pillowcase stroller caddy tutorial

My second entry for the Iron Crafter sheets/pillowcase challenge is a stroller caddy.  My friend needed one, they are $15 and up in price and I had an extra pillowcase from the floor pillow, SOOO I made one 🙂

You will need: 1 pillowcase, 1/2-3/4″ elastic 2 pieces cut 7″ long, 4 strips of fabric 4 x 12 in, & 4 pieces of velcro

Step 1 – Find the center of the bottom of the pillowcase.  Pin the first piece of elastic 1″ from center, 1/4″ from bottom & 1-1/2″ from outside edge. Stretch and sew the elastic in place.

Step 2- Mark 6″  and 13″ from the bottom. Fold up at the 6″ mark and again at the 13″ mark and stitch the center (not through the back layer) then top stitch the 2nd pocket.

Step 3 – Fold the back flap up under again.  You should have a the elastic pocket, another pocket and the opening to the pillowcase. turn it to the backside and fold the edges in.  Fold in far enough to catch the elastic edge without pulling it tight. Stich 1/4″, then again 1/8 in.  I top stitched the bottom layers together once the sides were done.

sorry for the bad pic

Step 4 – Make the straps

from floor pillow tut - but same concept

Step 5 – attach straps to stroller caddy at top (including the backside flap) and at the sides 2 1/2″ from the bottom.  Stitch with square and x for more support.Step 6 – Sew on velcro.  I would base the position of the velcro on your stroller.  It varies by model.

Attach to your stroller and enjoy!

Weight Loss & Exercise Site

I’ll be back later this evening with another Iron Crafter Pillowcase Challenge tutorial, but for now I wanted to share a really cool website.  Livestrong.com/myplate is a website that will track the nutritional value of the food you eat.  I has many other FREE features, but my favorite is loops.  You can enter the address of your starting location and draw the arrows for the path you want to run/walk/jog and it figures the distance and calories burned.  I just canceled my 7 year subscription to Weight Watchers because it was no longer working for me.  I love that this is free and, so far, working out well. Oh, and I almost forgot, there is an iPhone app that syncs to the website so you can track what you eat while on the go.  The app is $2.99 but SOOOO worth it.

Check back later for a stroller caddy from a pillowcase tutorial.  Super easy and CHEAP!

Floor Pillow Tutorial

2nd round of Iron Crafter. YEAH! The secret ingredient is pillowcases and sheets.  This floor pillow is super cute and filled with polyfil and bean bag beans so it’s super soft too.

You will need 2 pillowcases – a colored or patterened one for the outside and another of your choice for the inside (as long as they are similar in size.)

A piece of contrast fabric (I used white) about 18 x 8 1/2, Contrasting fabric scraps for name letters, fusible webbing, contrast fabric for handle 4 x 14 in, 2 -14″ zippers, 2 scrap pieces (1x2in) for zipper covers.

Step 1 (optional) – make name panel based on length of name.  I made my letters 5″ tall with 1 1/4 in white space on each size.  Fuse them to your panel and zig zag stitch around them. Spray or use fusible webbing to place the name panel in the center of the pillow case and zig zag around then edges to hold in place.

Step 2 – With the pillow case laying flat, mark and cut 3 3/4″ up (and down) and 3 1/2″ from the sides.

Step 3 – Make the handle

Step 4 – Attach the handle on the top seam side of the pillow case 5″ in from each side.  Stitch it in place using the square and X for stability.

Step 5- Turn pillowcase inside out, match the corners and sew 1/4″ seam allowance. Do all 4 corners.

Step 6 – Turn right side out and top stitch all sides (1/8″) to give it a box shape. I pinned each side to make sure it stayed straight.

Step 7 – Take a 1×2 piece and fold it over. Pin the zipper and cover to one side of the opening. Pin the other folded 1×2 piece at the other end.  Using a zipper foot, sew the zipper to one side.

Step 8 – Open the zipper and pin it to the other side and sew along the edge with a zipper foot.  Make sure you have tucked your zipper cover in the seam.

I like the zipper cover with little ones because it keeps the zipper tucked and it’s harder for them to open

Step 9 – Make an identical (sans handle and name panel) pillow for the inside and fill it with polyfil and bean bag beans. The beans make it comfy and the polyfil makes it pop back into shape once they get up (no squashed look)

Stuff that one inside the other and you have a super cute floor pillow.

My little guy on his new pillowAlso linking to

a table for T2

We are moving (in 18 days) and I’m trying to get some finishing touches on furniture BEFORE we move.  T2 got a new quilt set for her birthday and wanted a side table to match.  I had this one, thrifted from my mother-in-law, with crackle paint on it.  Sanded it, (husband fixed it from falling apart), painted it white with a purple insert and made a fabric basket for the inside.  She LOVES it.

You can’t see in the before photo, but the inside is turquoise.

