All this to say that it was high time for some cute belts!

With the girls all 2 years apart I wanted the belts to be interchangable.  This means that M has a fair amount of extra tail and O has a little less than optimal.  It's a trade-off I'm happy to have made,  since as it turns out the pink skulls are the clear choice for 2 girls and there's one dog lover that's not giving that one up for anything. 

The process to make these is pretty straight-forward but I did learn a few things along the way so I thought I'd share my process and tips.

Gather up your supplies:

• webbing
• ribbon
• jeans needle
• heat n bond, ultrahold
• iron and thread
• D-rings

Measure the waist (or to be more precise the waist/hip area path that the belt will follow).  I measured the waist and ended up a little tight on extra length.  Add 8" to this measurement.  This is the amount of webbing and ribbon you'll need.  The webbing I used was 1" wide, found at hobby lobby or hancocks as well as a myriad of online shops. 

I tried several options for securing my ribbon to the webbing before sewing.  This is an important step because you don't want your ribbon sliding around your webbing while your trying to sew it. 

Double sided special scrap-booking tape (it's a little more narrow than standard DS tape) was suggested to me.  I picked up some at Michael's and while it would, sort-of, stick to the woven backside of the ribbon it refused to stick to the textured nylon webbing. 

Next idea.  I had some stitch witchery on hand and I've had good luck using it to secure ribbon to fabric by blasting it with heat.  But since I'm working with nylon and didn't really want it melting on me, I tried a medium heat setting.  No workey. 

For me the heat n bond was, hands down, the product of choice for this project.

First:  Iron the heat n bond to the back side of the ribbon then secure the ribbon to the webbing by ironing on med-med high heat and a light weight pressing cloth. 

Using your jeans needle, sewing machine, and whichever thread you like (on some I used regular thread, on this dog one I used embroidery thread that's more shiny).  Secure the ribbon to the webbing.  When using a straight stitch I like to lengthen it a little to a 3.

Be adventurous and go for a decorative stitch sometimes

I used a match to heat seal all the ends, you could choose to use fray check if you want.  I knew I was short on length and also didn't want the extra bullk that turning it under would make. 

On the left side on the belt thread it through 2 D-rings, fold down and stitch a square.  I made 2 passes for extra security.  IMPORTANT:  for 1" webbing use 1 1/4" rings, you'll want a little extra room so your belt can move.  I tried the 1" rings and felt it was too snug. 

On the right hand side of the belt turn the end under and secure with a line of stitching (again I went over it a few times for strength).  You can see this in the very top picture.  You may also notice that I didn't match my bobbin to the webbing.  This is less apparent on the straight stitched belts and more apparent on the thicker, fancier stitches. 

One note about using decorative stitches; the pink skull belt was secured with a hemstitch stitch that passes over the same x shape several times.  I noticed that my ribbon got a little bunchy in places with all the back and forth.  If this bothers you I recommend a 'lighter' decorative stitch.

Our family doesn't normally go out for the Rodeo and usually my kids barely squeek by with a bandana from the dress up box on Rodeo Day at school.  Lucky me that I've had this shirt in the hopper for a while.  It would have been done sooner but after starting construction (with the intent of using the brown/black stripe for the neckband) I didn't think it had enough stretch to make a good band and that was that, it sat.  All the while this great rib, Ringel, kept staring at me yelling "use me for that neck", and I just didn't.  I'm happy that I finally did.

I took a bunch of close-ups of the hems and neckband so you can see how they look.  I used the coverstitch for hemming and as you can see when switching from mid-weight jersey to lighter weight thermal and all those serged seams on the side there was a little bit of wobble, but not too bad.  To sew the neckband I stitched my piece into a circle, folded it in half, marked each quarter, made the same markings on the shirt neck pinning them together and stretched as I sewed.  I debated about top stitching and didn't.  Mainly, I was running out of light and wanted to get the pictures done.  I might go back and add topstitching, but then again I might not.  I'm already buzzing through another project

coverstitched hem on thermal and jersey knit

hemming knit fabrics

and one just because she's beautiful

This girl and her clothes fit the bill, both sweet and a little saucey. Full of complimentary contrasts, texture reigns king on this ourfit. 

The skirt is the Redondo pattern, with added flounce, made from nice nice soft corduroy, smooth woven cotton and using a rolled hem. The pattern design screams I'm not your ordinary twirl skirt but made in brown, pink and off-white still looks sweet as sugar. 

The sporty double sleeved tee pattern Quiara is a contrast to the cute pink little dogs.  Thermal fabric, and soft jersey in dots and stripes play with texture and the green and off white dots pop and pick up the green from the dog fabric.

