The Power of Me

Scrap Buster- Toilet seat cover tutorial

 I decided that today was the day to work on my Scrap Buster contest entry and take care of something that  has been rattling around in my brain for a while... And so here it is. 

please do not mind the spot of blood on the cover, I pricked my finger while sewing this.

The Toilet Seat cover tutorial:

Ingredients:

1 old towel

scraps

thread

scissors

FOE (Fold Over elastic)

Step 1:

trace your toilet seat on a large piece of paper (you might want to clean it first)

Step 2: add 2 inches around the round part of the pattern and 1 inch to the straight part at the top

 
Step 3: cut out your pattern

 

Step 4: prepare your patchwork, you decide what you want it to look like, just make sure it ends up big enough for the pattern to be cut from it. 

when preparing to do patchwork it is helpful to iron  your scraps before sewing.

Step 5: after piecing together your patchwork iron the seams open on the back side so it will lay nice and flat when you trace the pattern.

Step 6: trace your pattern piece on to the patchwork and cut it out. do the same with your old towel but add about an inch all the way around. it will be easier to sew this way.

Step  7: lay your patchwork face up on the toweling, pin and sew around the edges on the top of the patchwork. Also do any quilting you want to do, I just did some randomly placed lines. Its ok if they aren't perfect, it adds to the charm.

Step 8: trim off excess toweling around the edges.

Step 9: Now, get your 1 inch wide FOE. If you aren't familiar with FOE it is like Fold over binding made made out of elastic. It is awesome awesome stuff. Angry Chicken gives you the run down on how to apply FOE here.

I bought mine from a diaper sewers co-op but you can also buy it at Sewzanne's and Very Baby.

Step 10: Take a deep breath, begin applying the FOE to the right hand side of the round part of the toilet cover, do not begin on the straight part which is the top of the cover. 

The key to applying FOE on this project is to pull it as tight as you can, you may need to go slow at first, stopping a starting to reposition the FOE. that's ok. just make sure your needle in down and in the fabric when you stop.

Step 11: ok, now it should look elasticy and wavy around the edges. Good! now you can do the top straight edge. Leave a tail at the beginning and end of the FOE here and pull tight all the way across like you did earlier.

Step 12: flip your cover and sew down the tails to the toweling side with a straight stitch. FOE doesn't fray.

Step 13: trim threads, and try it on your toilet seat!

if you have any questions please let me know, this is my first real tutorial. 

vintage lovelyness

Here is a shot of some of the vintage goodies that I found recently, some items in the picture will be going out to my partner and some will stay here with me. =)      

    

I picked up this plain purple dress from the thrift shop for $2. I added vintage sparkly buttons, doilies and lace around the bodice. I can't wait for her to wear this on thanksgiving. 

I'm here

I am here, we did finally recover from the twilight zone week. Why does that happen? I have no idea. I am working on getting things together for the vintage swap to be mailed out soon! I have also been sewing and trying out a new family "schedule". The day seems to run so much smoother when we stick to it, its the sticking to it that is the hard part. I am out of white thread so now I must think of projects to make using other colors of thread. I like to give my self challenges. Today is Canadian Thanksgiving (I was born there) so we are having apple pie for desert and I hope the rest of my family is having a lovely time this evening. Love you guys! 

fall decorating

 

Thrifted candle holder wreath hanging in my sewing corner.

I finally finished my wall pocket hanging from Handmade Home. 

I was a little worried about the design on the white pocket. I used drawings that Alex and Rhea both did. It hangs above Alex's bed so I thought he might think it was childish but he loves it because I made it for him. I really like they way it turned out. 

One of those days

                   

Its been one of those days or actually weeks, one of those weeks where it seems like you can never get ahead, and then one thing after another breaks, doesn't work etc. 

One of those weeks where you feel so alone, and that there is no one else in the world that knows what you are going through or even cares? On top of it it seems as though someone or something has come in the night and replaced your children with small devilish creatures who have been put here to pester each other and to test e.v.e.r.y last ounce of patience a person can possible muster. 

I wasn't going to write about this but I needed to for my sanity and maybe there is some one out there feeling the same way I do so cheers to you and I know you'll make it through whoever you are.  I have been trying to study a bit about remaining peaceful, calm and grounded at all times. It seems as though lots of Mama's have this down pat. This doesn't come easily for me when the mud gets thick and I can barely pull my feet out of the depths to wash the dishes or to clean up bits of cereal, lunch meat and mac n' cheese from the kitchen floor. 

I have been reading this book, and I must say that it is different than most books on child-rearing because it doesn't bog you down with a bunch of psychological mumbo jumbo but tells you how to change your mind set. I must remember that there has to be a reason to all this madness, maybe the day is the same, but it is me that is different, maybe its a day to make chocolate chip cookies for dinner first and then worry about the other stuff. I feel better already. 

