Tara Miller Designs

Fun Long Distance Grandma Gift- Wearable Kid Art

While my mom lives close, Devon's Besta lives 3 hours away and thus misses out on some of the benefits my mom get by being within "pop-over" distance such as a collection of kid art. I decided to rectify the situation by giving Devon some Shrinky Dinks to decorate. We then watched them bake and shrink and she picked which piece to send to who. In the end we made a gift for Besta (Norwegian for Grandmom), Auntie Brandi, my mom (AKA Lovey), me, one for Devon and the last one goes to my grandmom. They make great gifts that kids can be proud of and send safety to loved ones anywhere.

 

Materials:

Ruff n Ready Shrinky Dinks (these are easier for little ones to color) cut in half lengthwise and then in thirds, making 6 pieces

Markers (I used washable markers)

regular hole punch 

jump rings, key rings or anything else you wish to attach your finished art. 

Layout your 6 pieces and let you kid go to town. Once finished, write their name on the front (I forgot and wrote it on the back) along with their age. Punch a hole where ever you prefer.

lay out the pieces with the ruff side down on a cookie sheet and bake according to the directions. Once cooled, your child can pick which piece goes to whom and gift wrap. These art gifts make great pendants (just round the corners a bit), key fobs, or zipper pulls. Grandma will love it and it's a great way to preserve some kid art for life. 

I picked the one where we traced our hands, one over top the other. So sweet!

 

Big Girl Bed

We just moved and alot has changed since then. Highest on my priority list has been getting Devon's Big Bed ready for her. Can you believe it wasn't until she was 3 that she tried to climb out of her crib. Pretty nice for us but she wasn't too pleased with the results. She was always so content with her books and jumping that I guess she didn't see the point. When she did climb (err... fall out) we rushed out and got her mattress. However, we could only put it on the floor which I have since been told is the best place to start the transition since they don't have far to fall. In the meantime, I procured from my parents our an heirloom bed that I had earmarked for Devon since she was born and I found it in the basement. It was my bed and my dad's bed before. It is solid wood and beautifully made. However, having gone through 2 kids one of them my dad who rough housed with his 2 brother's daily on that bed, it needed work. 

On a really nice day last week, Devon and I got to work sanding and painting. Well, I sanded, Devon rode her bike, helped me sand a bit, colored the garage door with chalk and then colored her un-sanded foot board with chalk. I believe she also picked some flowers. Then we took a trip to pick out spray paint and Devon choose from the 3 I offered (turquoise, kelly green, and cherry red) the red. It was a great choice and she never wavered. When we got home, we set to work. Devon's job was to not get on the paint tarp and to hold the paint lid. She took both jobs serious but whenever I took a break to stretch my back, she was jumping around all the pieces. I gave the bed a full 24 hours to dry and cure before they travelled up to her room and set up. Once the bed was complete, she fell in love all over again. She has not gone back to her crib once, though it is still in her room just in case. She loves her big bed.

I was unable to get out all the ding and dents created from 50+ years of wear and tear, so I left most and love the look it created. The charater is still intact but the overall appearance is classic and beautiful.  

Touching up an old friend

I purchased this good old blanket many years ago at a Home Good store and it has been through many a movie, sickness, quick runs out to get the paper and even a few diaper changes. I love this blanket since it is the perfect size. But it was starting to show it's age so I decided some TLC in the form of bias tape would do some wonders since the wear was concetrated on the edges. I opt for a red and white polka dot in 2 in. bias tape and within 30 minutes there was new life! keep your eyes open of oldies but goodies at your local thift stores and suit them up for yourself or a local charity!

Dyeing Fabric with Tea

 

During nap today, I dyed some muslin with tea. It was the least messy fabric dyeing I have ever dealt with and it smelled wonderful! I based it on some instructions I googled but in the end I eyeballed it all since I didn't have tea bags and I was working with 2 + yds of lightweight muslin. Teac dying will give your fabric an aged, vintage, antique look. I am planning on using the dyed fabric to make cafe curtains with a Greek Key trim as seen in Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts (love this book!)

