Words With Totes

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I've been experimenting with my Silhouette machine and working on some cute totes for my shop. This is my first completed one, Live.Play.Love.



I used my tutorial for the bike with "flowers". And I used the same method I used for AJ's Dino Tee for the lettering on this bag. The bulk of the bag is unbleached cotton and I used various designer fabrics for the rest of it. It measures about 12" x 14". I lined the entire tote with batting (I love using these totes for laptops so I have to make them sturdy!).









This tote is now in my shop!!

On a sidenote, AJ has been asking for one of these lately



He's convinced daddy is going to get him one when he gets home from work. Good luck buddy! It would be nice to have one of these in this 100 degree weather though!

Linking up to these parties.

Mini Boden Knock-Off

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Have you ever heard of a store called Mini Boden? I love love love their clothes for kids. But it's a little pricey. When I saw a dino shirt in there, I knew I had to make one for my baby! AJ is going through his Dino stage right now (I think it's lasted over a year now... would we still call it a stage?) He is so smart! He even knows the names of most dinosaurs- and he's TWO years old! One of his favorites is the Triceratops, but he calls it a T-Top. So I made him his own "Mini Boden" shirt with a T-Top!



This plain white shirt cost $2.99 at Hobby Lobby. I have to go stock up on more. I used navy gingham on fabric interfacing to cut out the image on my Silhouette machine. Then I just ironed and topstitched the T-Top onto the shirt!

I asked him to show me his T-Top shirt so I can take a picture and this is what he kept doing! Too cute!



I took him to the mall to play in the indoor playground while mommy flipped through her new catalogs. There is NO WAY we can play outside right now. It's 108 degrees! But my little dinosaur had fun anyway!















Can you tell he got a good tan this weekend?? I'm so glad I got to take him out of the house for awhile. Poor baby has been cooped up all week, since we got back into town. Today was his day!

I'm linking up to these link parties!

Some Mommy Therapy

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I recently received THREE custom orders and I am super excited to dig in! Needless to say, I've been busy busy busy!

My first one is from Leslie who blogs at The Mommy Therapy. ((Sewing is my therapy so this title is so appropriate!))



Leslie is from Austin (only three hours away from me!!) and I am in love with her blog. She is super hilarious and so down to earth. She tells it like it is and doesn't hold back, which is something I'm terrified to do. This is one of the reasons I admire her!

She requested a tote for shameless self-promotion, like the one I made for myself in this post. I used some aqua heat transfer paper to print out her logo on my Silhouette machine and ironed them onto some unbleached cotton. Then I added some damask accents and some aqua lining!










I had some logos and scraps left over after I finished the tote, so I whipped up a cute sunglasses pouch (padded with batting).





I had so much fun making this tote. I actually like it better than mine! I see a lot more "Pink Stitches" items in my future.

By the way, I am obsessed with Heat Transfer Paper. I want it in every color! Add that to my wishlist!! I'm linking up to these fabulous places.

The Whimsy Bicycle Tee (Tutorial)

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**If you have used this tutorial or any others by Pink Stitches, please post your pictures on the Pink Stitches Flickr Group! I'd love to see your beautiful creations and feature some of my favorite projects!**



I am totally loving this cute tee I made! I got the idea from an A&F shirt I had seen that cost something like $40!! I can't believe I used to pay that much money for a t-shirt. Guilty as charged!

But now, I have my handy dandy Silhouette machine and I can do anything! Here is what you'll need to make this shirt:



- Plain Tee (mine was on Target clearance)
- Hot Pink Smooth Heat Transfer Paper (or any color you want)
- Scraps of fabric
- Liquid Stitch
- Iron
- Needle and Thread

It would be nice to have a Silhouette Machine but if you don't, I'm sure a Cricut machine can do the trick or you can just free hand it!

First, cut out a picture of a bike with a basket on your Heat Transfer Paper (plastic side down). I found my picture on the Silhouette Library (.99 cents). Make sure you mirror your image horizontally if you're including text, like I am. Peel off access paper.