Sewing with thermal:

Thermal, this thermal anyway, is a just lightweight knit with texture.  I didn't do anything special to sew it… just popped the jersey needles in the serger and away I went.  Seriously, if you have sewn knits before don't let the fact that thermal has a little texture to it throw a curve ball at you.  If you haven't sewn knits and like the look of thermal … just do it.  It's not hard!  And if you don't have a serger, DON'T let that stop you.  You can use your sewing machine.  Lengthen your stitch length a little and give it a go.

Side note:  I snapped these pictures before school, better ones will follow

We're pretty flexible with our devices and let the kids use them pretty much anytime but that takes them out of the running for list making.  I did start making one with actual pen and paper and I just hope it got washed in my pocket otherwise there's no telling when or where it will turn up. 

One think I know for sure is that the 2 kids that wear pajamas are in dire straights.  Both of these girls keep eyeing the David and Goliath rack of fabric and make comments about how great they'd be for p.j.'s. 

Point taken.  I see some quality time with a ball point needle in my weekend

Random quotes from the day:

"Why, there's a turkey in the popcorn bucket!" (said in a very British accent)

"Come take a look at this dough, somethings … not … right …"

"I'm thankful for … Bacon" said by the last person at the table after everyone else has offered up very heartfelt Thanks.

"May I please have an alternate dessert"

"I'd like to make a toast to fizzy, sugary, goodness"

"You should cover everything in fabric, it makes it look so much prettier"

Speaking of fabric, this is an enlarged version of TINI, made from corduroy, lightweight cotton, and ribbon trim.

Our First family Kayaking trip … everyone loved it!

Sewing with Campan one of my all-time fav fabs.

Back to business:

You’re welcome to come knock on our door for another Banberry Place Open House, Monday, July 25th from 11-7.  The door will be open for you to come and shop our selection of fabric, patterns and trims.  If you’re in or around San Antonio we would love to see you!  Please email me (there’s a link in the upper left corner over there) for more details.

Three’s Company
Get More: Free Full Episodes,Classic Video Clips,TV Land Schedule

It’s cute and meets the expected requirements for this 11 year old girl.  The outfit was designed around the need for a black, or mostly black, shirt for a school field trip.   But lemme tell you, it’s seeing a lot more than the Texas State Capital, mini-golf is just the tip of the iceberg.

The thing about knit circle skirts is that 2 sides stretch more than the other 2.  This has really gnawed at me.  I didn’t think the stretch would be as much as it is, but since it is and since this girl likes her skirt I’ve decided it’s time to embrace and accept the stretch.  You know… look at it as a design element and not a flaw.  There are plenty of tunics and skirts out there with the sides longer than front and back on purpose and this is just another of them, despite the fact that it’s not what I planned.   The skirt waist is the yoga that wasn’t, it needs elastic inserted to do it’s job.  I know lots of people that haven’t had to do this but I’m not one of them.  When I tried the skirt on her it sunk and hung down way too low … elastic to the rescue!

The top is ANTONIA, my all-time favorite tee pattern.  If you’ve spent any time here you’ve seen more than a few of them running around.  The main body and sleeve is the same interlock as the skirt, behaving nicely and not stretching out, I might add.  The peace and love jersey is much lighter than the interlock however it’s great used as the inset piece.  I used the interlock for the neckband and it was much more fiddly business than when I use a jersey with lycra.  It turned out okay but I was sweating bullets there for a minute.

Game on!

P.S.  We’ve been loving groupon this summer!  We’ve been mini-golfing, jump housing, frozen yogurt getting and are planning a trip to a river, all at major discounts. 

    Hang a pebble on a string, suspend string on a pencil, which is balanced on a glass jar.

    Mix salt and warm water together until you've added so much salt that it won't dissolve any     longer.

    Add food coloring for colored crystals. 

    Hang pebble so it's covered in water but not touching the bottom.

    Set jar in a sunny window and wait for crystals to appear.

So that's what we did!  I thought we got roughly the same amount of salt in each water but based on the results someone added a LOT more salt than everyone else.

After a couple of days…

Important note here:  the crystals didn't form on the pebble, not until the water had evaporated and it wasn't covered in water any longer.

after a couple of weeks…

I wasn't expecting the pencils to be engulfed or crystals all down the outside of the jars, but hey it's summer time we don't need those pencils anyway!

love!

the knit fabric, Baby Nay, is not heavy but I opted for a woven neckband anyway.  The reason is that part of the circle band is on the bias and will stretch even more than knit will stretch, regularlily.  There is a facing piece which would probably help control the stretch but I didn't want to chance the neck sagging AND I liked the way this Michael Miller compliments it AND I'm always trying to add more fabric in a design anyway! 

The pattern is abacadabra 118 but is pretty heavily modified.  To see the pattern sewn as is see this post.