clip thing so they can attach smaller hand guns if say the Easter bunny gives them one or something.  But all that I can do later.

A cargo pocket...

 Inside pockets... Yup I used some small scraps from cutting out the vest for the pockets.  It's inside, who cares and I don't like waste...

 Elastic to hold darts...

 And pockets in the side seam of the vest, you know like pockets in a coat...

Also later I want to add a sleeve in the back for a sword, like the real Nerf Gun vest has.

Apron

I have been wanting to make myself an apron for well over 2 years.  And I finally sat down and did it!

I found a pattern called "Spice it Up Apron" by Pat Bravo.  Click here to get the free pattern.  It's 3 pages of a PDF.  If you know how to sew, it's very easy to follow.

I made the top part of mine 12 inches wide and the waist of the top ended up being 21 inches, I wanted 16 but it stretched out as I sewed it.  My chest area is where I need the coverage, that's where all the grease splatters when I'm cooking.  So I made it bigger.

Also, note they never tell you to fold in your edges of the bias tape you sew at the top.  And also the ends of your ruffle you sew on the skirt, in mine it's green.  I think I would have like to do the sash in the green, but oh well, it's still nice the way it is.

The big reason it took me so long was I always look at a pattern and see things I want to try and do differently, so I have to sit there and figure it out.  I'm a nut about that!  So I just sat down and followed the pattern, except making the top wider to cover more.

And I bought sliders for the strap around the neck, you have to order those online.  They are like 40 cents and shipping is really cheap.  I ordered mine at strapworks.com

I didn't want to tie it behind my neck and I wanted it adjustable but I didn't want D rings with an end hanging down.  The sliders work great!

Another note, if I make this pattern again... you ruffle the whole width for that 12 inches for the top piece... that's a lot fabric up there.  I don't think I think I really like all that fabric up top.  I may not ruffle so much next time, maybe even just put a few pleats in instead of ruffling it... just a thought.

Baby Girl Shoes - Black and Pink

A friend of mine will be having a baby girl any day so I made a pair of shoes for her.  And I also made her a matching flower clip for her hair, but I didn't take a picture of the 2 together.

And I also made my niece, Cozette a pair for her 1st birthday.

The top pair are size 3 months with matching fabric on the bottom and the bottom pair are 12  month with grippy stuff on the bottom.

You can download the free pattern from Tao of Craft click here to go to their link.

I didn't use their strap piece.  I just used the piece that was left over from cutting out the shoe for the strap.  And I don't like velcro, it comes apart too easily.  I like to put an elastic loop in the end and then put that over a button.  It's harder to come off and it gives it a little stretch.  Really you don't have to un-do it to get the shoe on and off the baby's foot either.  You can check out my tutorial here from the pleated Mary Janes on how I do my strap.

I had original bought this fabric to make Mackenzie a dress and matching shoes, but then my mom had her stroke and I never got it done.  So I decided to use it for a friend and my niece.  Maybe I'll make a skirt or dress from it for Mackenzie someday.