P.S generally life is pretty happy and pleasant here, I don't mean to paint the picture that I am unhappy to be a wife and mother, I love this job. Its just that sometimes that little contract that you sign in your heart when you decide to have a child comes to life to remind you of that contract by spitting out chocolate milk on the living room carpet. (good thing ours is brown)

falling in step

One thing I love about the change of seasons is how we sort of naturally fall in step with the season. Changing the way we dress, spending more time together indoors, and planning for the seasons celebrations of thankfulness. One of my favorite things about fall is making my favorite dish. This has been a favorite of mine since I was very small and even was my birthday meal on many occasions. It is an African dish called Ugali and Sukuma wiki. When I was small we lived in Africa for a few years and that is how it became one of our families favorites. I found this recipe here which I have changed a bit to meet my families recipe. I am lazy and didn't feel like typing the whole thing so I fixed the parts I need to. What's your favorite fall food?

Sukuma Wiki
Serves 4

3 T. oil (olive)
2 medium onions, chopped
3 large tomatoes, chopped or 1 large can crushed tomatoes
Leftover meat (optional) I use 1 lb ground beef
1 lb. sukuma wiki (wild greens), kale, or spinach- I use kale
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Fry onions in oil in large pan. Add tomatoes and any leftover meat. Cook together until tomatoes are soft. Cook chopped spinach. Add kale to onion mixture and cook over low heat 20 minutes. Season to taste. Serve with ugali. 

Ugali

Makes about 1 ½ quarts

2 cups maize meal or cornmeal or semolina
4 cups of water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Its also good with a pat of butter on top

Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Sprinkle maize meal into boiling water, slowly, stirring constantly. Cook porridge for 20 minutes until very thick and smooth. Stir continuously to keep the mixture from sticking or burning. Cover the pot and leave on a very low heat for 10-15 minutes to finish the cooking. Serve hot.

In the bedroom

a new duvet cover made from a vintage sheet and a plain white flat sheet. I made it so the bottom flat sheet comes over like and envelope so it looks like my bed is always made and like we use a flat sheet. I like the way beds look with the flat sheet folded over but I hate actually using flat sheets so this is what I came up with. For the closure I salvaged the closures from the duvet cover I made my diapers with and sewed them along the edges. Again I have cheated my way out of doing button holes! (evil) Haha!

Rheanna and Alex both started new blogs yesterday and we worked on their blog headers together. It was fun and I am happy that it actually motivated them to write. I am also happy that they will learn some important computer skills. 

I am working on a little shop update today, including a couple new things, reusable snack bags, and diaper covers that fit perfectly with my diapers. 

potato skins, giveaways and a new blog!

These are Potato skins that we made from the book Teens Cook. Rheanna got this from the library and has been making things from it all week. The recipes are very easy and super yummy. She makes them mostly by herself. There are also several recipes in there that are fun to do with younger children, like making ravioli with wonton wrappers.  Looks like we have another cook in the house! I have this book listed in my favorites from amazon to the right.

There is a great giveaway on today over at the Crafty Crow. They are offering to 5 winners Aurora photo editing software. It looks pretty cool to me! You can also download a free version from Aurora now. I only recently found The Crafty Crow blog and I love it! It features lots of great crafty projects to do with your kids. Perfect for the soon to be cold and rainy weather days we will be having.

There are lots of great giveaways on the Vintage Swap blog. I got my swap partner! Now I have the task of choosing which stuff to send. This will be hard because I usually want to keep everything, But I am really exited to see what I get in my goodie box so it is worth it. 

I have found so many great blogs to read through vintage swap. Lady I Swear by All Flowers is one of my favorites. 

Alex has asked me if he could have his own blog. So I said yes, we are working on that this week. He has already completed two posts. He really enjoys it, he will be taking his own pictures for it as well. 

revived

I very nice friend of mine gave me this wonderful and very comfy chair. She had it for a long time and it was even reupholstered one time. Its that comfy. Anyway, I am not in the tax bracket to be affording reupholstery at this time, so I was pondering how to cover up the worn fabric on the arms. I was thinking of making  those removable chair arm cover things but then I realized that they would probably get lost in no time. So enters The BOOK again. I am telling you, there is so much goodness in there. Stuff that is totally what I like, and what I need. I gotta make the most out of it before I gave to give it back. I sewed on some of my favorite pieces of scrap I had laying around and a heart shaped doily I found while out thrifting.

      

Things I am loving today

  

 

I got this little bird from LetteringDelights. They are giving a $10 off coupon to anyone who becomes a facebook fan. This means you can get some pretty good stuff for free! They have great fonts and graphics to choose from. I am loving the Vintage rose collection. Thanks to chelseasaidso for letting us know about this! Join her on facebook to get instant updates. 

We are Loving this book that my Mom sent us. It is out of print and there are several titles in the series including Animal neighbors of the countryside. they were last published in 1954. If I can find them cheaply enough on Amazon I may get the rest of the series for Alex and surprise him on Christmas. He is especially interested in The Wahoo Bobcat.

also The Green fair is today and is right up my alley, if the weather hold up will will probably head over there.