the word "scrunchie" has lost all meaning

i love that scrunchies are a thing again.  although let's face it...were they ever really NOT a thing?

well, yeah, okay, i guess there was a pretty big chunk of time when it was definitely not cool to wear a scrunchie unless you were in a costume or something.  heh.  and nowadays the kids are wearing them on their wrists more than in their hair and there are different meanings and they've turned it into something all weird and possibly pearl-clutchy and blah blah blah.  whatever.

and so there are all sorts of tutorials out there to show you how to DIY your own scrunchies using fabric scraps and regular sewing elastic.  i've made a few of them, because i'm a friggin' lemming like that.  but i don't really like the stretch factor of regular elastic in scrunchies and really wanted to figure out how to use an actual hair tie instead.  there are a couple of tutorials out there, but i didn't really like the process used and figured there had to be another way.

there's a youtube video circulating amongst the facebook sewing groups that features an easy way to sew up the fabric part of the scrunchie using a technique called the "burrito roll."  i learned how to burrito roll awhile ago while making lined tank-style dresses, and it's pretty easy once you get the hang of it.  and in one of those facebook pages someone mentioned that after some trial and error, they'd figured out how to combine both the hair tie and the burrito roll method to create their scrunchies.  she posted a couple of videos, but for some reason the page's admin deleted them before i had time to watch them and so i ended up having to figure it out for myself.

to be perfectly honest, i'm really posting this for myself because once i got it to work i was afraid i would forget how to do it.  heh.  i took step-by-step pictures as best as i could with my own two hands, and so if you're interested in making your own scrunchies here's my process (but make sure that you watch that video first because none of this will make sense if you don't):

these are the hair ties i like best.  they're nice and stretchy and they're made from a continuous piece of fabric so they're seamless and there isn't a spot that two ends have been glued together.  this way i know it won't ever snap apart inside the scrunchie, rendering it completely useless unless you want to pick the seam open and insert a new hair tie.

i'd found some really cute "friends" themed fabric at joann's, but most of it is cotton woven which i don't typically use for clothing.  i'm also thinking it'll make for a cute little zipper pouch, one of these days.  anyway, the piece i use for scrunchies measures 5" x 20".

with right sides facing, sew up the short end to create a loop.

here's where the burrito roll comes in - pick up the top layer of the loop and fold it together to meet in the middle.

then you pick up that middle "burrito filling" and stick your hair tie in it, like this:

now you're going to put the outer "tortilla" layer together, still with right sides facing, but you want to make sure half of your hair tie stays outside of the burrito.

see how i'm holding the tortilla together, inside the hair tie?  that's where you want to do your sewing.

take the burrito to your machine and place that section of the tortilla that's inside the hair tie under your needle.  make sure that you keep the burrito filling layer far away from the needle so that it doesn't get sewn in with the tortilla.  again - if you haven't watched that video this isn't going to make a lick of sense, so go back and watch it a couple more times if you need to!

this looks like a hot mess, but i swear it makes sense while you're doing it.  i also found that i could pull the hair tie to the other side to make it easier to sew without catching it under the needle.  anyway, you want to sew down that raw edge, pulling the burrito filling out as you go, all the way down, still making sure to keep it inside so that it also doesn't get caught under the needle.

once you get all the way down to where you started sewing, make sure to leave about an inch or so open so that you have room for turning it inside out.

this is what it'll look like when you take it off of the machine.

now you want to reach inside and grab the burrito filling and pull it out, basically turning the whole thing inside out.  you can use your fingers, but i have this fun little tool that looks like pliers that works perfectly for this sort of task.

and...voila!

you're not completely done yet though, because you want to close up that hole that you left for turning.

some people like to tuck in the raw edge and use their sewing machine to topstitch it closed, some like to hand sew it, and others will use a little dab of fabric glue to close it up.  use whatever method you like best.  and now you have fun new scrunchies with a "good" hair tie inside to hold that ponytail that won't snap if you pull it too hard!

the end.

santa claus is comin' to town

want to make some quick santa cookies in time for the big day?  these are pretty easy to throw together, if you need a fun little treat to serve up.

you'll need some simple round sugar cookies and decorating bags with #2 or #3 tips filled with red, ivory, white, and black frosting.

start with the ivory frosting and draw on this weird looking batman-ish shape.

take your red frosting and add on a hat.

wait about ten minutes and then fill in the rest with white frosting.

give it another 20 minutes, and then draw on a mustache.

next, take that ivory frosting on again and dot on a nose.

last but not least, give santa the gift of sight.

voila!  all done.  now you have an army of santas to usher in the holiday.

might as well jump. jump!

i know that ideas for cookie designs are pretty much endless, but it still amazes me when someone approaches me with a new idea to work on.  this time, it was a birthday party at a bounce house.  after  my usual google routine, i found something that looked like it would work.  bonus:  it was fairly simple.  check it out:

first, i flooded square cookies with plain white frosting as the base.  then i took the first color and drew a little rectangle in the middle:

with the next color, i added a line on top and on the bottom.

just a little off to the side went a triangle:

on the left with color number 2 went a column, and then a sliver of the top of the column on the right rear.

i picked up the the first color again to form the bottom step, and then i used the 4th color to make the "hat" on top of the first column and the base of the second column.  can you see the basic shape now?

