Iron-On Patch TUTORIAL

Using THIS tutorial, I made a screen. (It's the 4th screen I've made using this technique! Click HERE for my first experience with faux screenprinting.) After making several sketches I decided on a design.

I invited my friend Susan over to help with the printing. (I needed to make 100 patches as part of the goodie bags I was creating for the grand opening of ON3 Photography.)

We cut out all colors of felt to use as our canvas.

Pazely assisted. Very well, I might add. This ended up being a 2 person job!

Fabulously messy screen. (This was only after several inkings. 100 prints later? Yeah, super FUN mess!)

I let them dry overnight.

But first I washed the screen like a good crafty girl.

When they were dry, I added some stitching detail around the edges with my sewing machine. It was really fun mixing all the random colors of felt with different colors of thread.

Once sewn (& not pictured:), I ironed on some heat-n-bond to the backside & then cut around the corners & edges to create a clean line.The paper backing remains attached until ready for ironing on.

Labels were made & the patches were packaged up.

I've always wanted to make patches & it was a really great project to play with!

♥

Hanging Bedside Organizer

I love crafting with felt! I found inspiration for this project while searching in the dollar bins at Target. There was a cheesy cheapo version for sale & I immediately thought, "I can do this! Only WAY cuter!"

To make this handy-dandy little organizer, you'll need felt, scissors, & a sewing machine. Pinking shears are optional. And, though I didn't use any in this tutorial, you could completely make this project "no-sew" by using some fabric glue.

The first thing you'll need to do is measure how long you want your organizer to hang. Ultimately this will slide right between your box spring & your mattress. So, measure from your box spring down.

I chose to have about 11" hang down. Add 18" to whatever measurement you have. (The 18" is what will slip between the box spring & mattress.) My final piece of felt measures 29" x 11".

I traced a scallop design on the edges & then cut it out. I didn't create the scalloped edges all the way up---since 18" of the piece of felt will not even show.

Next I cut out different shapes for the pockets. There are 4 pockets total.

I tried making this easy by labeling the pieces with letters---from biggest to smallest. The largest piece, "A", is the main felt piece that all the other felt pockets will be sewn onto.

"B"--measures 8 1/4" wide x 6 1/4" tall

"C"--measures 4 1/2" wide x 5 1/4" tall

"D"--measures 8 1/4" wide x 2 3/4" tall

"E"--measures 2 3/4" wide x 3 1/4" tall

Once you have your pocket designs laid out, sew the embellishment onto each of the individual pockets:

Now, sew the finished smaller pockets onto the larger pockets:

These pieces will now be sewn onto the largest scalloped felt piece. Pin & sew them in place. Remember to keep the tops of the pouches open. You know, for the whole "pocket" effect to work. I also added 3 vintage button embellishments before this largest pocket was sewn on.

Now you're ready to slide the excess under your mattress. Fill the pockets with a diary, pencils, a small flashlight, a favorite toy, a love letter, a dream journal, etc. My 6 year old adored this one I made for her!

Here is another version that is more simple. Cut a large piece of felt approximately 29-30" long & 14 1/2" wide. Cut 9 pieces of smaller felt 4" wide x 3" high. Use pinking shears on the sides & bottom.

Pazely & I picked out a rainbow of felt. She had fun helping me find matching buttons in my stash of vintage buttons.

After sewing on each button, pin the felt pockets in place onto your large felt piece.

I took a more time consuming route & even matched the thread in my sewing machine to the felt & buttons.

Once finished, it'll look something like this:

Pazely loves all things tiny, so that's why I made her organizer with a bunch of smaller pockets. Kids could help make this version in a snap---with the fabric glue.

Have fun!

Felt Play Kits For Sale!

I had a lot of Felt Play Kits leftover from our MOPS group (Mothers Of PreSchoolers) this morning. ( 11 available! SOLD!) I thought I'd give my blog readers the chance to purchase them. I'm selling them on my blog (not at WhiMSy love) & ALL the money will go right back to support my local (non-profit) MOPS group.

**UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who snatched up the kits! Enjoy!
I had so much fun putting these together that I am planning to offer other crafty kits for sale at WhiMSy love sometime in the near future!

Each Felt Play Kit comes with:

*1 9"x12" sticky-backed felt piece

*1 9"x12" felt piece (Colors for both large felt pieces range from dark brown, black, medium green & white. You will get a combo of 2 different colors selected at random.)

*13 medium felt pieces (4 1/2"x6") in purple, bright blue, emerald green, tan, black, brown, medium blue, light blue, navy blue, white, light pink, red, & grey

*5 small felt pieces (3"x4") in orange, yellow, bright pink, cream, & dark green

*6 random colored tiny pom poms (3 pair of each color)

*instruction sheet

*sheet of shapes to use as template

IDEAS FOR YOUR FELT PLAY KITS:

>School is almost over & this kit will be perfect for keeping little ones entertained!

>Perfect for keeping wriggly hands busy during church!

>Great for long car rides or road trips!

>Passes the time while waiting for mom & dad at their appointments.

>Spend some quality time with your kids. My girls & I can seriously play with this for HOURS! (I've been known to play with it on my own too!)

>Your kids can help you cut the felt into fun shapes!

Pennants With Pizazz!

A pennant is a long, tapering flag usually in the shape of a narrow triangle. And I got a chance to make these last night at church with the girls in my Daisies group (kindergarten girls). Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to snap photos of their creations as time was running short & snack-time was upon us. Cupcakes were to be eaten. Sugary juice was to be sipped.

This is not a step-by-step tutorial, because these pennants are SO easy to make you don't need my crafty hand to hold yours through any instructions.

All you do is cut a narrow triangle from felt---in whatever size you wish---& glue on scraps of felt in the designs you'd like using tacky glue. That's all! (My pennants were 10" at the tallest point & 20" long.)

Zoey made the yellow one, decorated with puppies & their doggie bowls. One girl made an airplane on her pennant. There were also lots of hearts, more cupcakes & ice cream sundaes.

We made ours for hanging. A simple tack on the wall will do the trick. But, you could also attach a wooden dowel for a hand-held pennant.

I decided that pennants will also be a part of my birthday party kits for sale in the shop---as soon as I get them completed. They're perfect for a party!

Cut out letter-shapes & create personalized pennants with names. In addition to the felt, use yarn, ribbons, pom-poms, buttons or other crafty bits to add more pizazz to your pennants!

Have lots of crafty pennant-like FUN!!!

Felt & Button Elastic Headband Tutorial

These are so simple & fun to make!! And they're perfect for Spring! Make 'em to match your Easter attire!

The supplies: scissors, pinking shears, small bits & scraps of felt, marker, thread, needle, buttons, thimble, headbands.

(About the headbands: I got mine at Target. They also come in pastel & other colors. Wish I'd had the lighter bands for this project, but I just used what I had!)
Draw various flowery shapes onto the felt.

Cut them out & choose a button for the center.


Stack your pieces together.

Simply stitch your pieces, stacked all together, onto the headband, sewing up & down through the buttonholes. You may or may not need a thimble here.

This is the back view.

The light pink flower was made by cutting out a sort of dogwood flower (or 4-leaf clover) shape & adding a small grey circle to the center, topped off with a pearly white vintage button.

For the brown/blue combo, I cut a larger organic blobby circle shape from tan felt & a smaller similar organic shape using a dark mustard colored felt. I cut three strips of light blue felt & snipped the ends into a "V" shape. I topped it with a vintage button which had a broken shank. After the felt pieces were sewn onto the headband, I just used E6000 to glue the button right on top.

All the felt floral embellishments for the headbands measure approximately 2 1/2" across.

Here's the 'WhiMSy love' girlies modeling the new sassy creations:

Happy Headbanding!