free july embroidery pattern

Here is my July calendar pattern.  August is another month that I have yet to design, so who know how long it will take me to get that one done, but at least July is ready in July!

July Embroidery Pattern by Amy Wirtz

As always, if you stitch up your own version of my pattern I would LOVE to see it! Please share pictures in my Flickr group! And feel free to ask any questions about any of the patterns and I will answer them in the comments. Happy stitching :)

free fox softie pattern

My hand sewing class started working on these felt foxes today and I thought I would share my pattern with you all.   It is hard to tell in the photo, but this little fox stands about 7" tall and 6" wide.  If you cut carefully you can get the whole body out if one piece of craft felt (which is what the girls are using, I used wool felt for mine - bought it here). 

Fox Softie Pattern by Amy Wirtz

As always, if you stitch up your own version of my pattern I would LOVE to see it! Please share pictures in my Flickr group! Feel free to ask any questions about any of my patterns and I will answer them in the comments. Happy stitching :)

marshmallow shooter and supply belt tutorial

Micah is going to a birthday party this weekend and at first I said I just had too much going on to thing about making a handmade gift for his friend. Then I saw these on Pinterest and decided it would be simple enough to run to Home Depot while we were out, and whip up a couple marshmallow shooters, what 10 year old boy wouldn't like that gift?  And when we had finished the guns I decided what one really needs for a marshmallow war is a belt complete with marshmallow holding bag.  We will be giving two guns and two supply belts as the birthday gift, because you really need one for you and one for a friend, right? :)

The guns are pretty straight forward, so no real tutorial for that, I will give you my measurements though. I used 1/2" PVC pipe. (A 10 ft piece is enough for 7 guns) For 1 gun you need 2 slip elbow joints, 1 slip T joint and 1 slip cap.  Cut the PVC as follows: 1x6", 2x3"(the handle and piece between T and elbow) and 2x2.5"(mouth piece and vertical piece between elbows).  We spray painted ours with florescent green paint that is supposed to glow under black light.

Addie was super proud to model for me :)

For the belt I used some cotton webbing I had on hand and D rings.  I made it to fit my 10 year old with some room to grow.

For the Bag you need:
Fabric (I used a light weight canvas):
2- 10x7
2- 7x7
9" piece of corset boning

1. Lay out 1 10x7 piece of fabric.  mark fabric 2" and 3.5" from each side (along the bottom edge)  Pleat the fabric so that the marks match up (see bellow) and the bottom edge measures 7 inches. Pin and top stitch pleats.

2. Pin pleated fabric to 7x7 square (right sides together) and sew sides and bottom using 1/2" seam allowance.

3. Trim corners and turn right-side out.

4. Repeat with remaining fabric pieces, only leave an opening at the bottom for turning later.

5.  Put exterior bag inside lining bag, right sides together, pin and stitch all the way around the tops (1/2" seam allowance).

6. Turn right-side out and press.  At side seams stitch in the ditch from top edge down, about 3/4".

7.  Using the hole in the lining, insert corset boning and push up to the top edge on the long side of the bag.  It should look like this:

8. Top stitch all the way around the top, about 5/8" from the edge.

9. Sew up whole in lining.

10. Make two button holes about 1/2" from the seam on either side of the back (near the top of the bag).  I used the largest setting on my button foot and the holes were just the right size for my 1" webbing.  Use the seam ripper to open the button hopes up and slide belt through the holes.

11. Go get some mini marshmallows and have some fun!

If you make your own supply belts (or something from one of my other tutorials), please post pictures in my flickr group!  I'd love to see what you make!

better late than never! (May embroidery pattern)

I am WAY behind on this calendar project!  While at a craft show last week my friend asked how my calendar was coming along and said she planned to make one herself once I finished the patterns.  It was a gentle reminder that I need to get busy and finish this up!  So, here is May.  No promises on when I will get June up here.  I have a sketch already done, I just need to draw up the actual pattern and get it stitched up.  In case you've forgotten what all the others look like here are the links: January, February, March, and April.

