Bella Parade - My First Ever Tutorial !

I'm sharing a tutorial with you today using Bella Solids that will be perfect for the mini chefs in your life. And best of all, you can knock it up in an afternoon.  

I found out that writing a tutorial takes way longer than the average blog post if you want it to make any sense. And I'm still not sure I nailed that part. So,  if you find a mistake or something isn't clear please email me and I'll do my best to help. I took approximately 293,856 photos for this post and still managed to miss things out. 

I'm going to be showing you how to make a super simple kids apron using Moda Bella Solids Platinum, Boysenberry, Strawberry and Berrylicious. If you want some more ideas on other fabrics to match up with these colours you can have a look at my post here .

To make this apron you will  need: 

Bella Solids Fabrics in 4 of your favourite colours cut as follows:

1 piece cut 21inches x 13 inches for the largest part of the apron body 

2 pieces from two of the other colours cut 21 inches x 6 inches for the top and bottom of the apron 

3 pieces from the last Bella Solid cut 20 inches x 3.5 inches for the neck strap and ties 

Embellishments like ric rac or ribbon

1  piece of elastic an inch wide x 13 inches 

I piece of coordinating fabric for the ruffle on the bottom if the apron . I cut mine 4 inches by 40 inches. 

Pins

Paper and a marker 

Coordinating Thread for sewing 

This apron is sized to fit an average 2- 4 year old child but it would be easily adjustable for an older child. 

If you're anything like me the first thing you're going to have to do is advise your hapless long suffering husband that you're going to be doing your first ever tutorial today and that you've left it late so you'll be under extra pressure . (I was actually testing to make sure this could be done in an afternoon ) Hapless husband will make himself scarce by manufacturing an errand that requires several hours of shopping somewhere so he doesn't have to see your tears of frustration and hear bad swear words emanating from the sewing room should things go bad. You are ready to begin.

I used an existing apron I bought for three bucks to make this pattern but it's easy enough to make your own. I'll give you the measurements below. 

If you're making your pattern from an existing apron , lay it out on paper and smooth it down. Then trace around it adding a quarter to a  half an inch all round for a generous seam allowance.

Cut out your paper pattern

If you're making this without the aid of a paper pattern , you can use the following measurements. 

Lay your fabrics for the body of the apron out and make sure you like the way they look and then sew the three pieces wrong sides together with a quarter inch seam allowance. 

Press the seams open (I think it's time I bought an new ironing board cover...how embarrassing! )

Voila! (That's the only French word I know besides baguette  - so the rest of this post will be in English only )  You should have a piece of fabric that looks like this. 

At this point you can add your embellishments if you want. I started adding ric rac like a crazy lady.

Sew it down. You want to get it as close to the centre as possible all the way along. 

Then lay your paper pattern down on top of your fabric and cut round the paper pattern template. 

You can pin it if you want. I don't, because I like to live dangerously. I use my plastic ruler and rotary cutter to cut the straight edges and then free hand the curves.

Take the piece you cut for your ruffle and fold one long edge over 1/4 of an inch  all the way along the length and press it down with an iron . Then fold it over again and press so you have a nice edge. This is going to be the hem of your apron.

Then sew as close to the edge as you can on the wrong side.

If you're one of the lucky people and have a gathering foot now would be the time to put that on your machine. For the rest of us, set your machine to the largest stitch you have and sew all the wall down the other long side of the piece you just hemmed, making sure you leave a decent size tail with your thread at either end. 

At this point I noticed my tension was completely out of whack but for this step it doesn't really matter. 

Tie off one end where you just did the big stitching. A knot works well and then take the other end and gently pull it to gather the fabric. 

Keep gathering until it measures about 20 inches. Tie off the end in a secure knot. 

Then pin your ruffle to the bottom of the apron as shown in the following picture. When it comes to ruffles I am a classic over pinner !. 

Sew just under the gathering line or it will show when you flip your ruffle right side up...

I double sew this line for extra strength. You can overlock the edges of the ruffle if you wish . It gives a cleaner finish. Turn it over so you can see the front.

Press the front so it lays flat. It'll help with the next step. 

Top sew just above where the ruffle meets the fabric. This will anchor the ruffle in place, and make the seam sit nice and flat on the back. 

Sew on some more ric rac just above the ruffle (which will hide that stitching you just did!)

Now is a good time to square up your apron bottom if you have any excess ruffle or ric rac

Now I;d suggest you use a tiny overlocking stitch to go all the way round the raw edges of your apron. 

Starting at the top side of the apron fold the edges in about 1/4 of an inch on both sides and press.

And then sew them both down 

Take your ties and neck pieces and fold them in half lengthways wrong sides together and press them (so you end up having 3 pieces measuring 20 inches by 1.75 inches) Sew two of these shut along one end and all the way up the long side and sew the other one up the long side only. Turn them right side out of press flat.  The two with one open end will become your ties and the one that has both ends open is going to be what serves as the neck tie.

Take your neck tie pieces and your elastic and thread the elastic through from one end to the other . I use pins to keep it from disappearing inside the tube .

Then sew straight across each end a few times making sure you catch the elastic to hold it in place. Cut away any excess on the  end. 

And you'll end up with something that looks like this 

This is where things can get a little bit tricky because I'm sure I break all the rules when it comes to sewing. I'm about to show you how I attach the ties the "Shay" way. 

