Summer Tank Top Applique Tutorial

I fell in love with this fabric when it first came out....it's vintage transistor radios in an array of blues and oranges (my favorite color combination as you may notice on my blog design.)

 After making a pillows I couldn't let the remaining fabric go to waste, so I decided to soup up some tank tops for Mr. P. and his friends. 

But this is an easy way to spice up any tank top. I'd like to say I spent hours on this project, but all three took about 20 minutes...total....(it's an easy one! I promise!!!)

Materials Needed:

tank top (Target sells an 8-pack for pretty cheap)

scrap felt

fabric that has a large design you can cut out

Simply cut out the design that you want to sew onto your tank top. I like working with fabric that has larger images - it's easier to manage!

There's something about a nice layered look that gives depth and texture to any project. To achieve this, I simply cut out pieces of felt that would rest sandwiched between my tank and my applique - so make sure the felt is a bit larger (mine was about 1/4 - 1/2 and inch larger than the applique) than whatever size you're fabric image is. 

Sew the applique to the felt. I like to use a color that pops to add an extra dimension. You probably can't even see the orange thread.....ho hum. 

Sew the felt / applique to your tank top / ti-shirt / bag / whatever!

Happy tank top = happy boy! 

p.s. If you decide to make an applique tank / shirt / skirt / bag.....email me! I'd love to feature you with a link back to your site at the end of July!

Everything Etsy's Tutorial List

Look at this comprehensive tutorial list on Everything Etsy!!!


It's like an exciting summer "to-do" list! I don't know which one I want to try first?


And look at who is #61...that's my fabric envelope tutorial!!!

Which one will you try?

Free Giveaway!! Get to Know a New Vampire- CLOSED

(I'm trying out a new font.....)


You all read the Twilight series....I know you did. 
But did you know about the Stephenie Meyer novella called The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner?

The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner

Remember those nasty newborns that formed an army to attack Bella Swan and the Cullens? Well, this is the story of Bree Tanner, formerly human, now a vampire and part of the newborn army. 

Summer is a time to take it easy. Too tired to even read? No problem, this novella is an audio book (CD), read by Emma Galvin. Pop it in before bed, while lounging by the pool or on a road trip. 


This giveaway ends on July 10th at 8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. The winner will be chosen using random.org.


There are two ways to win this audio book:
1) Become a public follower of this blog
2) If you are already a follower, leave a comment on this blog post!

Iron on = FAIL!

Remember that cute shirt I made last week?

Well, sadly, it has decreased in cuteness.

I was so excited to use an iron-on applique to iron on a line drawing Mr. P. did of Darth Vader.

I used the same iron-ons for these snack bags I made a few months ago and they came out great!

But they were ironed on to natural-colored fabric.

Apparently ironing on to a bright color like green, doesn't work so well.

I thought the iron-on would become translucent and I'd just see the line drawing.

Live and lean.

The good news is Mr. P. could care less and he's really proud of the fact that he has his own original drawing on his shirt!

                               

Happy Monday!

Not to much to report over here! So instead, I'll leave you with a few images from the past few days....

My son has been working on self-portraits this year at his school. Here is one of his versions of himself. You can see what features are important to him: his curly hair, his long eyelashes and his teeth!

A peach and coconut pie with a cobbler topping. This was taken before it went into the oven. Thank you, Martha! 

Impulse purchase....what was I thinking???

Fresh mint and chamomile from the garden.....the perfect afternoon tea blend!

Fabric Envelope Tutorial

I have a lot of scraps. Lots and lots. So when I was trying to come up with a card for my mom's birthday using my newly acquired stamp set, I came up with this idea for a fabric envelope. It's a quick and easy way to put those great scraps to good use! 

The first thing you'll want to do is iron your fabric (which I obviously didn't do in the photo above....did I mention I'm a very lazy seamstress?)

Next, cut your fabric into a rectangle - the exact dimensions are up to you, but for the tutorial, I cut mine 12 inches x 5 inches. 

Iron the long sides inward 1/4 of an inch. You can repeat this (so for a total of 1/2 inch) for a more finished look. 

Now repeat on the short sides.  

Now, iron about 1/3 of the way up the envelope (see below). You are basically making folds so that the envelope will close nicely on it's own. There's no right or wrong here. You don't have to be exact or precise and it will still look great! 

Decide where you want the top third to fall, covering your envelope and iron. 

Isn't this a silly sewing project? You haven't even done any sewing yet! Okay, once you figure out how the completed project with look and ironed it all in place, open it up and just sew down one of the shorter ends. 

Fold the lower third up in place and sew along the lines as indicated below. 

You're almost there! You need to cut all of those dangling threads. 

And here you have it!!

You can add Velcro to close it or a button if you know how to do something like that (I don't!) You could silkscreen or stamp a message on the front...."Open Me!" Or personalize it with a name. 

Then I just cut my card stock to fit into the envelope. 

Make a bunch in an afternoon and have them ready to go for any occasion! And watch that scrap pile disappear! 

I used the orange one as a baby card to send to my sister-in-law. I made her one of my baby changing pads. You can find the tutorial here. 

He's Done it Again!

Oh Sweet Paul, how I love thee!

The summer edition is out!

If you haven't acquainted yourself with Sweet Paul yet, you're in for a real treat.

Amazing recipes, crafts, interviews.....

Check it out! 

Beans are the Musical Art!

Cleaning out my pantry this weekend I came across a surplus of beans so I thought I'd let the kids experiment with bean art. 


          


To lengthen the project time, I had them draw their pictures first and then try and cover their drawings with the beans (and popcorn). 


           


I even tried my hand at a bean portrait. 

The end result....more like a bean orgy than recognizable images....but a fun 20 minutes nonetheless! 

Greek-Inspired Brunch

I'm married to a Greek - which means our home feels warm and festive, filled with lots of Greek food and even an occasional trip to Greece. 

                               

One of my favorite meals when we visited Santorini a few years ago was the incredibly varied Greek breakfast that we had at our hotel. It was one of those meals where you really had to only eat once a day because so much food was involved. 

This is pretty much what we did after all that eating!!

                           

In a moment of nostalgia, I invited my parents and sister over for a "Greek Brunch". I'm using that word loosely because my husband kept running around the kitchen watching what i was doing saying, "that's not Greek!"

We even got to eat outside! We had  fage yogurt and honey, cheese, baguette, 

poached eggs, 

homemade granola (see my recipe here!),

bell pepper, feta and cilantro salad, 

and my husband made frappes which can be found in Greece and other places in Europe. They're so good! I really didn't want to mess them up so I let my husband make them. Here's his authentic Greek frappe:

2 teaspoon of instant coffee

fill cup an inch high with water

use immersion blender to whip it or just shake until frothy (it will fill up the glass pretty high)

add milk and ice

Raw Box

 Last week, I ordered a box of raw food from Euphoria Loves Rawvolution, a raw, vegan restaurant in Venice California. 

I was so excited when it arrived, filled with a week of raw food! My box included mock-chicken salad, Italian pizza, cucumber salad, peach cobbler, soft tacos and cheesy broccoli (instead of cheese they use cashew paste). 

This is what I loved about the box: not having to think about or prepare my meals, knowing I was eating organic, healthy food all week. 

This is what I did not love about the box: I had food leftover, after a while, the raw food starts to taste a bit the same. It was expensive. 


While I'm quite sure I won't be ordering the box once a week, I would order it again, once in a while to clean out my system.