Vitatop Muffins

I’m working on a few (too many) projects and packing to move.  Hope to have some of these projects posted shortly.  Until then I wanted to share one of my favorite breakfast or morning snack foods.  Vitatops.  They are made by the Vitalicious company and have tons of flavors as well as full muffins, brownies and coffee.  My favorites are double chocolate, and fudgy peanut butter chip. Some stores carry them, but I find that ordering online is cheaper than my local grocery. They contain 50% of the RDA for a lot of vitamins (check the stats at the site) and they only have 100 calories.

Sorry for the small image.  I copied it from their site because I forgot to take a pic of mine before I ate it 🙂

Some sites on the internet (HungryGirl.com) offer coupon codes when you order.  Check it out. I LOVE THESE MUFFIN TOPS!

Pictures for a friend

T1 (14 years old) asked for a digital SLR for her birthday.  This was out of our price range, but grandparents pitched in with us and got it for her.  We took some one month pictures (me staging and T1 snapping pics) for our friend’s baby (you remember the baby blanket and diaper bag.)  I put them in photoshop and came up with some cute ones.  Pretty good for an non-professional 14 year old and her mom 🙂

Homemade Hamburger Helper

Came across a post on a blog (I know, very general there but I can’t remember where I first saw it) with a link (Chickens in the Road) to all varieties of homemade hamburger helper.  We made cheeseburger macaroni and it was YUMMY! Very easy and you can use whole wheat pasta and reduced fat cheese if you want (we did and it was still YUMMY!)

Happy Father’s Day

The Father’s Day gift this year is a personalized grill plate using Procelaine.

Happy Father’s Day to Daddy & and the Papa’s  from the Tolen 4 (and me too!)

snappy top bag tutorial

::UPDATED::

I call this a snappy top bag because it makes a snapping sound when it opens and closes.  It uses a metal tape measure for the closure (mine is 3/4 in. and I got it a Dollar General). It’s the perfect size for personal items in a gym bag and my daughter uses it to take her make-up for after a game. I made another one posted here. The bag design is mine, but I saw the metal tape measure idea somewhere else but of course couldn’t find it to give credit.

You need to cut 1 7 x 9 piece for the outside and 1 for the lining.  You will also need to cut 2 pieces 2-3/4 by 7-1/4 in a contrasting fabric. Cut 1 piece of stiffy (my shortcut name for fusible interfacing – relatively stiff) 6-1/2 by 8-1/2 and two pieces 2-1/4 by 6-1/2. (I used some fabric I tie dyed and put a soccer ball on it with a freezer paper stencil)Iron stiffy on the wrong side of the lining fabric, then fold and stitch the lining and outside fabric using 1/4 in seam allowance.Now mark your corner 3/4 in. from sides and 1/2 in. from bottom.Iron seams open, then fold, pin, and sew the corners for lining and outside both.

Turn outside right side out and nest the lining inside, push down at the base from the inside to align the seams. Trim the top of the bag so the lining is even with the outside.Cut the measuring tape 6 in long and wrap the outside with duct tape. I trim the duct tape to make it easier to thread later.

::I have found that duct tape isn’t necessary and it round the edges a bit::

Iron the stiffy onto the remaining pieces.  You will do some pressing with these to make them easier to use later. You will press ONE of the 2-3/4 sides in 1/4 (this should be easy if you cut your stiffy accurately).  Then press the long sides in 1/4 in.  Now fold in the center and press.You will pin and sew this on the top like you would quilt binding.  Open the top piece and pin it to the top of the bag.  When you pin the other side, make sure a pressed edge is on the bottom and the raw edge is on the top. Sew one continuous seam around the edge.

Fold the top over and pin covering the seam allowance on the inside.  Sew on the outside about 1/8 from the original seam (if you go too far in, the tape measure won’t fit); again don’t sew past the outside seam allowance. :: I pin and sew on the outside edge of the bag and I sew all the way around the top edge::

You can now insert the tape measure, numbers to the inside.  It SHOULD slide right in, but I have trouble sometimes – just work with it.

The last part is a bit tricky but it finishes the sides well. Someone might have a better way of doing this – feel free to let me know 🙂 :: If you have overlapped the edges as seen in the updates, this part should not be as tricky::

Insert the unfinished edge into the finished edge and pin.  Sew down the side. :: I use a zig zag stitch in the color of the edge fabric::Your snappy top bag is finished. Enjoy!

Linking to

custom pins and a pin cushion

I saw these cute custom pins awhile back and bookmarked them. You can find them At Second Street.  I made some keychains for graduation presents and had strips of shrinky left.  What a great way to use it. The m is the same font as the fabric tags I’m attempting to make (hopefully I can post that journey soon!) One of the images I chose for my pins was a toadstool pin cushion, so I made a toadstool pin cushion too. 🙂 Tutorial at kootoyoo.

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