Tutorial (sort of): Cheerleading Hair Bows

Funny story time!

I was at a cheerleading parents' meeting about a month ago.  (That's not the funny part - it gets better!)  I was carrying my Thirty-One bag - the one with the changeable skirt - and it was a skirt that I made.  (I mentioned it here, but that was a while ago.)  Here's the one I was carrying, just because it would be kinda lame to talk about it and not show a picture:

Anywho, so I got to the meeting, and one of the other moms said, "oooh, I like your purse!"  I of course said "Why thank you!  It's one of those bags where you can change out the skirt - but I make my own skirts because there's no way I'm spending any $25 on the ones in the catalog."  And I said it with attitude.  Like, "Ha, I stuck it to the man, and they can just deal with it" attitude.  To which she replied, "ha ha, I sell Thirty-One bags.  I'm a consultant!"  To which I replied, "Oh!  Uh, um, uh, um, uh, um...oh...I'm sorry!" Stupid, stupid, stupid!  I felt so dumb.  Luckily for me, she didn't care.  In fact, she thought it was pretty funny.

But Rachel!  You say.  What does this story have to do with Cheerleading Hair Bows?  Well let me tell you.  For you crafty types, you know how this goes.  "Oh, you sew?  Wow!  Hey, she sews!"  And then..."Do you do hair bows?"  Hmm.  No, not really.  But I'm up for anything, especially not having to shell out unnecessary cash for some mass-produced, overpriced hair bow.  So basically, I volunteered to do the hair bows for the squad.  They didn't want anything crazy; they just wanted simple basic bows that go on ponytails.  Can do!

I used this tutorial and adapted it a bit.  These cost about $1 each to make.  $1 each!  I bought my ribbon in 20-yard spools.  I probably used about 10 yards of each.

Here's how I did it:
1. Cut ribbon lengths.  To make 22, I cut 22 lengths of each, in 3 different ribbon widths: 1.5", 7/8", and 3/8".  Each length was about 20".  I cut each end into a "v" shape* by folding the ribbon in half (long-ways) and cutting it diagonally.  The skinny ones were a pain to do, but that's ok.

 2. Seal the edges.  Using child labor* (my 8yo), each end of all 66 ribbon lengths was sealed with Fray Check. 

Fray Check is awesome stuff, and it lasts forever.

 3. Assemble the ribbons and machine-sew* together, with the ponytail holders.

Here are my 3 ribbons.

Here they are, centered and stacked together.

I folded them over in the middle...

held the ponytail holder to the underside...

...and sewed back and forth 2-3 times using a zigzag stitch.  I cannot be bothered with hand-sewing, sorry.

the top

the underside

flip the ribbons over - inside out, almost.  They lay down pretty nicely. 

4. Put on an episode of 24* and fire up the glue gun

5. Finish.  Cut small lengths of ribbon (I used the 3/8") and glue them around the middle.  Just find which way works best for you. I used flat-nosed pliers to squeeze the ribbon down*, because one of my pet peeves is burning my fingers with hot glue.

These were probably about 1.5" to 2" or so.  Aren't you glad to have such an accurate and specific tutorial to follow?

6. Admire!*

7. Regret never having made the cheer squad in high school or college.


8. Stuff the pain by enjoying a Reese's PB Cup.  Or two.*

*Optional, but recommended

Linking to...
 

Home Dec Sewing, part 1

So, I have this friend.  Rebecca.  She and her husband are working on renovating/decorating their older victorian-ish (I think) house - and let me tell you, she has the BEST style.  Her house is gorgeous!   I was half-flattered, half-terrified when she called me one day and asked me to sew some home dec stuff for her.  Sewing things for myself?  No problem.  I can hide the mistakes, or just not look at them.  But sewing for someone else?  Different story!  The pressure's on!  Even though the pressure is totally self-imposed, it's there.  But I said yes, because I couldn't NOT do this!

I mean, just feast your eyes on her fabric choices:

That's Waverly "Fun Floret" on the left, and Waverly "Pom Pom Play" on the right.  Dee-lish!  Can fabric be dee-lish?  Yep.

She wanted me to make some zippered bench cushions and chair pads for their kitchen nook.  I have done cushions before, and it's always a little unpredictable how they'll turn out.  But I used this tutorial this time, and it helped so much.  Also, I got smart with these, and wrapped the high density foam in muslin before I stuffed them into their covers.  It made it so much easier to get them in there!  Muslin & hot glue.  ;) 

For the chair cushions, I just winged it.  I was able to knock them out in about an hour or so...super easy!  Just pillowcases with piping, more or less.  No zippers necessary!  Those ties are actually grosgrain ribbon, and they keep the cushion covers closed, as well as tie to the chairs.  Double duty! 

