FP Inspired Robe

I can't tell you how long I have wanted a "kimono" style, silky robe. I think I saw a woman in a movie once who had one and I just thought she looked so beautiful, so elegant and yeah, a little bit sexy. Ever since then I have kept my eye out for the perfect one. I think I am doomed to being awkward and dorky for the rest of my life, but I always wanted to at least pretend to be elegant. Google searching "kimono" only brings up the true Asian kimonos, which was not exactly what I was going for and the Free People ones that I coveted were usually around $200. Plan B. Make my own. I can't tell you how nervous I was about making this. I bought the fabric weeks ago but I couldn't take it out of the bag for fear of ruining it. Whatever type of fabric it is, (silk chiffon? rayon?) its very delicate and would not be forgiving if some idiot attempting to make something out of it messed it up. But after having a few projects where I came up short for supplies, it was my only option. Deep breath!!!

Here is the inspiration for this project.

Free People. So pretty with the ruffle!
 
Another Free People. This is the basic style I was going for, but I wanted something with a more colorful print.


This one I found on Pinterest. Love the print, but I wanted mine to be a little less "robe" like.


Love that this one is so long! Anyway, now I think you get what I'm going for here.

What you will need:
3 yards of (I honestly don't know what it is, silky chiffon, rayon something like that. Whatever you want the texture of your robe to be)
36 inches of shear, delicate ribbon (for the ties)
Cream or matching colored thread
Sewing machine
Pins
Scissors
A lot of patience for all the pinning you will be doing!

The gorgeous fabric that I found. Note: This fabric is normally $37 per yard! Lucky I got it at half off, but if it had not been on sale I wouldn't have been saving as much money by making my own. Getting it on sale allowed me to make my own for 1/4th of the cost. So if you want to make your own, I suggest waiting for a sale. Mine just happened to go on sale right as they were taking out "Summer" fabrics and replacing them with Fall stuff.  

1. Try on the piece of fabric as if it was finished already to get an idea of how long you want it all to be. Its pretty much in the shape it needs to be already, so we are just making some seams. I will give you directions for the way I did it. But remember, I am 5'8", so I may be taller than some! So try it on several times throughout to make sure its fitting. Cut off 11 inches from one of the long sides of the piece, which when put on is the back of the robe. I would have cut a little bit less in a perfect world. Probably 9 inches, but once its cut, its cut!

 Make sure that you measure the entire way, so that it is an even cut.

2. Then fold both long sides over about 1/4 inch, then fold another 1/4 inch and pin. This takes a long time and a lot of patience because you are pinning down 6 yards of fabric and the material is so flimsy! But its worth it I swear! Don't iron if you have a similar fabric to mine because you will melt the fabric.

 3. Sew the seams on both of the long sides. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the short sides of the fabric.

4. Try on again and hold your arms out so that the fabric falls on where you will want the "sleeves" to be. Place a safety pin through the front part of the robe to the back part of the robe, making a small hole (just large enough for you to put your hand through) for your wrists.

5. Here is an example of one. The loops I made ended up being about 10 inches from the front bottom of the fabric (if you are wearing it). But it is all preference and where you feel like your arms will be most comfortable. Sew a small stitch to close both of the holes. Make sure you reverse as well so it doesn't unravel.

6. Then decide where you want the ties to be. Again, trying on is a good idea. Place a safety pin where you want the ties to go. I put mine 17 inches from the top.

 7. Burn the edges of your ribbon so that it doesn't fray and sew on either side of the robe.

Now you have an elegant robe for lounging and looking gorgeous around the house. Note: Do not wash in the washing machine. This is not the type of robe you are going be stepping out of the shower into, so you shouldn't need to anyway. But I would dry clean if necessary.

 Here's the front.

By the way, I am totally wearing shorts!

 The back. See how I would have kept like 2 inches on it?

 The side. Don't mind our taped up bathroom!

 The length of the front.

I felt like I needed to give you a profile shot, because I am always taking pictures of my babies and no one ever sees me! And its my blog! So here you go. Me happy in my new robe!

Hope you enjoyed this post. Let me know if you have any questions! Happy Friday and have a great weekend everybody!

The Wonders Of "Homemade Pantry"

Good Morning!  Back in August in my Brooke's Beautiful Finds post, I told you all about this book, "Homemade Pantry"

that I saw in a boutique in Oregon. Well, I finally broke down and bought it on Amazon. And I am SO glad I did! I have owned it for a day and I am obsessed! This woman is amazing. She shows you how to make EVERYTHING! Creme Fraiche (which is a French cream cheese that is to die for), yogurt, poptarts (I have made these before using a different recipe and although time consuming, its lots of fun...AND in this book, she shows you how to make them into pizza pockets! WHAT!?? This woman is a genius!), chips, twinkies.....yes, homemade twinkies. That sold me right there. Yeah, I'll be making those.....Today.

