tutorial – Page 2 – Cecelia's Spot

Truck Pillow Tutorial

I have a nephew who absolutely loves trucks, cars, and any other type of vehicle. As Christmas approached I was unsure of what to get my nephew. I searched the internet for ideas of sewing projects with trucks, but it was only to my dismay. None of the projects peaked my interest. I found a car tutorial but that was it. So I decided to make my own pattern and tutorial on a truck pillow. I also decided that putting his name on with iron on letters would be fantastic!

As usual, there is a video tutorial on my youtube site, and written instructions with pictures below.

What you will need:
*Your choice of fabric colors
*poly-fil or any type of stuffing
*Choice of thread colors
*Optional: Iron on letters

Pattern: Use one whole piece of printer paper 8x10inches as the trailer part. Make a circle for the wheels. And make a from cab as you like. The pattern I made is so easy I’m not even going to try and retrace it and scan it and turn it into a pdf because it takes much longer…if you are really having issues please let me know and I will take the time do that for you.

Cut out your fabric pieces
Iron on letters or if you want to sew on letters that works as well!
Sew on your hubcaps, windows and any other details you want to add
Sew each side together. The front cab to the trailer and the wheels
Time to sew the middle strip part! I made mine 2 inches thick but you can make it as big as you like!
You can switch colors to match or just use one color.
If you do not want to do the middle section then you can just take the two truck sides facing each other (inside) and sew around leaving a 3 inch opening. Turn right side out, stuff, and hand-sew shut.
To do the middle strip, line it up with the truck where you want to start and back-stitch and go forward all the way around switch colors as needed. Curve the middle strip around the corners.
Now take the other side of the truck and have the sides facing inwards towards
each other, and sew the second side to the strips on the first side.
Turn right side out and make sure there are no holes in the outside, if there are turn inside out and fix them.
Fill with your choice of stuffing and hand-sew shut.
Congrats you are done!
If you have any questions or concerns please leave them below. If you have trouble with the middle strip please watch the youtube tutorial.

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DIY Felt Christmas Tree!

Cece bear loves to pull toys out of baskets and put them back in. She also likes to build blocks and figure out other puzzles. So I thought to myself, what can I make for Christmas that she can play with? And a mini Christmas tree came to mind. Eventually, I figured out a felt Christmas tree with all sorts of sensory stimulation and Velcro ornaments would work! So I decided to get to work.

I decided to make three trees, one for each of Cece’s friends. It also made a great birthday gift for her friend Kyle’s first birthday! This is a great activity to do with older children as well. They can make their own ornaments and decorate the tree! There are a variety of ways to put the tree, ribbons, buttons, and ornaments together. The two I used were sewing and hot glue gun, but you can do one or the other as well. Just make sure if you have a baby, infant, or toddler, to make sure everything is very secure so they can’t pull it off!

As always, there is a youtube video and written steps and pictures. Feel free to add your own creativity and pizzazz!!!

If you have an older child, instead of using velcro to stick the ornaments on, you can use string or twine looped on the ornament and they can put them around buttons on the tree!

What you need:
*Green felt fabric (I used 1.5
yards for three trees)
*velcro
*Brown felt fabric (stump)
*Felt fabrics of various colors for
ornaments of your choice and design
*optional: buttons, ribbons,
and other accessories

1) Fold your green felt and make a tree outline on the fold (so half of it traced on). Then cut your tree out!

2) Next, if you want a stump, use brown fabric to cut one out! Once again you can trace it out. You can either sew it on the bottom or hot glue gun.

3) I wanted to make something to hold the ornaments besides just having them stick to the tree. So I decided a present with the child’s name on it would be perfect! So next I chose a color of felt I had and cut about 11x 7 inches.

4) Next, for one of the presents I made I wanted the bow long ways down so I sewed a piece of ribbon straight down the piece. (the other two I made have it across the box which you can sew on now or later)

5) The next step would be to turn it right sides facing inwards and sew to the length you want so you have the top of the present flap long enough. Check out the picture to see what I mean. Then turn right side out.

