One, Two, Tie Your Shoe Model - Tutorial

Before I get down to this I will be honest with you.  I have a new camera and do not know how to use it.   I am definitely not a photographer.  So my photos are not always the best.  :(  I am also very new to writing tutorials.  But, if you can bear with me I will show you what I made for my daughter recently and how I made it.

 My little girl has hit that preschool age where she needs to learn to tie her shoes.  So instead of having a shoe sitting on my table that has been trudging through the garden, I decided to make her one.  

 

Materials:

- adult shoe
- 3 pieces of 12" x 12" cardstock
- hole Punch
- scissors
- Shoe Lace
- Gluestick
- Double Sided Fusible Webbing (I use Steam A Seam 2)
- About 1/8 of a Yard of Fabric (depends on shoe size)
- Knife
- Single fold bias tape
- Glue Gun
- Puffy Paint (optional)

 

Instructions:

1.  Trace your shoe on to the card stock.  Cut out shoe outline and use this first one as a template for the other 4.  Once you have your 5 shoes cut out, set one aside (this one is your backing).

2. Take one of your shoe cutouts and draw little circles evenly spaced down both sides of your shoe top (I pre-draw to make it a little easier to figure out spacing).  Next, use the hole punch to cut them out.  It is okay to bend or fold the cutout to make the holes (you can see in the photo I had to).  Use this first one as a template to repeat the process on the other 3 shoe outlines.  Now glue your outlines together.  Do not worry about them matching up perfectly, this will be hidden.

3. Place your fusible webbing on top of your shoe outlines and then your fabric on top of that.  Trim to fit the shoe outline and press with an iron.

Yours will look like this.

4. Flip over your shoe to the side without the fabric and use a sharp knife to cut an "X" through the holes into the fabric.  Thread your laces through the holes.  I like to make sure mine lay as flat as possible on the underside.

5. Now glue the shoe outline you set aside to the back of the shoe over the laces.  Turn over again so you can see the top of the shoe.

6.  Use a glue gun to add the single fold bias tape to the top of your shoe first and then the back.  If you go slow and do about an inch at a time you can get it to lay nicer.

7.  (Optional Step)  On the back of your shoe, use puffy paint to create fun designs or tread like you find on the bottom of real shoes. 

I hope you will be able to use this tutorial to create some cute practice shoes for your children!

Giveaway Winners

Thank you all for stopping by and entering my giveaways!  I will be emailing the winners later today.  I had so much fun reading through all of your responses.   In case you are curious about my own answers to the questions, they are below the winners.

Giveaway #1 Winner is:

# 134 Treasuresofjoy
I Love to read my Bible

Giveaway #2 Winner is:

#30 Jenniffier Kramer

 "I want to make a purse this summer and finish some UFOs not too much to ask right?"

Giveaway #3 Winner is:

#89 CarrieM

Right now--coral

My favorite books include: "Bel Canto", The Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy, The Sevenwaters books, "Snow Falling on Cedars", "Pillars of the Earth", "Enders Game", "Chocolat", The first few Wheel of Time books, The Elm Creek Quilt Books...I could go on and on.  Currently I am reading "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Eyre Affair" (a friend lent it to me when we were swapping books). I recently finished "A Discovery of Witches" and "Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes"

This summer I plan to finish up several UFOs and make myself a purse.  The last one I made was from a pattern I drew up and it was for a swap.  I wish I could have kept it.

My favorite color is red but I am having a lot of fun with orange lately.  I tend to buy a lot of Riley Blake fabrics because they are cute and I do most of my sewing for children.

I hope you have a fabulous weekend.  Feel free to stop by again.

I am counting...stay tuned

I promise I haven't forgotten.  I did the random generator thing and have my numbers for each of the giveaways.  However, after searching for an easy way to apply numbers to my comments and failing at a few attempts...well I am doing it by hand.  I will have the results for you all soon.  Thank you for your patience.  Too bad my computer guy husband isn't home to get it done in a minute.  :( 

The good news is that I have 2 tutorials I will be posting this weekend! So if you like feel free to drop by again. 

It's Giveaway Day!

It is giveaway day!  I am so excited! Below are 3 giveaways you can enter.  The giveaways are open until the 25th.  Winners will be selected May 27th.  Good luck.

This weekend I took a little time to try a few things.  I set up a fun envelope challenge for our quilt guild which included these colors:

Our guild members have until July to complete the challenge - which could be either creating a 12 1/2" block inspired by these colors or else just making something fun for themselves with them.  I started sketching up some ideas this past week and came up with around 10 different blocks.  I fell in love with one of them and sat down to try it out.  I didn't measure or get too fussy, I just went for it.  What do you think?

I adore it!  It reminds me of: gummy worms, car trips, and summer!  It just makes me happy.  It doesn't meet the guidelines for the guild challenge with the baby blue incorporated.  I think I am going to make a few more of these squares and create at least a lap quilt out of these. 

The other thing I tried this weekend was ladybug nails!
 

My daughter's were thrilled!  I found the tutorial here:
http://brandyscrafts.blogspot.com/2012/05/ladybug-nails.html
I don't paint nails very often so I definitely need more practice but, oh the possibilities!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Giveaway # 1 - *Updated*

Hello, Sew Mama Giveaway Day visitors!  Prize number 1 is: 1 Mod Medallions quilt pattern from Gigi's Thimble and a variety of 10" Riley Blake Fabrics (can be used to help you make the Mod Medallions quilt).

*I only ship to the U.S. (I am sorry international readers)

To enter please leave a comment including an email where I can reach you. If you like you can tell me what your favorite book is (doesn't have to be sewing related).  This giveaway is open until May 25th.  I will announce the winner by May 27th.  If I cannot reach the winner and they have not contacted me then I will select another winner 1 week later. 

