GUEST Post ~ Truly Lovely ~ ZEBRA FLEECE BLANKET ~

When I posted THIS POST, asking for help, and then sent an email to my bloggy friends, I never expected so many people to respond.I am blessed with wonderful friends, and I had a ton of ladies, who were more than willing to keep you all entertained while I get better, or get some sleep, or paint my garage, whatever, he he. The point is, I am SUPER LUCKY, super THANKFUL, and SUPER excited to introduce you all to Kassi from
TRULY LOVELY

Thanks Kassi for being here today, I appreciate it so much!

Kassi is a sweet, sweet gal. Hello, did you notice how she calls me Miss Bella, gotta love that. Since I've been living in the south, I catch myself teaching my kids that too, hehe. I kinda like it, it's just SWEET! Kassi, is sweet, and you can tell from the moment you exchange one email, or comment with her, it's instant. She's also like a cowgirl, or something, which I totally find cute too, and she's getting married soon, which is so exciting. So there is tons to see, at her blog, she a couple, so just go say hello to Miss Kassi!

Hello lovely Bella Before & After readers!!
I am so thrilled to be able to be here helping out the lovely Bella today!
Miss Bella, I hope you feel better soon!
Your readers will miss you terribly while you're on vacation! :)

In the meantime... I'm Kassi from Truly Lovely!

Truly Lovely is a blog by myself and my sister Kayli about the things that we consider to be well... Truly Lovely!! :)



That's me! :)

You can read more about my sister and I 

AND our blog by clicking that lovely little button down there. :)

Today I would like to share a SUPER EASY tutorial with you!!
A fun fleece blanket!!

The materials needed are:

2 yards of fleece fabric

1 package of coordinating satin blanket binding

Coordinating yarn

Coordinating sewing thread
Pins

Yarn Needle

Scissors

Sewing Machine

In this case I went with zebra fabric and all red coordinating materials.

First trim your fleece fabric of any uneven edges or those funky white labeled edges... You know what I'm talking about... :)

Then, using the Yarn Needle, stitch your thread down the two length sides of your fabric like so... I spaced each stitch about a half an inch apart...





Next you'll pin and trim your satin binding to the two width sides (the two shorter sides)... The binding will have a fold down the middle, simply line that fold up with the edge of your fabric, making sure it's centered so there's an even amount of binding on both sides...





Fold over the edges of the binding to make your four corners and pin those as well. You can either trim or fold the extra binding inside to make your corner.







Once you have the binding pinned onto both sides, get out the sewing machine. I used red thread to match the binding...


If you sew really well, you can use a varying color of thread for added pop!!! I don't so much... SO matching thread hides my inexperienced sewing skills. :)
(I'm a little addicted to zebra print... can you tell?!?)

Simply sew the binding to the fleece pulling pins as you go.


And TaDA!!!! A SUPER EASY fleece blanket made by you!
They make great baby gifts, or gifts for friends or family!! :)







Hope you enjoyed my tutorial!!


We would love it if you would pop over to Truly Lovely to say hi!
AND if you like what you see we would LOVE a follow! :)
Hope to see you there!!


THANKS SO MUCH TO THE LOVELY MISS Bella of Bella Before & After 
for allowing us to share with you all today!!!

Thanks Kassi for being here today. I enjoyed having you girl!!

BELLA'S CURRENT GIVEAWAY

Agape Love Designs

ROSE PENDANT NECKLACE

Click HERE to link up this week.

AMAZE ME AUGUST

If you liked this post, then follow me dude!

SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL

Enter your email address here:

Don't forget to LINK up to my weekly party. 
AMAZE ME AUGUST

             

Read More

GUEST Post ~ Wild Flowers and Whimsy ~ PLAY DATE DRESS ~

When I posted THIS POST, asking for help, and then sent an email to my bloggy friends, I never expected so many people to respond.I am blessed with wonderful friends, and I had a ton of ladies, who were more than willing to keep you all entertained while I get better, or get some sleep, or paint my garage, whatever, he he. The point is, I am SUPER LUCKY, super THANKFUL, and SUPER excited to introduce you all to April from 

April has been one busy mama, have you guys heard of the SPRING FLING, just a 14 day giveaway, that is wrapping up tomorrow actually!!! Yup, April put that baby together. She also puts together the CUTEST little girl dresses, and has tons of patterns she loves to share on her blog. Naturally she also has an ETSY shop, that sells pretty cool stuff too, so check that out asap. Her blog is FULL of great crafts, tutorials, linky parties, GIVEAWAYS, and more, so make sure to go say hi. Oh, and just so you all know, how awesome she is, her power was out, for a while, and she was stressed trying to get me the code for this post, she asked a friend to get in touch with me, and we kind  of communicated like this for a day or two, and she still managed to get me the code. That's determination, I love it. She surely puts me to shame, I'd just as easily said sorry babe, powers out, can I do it later, he he. JK, I would never do that, lol.