6) As you can see, I decided to iron on letters for the name of the child. These two presents are different sizes. Also, if you want to put a piece of iron on or sew on or glue gun on Velcro to the top of the present to have it stick now is the time.

7) Then decorate the present at will. I added some adhesive Rudolph stickers. I did hot glue them so they would be more secure.

8) Follow that, I sewed the present onto the tree. This is optional, you can have it separate or not have a present at all. I opened the top flap and sewed right along the fold to the tree. You can also hot glue gun it.

8) Now, back to the tree. Now is the time to get even more creative! Use ribbons, garland, buttons, or whatever you want on the tree! You can sew or hot glue gun them on. If you have an older child and want to have hanging ornaments on buttons then align your buttons!

9) Next, it is time to make ornaments. If your child is older they can help decorate and make ornaments. I chose actually Christmas items and one ornament and one light bulb. I used whatever felt scraps I had to make them. I also made a star at the end. Remember to Velcro your ornaments on the back using the hard side of the Velcro. You want to iron them on before you decorate the front! Otherwise you might melt or damage your decorations.

To hang the tree, I used 3m adhesive strips, but I have heard that the blue paint tape works well on walls. You can also use suction cups if its on the window or door. Ok enjoy! Feel free to post your tree below!

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Hooded Dress (Christmas Theme)

So I didn’t want the same old fancy dresses for Christmas that take FOREVER to make and are uncomfortable. Therefore, I strolled around the fabric store looking for inspiration. A tan plaid red and green pattern caught my eye. For some time I have wanted to make a plaid dress for my little one, but haven’t found the right fit. However, today, I thought to myself, “How about a comfy hooded dress in plaid?” And so, the Christmas Plaid dress was born!!!

I designed the dress myself, so be patient with the video since sometimes I change my mind after completing part of the dress. Oh, you’ll see what I mean when you watch it! As always, there is a youtube video tutorial and a written and picture form. The dress pattern is listed below and is a sketch I made of it. There are several sizes on there, but you can always adjust it by measuring your little one or making it bigger or smaller by moving the lines.

What you will need:

The pattern found here–> dress.jpg
Fabric (around 1 yard)
Thread
Sewing machine and scissors
Optional: ribbon, bias tape, buttons, felt, any other decorations, Velcro for hood

Lets get started!

Print the pattern and cut out the right size (note: make sure it is the right size for your little one by measuring)
Cut your fabric patterns out as instructed (decide if you want a hood and if you want it detachable. Also decide if you want long sleeves or no sleeves)
You can serge or zigzag stitch around all the pieces of fabric to prevent fraying.
After zigzaging or serging, sew the top part of the pocket on the main pocket
parts
If you want a button on your pocket sew them on now before you attach it
Next, make sure you align your pockets on the dress front by measuring in from the sides and from the top and bottom to get them as even as possible.
You can either fold your pocket edges and sew either a straight or zigzag stitch around the pocket leaving the top open, or you can just stitch around it as I have done since I liked the look for the plaid dress.
For the hood, have the pattern facing each other on the inside and sew the rounded edge!
Flip right side out and hem or add bias tape to outside
You can sew your hood on fabric pattern facing fabric pattern and sew across and flip right side out, or you can use buttons or velco. You will need to either make button holes or put velcro on the back of the dress to hold the hood. I used iron on velco. Note**If you are sewing it on wait until after you sew the front to back**
The front collar of the dress needs to be hemmed or sew bias tape on it
Next, is to sew the front to back of the dress. If you want the top of the dress to be velcro as well, you can have a jumper (but you wouldn’t have sleeves so skip the sleeve part).
To sew it together, turn patterns facing each other and sew . Also line up sides and pin and sew down underneath the sleeve opening. Then turn right side out.
If you are not doing sleeves, you want to hem or use bias tape on the sleeve holes after sewing down the side. If you are not doing sleeves then hem or use bias tape around the bottom and you are all done!
If you are doing sleeves, turn pattern facing pattern and sew. Then turn right side out.
Sew the sleeve sides together by facing pattern side to pattern inside. Do not sew the curved part as pointed to in the picture below. Then turn right side out
Turn your body of the dress inside out. Have your sleeve right side out. Place your sleeve inside the body with the curved open part lining up with the
armhole. Sew around.
This picture shows that you want the sleeve facing downward inside the body of the dress. the larger end to the hole and the smaller end (where the hand comes out) facing downwards.
You can hem or use bias tape on cuffs of sleeves and bottom of dress. Then add any embellishments you want and wah-la you are done!
Congrats! Feel free to post your pics below!