May Calendar Pattern
Don't forget, if you stitch up your own version of my pattern I would LOVE to see it! Please share pictures in my Flickr group!

free april embroidery pattern

Appropriately it is a rainy April day and I photograph and post this next square in my calendar!  It took me awhile to get this one completed.  I just seemed to be in a bit if a rut with it, but finally those few hours to myself over the weekend sparked the creativity and energy I needed to finish it up and I think it turned out pretty cute :)

Here are a couple close ups...

And of course the pattern.  I would love to see your work if you are using my patterns to make your own little calendar- please post pictures to my flickr group!
Calendar April

Happy stitching!

free march embroidery pattern

I am a bit later than I had planned, but I finally have my March embroidery pattern finished!  This one is my favorite so far.  That flowery rectangle of fabric is the last sizeable piece of a vintage print I snagged from my mom years ago.  One of my favorites :)  I realized when I went to stitch the "arch" in March that it maybe was not the best choice for visibility of the letters, but I still love it.  I can't take full credit for this block.  It was inspired by something I saw online probably over a year ago.  Unfortunately that was before I was on Pinterest, or even Tumblr so I have no idea where it was to reference it. 

And here they are all together.  It is so fun to see this project that has been in my mind for so long come to being!

March Calendar Pattern

Remember, if you stitch up your own version of my pattern I would LOVE to see it! Please share pictures in my Flickr group!

fort kits

I finished up the fort kits over the weekend.  The first one was given on Saturday and was a hit (yay!) The next is for a party on Friday.  So here is the final product...

Supplies:
Two sheets with ties sew on the corners and in the middle of the long sides of the sheets.
clothes pins
clamps
rope

I made a small drawstring bag to store the rope, clamps and clothes pins...

and a larger bag to hold everything. 

This bag is also a drawstring bag, but I added straps to make it easier to carry.  I also make the bags plenty big so that the kids will have no problem just shoving the sheets and supplies back in the bag, because lets face it, you know they are not going to take the time to fold them all nicely like I did when its time to clean up :)

Next up?  Making one for my kids :)

free february embroidery pattern

I finished stitching up my February embroidery piece over the weekend.  I am hoping to get started on March soon, but I've promised Max that I won't sew anything else until I finish his robe :)

In case you are curious about the details, I am sewing on an 8" square of white Kona Cotton and using wool-felt bought from this etsy shop and DMC embroidery floss (so far mostly 3 strands, but that will vary more in the next pattern).  I plan to border them in some fun cotton prints and possibly add some other embellishments when I've finished all the squares and can see the project all together.
February Pattern
Don't forget, if you stitch up your own version of my pattern I would LOVE to see it!  Please share pictures in my Flickr group!

free embroidery/applique pattern

I am super excited to have finally started this project!  I've had the sketches for an embroidered/appliqued calendar in my notebook for at least a year.  I still have not decided what the finished project will be, possibly of quilt with a square for each month or maybe a banner.  Anyway, this is my first square.  This one is pretty simple.  The other sketches I have are a mix of simple and more complex and I am excited to see them all come together :)

I thought it might be fun to share my patterns with you as I go.  I would LOVE to see someone else's take on my designs.  So, if you stitch up any of my patterns please add a picture to my flickr group!
January Pattern

keepin' it real and a tutorial

I had hoped to get this tutorial up earlier, but my weekend was a bit crazy between dinner with friends, last minute baby shower sewing (which meant last minute fabric shopping), church, baby shower, and valentine making and I just did not have time to get it up!

I will apologize in advance for the poorly lit photos, but I was doing this after dark Sunday night!

You might recognize these baskets from my felt flower tutorial. When I made those a couple of year ago for Easter I used this tutorial. When I was thinking about what I wanted to do for Tallulah's class valentines I got the idea to make a miniature version of the basket (half the size of the Easter ones) and, I thought, maybe, someone out their might be interested in a tutorial, so here goes.
Okay, so two pieces of craft felt will make 3 mini baskets. Here you can see, I cut 3 9x6 pieces and 6 9x1 pieces. If you just want one basket you need 1 9x6 pieces and 2 9x1 pieces.
Stack two 9x1 pieces and stitch all the way around using a 1/4" seem allowance.

