I can honestly say I’ve never used Ric Rac.
I tried to use it with the Apron, and it just didn’t work. Now I have three yards of Royal Ric Rac and I’m wondering how to use it.
So Ric Rac lovers…
What Do You Use Ric Rac For?
 
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Also, don’t forget that Amy Butler Barcelona Skirts Pattern is on sale at 15% off! 
Lately my little man has been doing more messy crafts, like coloring… I know it’s not the worst, but still SO messy. I was The first thing I did was buy a kid’s apron from The Dollar Tree. You can get these cheap aprons anywhere. Melissa suggested even JoAnn’s. I used the apron as my pattern and cut out two pieces. The plan was to have the two pieces and Ric Rac bordering the apron. Let me just say, this took me I put the right sides together and pinned with the Ric Rac in between. I put the ribbon straps where they should go and started sewing. I turned it right-side-out and it looked horrible. It was a disaster… so I let the unpicking commence. Thinking about it I should have sewed the Ric Rac onto one side of the fabric, as well as the ribbon, and then sew the two fabrics together. Does that sound like a better idea? I am so new to this sewing thing, I am pretty sure my thought process makes everything more difficult. After I picked it apart, I decided to zig zag the edge, then fold and sew. Well about half way into zig zagging, I realized I already folded it, so you can see the zig zag seam all the way around. By this point in the project, I didn’t care. It still looks okay, right?!
I added my ribbon and velcro and I was finished! I think it turned out really fun and boyish, thanks to the cute Kids and Fun fabric by Michael Miller. My little man wasn’t a fan of wearing it, unfortunately, but there is room to grow. And just like the hooded towel, he will get used to wearing it eventually. Right? I hope so!
What I Used: Kids and Fun by Michael Miller 
As you all know, I am not one loves to wear hair accessories. But I am trying to do better! And I admit, it’s getting more fun. I normally pull my bangs back with bobby pins; how boring is that? I decided to spruce things up a bit, but not too much, and I went searching for something better than bobby pins. I was looking around The Ribbon Retreat and found snap clips! I used to wear these back in middle school, so it’s been a LONG time. I forgot that these could be used as hair accessories. Since wearing snap clips plain reminds me of middle school, what a fun awkward time!
I will be wearing these plain, but you can add bows, flowers, buttons, etc. to give them a little more character. I love how they turned out and they are perfect for that little “extra” I needed. Supplies: 1/4″ Ribbon – I used Solid Grosgrain and Double-Faced Satin – 14″-15″ for each snap clip I am starting to feel that way with this Frenchy Bag by Amy Butler.
It was my last project to finish before I allowed myself to make another order. I was also excited to have it, since I was going to use it as a library bag and we go A LOT. Everything was going well until I noticed I read a pattern piece wrong and needed to order more fabric. (Honestly, I was really excited that I was “allowed” to order now, but still mad at myself for being so dumb! It ended up working out okay because I needed interfacing and forgot that The Ribbon Retreat carried it. So I ordered some of that as well. Well, I got my beautiful package (any one else feel like it’s better than Christmas morning when you get your TRR packages?) and I cut out my fabric correctly, moved on to cut out my interfacing and I didn’t get enough! Argh! I swear I don’t trust my brain any more. Since I needed only a little bit of interfacing, I decided to run to JoAnn’s to get some. Well, low and behold, they are OUT of HEAVYWEIGHT SEW-IN INTERFACING. I can’t stop saying, “Are you serious!?” in my head. I am hoping now that I’ve blogged about it, I will have no more interruptions and the rest of the purse will go smoothly. Maybe eating some chocolate will help too. It’s good to start them young. 
We made a bunch of flowers using fabric and ribbons,
We used a tutorial from Get Your Craft On and ours turned out a little different! We used a smaller ribbon size, as well as a sheer, so it made it curl up a lot more. I really like it, and my nieces love it too. We used Sheer Ribbon in Aqua in 5/8″. The headband was just some extra I had from the dollar store. Definitely not the best quality, but it will do for some fun.
So if you have some scraps laying around, go ahead and try it out. and I knew the PERFECT project for it! Since it’s summer, we’ve been spending many fun days at the pool. I was amazed to see some really crafty moms (or moms who can afford such cute stuff!) making hooded towels. Before this blog, I would probably not have attempted it, but then I saw that cute Anchors Away ribbon and I just HAD to make one. I searched around for a tutorial and the one I liked best was found at Obsessively Stitching. It was very EASY to do and barely took any time at all (except for the part I’ll tell ya about later!)