She is so thorough about giving you all the information you need that it just makes it a great staple recipe book. For example, I for one, would be terrified to attempt making yogurt, but she makes it so simple and she gives you a list of all the things that could go wrong and exactly how to fix them. I definitely will be trying the Creme Fraiche recipe. Its so yummy. I just got the idea to put some on my eggs the other morning and felt like I was eating at a fancy breakfast spot. Heaven. Anyway.

The other great thing about this book is that with each recipe she lists how you can store it, whether that be at room temp., the refrigerator or the freezer (and most of the time these foods can be stored in all 3) and then she tells you exactly how long they will last for each of those places. Since I am always questioning what things need to be thrown out and when, I love that. Most recipe books don't think to put that in and I think its great. All you have to do is stick a post-it on the container writing the expiration date and then you won't have to worry about it.

Another thing I love about this book is that she has a handful of recipes that would be great for "car snacks". (snack bars, fruit roll ups) She even mentions it as being, "The most important meal of the day". No kidding. The late afternoon, early evening is the only time I ever have to run errands with my girls and if I don't have a snack to tide them over til dinner, the errand running quickly ends. Enough said.

I can't say enough things about this book and if you are even remotely interested in getting it, get it! You won't be disappointed. You can even see some sample recipes on amazon's "look inside" feature. Its huge too! Like the bible of recipes! They are all basic, fun and recipes for things that everyone uses in their day to day life. (did I mention ketchup, cake mix and tomato sauce?) Plus, she makes every one of them easy and approachable. Love her! I think I have pretty much decided that I am going to make every recipe in the book. Yep!
If anyone buys it or owns it, let me know what you think and what recipes you have tried! I would love to hear from you!

P.S. I already made the Instant Oatmeal for my girls and the loved it! I have to say, it has the same consistency as store bought instant oatmeal (some would call it "gluey"), which I happen to like about instant oatmeal, but some people don't. Its great because it makes a large batch and can be kept in a container on the counter for a month!

Name Placemat

After being asked by many friends, "When are you putting Princess in preschool?", my husband and I finally discussed it. Honestly, I have never been in a huge rush. Preschool seems (and please don't be offended if you have a child in preschool, because I do think its great) a little unnecessary when you can teach them all the basics at home. That is, if you have the luxury of being a stay at home mom or working from home like I do. The most important element I would say that kids would miss out on by not going to preschool, is the social life. Which, since I run an in-home daycare, Princess gets on a daily basis. So, my husband and I decided that while she doesn't need to jump into preschool quite yet (maybe a day or two per week next year), I do need to be working with her on a daily basis to make sure she is learning. So my latest Pinterest searches have been alphabet driven. One thing I learned that kids are expected to know upon entering kindergarten is to write and recognize their own name. Princess is a long ways off from writing words, but I thought it would be quite simple to start incorporating her name into our daily life, so that she starts to recognize it. One idea was to have their name hung somewhere in the house. Princess and Peanut both have their names above their beds. Another idea was making a name placemat, so that they can see their name at every meal and start to see, "That's me. That's my name. This is my spot." Easy enough.
Here is the how to. This would be a great project to make for every family member in the house, so that your preschooler can "set" the table and begin to recognize the difference in the names on the placemats. I may get around to making all of us one, but for now, I just made one for Princess.

You will need:
Fabric in lots of fun patterns
A 2" set of alphabet stencils
A washable marker
Scissors
A sewing machine
Fusible interfacing or batting (for quilts. Its not absolutely necessary, but it makes the placemat a bit thicker)

1. Start by tracing the letters with a WASHABLE marker. Then cut the letters out. I cut mine out a little bit bigger.

2. Then cut out one piece of 18.5X13.5 piece of white fabric, one 18.5X13.5 piece of patterned fabric and one 18.5X13.5 piece of batting or fusible interfacing. Interfacing is basically just batting with heat activated adhesive. Cut 2, 2.5X18.5 inch strips and 2, 2X13.5 inch strips for the border.

3. Arrange letters and border on the cream colored piece to make sure everything fits right.

4. Pin down the 2 short sides of the border and sew, pretty sides facing each other. Then flip and iron so that the border ends up flush against the edge.

5. Repeat with the long sides. Sew all the way (over the other piece) so that the border overlaps.

Here is what the border will look like.

6. Pin down the letters where you want them, then sew down. You can hand sew them or use the sewing machine. I was lazy, so I used the machine, but its a little bit harder to do.

7. Wash on the delicate cycle to wash off the marker. Then iron and cut off any loose threads.

8. Pin the back piece, front name side piece and the interfacing all together, inside out. So that once you sew them and flip them right side out, the pretty sides will be out and the interfacing will be between them.