Position the image onto your shirt where you want it (plastic side up). Text should read correctly now.



Place a sheet/ spare fabric/ thin towel over the image and press (iron) for about 45-60 seconds. Just follow the directions on the Heat Tranfer Paper box.



Peel off the plastic. If the image still comes up with the plastic, press again.



Now bust out your scraps of fabric (preferably thin, but it's up to you) and your Liquid Stitch.



Scrunch up your fabric strip, accordian style. 



Apply a bit of glue to the bottom and position on your bike basket. Continue doing this with your fabric scraps until you have the desired amount of "flowers" in your basket.



Hand stitch flowers in place so they'll be safe to wash. Just a few stitches on each scrap should be fine. This is also the time to re-adjust the flowers to look as you want them to.



And you are DONE! You are left with pure cuteness!!




Linking this up to these lovely places.

Don't forget, there is still time to enter my Bloggiversary Giveaway! You can win all of this:



You have until Thursday night. I will announce the winner on Friday. Have a great week!!!

Damask Tote

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Introducing my giveaway headliner!



If you don't like pink, you are in the wrong place!



This gorgeous damask tote is going to be the main prize for my bloggiversary giveaway next week. I used off-white cotton and batting for some added support and padding. The hot pink damask was made with my Silhouette machine! Beautiful!!



The lining is hot pink also and has a huge pocket. Straps are from Moda "It's a Hoot" fabric, my current obsession. Don't you just love the pink/grey combo?




Giveaway starts Monday April 18th and I will randomly draw a winner on my three month bloggiversary mark, April 22nd! Remember, it's for my followers only so if you're not already a public follower, click follow on the left panel! Hope to see you next week!

I'm linking up to these awesome linky parties!

With The Husband

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My hubby was home this past week on his days off and I was delighted to finally receive a request from him! I've been asking him forever if there is something he would like for me to make him, and of course there wasn't. My options are kinda limited with him. He is so down to earth and happy with the simplest, plainest things. 

His hobby is a looooooot bigger and more expensive than mine. He likes to build trucks. He is currently working on an old Chevy C-10. Don't even ask me the year, I am so bad at that stuff. Anyway, he had shown me some t-shirts last week that he wanted to order. But when he saw me working on the onesies with my lovely Silhouette machine, he went to Wal-Mart and bought a pack of white t-shirts instead. We started looking up fonts online and settled on this cool graffiti font.



The shirt was pretty simple to make but it was so fun working side by side with my husband. He was so adorable, even helping me iron the freezer paper to the shirt. He didn't want to paint though, afraid he'd mess it up.




It turned out pretty cool. As long as he loves it, I'm super happy. He went back to work today and I'm missing him like crazy already!

I've been pretty preoccupied lately with my crochet. I'm makin a little surprise but here's a sneak peek!



What do you think it is?? I love crocheting. The only bad thing is that it takes a lot longer to make something, as opposed to sewing. Buuuut the good thing is that I can crochet while I'm watching a movie with my son or while he's playing outside. I don't have to be confined to my craft room :-)

Have a Happy Tuesday!!!

Fun With Onesies

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I have been dying to try my Silhouette machine since it came in last week but haven't been able to with all my darn computer problems! Today, I was finally able to and I totally heart it!! I made these two onesies for my niece using the machine. If you have never tried freezer paper stenciling, I highly recommend it. You don't need a Silhouette machine to make them, but it helps! And the Silhouette also gives you tooooons of options.





With the next two onesies, I didn't use my machine but I could have. It cuts fabric too! I just cut out some owls from some old fabric that I had and ironed it onto the onesie using Heat n Bond. Then I zigzag stitched it all around with some colorful thread!







The bird is my favorite one! I traced a bird onto some pretty fabric and then used the same method as the owl onesie to adhere it to this one. I love it! I might make myself a shirt with the exact same bird. Too cute!



All ready to be shipped out to baby Marley. Now, I have to get back to my laundry. Although, I'm sure that won't be as much fun as making these cute little onesies. Have a great Tuesday!