If you’ve never made one before, you have to try this out. It’s so cute for your own kids or for gifts. ALSO you have such a huge selection of printed ribbons or striped ribbons or dotted ribbons! The possibilities are endless! - Things I Learned - 1. Babies, toddlers, and kids don’t need the most luscious towels you can find. I thought since my guy was going to have this towel for most of his childhood, I can spend a bit more and get him some really nice towels. It’s a great thought right? Well the towel was WAY too thick for my sewing machine to handle (let me know if you have any suggestions!) I ended up sewing the last part by hand. Let me just say this hooded towel was REALLY made with love! 2. Your toddler may not use the towel because you’ve never used a hooded towel before and he just finds it annoying. Who knew? We’re still working on it, and since it was made with love, Since my little guy wouldn’t hold still for a
Now go and find some cute ribbon and sew away! Have fun! Don’t forget! Amy Butler Barcelona Skirt Patterns are on sale for 15% off! 
Isn’t it absolutely the cutest thing you’ve ever seen???? My friend was pregnant about a month ago and she didn’t know what she was having. I thought if she has a girl, for sure I can make her lots of cute bows, but if she has a boy… hmm… what do I make? I came up with a few things, but this one was my favorite! She ended up with a cute little baby boy, and I am so glad so I could have the opportunity to make this Tie Applique Onesie. The tutorial comes from Char over at Crap I’ve Made. This is one of the best I’ve seen for this project. If you want to make one too, head over there, Speaking of fabrics, here are some that would be super cute as a tie!
Here is the one I used for this bodysuit: Green Dots in Just Dreamy Fall is coming quickly, and along with that Halloween! Yay!
And fabrics that are great for any season:
Finding fabrics that will work for your little guy can be quite exhausting. This project really doesn’t take much fabric, so you could just use scrap you have laying around. I used scrap from my Embroidery Hoops project. You will also need Fusible Interfacing. And guess what? The Ribbon Retreat carries multiple brands of it! So don’t forget to get some when you get your fabric. And as always… have fun! 
I LOVE my skirt so much. It is so cute, so comfy, SO being the nice person I am, I was able to get a 15% discount This skirt pattern has two skirts and an apron overlay in it. Want to save even more?! Today is Sweet Deal Wednesday and Free Spirit and Windham fabrics are 10% off. The Ribbon Retreat is also having a 10% off orders over $35 sale. So if you act now, you can get 25% off the pattern, and 20% off any of those fabrics and 10% off anything else you need, as long as you order over $35, and if you’re like me, that isn’t hard to do. There are only a few Barcelona Skirt Patterns so hurry! And have fun shopping! 
I bought my son’s crib set from Wal-Mart back when we were living in an apartment that I couldn’t decorate… matching curtains and valences didn’t even cross my mind! Finding matching curtains was going to be hard, but a matching valence that complemented the patterns on the crib set was going to be near impossible. So I did what any normal person would do… I grabbed some scissors and started cutting! Have you ever thought that crib skirts were kind of pointless? I am pretty sure most people put the crib up against the wall, and I think most cribs have sides that cover whatever crib skirt there might be. This leaves only the front part of the crib skirt showing. Since this was the only part showing, I figured we wouldn’t miss the other parts of the crib skirt, and I was right. I cut off all three other sides, ironed them (they were extremely wrinkly after being squished by the mattress, wall, and the crib), and sewed the three pieces together. It made a nice long valence.
To hang them, I used Solid Grosgrain Ribbon in White 7/8″. I didn’t like how it looked straight, so I only used five pieces of ribbon to get a curved look.
I know that anyone can do this project, even if you don’t have a sewing machine. It was really easy, and I think it looks great. The Ribbon Retreat has SO many colors of Solid Grosgrain, that it is almost impossible to find a color you can’t match. If you’re afraid that you won’t be able to match a color over the computer, just order a Color Chart. This takes out ALL the guess work!
The only problem I ran into was I used scrap ribbon that was at the bottom of my highly disorganized ribbon bin. You can even tell in some of the pictures that it is wrinkled. I really wish I had a ribbon iron. I plan on getting a grab bag with my next order, and I think I am going to get a ribbon iron too. They are so handy and much easier than lugging out the iron and ironing board – shudder – my least favorite part of crafting!
My son’s room is almost finished! All that’s left is a lamp, decorated with ribbon of course, and I can’t wait to show you. You will have to stay tuned.
I have never been one to wear hair accessories so it’s asking a lot if it’s pretty big. I know so many people can pull off the huge flower, but I am going to have to work towards it. The Rosette Headband was cute, but huge! So thanks for voting for the smaller one. I wore it to church today. I hope it wasn’t too matchy matchy. But I’m definitely climbing the hair accessory ladder, so maybe next time I can go a little bigger.
If you’d like to purchase the Petticoat Posy Pattern, just click on the word and the link will take you right there. If you love the fabric, view the last post and the links will take you straight to it! Thanks for your comments. It’s so much fun to get feedback. |
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