Lay your apron out wrong side up and turn your fabric over to make a 1/4 inch hem. Press and place the tie (with the open end )  in under the 1/4 inch seam you just pressed.  (I usually place mine about an inch under the curve) 

 Then flip the tie back on itself over the top of the seam like in the picture below. 

Then we're going to sew two lines of stitching right down each of those sides on the seam. One as close as you can get to the edge of the apron and one as close as you can get to the edge of the 1/4 inch seam you just pressed in. And yes - you're going to sew down over the tie so it gets held nice and firmly in place. (I totally forgot to take pictures of this part so I hope it makes sense. ) 

Then we're going to do the same thing with the neck tie.

Clip your stray threads and stand back to admire your awesomeness!

If you're stopping by from Bella Parade at 13 Woodhouse Road- Welcome. Pull up a chair and have a snoop around while you're here!

I want to say that until I wrote this tutorial (which took at least twice as long as it did to actually make the apron)  I took pattern and tutorial writers completely for granted. So thank you to all the people out there who willingly share their talent and expertise with the rest of us. Especially those who do it for free. You have my never ending admiration and thanks. 

Tutorial: This is the Way We Wash Our Clothes

This one's for you Miss P...

Somewhere in my parenting I have obviously neglected to show you how to use a washing machine. I apologise. That is my failing as a parent.  I am making amends with this post because when you move out of home I would like to think you might occasionally wear clean underwear. And that your expensive 1000 thread count white sheets aren't grey through lack of washing.

The best time to consider whether washing is necessary is when you run out of underpants or you are picking clothes up from the pile on your floor to wear. In public. That you wore yesterday.   Or when I can't get any of my clothes in the massive  laundry hamper we own which would accommodate the clothing of  a family of 6 for a week because your stuff is in there.  And on my laundry floor. For the last 10 days. Or when I cant find a pair of matching clean towels in the house from the 40 towels I own.  Oh and Heads up ...wet washing doesn't dry when it's thrown on the laundry floor either.  Unfortunately we don't have under floor heating. Bummer.

Another clue might be when Sir Edmund Hilary calls and says he and the Sherpa's will be right over because we have a mountain in our laundry that he saw on Google Earth images and he wants to come over to conquer  it.

So here it is:

1) Open hamper and take clothes out. Or pick clothes up from stinking pile on your floor. Whatever.  Put them in the washing machine. Your time commitment will be about 90 seconds.

See how this picture looks all sunshiny? That's because the world is happy you're doing your washing. Hallelujah.

2) Place powder in the powder holding receptacle. This will take about 15 seconds. And that's if you have to go looking for the powder. 5 seconds if you don't.

3) Shut door, select  the cycle  and turn the machine on. (Time commitment 15 seconds) Get Little P to help you if you're unsure. He's a whizz at turning the washing machine on.

The washing machine gods will release you at this point for a time period of up to 2 hours. Relax. They will summon you with a sweet melodic song when it's time to come and do Step 4. Wander away. Go on Facebook. Watch TV . Whatever you do don't replenish the toilet rolls, mop or sweep the floors  or think about what you might cook the rest of the family for dinner because your head will probably explode. And I would subsequently have an apoplexy from shock.

4) When you hear a happy song emanating from the laundry , that's the washing machine saying " I'm ready - I've done the hard work , come and empty me ". Open the machine and throw clothes in the laundry basket. Tip: Our laundry basket is green. This is what it looks like.

5) Search for something that looks like this. This is a clothes line.  It's 10 feet out the back door. You can't miss it.

6) Take clothes out of basket , take two pegs and hang your washing on the line like this.

7) Continue thus until the basket is empty. Now you have free time to do what you wish. This time will range depending  on the weather from 2 hours to a week. Enjoy your free time.  Go on Facebook. Watch TV. Your friend the sun will do you a favour and dry the clothes. Unfortunately the sun doesn't have arms so you will need to bring them in at some point. Then you can place them on your floor-drobe again. For the uninitiated,  a floor-drobe is when your wardrobe is actually your floor.

This is so easy peasy trained monkeys could do it. Not that they'd have to because monkeys walk round naked. You don't. But you will be if you don't do some freaking washing soon.

Mr. P this is not for you. I learned long ago not to let you anywhere near the washing machine because at one point everything of mine you washed came out looking like it would fit Barbie. If you wanted to marry Barbie you should have made sure you looked like Ken. And that you came with a dream house, a dream car , and a dream boat. You are still officially banned from the laundry.


P.S. Miss P, the massive orange  garbage bag full of clothes that need washing that you put in the carport and have been avoiding for 10 weeks is still there. If you leave it much longer those clothes will be out of fashion.

Tutorial: Changing a Toilet Paper Roll

I've been dying to do a tutorial.  Unfortunately there are so many talented people out there that all the good tutorials appear to have been taken. I finally had this idea. And I'm freaking awesome at doing this because I've had so much practice. I estimate I've done this about 9568 times since I moved out of home in 1989. Someone else changed the toilet roll here once in 2003  and I nearly fainted from shock. I think they did it by accident. Whoever it was never confessed. Some crimes just never get solved.

I strongly urge you to print  this tutorial off and blue tack it to the toilet wall above the toilet roll holder. That's what I just did.  I have my fingers crossed that my family can learn a new skill with visual step by step instructions.

HOW TO CHANGE A TOILET ROLL

And if this doesnt work I'm hiding all the TP....