Tutorial: Pattern Weights

There's nothing I hate more than pinning a pattern and cutting out the fabric when I'm doing a project.  I absolutely love my rotary cutter and mat.  It saves me so much precious time!  If you have yet to take the rotary leap, I highly recommend you jump in as soon as you can! I promise, you'll never look back! It's also great for those with bad hands!

You have to hold your pattern down in one spot when you're using a rotary cutter and mat; that's where pattern weights come in.  Just plop them down on top of your pattern when your cutting, and it wont move around on you!

What you'll need:

Half to 1.5  inch strips of fabric or ribbon

Hot glue gun and hot glue (high temp is best)

Washers- you need 2 per weight (I got the biggest ones at Home Depot I could find. They are zinc coated)




Start off with 2 washers.  Place a dab of hot glue on
one of them and place the end of your fabric strip on it.  Put hot glue around it in a circle and place the other washer on top, sandwiching the end of the fabric strip between the washers.

Now begin wrapping the material around the washer going through the hole.

And keep wrapping....

And wrapping until none of the washer is showing.

 Place a small dab of hot glue and lay the excess material on it.  Cut away the extra....

  

Thanks for looking!

What Ya Wanna Know Wednesday: Getting Fabulous Photos #1

So you see all these people with the most fantastic pics of their kids, and well, yours kinda suck.  Welcome to the very first What Ya Wanna Know Wednesday Series, Getting Fabulous Photos.  I'll have you taking the photos everyone will be envious of!  And, no, you don't have to have a super-de-dooper expensive camera to get some great results!

First off we are going to discuss getting to know your camera.  So here's some steps to turn your camera into your best friend!

1. Read your Manual!!! Seriously, by the time that you're done with this step, you probably won't need to continue reading!

2. Know just a few terms.  Ok, maybe this would be better as the first step cause it may help you understand your manual better.  Every camera operates in essentially the same way.  You can find out how to adjust your settings in your manual.

Fontanaknowledge Has an amazing series of Tutorials on knowing your camera

Now that you know the basics of your camera, experiment! Get in every light source you can imagine and snap away! Figure out what settings work best with your camera!

I could literally write a whole series just on how your camera works, but I'll limit it to this, cause I really just want ya to get some good pics! If you have any questions, feel free to ask away!

          
      

How-To Tuesday: How to work "The Twitter"

Twitter is so hugely popular, and is actually a great little social media platform.  Who'da thunk that posting short little blurbs would have taken off so much?  I've been on it for a while, but still have so much to learn when it comes to what all the darn symbols mean. Sometimes it looks like someone is speaking gibberish on their posts.  So I've decided to finally learn the lingo, and let you all in on it!  

Before we really get started with all the info, you'll need to set up your account.  It's so simple I'm not even gonna walk you through it.  Just follow the steps and you'll be great!  But if you just can't figure it out, here's a great tutorial on YouTube

Now that your account is all set up, it's time to change the appearance of your profile. You'll get to a page that looks something like this.  Just follow the links on the right to set up your avatar, and change your profile appearance.

Now your all ready to send out your first tweet!

The Jargon (click the term to see Twitter's definitions):

Tweet: The little 140 word message you send out.  

Hash tags: A hash tag will have the # symbol followed by a word.  For example #etsytreasuries might be one. it's a way for twitterers to post things according to a topic.  Popular hash tags, get moved up to "trending topics."

Mentions and Replies: Just like on facebook, you can mention someone in your post by putting the @ symbol in front of their username.  You can also reply to a tweet by doing the same. Twitter keeps up with replies and mentions under the mention tab on your account home page.

ReTweet: Shown in the tweet with an RT in the message.  

Following: Following is pretty straight forward.  It simply means that you choose someone who you'd like to see their tweets!  Don't forget to follow @lillybunns!

To get noticed in Twitter, it's a good idea to follow lots, retweet, and mention lots, and do hash tags on the trending topics.  

I hope that clears up a few things for you.  Twitter can be such a great way to communicate with others, and publicize yourself to the world!