SO my dear APRIL, please take it away, and show us what you got!!

Hi!  I'm April from Wildflowers & Whimsy!   I am super excited to be guest posting here today!

What I want to share with you today is my Play Date Dress.  It is super simple to make...it's basically a glorified pillowcase dress and you will be able to make both the pink and blue versions using this tutorial.

What you'll need

About 1 yd of fabric

1/4" elastic

Cording or Ribbon (optional)

These measurements will fit roughly a 3t and are to make the blue dress.  If you need a different size or want to make the pink version here's how to figure out your measurements:

For the width multiply the chest measurement by 1.75

For the length of the dress measure from the nape of the neck down to the length you want then add 2.5" for the pink option or 4.75" for the blue option.

Cut

2 - 20" x 26.75" (front & back of dress)

2 - 20" x 5" (front & back collar)

2 - 20" x  2" (belt casing)

2 - 30" x 1" (belt)

Use a shirt or pattern piece you already have to cut a "J" shape for the armholes or you can just wing it....it should be about 2" x 5"

Finish sides of front & back of dress(zig zag, over cast, or serge)  Pin the dress front and back together at the sides with RS facing; stitch; press seam open.

Finish the arm holes and fold them.   Fold them over and press...using starch makes it waaaay easier....stitch down.  I prefer to use bias tape to finish the armholes but I didn't have enough fabric to make any and I didn't think the packaged ones would look good with this fabric.

Stitch the short sides of the front and back collar pieces together with RS facing to form a tube.  Then, press the seams open and press the bottom up 1/2".

Fold the dress and collar in half and finger press a crease at the centers.  Then, line up the creases with the RS of the collar facing the WS of the dress; stitch all the way around the collar using a 1/2" seam allowance.

Open out the collar and press the seam up.

Fold the collar down, so that it just covers the stitching; press and pin in place as you go.

Edge stitch at the bottom of the collar,  leaving about a 2" opening.  Then stitch, 1/2" above that to form a casing.

Note:  If you want to make the pink version skip down until the insert elastic step...

With RS facing, stitch the short ends of the belt casing together.  Press the seams open.  Finish both the long raw edges.  Fold them over to meet in the center; press.

Mark the center front of the belt casing and make two 1/2" button holes  1/2" to the left & right of the of the center of the belt casing. 

Measure from the bottom of the collar down 11" and draw a line across the front and back of the dress at that point.  (If you are doing a different size measure the back-waist length..from nape to waist...and add 2"...give or take depending on the size you are making)

Lining up the seams, pin the belt casing to the dress with the top edge just below the line you drew

Edge stitch the top and bottom of the casing to the dress.

Stitch the short sides of the belt together.  Press the seam open.  Then, fold it in half with WS facing and press.  Zig zag, overcast, or serge the raw edges together.  Then, insert the belt into the belt casing using a safety pin.

Cut a 12" piece of elastic (for different sizes I would measure the neck with the measuring tape coming out onto the collar bone and use that measurement to cut the elastic) and insert it into the casing in the collar.  Stitch the ends together.  Then, edge stitch the opening closed.

Turn up the hem 1/2"; press.  Turn it up another 1.5" and press and stitch.

Done!  I hope you liked it!  I would love see your version if you make one.  Drop by and link it up to my Sew Crafty Saturday Party!

THANKS SO MUCH APRIL, that was the cutest dress.
*************************
You want to win this???

BELLA'S CURRENT GIVEAWAY

Agape Love Designs

ROSE PENDANT NECKLACE

Click HERE to link up this week.

If you liked this post, then follow me dude!

SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL

Enter your email address here:

Don't forget to LINK up to my weekly party. 
AMAZE ME AUGUST

             

Read More

Guest posting @ CRAFT A WORLD

Today I am thrilled to be Guest Posting at:
CRAFT A WORLD



I hope you take a moment to stop by this wonderful blog, and say hello to me there. Once you get there, he he, I know you will want to take a look around. Farah, is incredibly talented. Truly, one of THE sweetest bloggers I've come across. You will just feel so welcomed at her blog, and she always has THE kindest comments, and words to share. I feel so blessed to have gotten to know her, even just a little. (I totally poured over almost her entire blog, when I found it) I'm like that, when I see something I like, I just look at it all. 


She has also GUEST blogged for me, and has ONE more post coming up on 4/8, so make sure to come see that one too, it's a fabulous Herringbone pillow tutorial. 


So what are you waiting for, come on over , and say hello!!!
CRAFT A WORLD


If you liked this post, then follow me dude!

SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL

Enter your email address here:

Don't forget to LINK up to my weekly party. 
AMAZE ME AUGUST

             

Read More