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Crib Rail Protector! GRR

One day I put my little munchkin down to nap and a couple minutes later I go to check on her and she is gnawing the crib side rail! And you know how expensive cribs are, so I was not a happy camper. I was also concerned about the stain getting in her mouth. So, I got right to work making a crib rail cover and protector! So far, she has only gnawed on the one rail, and that is because this rail faces the hallway that she enjoys looking out and crying to see if anyone will come to her rescue!

This is a simple project that should take no more than 15 to 20 minutes. As always, I have a Youtube video and a written and picture explanation.

What you need:
Fabric with your chosen pattern
Batting (fleece or any type of padding)
Ribbon
Measuring tape

First you want to measure your crib rail that you will be making this for. Measure the inside from side to side for the length and then the width and add 2 inches (or measure downwards for how long you want it to go down).
Also measure where your ties will tie onto your railing. Mark this all down so you remember.
Then cut the length and width of the fabrics and also cut your ribbon. Now you may want to make your ribbon longer for bigger bows but keep in mind your little one may pull at them if they are too long. I recommend about 6-8 inches long. I used 6 pieces of ribbon (so 3 ties) total for the side rail.
Pin your ribbon onto your batting facing inwards. Have the two ribbons across from each other and make sure to measure out the spots. Pin them down with the shiny side or pattern side up.
Line up your other fabric piece with right side down (right sides facing eachother).
Now you want to sew all the way around the edges leaving a 2 to 3 inch opening. Make sure you backstitch!
Pull the inside out and make sure the corners are popped out. Then sew this area shut.
You are done congrats! Go put it on and save your crib!

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1st Birthday Ducky Theme!

As I searched the internet for ideas for my munchkins first birthday, I noticed a lack of imagination for the rubber ducky birthday theme! So I have decided to share what I came up with in hopes of giving others ideas as well.

My little Cecelia loves rubber duckies. She has since she was introduced in the bathtub to them. Now, besides just the rubber duckies, she loves everything ducky! She crawls right over to any books that contain ducks; especially, the duck and goose series! I even got her a large rubber duck down at the shore.

So I didn’t want to go overboard on her first birthday since she won’t remember it, but…of course we had to have rubber ducks everywhere!

First, I made Cece a 1st birthday dress. You can click here to see some of the details however right now I do not have a full tutorial. If you are interested in purchasing one you can private message me. My Etsy site is upcoming.

First I thought to myself, well if it is a rubber duck party, then I definitely need rubber ducks for favors! So I searched the web for the cheapest, yet best rubber duckies for about 35 people. I ended up going with an assortment of 2 inch rubber ducks from amazon. There were some bad reviews that they were not a good assortment; however, I found them very varied in theme.

Last minute, I decided to make birthday crowns! This tutorial can show you how to make easy quick crowns! Of course, if you have a large amount of kids coming you may want to just buy party hats or completely skip this. I used scrap pieces to make the crowns and just did ribbon along the bottom that could be tied. You of course can do buttons, Velcro, or if you know the head size, sew it all the way around.

Next, of course I needed party decorations! I didn’t want to spend 10 dollars for 8 fancy paper plates with cute ducks on them. So, I made a trip to my dollar store and bought yellow napkins, plates, cups, and silverware. They also had cute I’m one plates, so I bought a couple of those as well. Since the weather is nice, we had lots of tables outside and I bought yellow tablecloths.

As far as balloons, I ended up buying balloons on amazon, ones with little ducks on them and then two large Mylar duck balloons. They did not carry these type at my local stores. The only place around to fill the balloons was the dollar store. Do you see a theme here? **Note: it does cost more to have Mylar balloons filled, so if you are saying a buck or two you can skip the Mylar and go for the regular smaller balloons.

