Posted by Megan Barr on Aug 11, 2010 in
Uncategorized Call me ambitious… call me crazy… call me pregnant. I added yet ANOTHER crafted item to my list of things to do or make before Baby comes. Since Ryder is no longer sleeping in a crib, I wanted to give him a cozy place to lay his little head when we travel. A quick online search brought me to this beautiful tutorial by Jenny Garland. And true to form, I just couldn’t follow it step-by-step… so the following instructions are a hybrid of Jenny’s suggestions and what I actually did:
Materials:
~ 1 2/3 yards cotton fabric… this will cover the front, back, and pillow portions of the mat. I happened to find two coordinating fabrics that couldn’t live without each other. I got two yards of each because I wanted extra for other projects.
~ 2 yards minky dot (or some other cozy fabric) to make the attached blanket
~ 25″ cotton or nylon belt webbing (like the strap on a backpack)… Jenny calls for elastic, it doesn’t make sense to me to have the carrying handle stretch out.
~ approx. 55″ velcro (I prefer the kind that is NOT self-adhesive because the glue gums up my machine)… Jenny suggests only 40″ of velcro, but I added some to the pillow portion, and substituted button closures for velcro.
~ 1 small pillow form (mine was 12 x 16″)… Jenny simply sewed a “pocket” for the pillow and stuffed it with fiberfill. I wanted to be able to remove the pillow for washing.
~ 1 piece of 1″ thick foam… Jenny suggests 20 x 40″ but I ended up having to cut mine down to about 19 x 37″ to get it into the cover.
Now the fun begins…
First, cut two 36” squares from the minky fabric. Sew right sides together, leaving an opening to turn. Turn right side out. Topstitch around the blanket… I usually use a zig zag when I topstitch. (I LOVE blankets, and wanted mine to be a bit bigger. I added two inches, making it 38″ square. This got me into a bit of trouble because I ran out of fabric. Never fear! I simply cut a small strip to make up the difference, and sewed it on. Definitely recommend following the 36″ suggestion.) 
For the front and back of the nap mat:
Cut two 22 x 52” rectangles from your other fabric for the front and back of the mat… I cut one rectangle from each fabric pattern.
Cut four 4 x 6” rectangles from the same fabric for the button tabs… again, I cut two from each fabric pattern.
Cut two 13 1/2 x 17 1/2″ rectangles for the pillow (one rectangle from each fabric pattern if you’re using two)
For the pillow:
With right sides together, sew one short side, and one long side of the 13 1/2 x 17 1/2″ rectangles together. Turn in the raw edge of the other short side (approx. 1/4″), press, then stitch. Sew velcro around inside of the short side you’ve just finished the edges on. Put aside.
For the strap:
Make a tube for your strap by sewing two pieces of fabric right sides together. Turn. Insert strap… I decided which fabric the strap would be attached to, and chose the opposite pattern.
Attach the strap by laying one 22 x 52” rectangle right side up. (If you’re using two different fabrics, choose the one that will be the BACK of the mat for this step.) Measure up 10” from the bottom left and right corners and mark. Sew the ends of the fabric covered strap to the back of the mat with a 1/4” seam allowance on each mark.
Make Closure Tabs:
Get your 4 x 6” rectangles out. Stitch two of the 4 x 6” rectangles right sides together along both long sides and one short side, using a 1/4” seam allowance. Clip corners. Turn right side out. Press. Topstitch around the three edges you just stitched. (I used one piece of each fabric pattern… and I forgot to topstitch, but that would’ve been cute! lol) Repeat with the other set of rectangles. Pin the open end of the closure tabs to the bottom of the right side of the 22 x 52” rectangle you already sewed the elastic on. PLEASE make sure you point the closure tabs upward toward the top of the mat! Stitch the tabs in place with a 1/4” seam allowance.
Attach the blanket:
Get your other 22 x 52” rectangle out (the one you haven’t sewn anything to”). With right sides together, line up an edge of the square blanket along the length of the 22 x 52” rectangle, leaving a 4” gap on the lower edge of the 22 x 52” rectangle. (Since I made my blanket bigger, my gap was only about @ 1/2″… I just kinda eyeballed it.) Pin. Stitch blanket edge to rectangle with 1/2” seam allowance. Fold excess blanket toward the center of the mat.
Attach the pillow:
Using the same rectangle you’ve just attached the blanket to, right side up, pin the open long side of the pillowcase to the “head” end of the rectangle, in the center. Sew with a 1/4″ seam allowance.
Leave the 22 x 52” rectangle you just stitched the blanket and pillow to, right side up. On top of this, place the other large rectangle right side down… make sure the carrying strap, closure tabs and pillow case are tucked inside. Pin the two pieces together. Stitch the top, bottom, and ONLY the length with the blanket attached together using 1/2″ seam allowance. Leave the other length open… you will attach velcro to this edge later.
We’re putting velcro on this baby to make washing easy.
You have one open length on your nap mat cover. Turn under the raw edges approx. 1/4″ and stitch. Then sew the hook part of the velcro to the front of the cover, and the loop part to the back.
Now we just have to add the velcro to the closures, and we’re finished! I sewed approximately 3″ of velcro onto each tab (placed vertically near each end). To figure out where to put the velcro on the mat itself, I had to insert the pillow and the foam into the cover, and roll it up. I marked the edges of the closure tabs with a washable fabric marker and removed the pillow and foam. Then I eyeballed (of course) the place where the tabs would end up when the mat was rolled, pinned (well, ok, I didn’t really pin, but you should!), and sewed on the corresponding pieces of velcro.
That’s it.
Seriously, that’s it. Put your foam in (this was actually quite a feat!). Velcro closed.