On the right side I left an opening.

9. Sew around the edge, but not all the way! You need to be able to flip it right side out again.

 10. Trim any excess that will make it too bulky.

11. Flip right side out, then pin the opening so that you can sew it closed. If you used interfacing, you can also iron the placemat so that it sticks together. No need to iron if you used batting.

 12. Sew closed. I recommend hand sewing this part.

 Then you are done! Place on the table where your little one can start to recognize his or her name!

 My little one saw it and started to sing the ABC's......close enough. :)

Utility Sink Skirt

I know it might sound crazy to everyone. But I'm not excited about another week of sunshine. Ok, okay, sunshine is fine, but I'm so sick of the muggy-ness and sweaty-ness! I want to wear my cozy sweaters dang it! I want to feel what it's like to be cold again! And not when my husband is blasting the AC in the car. I want to make soup and hot chocolate. I want to put the BBQ in hibernation!!! Summer is fine and all....really, I like every season for different reason. Its just not ok, to pretend to be something you're not. I guess in all fairness, we haven't technically had the first day of Fall yet. Anyway, to distract myself from the Fall masquerading as the Summer, I am keeping busy with all the projects I can think of. You'd think that I would run out of ideas, but they just keep coming. I'm surprised I haven't had DIY dreams yet. I promised I would give the utility sink skirt tutorial that I made for my Laundry Room redo. So I decided I better do it, before weeks go by and I forget completely. So here it is.

You will need:

A lot of fabric! I bought 3 yards of the 54 inch wide bolts of fabric. The ones that are on the huge bolt. You can use the regular width fabric, but there may just be more piecing together.

Heavy Duty Velcro about 3 packages of the 1/2 inch to 1 inch wide self adhesive kind.

White thread (or matching your fabric)

Sewing machine

I don't know that all utility sinks are the same size (I imagine they are) so I would measure yours just to be sure. The sides of mine were both 24 inches and the front was 20 inches. I wanted my skirt to touch the floor so I made the length to be 34 inches. Note: These are the measurements for the finished product!

The gorgeous fabric I picked up on sale!

1. Start by sewing together your fabric to make a total piece of 148X35inches. Its going to be really long, but you want that much to make the ruffle. Make sure if you have pictures on your fabric as well, that they are all facing the right direction. The left and right sides should be 35 inches and the top and bottom should be 148 inches.

2. Make a hem on the bottom. Doing a zig zag stitch as well is a good idea if you ever plan on washing the skirt. This helps keep it from unraveling in the wash. You can all thank my mom for this step. She told me I needed to do it!

3. Rouche all the way through the top of the fabric. If your fabric is as heavy as mine, you won't be able to do the pulling method, because the thread will keep breaking, so use my cheater's method and just bunch the fabric as you shoot it through the sewing machine. You want to end up with the top being 68 inches wide. So use a measuring tape. And remember you are taking it from 148 to 68, so do a LOT of rouching. You can always go back over and bunch it up more if needed.

Here you can see it all laid out. Baby photo bomb.

4. Measure the top again, just to make sure its 68 inches. It will look really wide.

5. Then you make the band that will hold it all in place and cover the rouched top. Cut a 5.5X68inch piece of fabric and make a hem on both of the long sides.
6. Again making sure that the band is right side up (when its sewed) pin and sew the band over the top of the rouched fabric. First you sew behind the skirt, like shown below, then you flip down the top and sew down over the front of the skirt. The band will end up being about 2.5 inches wide.



Here is the underside of the skirt.

7. At this point, you should only see 2 seams on the band. One from when you hemmed the band and the other from sewing down the band onto the rouching. You can try and sew directly over the hem line so that you only see one stitch. Iron the top of the skirt so that the band lays flat.

8. Along both sides of the skirt make a hem and then use the zig zag stitch. If you ever wash it, which you will probably want to at some point, you don't want everything unravelling. For the sides of the band (pictured in the top right), I just tucked the ends in and sewed closed.
9. Then all you have to do is sew the velcro on to the band and stick to the sink! The velcro I used was sticky and I thought that I could just stick it to the skirt, which I did. But then the first time I tried pulling off the skirt from the sink, the velcro stayed stuck together and came off of the skirt. So sewing it onto the band is necessary. You will need quite a few packs of velcro as well. I used 3 packages of their heavy duty kind.

And there you have it! If any of you want to try making your own utility sink skirt and you have questions about this tutorial, just let me know! I would love to help. And I realize that my directions are a little less than professional. Here is a another tutorial from Beneath My Heart. Her skirt is the same style as mine. Sometimes it just helps to see a few different tutorials. You can also make the skirt with no ruffle (which uses way less fabric) or make simple pleats on the corners. To see more photos of my utility sink makeover check out my Laundry Room Reveal!