I also used the rubber duckies to decorate everywhere! I had a couple mums and vases in the house and added little ducks to them!

Food…of course this is key for a party. I wanted to save some time but not spend too much money either. So, I decided to order a couple small party trays and then do crock pot recipes. I didn’t go crazy with the duck theme food since there weren’t a lot of kids coming to the party. However, if you want to see some duck themed food check out pinterest for lots of ideas. Yes, we did deviled eggs and some quacky snack mix that I used small duck cups for. Cake. Originally I was thinking of making my own cake, there are tons of ideas on pinterest. However, with more than 40 people coming, and cheap but tasty sheet cakes with a free smash cake included, I decided to save myself the stress and space in my fridge, and order a cake with a duck theme. However, let me show you some of the ideas I picked up from pinterest.

Duck Birthday Ideas: click for more pinterest ideas.

I was GIVEN THE WRONG CAKE WITH NO SMASH CAKE when I went to pickup the cake two hours before the party! I was given a mere 1/4 sheet cake (wrong size) with the wrong duck design on it, and NO smash cake! Don’t panic I told myself as my mind reminded me I only ordered this a month in advance to make it was done right! After several minutes of panic, the manager apologized and stated they could make my cake and smash cake in about two hours. I agreed but would have to send someone else back to pick it up. Lukily, my brother in law agreed to pick it up and got fifty percent off the cake. Phew, added stress you don’t need!

I ended up addin some small ducks to the smash cake! Note: it was a HUGE SMASH CAKE!

I also made duck shaped cookies with a duck cookie cutter! And then I used yellow icing to make the number one of them! Half were pumpkin sugar cookies and the other half regular sugar cookies

Drinks. Duck punch of course! There are a variety of recipes to make blue punch. I ended up doing half blue hawiian punch, half 7up, and then putting in vanilla ice cream to make it look like bubbles! You can clean rubber ducks up well and put them in, or freeze them in ice! I also had a punch server that I put ice and ducks in the middle and then put water in it!

Play.
Since there were a handful or two of kids coming, I decided to buy a couple items and also set up items for the kids to play with. Of course we had games such as bean bag toss, bacchi ball, redneck golf, and Frisbee setup for adults.

I bought some duck beach balls off amazon. They came in a 12 pack so I got them cheap enough and gave them away as favors too.

Birthday chalkboard! I love this idea! And it is so easy to make! Now again, I needed to save myself some time with this project, but also not spend too much money. My handwriting is awful, so making a chalkboard myself was out of the question. I also wanted it on a poster board to have it as a keepsake. So if you are into graphic design you can make your own up and have it printed at an office store. However, I am not into graphic design so I investigated the options at etsy. I ended up going with a 5.99 graphic for ducks and edited the sections myself with adobe. I took it to staples to have it mounted on a poster board and enlarged.

HOWEVER, **Note: the file was locked due to the seller having a password. The staples I went to could not print it so I had to have it turned into a JPEG. The seller offered to do it, but I didn’t want to wait, so I just changed it myself on a free online program. Just type in change to JPEG and you can easily find a free site. For these pre-made designs you cannot change the pictures or the design, only the words can be edited. For mounting on a thick foam poster board and enlarging to 16×20, it cost me 16.99 online. I am very pleased with the way it turned out and now it is displayed in her room as a great keepsake!

You can of course buy a chalkboard and make your own. You can even print out different fonts and trace them onto the board. You can also buy a cheap graphic design program and make your own. Again, for the price, and since it was last minute, it was easiest for me to order it.

So that is it folks! Although she won’t remember this, I have lots of pictures and we had lots of fun!

Hope you enjoyed the post and I hope it gave you some good ideas! You can check out my pinterest site for more ideas! Follow us on facebook too!

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1st birthday dress!

I wanted that special 1st birthday dress, but not that especially high price that comes with most of them! So once again, I searched pinterest, etsy, and other sites to find ideas. I ended up combining ideas, as well as making up my own, to design with the dress I created. The theme was rubber duckies for her party. Therefore, I wanted to incorporate duckies as well as other birthday fabrics. I went to the store and examined numerous fabrics, buying a yard of my favorites! The extra fabric I ended up using to create the crowns!

