Dishtowel Apron Tutorial

I decided to break out one of my Martha Stewart dishtowels and make a "Mommy's Little Helper Kitchen Apron". My initial goal was to make it to fit Aubry but it turned out closer to a size to fit an 8-11 year-old girl instead. If you want to make it smaller, you would just need to make it shorter and make the neck hole a bit smaller. If you want to make one, here are the supplies you will need:

1 dishtowel (mine measured 18" x 28")
one package of double fold bias tape--extra wide
thread to match
ribbon or trim (optional)













Lay out the dishtowel with the shorter edge on top and measure 4 inches in from each top edge, and measure 9 inches down each side edge. Draw a line between these two marks and cut on the line using scissors or a rotary cutter. The top of the apron should look like this:













This is when you would add any ribbon or trim. I added mine at the top and the bottom of the apron:
















Now you need to open up your bias tape (Click here for a tutorial on how to use bias tape--see 2-Step Binding) and pin it to the edges of the apron (the picture below this one will clarify this for you):
















You will want to pin the bias tape to the apron so that there is a 15-inch neck hole and 22-inches of bias-tape hanging at each edge for ties. Now you can sew the bias tape to the apron:
















Now fold your bias-tape over to the back of the apron (the neck-hole and tie bias-tape pieces will be sewn to themselves) and sew
















You can finish the tie-ends like this:
















Voila! You are done and ready to bake a batch of cookies with your little baker!

Friday Fashion

Almost everyday of the week you will find me in jeans and a t-shirt; I believe in being comfortable. Not one to be much of a girly-girl, dresses can be found in the back of my closet and they are dragged out only on Sundays. Last summer I wore skirts more often and I loved it (so did my husband) and I find myself being drawn these days to looks like this:

Don't you just love the yellow one? It just screams "spring" to me. The black and blue ones are great too, but I would never have a place to wear them since they are more formal.

This weekend we have snow in the forecast--AGAIN!!!--but I may have to brave the roads to reach the fabric store. Somehow a few more flakes seem acceptable as long as I am making something for the warm weather that is just around the corner. It is just around the corner, isn't it?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Its Always Martha, Martha, Martha

OK, I admit it: I love Martha Stewart! No matter what you think of her personally, you can't deny that the gal has style. She has a gift for using color. I don't know if you have ever noticed, but if you look in her magazine you will see that she uses color in almost all of the pictures, even the food pictures; she creates a mood with it.

For Christmas I received some money to use as I please, so I picked out these adorable MS dishtowels. They will not be used in the kitchen, but rather for crafting. I am going to cut them up and make purses and aprons out of them. Who knows if this is what Martha had in mind, but if she can use buttons to make a clock , then I can certainly use dishtowels to make aprons--colorful ones, of course!

Looking for some crafty inspiration? Click here and visit the Pattern Room. (Click on the list just below the little waving girl). Unfortunately, all the directions are in Japanese, but most of the projects are do-able just by looking at the pictures. My favorite is the Laundry Applique Wallhanging.

Also: A ton of inspiration can be found here. Simply click on the picture or Flickr links below each book-cover.

Enjoy!

My girl has been bitten...

...by the Christmas bug!

Aubry has been in full-Christmas mode these last few days, making crafts and presents and crafts and snowflakes and crafts. Every afternoon she surrounds herself with paper, scissors, glue, and other assorted goodies and lets her creativity soar, all while making huge messes in the living room.

This year we are doing Kindergarten work for school and her new-found knowledge is making its way into her crafts:
You can probably tell that we learn reading through phonics, but that we haven't focused enough on vowels. She has also written out her Christmas wish list and it includes such things as "CNDE", "CNDRLA" and "PLPGT", otherwise known as candy, Cinderella, and Polly Pocket. Honestly, she could probably persuade me to get her anything her little heart desires just by giving me these lists, simply because they are so cute!

Yesterday she managed to manufacture all of her own Christmas presents and wrap them up, all without giving away the secret of what she made:
Curiosity is getting to me, but I will wait until Christmas morning to open mine!

If you are looking for something crafty to do, here are some links for you:

Anna Maria has a tutorial to make an adorable felt garland for the Christmas tree. Take some time to look through her blog too--great ideas and loveliness abound!

Echoes of a Dream has a tutorial for making wool angels. If you look around her blog you will find lots of great ideas and how-to's like these cloth journals.

Heather has made a yo-yo garland, and she has been gracious enough to provide a yo-yo tutorial to help you make one too!

Martha Stewart has a how-to for a ric-rac stocking! Have I ever expressed my deep, abiding love for ric-rac? I put it on everything. My daughter makes fun of me when she sees me getting it out! I can't stop! ***Thanks to Kirsten for this link!

Enjoy!

A Few Links...

If you like Jan Brett's books, you might like to subscribe to her monthly email. It contains tons of activities for the kids!

Allsorts has a quick and easy tutorial for Criss-Cross Coasters. Click over and take a look. She also has some adorable printable letters to use for whatever you can think up!

If you are trying to get a headstart on gaining those unwanted holiday pounds, you can use this coupon to get a free Coldstone Creamery creation. Me thinks we will be going there this weekend!

Here is a super easy tutorial to make a light box for taking photos. (Thanks to Trail Mix Designs for the link!)

Persephone Books reprints classic 20th century books. This might be a good Christmas shopping link!

***Just curious: Am I the only person in the Bloggerland who has not been offered the option to switch to Beta Blogger? I am coveting the categories and my switch-button is nowhere to be found!