Crafty DIYs

So, I know it's only May, but I decided to get ahead on my Christmas presents. Yes, I know. But the last thing I want to do is craft under duress. So, a couple months back when I was making my list, I came across Splendorfall s' Composition Caddy Tutorial- and I knew it would be just the thing for my 2 nieces and nephew (ages 4 and 6). (So her parents should stop reading now) Grade: A. Since Splendorfalls provided a PDF, I definitely have to give her two thumbs up. Materials: 3 fat quarters (more on this below). Cost: Roughly $8- $2 for the composition notebook, $2 per fat quarter (2+ 6 = 8) Now, on the fat quarters- if you follow her measurements exactly, you will be a little off depending how you cut it. That is ok. Instead of her 11.5" measurements, I did 11"- and they came out fine. So go ahead and buy the designer fat quarters, and forgive yourself the yardage. (One might notice my addiction to Michael Miller prints). More pics below: Up Close and

So, yesterday I decided to tackle my first dress! So to start, I decided to make a dress for my sister for her birthday. To do this, I used the tutorial from Elle Apparel , titled " Nautical ." Time: 3 hours (more on this below) Cost: $25 total. $10 for the t-shirt, $15 for the fabric. You could probably do this for cheaper, but this was for a present.... Material: Well fitted Tshirt, 2 yards fabric. Grade: A. The tutorial was truly easy to follow. Note- I made the dress 4 inches shorter than she did, but my sister and I (we're twins) could just be shorter than her. Why did this take such a short time? well, beyond the simplicity of the pattern, I have recently acquired a serger! I got an older model one used, but it worked like a charm! Seriously, this project went faster because there was no double stitching. It was wayyy fast and easy with serger. Ok, I may be ranting, but yay!