Ta-da!  (And isn't this table just begging for a pot of orange mums?)

LOVE that fabric!

Paint first, ask husband later.  That's Rebecca's motto.  She painted this kitchen set.  Isn't it great?  Thankfully, her DH loves it.  :) 

The piping is just my ol' favorite "clothesline and symphony broadcloth" combo.  Cheap & easy.  Like me!  Just kidding.  I'm not cheap.  Did you miss my piping tutorial?  Here it is!  Oddly enough, I also made orange piping in the tutorial.  But it wasn't for this project.  What's up with that?  Why all the orange piping? 

But Rachel!  You say.  What about that gorgeous orange fabric?  Well, just you wait.  That' wasn't quite ready to be photographed, but soon!

Getting into gear again!

Well, now that it's just the three of us (I assume my mom and mother in law still check this?  guys?  you there?), how about an update?  ;)  Honestly, I'm just not good with upheaval, however relatively minor it may be.  Can you tell?  But I think things are settling down!

Yesterday I got two bits of inspiration that made me decide to make time for my blog.  Because I do love it.  I was having such a good time, you know, back in the day, when it was summertime and the livin' was easy.   Then I started working full time and it kind of (totally) fell by the wayside.  Not that I haven't been doing things, making things, sewing things...I just haven't been bothering with the taking of pictures and writing about them!  Well, duh!  I started Pleased as Punch so that I could have a place to do just that!  Keep a record of the things I've made that I'm proud of.  And then it started to turn into something more...I was meeting new people (albeit online!), dare I say making friends?,  having fun, getting inspired by what OTHERS are doing, too. 

I can't put my finger on why, but this post from Allison at Little Lovelies really made me want to re-focus.  Her blog is probably in my top 5 favorites.  Everything she does is so beautiful!  And just my style.  And she's so nice.  I could go on and on.  I think I love reading her blog because she doesn't try too hard.  You know what I mean.  She doesn't try to be extra cutesy or trendy.  It's refreshing.

And my second bit of inspiration?  An email from one of the editors at Sew, Mama, Sew. They want to feature one of my tutorials next month in their Handmade Holidays series.  My first thought was, "Oh goodie!"...immediately followed by my second thought: "Oh, CRAP!"   And it's like, do I want to do this (the blog thing), or not?  And I do. 

See ya real soon.  :)

Women who "do it all" don't do it all. They hire maids..

I was just lamenting this morning to another blogger that ever since I started my job (nanny for 7 kids), I have neither the time nor the energy to do ANYTHING after the kids are in bed, except veg out on the couch and watch back episodes of 24, until I fall asleep with the pets all over me.  Well, this week is special because it's all the fall season premieres.  Modern Family last night - hysterical!  And The Office tonight - I can't wait for that.  And The Biggest Loser - love that show, but I miss Jillian and I think Anna Cornucopia or whatever her name is (yes, I know who she is), is uh, well...I'd be pretty mad if I were a contestant and I got her as my trainer. 

But I digress. 

As I was saying, I'm tired, and the housework is piling up.  I feel like Cinderella.  I can't do what I want to do until I get all my chores done - and I seriously wonder if I will ever get everything done.  And much to my dismay, I don't have any mice to do it all for me.  I'm not talking about the quest for an immaculate, sparkling house here, either.  I'm just talking about being able to eat at the table without needing a bulldozer to clear it off first.  I'm talking about changing the cat litter before they go on strike and start pooping in my bed, just to make a point (they haven't yet, but...).  I mean putting laundry away sooner than a week after it's been washed and folded - by DH.  (Yep, DH.  He does that for me.) 

So anyway, if you were wondering where I've been...I've been buried in children by day, and flopped on the couch in a semi-comatose state by night.  I do realize that I'm still adjusting to the new schedule.  I sincerely hope so, anyway.  This cannot be my new "normal."  It just can't.  

So hang with me, I promise to try to get some good stuff up here in the not-too-distant future. 

But in the meantime, if you're up for a good laugh, you've got to read this story: Embrace Plan B-C-D.  I laughed so hard, my kids were starting to worry!  Janice from Whimsy-ma-blog is one funny mama of three. 

Highs and Lows: Jack Bauer Edition

Highs and Lows time!

LOWS for the week:

1. More cheerleading bogus-ness.  If you don't want to read the continuing saga, scroll down.  I won't be offended.

I'll spare you the details (mainly because I typed out a whole thing about this, and then for some reason Blogger didn't save my post, and it's gone.  Argh!  And I don't feel like writing the whole thing out again).  Basically, the Coach is at it again.  She sent a letter home to all the parents this week, outlining all the ways the squad is not competition-ready.  (Competitions begin at the end of October.)  Then at the end, she literally asked us to check a box, and she gave us two options:

1. Only let the girls who are "ready" compete.  The ones who are not ready can compete as they get ready, as the competition season goes on.
~or~
2. Have the whole squad compete when everyone is ready, "noting that we may not compete at all this year."