Good luck and remember to check: Sew Mama Sew for more fabulous giveaway day giveaways!

 *Updated - Comments are now closed for this giveaway.  Winner announced here:

http://www.kadybugcrafts.blogspot.com/2012/05/giveaway-winners.html

Giveaway # 2 - *Updated

Hello, Sew Mama Giveaway Day visitors!  Prize number 2 is: a copy of "One-Yard Wonders" and  Omnigrid Easy Rounded Dresden Templates.

*I only ship to the U.S. (I am sorry international readers)

To enter please leave a comment including an email where I can reach you. If you like you can tell me what you plan to sew this summer.  This giveaway is open until May 25th.  I will announce the winner by May 27th.  If I cannot reach the winner and they have not contacted me then I will select another winner 1 week later. 

Good luck and remember to check: Sew Mama Sew for more fabulous giveaway day giveaways!

 *Updated - Comments are now closed for this giveaway.  Winner announced here:

http://www.kadybugcrafts.blogspot.com/2012/05/giveaway-winners.html

Giveaway # 3 - *Updated

Hello, Sew Mama Giveaway Day visitors!  Prize number 3 is: 1 fat quarter of the blue Birds on Chairs, 1 fat quarter of the purple Birds on Chairs, and a little more than 3/4 of a yard of jumping frogs.


*I only ship to the U.S. (I am sorry international readers)

To enter please leave a comment including an email where I can reach you. If you like you can tell me what your favorite fabric color is.  This giveaway is open until May 25th.  I will announce the winner by May 27th.  If I cannot reach the winner and they have not contacted me then I will select another winner 1 week later. 

Good luck and remember to check: Sew Mama Sew for more fabulous giveaway day giveaways!

 *Updated - Comments are now closed for this giveaway.  Winner announced here:

http://www.kadybugcrafts.blogspot.com/2012/05/giveaway-winners.html

Helping Out

I have been staying up really late (early morning) helping/teaching a friend how to quilt.  She is leaving to bring the quilt to her sister on Friday...so we are trying hard to get it all finished up by then.  All that is left after last night is the binding.  I promise to show photos of the completed quilt after she gives it to her sister.  In the meantime here are two more blocks I made:

This one is for "The Boxcar Children" - The book has a shadow picture and the cover doesn't show much either so I had to sketch/wing it as best I could.

The next block was "Harold and The Purple Crayon".  I embroidered the outlines and then began to fill it in.  I joked that I could stop and just leave the rest unfilled so it looked like he was still coloring and my friend decided that was good.  So here it is. 

I have also managed to sneak in making 3 more Farmer's Wife blocks:

This is one of my favorites:

I adore the little beehive in the corner and the "Build Your Own Greenhouse" ad in the center.  On my table are centers for the "Dresden Plate" quilt and pieces for the Half Square Triangle Quilt Along.

We have a winner!

And the winner is Sandy! Sandy, please email me (my email is in my about on the right hand side) your address and I will send you your new pattern and charm pack off to you. :) 

I will be participating in SewMamaSew's giveaway day so there will be no giveaway next week.

But, check back on May 21st!  In the meantime I look forward to sharing more story blocks and farmer's Wife blocks!  I wish I could do more than a few blocks here and there, but there just isn't anymore time in my day.  In a few months though I am sure things will pick up. :)

Right now I am enjoying taking my 4 children for walks and shedding more baby weight.  I am so glad that all of the snow is finally gone!  My yard is starting to look green.  It has been overcast and a little damp the last few days but it just means more green right?  How is the weather where you are?

Giveaway

Before I get to the giveaway I am going to quickly share 3 blocks I finished up for a friend's Storybook quilt:

The first is from the book "Someday"by Alison McGhee illustrations by Peter Reynolds (I love his stuff).

The second is "Down By the Bay" - a whale with a polka dot tail.

And here is the giving tree block all finished up.  My friend and I think 4 more blocks would balance the quilt out nicely...now I am trying to figure out if I have enough time to whip up a few more by Thursday.  I have visions of "Madeline", "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie", "The Box Car Children", and many more floating through my head.  I might just have to make one of these for my children.

Now on to the giveaway:

I am giving away one "Square Dance" pattern by Gigi's Thimble away along with "A Walk in The Woods" Charm pack.  Next week I will give away a second of Amber's patterns along with different fabric so be sure to check back and enter then too.

To enter just leave a comment telling me what your favorite children's book was.   I will leave this giveaway open until Friday May 11 and announce the winners on Saturday.  Good luck!

And What Have I Been Stitching?

I finished hand stitching this block and am going to add the green leaf border all around.  This one is for a friend of mine who is putting together a story book quilt for her niece.  She ran short on blocks and I offered to make one up for her.  I thought embroidery would work well for "The Giving Tree", since all of the illustrations look pencil drawn.  What do you think?

I also managed to stitch up 4 more Farmer's Wife blocks bringing my total to 10.  10 seems pretty good...that's only 101 more to sew right?  What have you been making?  

Some Fun Mail

I have received tons of fun mail lately!  First up the rainbow charms from the swap hosted by sweet diesel designs.

Next up I got my order of books!  Among the large stack of children's books was this one:

I would love to buy a copy of this one for everyone I know!  It has so many fun projects in it.  I can't wait to show some of them to you all. So many unique ideas and fun ideas!  I might be making some cards this year.  The kids have been getting postcards for a geography project we are doing and they have more on the way:

I also got a really wonderful surprise!!  Remember how I won a pattern from Amber over at A Little Bit Biased?  Well she didn't just send me one pattern she sent me three!!!

So all of this fun mail got me to thinking...it is time for a giveaway!  So check back here next week and I will have my first giveaway!