I started by filling my sink with roughly a gallon of hot water and to that I added 9 tbsps of loose leaf tea (Mine of Ceylon Cherry which I hoped would add a bit of red but no dice). I then waited 5-7 min for the water to darken. I added the fabric to the tea and carfeully swished my fabric around until it was wet through. I let it soak for 30 min and then came back and swish and stired some more. I left the fabric for the rest of the afternoon until it was a good dark, antique color and then drained the water. I rinsed the tea leaves off a little and placed the wet fabric in the dryer (you can hang it outside as well) to dry.  As I type my fabric is still drying and I want to wait for the light of day to see the finished resulting color. Can't wait!

Make your own Toggle Buttons

 
I recently completed the Cardigan Bay Jacket by Carol Fellers (Love her designs BTW) and needed some sizable buttons to complete the jacket. I purchased some 1 in. buttons from a local store just the fill the bill until I found some GREAT buttons. However, the 1 in. were just too small. So Devon and I journeyed to another store to look for toggle buttons. There was a small selection of toggles but they were all weird asymetrical shapes and the cost was sky high: $3.50 for 1 button and I needed 8). So I purchased a 3/4 in. square dowel, 36 in. long and planned to make my own. Here's how I made my own toggle buttons. 

1) Measure and cut your dowel into eight 2.5 in. long pieces. I used a hand saw and miter board. Don't saw on your picnic table, I set up on the grass.

                                               Sanded on Right, unsanded on Left


2) Sand the ends of your dowel until smooth (NO SNAGS) and lightly sand the remaining edges (I rounded the corners of all my sides)

3) Using a small drill bit (try a 5/32 or smaller) and drill 2 holes near the center and equally spaced. You can measure and mark the holes but I just used my eye. I didn't want perfection and like things that are a little off. Again becareful where you drill, I used the grass as my foundation

4) Lightly sand your holes. You can now paint, stain or varnish your buttons or leave them as is like mine. I had intended to stain them a dark cherry but found that after I had sanded I really liked the light wood tone. 

5) Sew on your buttons and check out your fast, easy and fun new buttons. My dowel cost $2, I made 8 buttons and I have 16 in. left over for more buttons versus $28 for 8 store bought buttons. Throw in a pint of stain or paint for $10 and you still save $16. 

Feel free to sell any button creations from this tutorial, just give me a link back. Enjoy!

 

Round 2: Simplicity 2443

After the gapping issue from my initial Simplicity 2443 dress, I have made quite a few changes to make the dress fit well. 1) I cut out a size 12 (one size down) 2) I shortened the shoulder straps by 1 in. total 3) I made a 1/2 in. dart at the sides seams in the bodice bands. I believe these 3 solutions eliminate the gapping and make for a much easier, more modest  (but not prim) fit. This dress is crazy awesome. I love it. The pockets are big and well placed but hidden. The fit is sexy but not flauntingly so. The knit is forgiving and comfy. I am in love. However, this pattern is ridiculously hard to match stripes, as you can see. I am wearing the dress now because I have earned it. I put in many hours on getting this much loved design to work on my bod. But tomorrow I will rip back the bands and flip them over. The bands have a solid facing so I will just have the striped bodice with solid bands. I have already spent a lot of time matching the stripes at the tops of the bust and forgot about the center there. Even with all my work the stripes still don't match up well enough. Oh well. I will have some stripes just not as many as anticipated. I now feel well prepared for my 3rd 2443 which will be in a designer interlock for Fabric.com's blog coming up this month. I am so excited! All these alterations were made possible by the great fans on the Fabric.com Facebook page- thanks again!

Oh and in my post on the first version of this dress you can see the original form of the striped fabric: my husband's shirt. It looks way better now!

Simplicity 2443 Muslin

According to the envelope, I am a perfect size 14. However, according to my muslin for Simplicity 2443 I am clearly not. This is a good picture to show the extra fabric at the waist and the gaping at the arm holes. I am cutting a size 12 next before I cut into my designed interlock for an upcoming post for Fabric.com (super excited about this knit).

* I have just finished the top in the size 12 and it fit well but there is still gapping under the arms. I am going to take up the straps about an inch for modesty but I want to eliminate the gapping at the same time. Hmmm....