Fold up your nap mat, rolling the pillow down first, and press the closure tabs down. Voila!
(I realize this is probably confusing, and I didn’t think about taking pictures along the way, so please feel free to ask questions!)
Here’s my finished product:
Rolled up and ready to go!
Now Rydie has a cute place to sleep in hotels, or at his grandparents’ houses… and he’ll be all set when he starts preschool (someday!). :)
Tags: nap mat, tutorial
Posted by Megan Barr on Aug 8, 2010 in
Uncategorized I receive daily updates from several blogs that I follow, and yesterday I got one from MaryJanesandGoloshes with a tutorial for no-slip bookmarks. I have found that Ryder loves to carry around books… MY books… the ones I’m currently reading. So I’ve had to forego using traditional bookmarks and resort to folding down the corner of the page I’m on. Otherwise, the bookmark falls out, and I’m forced to search for the last page I read. Major bummer! Needless to say, a creation like this definitely caught my attention. Plus, it’s so cute, and seemed so easy I just couldn’t resist. Her tutorial is pretty vague, but I tend to just “wing it” anyway. Here’s what I did…
Materials:
1 length of ribbon
1 pretty button
1 ponytail holder
embroidery thread, needle
JoAnn Fabric was having a huge weekend sale, and I was already planning on going to gather materials for the million other projects I have on tap. So I figured I could look for the supplies while I was there. Luckily for me, everything I needed was 50% off! I wanted to try to make a few bookmarks so I could have one, and give some away as gifts. I bought one full spool of ribbon, and found six really beautiful buttons that would all coordinate with the ribbon. I already had all the other supplies, so this was a very inexpensive project for me. :)
I chose two different size books from the shelf to try to determine how long to make the ribbon… I settled on approximately 16″. As it turns out, I was able to use the entire spool of ribbon, and make exactly six bookmarks… totally coincidental.
First, I folded one end of the ribbon over and stitched across to create a finished edge. Then I looped the same end around the ponytail holder and stitched it down, as close the ponytail holder as my presser foot would allow me to get. I went over it a couple of times just to add a little strength since it will be pulled on a bit.
Next, I threaded a needle with embroidery floss (at “full-strength”… I didn’t pull it apart), and knotted the ends together. I ran a basting stitch approximately two inches from the end of the ribbon, and pulled tight to gather it up. Then I slid the button onto the thread, and fastened it to the ribbon, and tied a knot.
The last thing I did was trim the raw and of the ribbon just for decoration. You could use some sort of anti-fray glue if you wanted, but I didn’t.
It only took me about 45 minutes to create all six bookmarks. Now I just have to decide who to give them to! :)
Random notes… There are only four pictured because there are two each of the clear jewels. I did the turquoise one first, and happened to have turquoise thread in my machine already. It was kinda fun to have the contrasting thread… something to think about. Since I didn’t want to change my thread color every 30 seconds, I simply used black for the remaining five bookmarks. Also, it would be super-fun to use brightly colored and/or contrasting ponytail holders as well… but these were ones I already had in my stash so I put them to good use.
Tags: tutorial
Posted by Megan Barr on Aug 8, 2010 in
Uncategorized Time is passing quickly, and before we know it, our new baby will be here. In the meantime, I have the world’s longest list of projects to complete, birthday and Christmas gifts to buy, and a nursery to put together. Needless to say, I’m finding myself quite busy!
For Ryder, we did what most new parents do… go to Babies R Us and pick out the perfect overpriced bedding set that comes with more pieces than we’ll ever find a use for just the right stuff. We LOVED what we chose. It was gender neutral (because at the time, we didn’t know he was a he), it was educational, and it was something we could live with staring at every day for at least a couple of years (although we intended to be able to use it for all subsequent children… HA!). Here’s a look back at how his nursery turned out:
You may remember that the laundry hamper in the bottom right corner was up-cycled quite some time ago… Reminisce by clicking here. And we actually had to cut the crib bumper apart, leaving only the piece at the head of the crib, and the long piece against the wall. The first night Ryder slept in his crib (which was our third night home because it took that long for me to be able to walk up the stairs!), Nikki freaked out because she couldn’t see him and tried to jump in. Nothin’ like an 80lb. ball of fur and teeth lunging into your baby’s bed in the hope of protecting him from the monsters in the closet! Once we removed the unnecessary pieces, she was content to stay firmly planted on the floor, just as watchful as ever.
Now, fast forward nearly two years… Ryder has quickly and successfully transitioned to a twin bed, and no longer needs his crib bumpers. The new baby is coming in December, and will need crib bumpers. And since Nikki is still around, and still uber-protective, we figured we’ll be faced with the same predicament in the very near future. Why go out and buy brand new stuff if we’ll just have to cut it apart? (And let us not forget about the ever-useful diaper stacker, hamper, and quilt!) So… (almost) super-mom to the rescue! :)
I agonized over finding the perfect fabric upon which to base all future nursery decorations, and ended up with a fun array of stripes and polka-dots in various shades of teal and brown. I re-covered Ryder’s old crib bumpers, and in a day, they went from this:
To this:
And the dust ruffle went from this:
To this:
I still plan on making a valance, and I’m sure there will be other fun things to create along the way. But for now, I’m pretty happy with the results, and I’m super-excited to begin to put it all together.
And for those of you who may be thinking, “But what about Ryder? Doesn’t he get anything new?” Of course! I’m currently awaiting a shipment of some awesome transportation-themed fabric for his new big-boy room. I’ll be whipping up a fun comforter and valance… and just wait till you see the shelf I scored from NapervilleYardsales.com to go on the wall in place of the quilt pictured above. Speaking of that quilt, I have a really cool project in mind for that as well… so stay tuned!
Tags: refashion, up-cycle