Sorry, but both of these options are terrible.  Here are some options for you, coach:

1. Don't let girls onto the squad if they don't know how to cheer or tumble. (Novel idea, I know.) Then you won't have to crush their little hearts halfway through the season, when they haven't met your unrealistic expectations.  Advise them to take some gymnastics and come back the following year.  It would be a lot easier for EVERYONE to take if you would have just done that in the beginning.
~and~
2. Remember that this is a pee-wee squad.  As DH so aptly noted, "she's acting like they're going on ESPN next week or something." 

So in a nutshell, that's that.  I'm very upset. 

HIGHS for the week:
1. Well, speaking of "high," I'm still kind of on one.  A big one.  A children's clothing consignment shop in our town is going out of business.  This weekend, every single thing in the store is 75% off.  I was on it like white on rice, people.  Here's what I came home with:

That's 31 pieces of boys' stuff, 35 pieces of girls'.  All but a few pieces are brands: Gymbo, Old Navy, Limited Too, Gap Kids, TCP, Polo, Arizona, Crazy 8.  66 pieces for $92 = $1.39 a piece.  

Allow me to step out of character for a moment: BOO-YEAH!!!! 

2. Although I'm probably the last person in America to get on this wagon, I've been watching past seasons of 24 on Netflix.  I cannot stop!  I'm totally addicted to this show.  Except for Monday nights (that's the Antiques Roadshow/American Pickers/Pawn Stars night), I pretty much watch like 3 or 4 episodes of 24 each night.  Thank goodness for the DVR, I say.  I stay up late, so much later than I should because I can't stop watching!  Right now I'm about 3/4 of the way through season 3.  Any other Jack Bauer fans here?

No doubt, he's talking to President Allstate Guy here.

 3. One of the kids I nanny for cried on Friday when I told her I was going home.  Normally a crying child does not make it onto my "highs" list, but this just made my day...she wanted me to stay!  I was a little worried that the kids were going to eat me alive, the numbers being so greatly in their favor and all.  But it's going pretty well, actually.  And to know that at least one of them actually wants me around - that's just awesome. 

Sweet little baby dress

Before I send this off in the mail, I just had to take some pics...a friend of mine requested that I make a dress for their family's soon-to-be new arrival:

This is the Itty Bitty Baby Dress pattern from Made By Rae. I love this pattern! It took almost no time at all to sew. I think this may be my newest go-to baby girl gift - I mean, is it not precious? Along with a diaper cover - I used the tutorial over at MADE. Super-easy and quick to sew as well. This would be a GREAT beginner project, if anyone is looking to get their feet wet with sewing!

I tried to make it about 3-6 month size.  It looks tiny to me, but I always forget how tiny babies are until I see a newborn.  (Then I get the fever!  Then DH brings me back into reality.  Then I sigh and move on.)

Anyway, I lined the top of the dress with an old (washed!) t-shirt, so it'll be nice and soft.  I could never stand to put anything scratchy on my kids.  The bottom is finished with bias tape - I love that because I feel it's less hassle than hemming the whole thing.  Plus, it's cute.  :)   The fabric is just basic red-tag clearance from Jo-Ann's; I think I paid like $2 a yard for it.  Some close-ups:

 
I have another friend who just had a little girl - they didn't know what they were having until she was born, so I didn't know what to make in advance as a gift.  I think another one of these will be perfect. 

How to hear back from me when you leave a comment

Just a quickie post today...

I really enjoy reading comments from you guys. REALLY enjoy it! Like, every time my phone goes "bringalingalingaling!" I grab it to see if it's an email, and if it is, I check it to see if it's a comment on my blog. Seriously! It's really fun to get to know you guys who are here, reading my stuff.

AND I like to reply to your comments - usually in the form of an e-mail back to you.

BUT, I can't do that if your blogger e-mail address is "no-reply@blogger.com." That is such a bummer! In the last few days, I've tried to get in touch with a few of you, only to realize that I have no way of doing it because your e-mail is not visible on your profile.

I do understand about wanting anonymity and all, don't feel like you HAVE to. But if you WANT to, even just for the sake of allowing people to get back to you on comments and stuff like that, all you have to do is:

1. go into your blogger account, and click on "edit profile."
2. find the option that says "show my email address."
3. check the box
4. scroll to the bottom of the screen and click "save."

That's all!

Happy Weekend. Mine's going to be busy. I'll kick it off by making a couple of pies this morning. Let's hope they make it to the picnic whole...I can't be responsible if I feel the need to taste-test one or both...