Then use your pinking shears and trim the the edges all the way around (you don't have to do this, I just think it makes it look a little bit fancier) then set aside.

Fold you 9x6 piece in half and sew the sides with a 1/4" seem allowance.

Make a square, about 1.25" as a pattern for your squared corners, like this

Cut the two folded/stitched corners using your pattern. It should look like this now.

Grab those pinking sheers again and trim the top edge and the sides like this.

Open up those squares you cut and fold and stitch like this, 1/4" seem.

Use the pinking sheers on those edges and this is what you've got so far.

Next fold over the top edge and sew on the handle.

Since these were for Valentines Day I cut our hearts and hot glued them to the baskets but you could easily embellish them with other things. They would be great for party favors in this size or the larger one. They sew up really fast and are fun to make. If you make some of your own, please post pictures in my flickr group!

And for all of you who wonder how I do it all, this is what my living room looked like when I went to bed last night. Yes, that is (or at least it was before it was thrown all over the floor) clean laundry, and yes, I did have so much laundry to fold that I ran out of laundry baskets and started using cardboard boxes. Just keepin' it real.
I am happy to report that as of this afternoon all that laundry is folded and put away.

Did I really just post that picture for the whole world to see? Yikes!

bag of coal

I saw these bags of coal in the Crate and Barrel catalog and thought they would be a fun stocking stuffer for the kids, but we don't like black licorice and I knew I could easily make my own version of these little bags for only a few cents. I whipped them up while watching Harry Potter last night (I borrowed all the movies from my sister and am having my own Harry Potter Movie Marathon to catch myself up before watching the latest installment) and thought I would share a little tutorial with you all on how I made them, so here goes!

Supplies:
1 sheet of craft felt in charcoal gray (black or brown would work too)
Scraps of white felt to cut out the word coal
ribbon for the tie
embroidery floss
needles
*One sheet of felt makes two bags

Cut felt in half.

Fold over long edge about 1" and cut 10, 1/4" slits evenly spaced across the fold.


Fold in half and stitch up two sides (careful to leave the end with the slits open) with a 1/4" seam allowance.


Turn right side out and lace ribbon through slits like this.

Glue or hand stitch the letters to the front of the bag and your done! (If your really smart you will stitch the letters on before you sew the bag up, much easier that way!)
I am going to fill these with mini marshmallows dipped in chocolate, yum!

cheap art mini tutorial

I've been working on some art canvases for Regan's room. At one point Regan had taken the globe in her room and we discovered the colors in the globe matched the colors we had painted her room perfectly. I had bought a pack of art canvases planning to paint them as accents for the room, but the globe got me thinking. I searched the house for some extra maps but came up blank so then I googled printable maps and eventually found these. I printed up a world map and a US map and got started...


I used a 11x14 canvas.

First cut the map out and tape together with double sticky tape. Then figure out your desired placement and crease the map at the edges of the canvas.

Use a light coat of Mod Podge to adhere the map to the canvas, wrapping the canvas, like you would a present and cutting off excess paper. (I use a foam brush for application)

This is what it looked like right after I attached the map- the great thing about Mod Podge is that when I dries it all flattens out nicely (unless you get a little too crazy and put on too much).

After it had dried completely I put another coat on top to seal and protect the map. I may go back and put another coat on, but I don't have to. I love how the Mod Podge makes the color of the map really pop!
A couple of notes- don't be concerned when the map wrinkles up again when you apply the top coat- it will flatten again when it dries. Also, be careful with this layer as the Mod Podge does have a tendency to pick up the color and smear it if you are not careful and use too much MP or too many strokes.

One these day I will actually post pictures of Regan's room- I just want to get it as close to finished as possible :)