one more time with that first color to create the illusion of the 4th column in the back:

outlining.

final step - the net in the middle.

all done!  it was pretty easy, once i got the first few out of the way.  what do you think?

the student becomes the teacher

i was browsing through pinterest one day when i came across something that i thought was pretty freaking genius:

the bean often falls asleep in her car seat, and because it doesn't recline for naptime like her last one did, she usually ends up slumped forward in a really uncomfortable-looking position.  we try to push her head back into place, but as soon as we get her adjusted that heavy nugget just falls right back over again.  except that when i clicked through to the site to see how i could order one of these things, it was no longer available.

so i did what any of you would have:  i made my own.  and you can too, if you want.  it was totally easy, and i'm all stoked and proud to actually have created my very first sewing tutorial!

i checked out my extensive stash and picked out a length of fabric left over from a previous project, in a print i knew the bean would dig:

measure across the front of your kid's seat to see how long you want your pillow to be.  the bean's was about 17", and i wanted the pillow to be about 4" wide.  so i cut out a rectangular piece that was 18" x 10", adding in a bit for seam allowances and such.  then i measured around the back of the seat from one side to the other, which came out to be 24".  as i inspected the photo of the original pillow, i decided that i didn't want to mess with velcro and decided to tweak it a little, instead going with an elasticized strap that could fit snugly around the seat (and hopefully, that of the airplane we'll be boarding in a few days).  so i cut a long strip that ended up being about 48" x 2".  and then i looked at the photo again and just kind of finagled a paper pattern for the piece that would be attached between the strap and the pillow itself.  now that i've thought about it a bit, it really wasn't necessary.  i could've just sewn the strap to the pillow ends and it would've been just fine, but i wasn't thinking straight.

now that i had all the pieces cut out, i had to put on my thinking cap to figure out exactly how i was going to assemble this thing.  i always start off super confident that whatever i'm making is gonna be really easy, until i jump right into the project and end up making sweet, sweet love to my seam ripper.  i didn't want to have to do that this time, so i took my time and worked slowly.

the first logical step was to sew up the strap.  i took that piece and folded it in half, right sides together, and sewed it right down the edge.

the worst part of working with a strap this long is getting the stupid thing flipped right side out.  luckily, i bought one of these handy-dandy turning tools a long time ago.  i slid it in, used it to grab one side, and started flipping this bitch over little by little.

if you don't have one, GET ONE.  trust me.  and when it was pulled out all nice and pretty, i turned my iron on high - with steam - and pressed it flat.

the next step was getting the elastic in there.  i cut a piece that was as long as the measurement i'd taken from the back of the seat and added an inch just for good measure.  using my handy-dandy turning tool, i pushed it through the strap, making sure to pin it at the end to keep it from moving.

then i sewed the ends securely in an X, like this:

now, when i cut out those attachment pieces, i did so on the fold thinking i'd save myself a step.  except that it didn't quite work out that way, and i ended up cutting them in half.

i stitched the sides of the attachment pieces right sides together, leaving the top and bottoms open.  then i fed the end of the strap through the bottom, pulled it a little bit out of the top, pinned into place and sewed it up.

when both sides were done, i flipped them right sides out and pressed them flat and moved on to the pillow part.  folding it in half the long way with right sides facing, i stitched all the way down the edge. i would come to regret this later.

i decided the seam would be best placed in the middle of the back, so i adjusted it a bit and then ironed it out.  i dropped the strap with the attachment pieces inside and pinned one side into place.  i stitched the end shut and zigzagged the edge just for good measure.  plus it looked neat and pretty that way.

this is when i realized the error of sewing the entire pillow seam.  i had to leave an opening somewhere to turn it all right side out, and duh - how did i think i was going to stuff the damn thing?  so out came my pretty pink seam ripper for a little exercise.

with that problem solved, i sewed the other end of the pillow shut, securing the strap inside, and carefully pulled it out of the hole i'd created in the seam.

the fun part - stuffing.

i've never learned how to the slipstitch/invisible stitch that would come in really handy for projects like this.  countless tutorials and several youtube videos later, i'm still totally in the dark about how to accomplish it.  so i made do with my sad hand-stitching skills and closed up the seam my way.

it ain't pretty, but whatever - it's the back of the dang pillow anyway.  who cares?

the bean was a little puzzled over what the hell i'd just spent the last couple of hours slaving over until i showed her the original photo.  and then she was really excited to hop into the car and test it out.

and wouldn't you know it - even after my careful measuring, the stupid strap ended up being too stinking long.  the elasticized feature doesn't even come into play here.  i suppose i'll have to take it apart at some point and shorten it a little to make it fully functional, but for now it'll do.

lest you think i'm creative in any way, just google "car seat pillow tutorial."  i am so not as original or unique as i thought i was.  dammit.  and this is definitely not the best, most educational, clearly-explained sewing tutorial on the face of the planet.  i hope it helps someone anyway - but hey, don't be an ass and use my sad little set of instructions to start cranking out these things for sale, yeah?

because that would not be cool, yo.  not to mention, who knows if the original manufacturer of this thing has a patent or some sort of legal strings attached to it?  i sure don't wanna get sued, and i wouldn't want to see you have to hire a lawyer, either.

i care, people.  i care.