All the Free Stuff!

I'm constantly amazed at things I find Etsy sellers selling.  Last night I was browsing through and found a store where all that is sold are tutorials on how to make fabric flowers.  The crazy think was, she was charging $12 per tutorial! Well, it wouldn't be so crazy I guess if I didn't know I couldn't get the same information for FREE by just doing a simple google search.  I'm not going to call anyone out, but I do want to let you know where to get for free the same info some idiot is trying to sell you!  Please don't be one of the hundreds of other idiots who have bought these tutorials!

Fabric Flowers: K Google and You Tube are really going to be your friends for this one.  There were so many great sites I'm having a hard time picking just one out.  But I've gotta give props to my girls on my SAHM of Etsy team, Jeni from Stitches By Jeni shows how to use a burn technique to make flowers over on her blog.




Crochet: Just about anything: Aside from my own crochet patterns, of course, you can look up a pattern or 100 for pretty much anything you'd ever want to make at www.crochetpatterncentral.com.  A few of my patterns are even featured over there.  I also love Youtube videos! Its a great way to brush up on you crochet skills.

Yoga Pants Tutorial by Samstermommy.blogspot.com

Baby Yoga/Lounge Pants:  OK, so maybe if you're planning on mass producing these adorable pants, you might want to buy a pattern that has multiple sizes (that you're allowed to sell from!), but if you're just going to make them for your own kid, then this is the tutorial for you.  It uses a pair of pants your child already wears as a template! Don't forget to check out the awesome list of tutorials on the left side of the page!

Pettiskirts are VERY in right now, thanks to a huge 80's flash-back we all seem to be having at the moment.  Youcanmakethis.com has an awesome list of free, and paid, tutorials on their site as well.  Check here for a great pettiskirt tutorial! I love that this one has the satin top so It's more modest.





Sewing Patterns! Google is seriously your friend for finding all sorts of great free sewing patterns.  Just do a quick search before you buy one to see if you can't find anything that you like that will work for you.

There are a few places I DO recommend you buy patterns from:

Youcanmakethis.com has a great list to choose from.

RomeoandMae: Great Patterns, and great customer service!

NoodlesandMilk: Patterns give measurements for the pieces, and she includes pattern pieces as needed.  They are REALLY great!

ScientificSeamstress: I have yet to buy a pattern from her, but I've heard rave reviews from very highly trusted sources.

Libby Lu's Boutique: A great Etsy Seller with many amazing patterns!

Crochet Scrubbie Pattern

I just love these scrubbies! They have so many different uses! I've made them bigger and use them as a baby rag, I scrub pots and pans, and even my face with them--never after using them on the pans of course.  They are super easy and quick to make!

If you don't know how to crochet, you can buy these in my shop! lillybunnsboutique.etsy.com!

Yarn: Doesn't really matter, but it needs to be a worsted weight.  I like cotton yarn (sugar and cream brand) for its softness and bright colors.  Red heart super saver might be a little more abrasive.

Hook: G
Abreviations:
     St: Stitch
     Ch: Chain
     SC: SC
Notes: This is made in one continuous ring, you can make bigger by adding increase rows.  These don't need to be exact, but if you are a stickler for that kinda thing, you may want to use a stitch marker to note where the beginning of a row is.

Row 1: Ch 6 Slip St closed to form ring
Row2: 6 SC into ring. (6)
Row 3: 2 SC in each st around (12)
Row 4: *1 SC in next st, 2 SC in next st** repeat from *to ** 5 more times (18)
Row 5: *1 SC in next 2 st, 2 SC in next st** repeat from * to ** 5 more times (24)
Row 6: *1 SC in next 3 st, 2 SC in next st** repear from * to ** 5 more times (30)
Row 7: *1 sc in next 4 st, 2 SC  in next st** repeat from* to ** 5 more times (36)
To finish: skip one stitch, slip stitch and tie off.  This will make it to lie down more.

These will be about 3 inches in diameter.