I purchased the iron on birthday 1 and ducky from etsy. The number is even personalized with her name! I also bought the duck buttons from the store. I used white hair bands that I cut to make the loop holes for the buttons on the top of the shoulders.

So how did I make this dress? Well that’s a secret! But I can give you some hints. If you are truly interested in a dress like this you can private message me or come back and look for my future etsy link!

The skirt of course took the longest because of the detail. I added yellow ribbon in between the rows as well.

Then I added the cute duck to the back of the dress. Personally, this dress could be used as a 2 in 1 dress because the back is also so cute! However, the 1 in the front personalized this as a 1st birthday dress.

Well check out the other tutorials, as well as the 1st birthday party theme page for more ideas! Feel free to share pictures of your little one’s first birthday dress!

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Easy Birthday Crowns!

Want to sew quick and easy crowns for a party or get together? Then you’ve come to the right place! I made a last minute decision days before my daughters’ first birthday party that we needed crowns! The theme was rubber ducky, so I decided to make birthday crowns instead of hats! Young kids and babies don’t enjoy hard hats on their head and also shouldn’t have a rubber band or elastic around their neck.

As you can see they are very cute for photo shoots as well! She didn’t particularly like keeping it on, but I got a couple good shots!

As usual, there is a YouTube video and also a written explanation below. I didn’t have a lot of time to embellish the other crowns but you can always spice things up with some ribbons, bows, glitter, rhinestones, or buttons!

To get started you need:
1) Choice of fabric and design
2) Scisscors
3)Thread
4) Closure for crown (velcro, button, ribbon) or you can sew all the way around if you know the exact size

Cut your fabric for the main part of the crown 4 1/2 x 18 inches
Make your own crown pattern by drawing the top on a piece of paper and cutting it out!
Cut your design onto your fabric to make the shape of your crown! If you want a felt backing with another color cut that out as well.
Next, pick out your ribbon if you are using one, if you want any other embellishments get them ready! I made a felt duck that I sewed onto
the crown.
Line up your crown pieces and sew all the way around! Then you are done! If you want to add button loops and buttons you can sew them on as well.
Congrats and enjoy the party! Check back often for new crafts or subscribe below!

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Mess Free Painting for Baby!

Every want your baby to create a work of art? Well, lets get realistic here, a work of art only a parent could love!

Here is an easy fun project for you and your little one! I started this at 6 months of age and continue to have her enjoy smashing paint colors together frequently.

What you need:

Pack of small canvas or poster boards (I bought a pack of 10 small canvases at Acmore for $12- what a steal!)
Paint
Zip lock bags that the canvas or board will fit in
Scissors

Place blobs of paint on the canvas- go wild! Place the canvas carefully into the ziplock bag. Zip it up!
Place it in front of your little one and watch them enjoy
Now, it’s more complicated to get it out without smearing it. So I use the scissor to cut the sides off and then carefully lift up. *Note, I first tried this with saranwrap, and I can tell you my little one just ripped it right away*
Wa-La you are done and have a painting! You can do this as often as you want or monthly to see a new creation!

Now if you want a messy way, but edible check out this great blog post about making edible paint.

You can also purchase edible finger paint on amazon and some other stores! ENJOY!

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Sew An Easy Baby Sleeper!

Ever love that oh so cute baby sleepers with the elastic on the bottom? I sure do, in fact I miss them now that my little one is getting older! However, I have many showers to go to and it is a great gift! The slip on sleeper with the elastic on the bottom is great for babies because you can easily change the babies diaper without fussing with all the buttons, snaps, or zippers. It also keeps the baby warm and comfortable; not to mention how cute he or she will look!

First off, you need the pattern. For this one, I used a neighboring sewing blog’s pattern since there are so many out there:

Stitched Together Pattern

So print your pattern making sure you unclick the fit to page (you want it letter size).

What you need:
*Fabric of chose
*Thread
*Elastic 1/4inch or
1/8inch
*Optional: bias tape (can
also make or just hem)

Below is the link to the Youtube video tutorial. Below that is written instructions with pictures…enjoy!