You can really see the gapping in the above shot. It is drastic but I love this knit. It's a medium weight jersey, cotton. I must say I am loving the knits lately. It must be the walking foot and the ball point needles. I am totally into it. I am cutting the 12 out of my husband's now too small jersey striped polo shirt. It is too small for the facing strips but I will be able to cut all the top pieces out of it. It is going to look hot! I am matching it up with a brown interlock. The color doesn't match exactly but it is close enough. 

here's a shot of the back of the dress. Sorry about the bra. The bands were tricky to attach but once I clipped into them as recommended by the pattern, it made it 100% easier. 

Here's my Sewing Pattern Review 

A Mounted Deerhead

Over at Fabric.com's blog, I mentioned that I was making up some more kid tents and I have. I made 2 for a good friend's kids and her sister's little boy. I used Obsessively Stitching's tutorial but with some modifications. First, I made the grey tent with only 4 panels instead of 5. Mostly this was because one panel fell to the floor and I didn't realize it was missing until the tent was finished. Secondly, and I think key, was that I didn't turn the tent right side out went finishing the tent pole pockets. I simply left the seams on the outside and exposed. I did this because in the previous 2 tents I have made I have found that pressing all those seams open takes a LONG time and even with the seams pressed open it is really hard to line up 5, 6 ft long 1 1/2 in. pockets. I was always ripping and frustrated. But since I pinked the edges when I originally cut the pieces out I decided to just leave the seams exposed and save myself a lot of trouble. And you know what, it looks great and I am very happy with it. Before, I swore off making these due to that step but with my modification, I think I will get back into the tent making business (figuratively, of course). Both tents are made from $4 Walmart twin flat sheets but my daughter's will be a recycled bed sheet that is just the perfect color and laying unused in our linen closet. 

Lastly, I created 2 appliques with Heat n Bond and mounted them right above the door flap. One is a Deerhead (the dad is a big bow hunter) and the other is a moose hanging out in the woods. Both were created from free coloring sheets that I googled "hunting coloring pages). I am very relieved to have these gifts finished. They are bound for Australia for a dear friend. She has 2 boys and a girl. The girl was easy to make for the boys were a challenge. I knew the tents would be a big hit but I dreaded making them. Now, I have one scheduled for my little girl and another for an upcoming birthday party. Oh and I would show finished picture with the tents assembled but I am only sending the tent shells to Australia, not the poles. Hopefully, pictures will follow. 

"Holly" Pillow Tutorial and pattern making links

I have been doing more research on pattern making using illustrator (I figure this is where I should start then move on to printing). I have a handful of promising links but I have been dedicating all of my free time to collecting links and very little to actually checking them out. 

I found a great video tute by Ralph Pink on making sewing patterns in illustrator but from the few minutes I have spent watching it, I think I need to familiarize myself with his previous videos and terms. I think he hails from the UK so the measurements and terms are different. Perhaps just jumping in and watching the video and then going back over the parts that are tricky should be my plan. I will let you know how it goes. I found Ralph Pink via the Sewing Princess, after googleing heavily on pattern making with illustrator.  

On the home front, I didn't make much time to decorate for Xmas last year and I really wanted to make more decorations this year. Unfortunatley I just got started. Today, I have a velvet pillow cover that I embroidered with i-cord for Fabric.com's blog. It is so easy and really fun too. If you are not inclined to stitch your i-cord in place, you can use fabric glue. I plan to make more but given my full plate at the moment I don't see it happening. My Fri project is a super cute knitted cupcake ornament. My twist: a little fair isle icing!

Getting into pattern making

Since, well before, the creation of my first sewing pattern that I intend to sell, I have been googling my brain off on how to make sewing patterns, where and how to have them printed and then how in the hell to sell them and thus make money. I have run around in circles and come smack up against brick walls. The info might be out there but damned if I can find it all in one cohesive place or make sense of it. I have found tidbits here and there, but it is like a pirate treasure hunt. You find a clue here and there but usually after you have defeated a foe or decrypted a cypher. Once you have all the clues you can some how manage to put it together to find the treasure (oh, right...after you travel on a harrowing journey to X marks the spot).  I have some clues but definitely not all. And as I continue to figure it all out, I decided to lay a virtual bread crumb trail in case 2 things happen 1) I figure it all out & 2) someone else is facing the same battle. I will endeavor to update regularly (by regular, I mean when I have new info) and share ALL the details. Hopefully in the end it will be a Idiot's guide to Sewing Pattern Making, Printing and Selling. 

Fingers crossed.