Print your pattern. Cut your fabric as instructed on pattern

You should now have one front and one
back piece, and two sleeves.

2. Next, you use your bias tape. If you don’t have bias tape you can hem the ends instead or you can make your own bias tape. Here is directions to make your own bias tape

3. Fold your bias tape on the ends of the sleeves, pin on
and sew straight on both sleeves. Do this also to the neckline of the front and back piece.

4. Next, You want to overlap your front and back gown pieces by either looking at the mark you made from the pattern or you can measure 4 inches of overlap from the top down. So you want to pin and sew the overlapping sides (the 4 inches)

5. Find the middle of the overlap and the middle of the sleeves. This can be done by measuring 2 inches in for the overlap or folding. The sleeve can be folded as well if you didn’t mark it. Line up the middle of the sleeve and middle of the overlap place pattern on pattern and pin and sew.

You have to bunch it and pin it for it to stay.

6. Turn your sleeper inside out and pin from the bias tape bottom all the way down to the bottom of the sleep. Then sew!

Almost there!

7. Turn inside out and make elastic casing by folding up the bottom 1/4 inch for 1/8elastic or 1/2inch for 1/4elastic. Iron or pin the area to make it easier to
sew. Don’t forget to leave a 1-2 inch opening to put the elastic through!
Remember to back stitch!

8. To get your elastic through use a safety pin on the end and put in the opening
and pull through by bunching the fabric and then pulling the safety pin.

9. Choose the tightness you need for your little one on the bottom and then sew your two pieces of elastic together. Then sew the opening closed!

That’s it! Congrats you have finished! Great job. Any suggestions questions please let me know. Look for the next post to be the matching slippers!

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Cloth baby book!

Cloth baby books are an easy sewing project that your little one will enjoy! You can also embellish and make it more interactive. Cloth books are great toys as well!

There are several places to purchase panel fabric for cloth books; however, it is very hard to find in actual stores. They are mostly sold online. You can also make your own cloth book! The following tutorial is how to make a panel cloth book. If you would like to make your own cloth book that is not from printed panels, I would suggest the following sites for ideas: Color book , animal book ideas

Today, I put together the classic The Poky Little Puppy cloth book. It is quick, easy, and you can customize it as well!

Here’s a quick Youtube tutorial for all those audio visual learners (and below is the written method):

Okay, so let’s get started! You have your panel, you have your scissors, thread, machine, and batting for in between. Now as far as batting goes, you can use almost anything! It depends if you like your cloth books thicker or thin, crinkly or quiet.

I actually used leftover fleece I had from another project which made my book nice and thick.

You panel will most likely come with instructions that are easy to follow. Just make sure you remember to mark your page numbers so when it’s all cut you know which page is which.

So cut the panels out as instructed. Usually you want to cut two of the panels (pictures for the book) out in one large rectangle. Do this for all the two pages as instructed.

Next, you want to cut your batting or interface to the same size as one of the two page sets. You usually cut one batting per two sets of panels cut (follow your instructions). You want to take your batting or interface then and sew it on the back of the panel piece (Sew all the way around it will be the backside of the panel pages). So you should have half of your panel sets that are cut out with batting sewed to the back.

You may also want to add some interactive pieces to the cloth book such as large buttons, ribbons, or other pieces of fabric. This is the time to do this. Just make sure it is sewn very tight and secure. Also use very large buttons or pieces. For this project I just cut out some of the fleece and attached it to the dogs ears so my little one can pull at the ears in the book.

Then, you want to sew the page that corresponds as instructed face down to the other page cut out with batting sewed on. You want to sew all the way around but leave a 2 inch opening so you can pull it right side out.

Then pull right side out and close the hole with a simple loop stitch or your stitch of choice. And WALLAH you have four pages complete! Good job! Follow the rest of the instructions as to what pages line up with sewing and complete them.

Lastly, you want to line up your pages as instructed by your instructions. Lay them all flat as shown above and you will sew right down the middle. Don’t forget to backstitch! Your cover tends to be larger than the inside pages.

That’s it, very simple, quick, easy, you just have to follow instructions! Good Job! Now go enjoy it!

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