Modern Reusable Christmas Tree DIY

This year we decided to make our own tree. Last year we had a real tree, it was lovely, and messy, and we didn't like the waste of cutting a tree to spend one month inside our house but we also weren't excited about the fake tree options. If it looked good we couldn't afford it, if we could afford it it didn't look good. So in searching the web for another option I found the Possibilitree. Simple, modern, used real wood, $350 for a 6' tree; perfect except for the price. So we decided to make our own. The materials for ours cost less than $50 and it can be completed in a weekend. It isn't quite as nice as a Possibilitree, but I like it. It is at least a little more special because the family worked together to make it.

If you are curious how we made it, check out my plan here. Here are a couple versions others have built: Lowe's, Tara and Thyme.

Ghost, Mummy, Yukata, Advent and Upholstery.

What I have been up to but haven't time to blog about:

Halloween costumes:

A mummy and a ghost. The ghost is wearing a basic white long sleeve tunic dress with a square of gauze draped over her. The mummy has a basic muslin tunic, muslin pants and wrapped with strips of muslin which were hot glued in place (probably should have used more glue or tacked it on with thread...).

Advent Calendar:

First fold 24 origami boxes and lids. I used 9" squares for the lids and 8.5" squares for the bottoms and the boxes ended up just over 3" wide and about 1.5" tall. Then number them as you will. I printed the numbers on a sheet of paper then cut them out with a decorative punch. Cover some sort of board (this one is about 17" x 24") with fabric of your choice (I used foam core board) . Then hot glue the box bottoms to the board. Fill with treats or activities (1, 2, 3, 4) and hang on the wall.

Other fun advent calendars: 34 ideas

Reupholstered Chair:

The first of two is finally finished and when I have a spare minute with nothing better to do (or nothing better that I feel like doing) I will finish the second. This started out with ratty old yellowing velvet. So while this isn't perfect it is an improvement. I used invisible thread to do the tufting and I used a hot glue gun to make and attach the piping. I am thinking I need to find a marker or some such to touch up the finish.

Kimono:

I made kimono (Yakuta) style robes for myself (this fabric) and my daughter. Unfortunately she insisted she was a crocodile so this is not the best picture. They were quite simple to sew once I had the dimensions figured out, made entirely out of rectangles. I can draw up a diagram with dimensions if anyone is interested. I used these tutorials as a guide (1, 2) but did not use their dimensions. It makes a very comfortable bathrobe. 

Robot baby quilt: top done

I finished this quilt top today. It is based on a quilt from Dare to be Square Quilting by Boo Davis. However I did not have enough time to do a full scale version, 5' x 6' and 523 pieces, so I halved the dimensions and made a 1/4 sized quilt, 36" x 36". Below you can see the full size quilt my mom made for my son. I think if I were to make a bigger version I might make 4 smaller robots in different colors with different backgrounds. Now this will be sent to my mom to quilt because she is much better at it than I. I am very proud of this one, the corners match so nicely and it lays quite flat so I will keep it looking good and let some one else quilt it. I am also pretty slow at quilting and this way it might get done before the baby I made it for graduates.

Quick and Easy Lined Tote Bag Tutorial

Here is a quick tutorial for making a lined tote bag. I have found that I can get nice results with a minimal amount of fuss using this method, it avoids all hand stitching and gives a nice finished look. I used quilting cotton for lining and outer fabric and fused iron on interfacing (medium or heavy weight) to all pieces which gives you a very structured tote that will stand up on its own. If you want something less stiff you could use interfacing on the outside only or not at all. Of course you could also use a heavier weight fabric in lieu of interfacing.

This bag was for my daughter and ended up about 8" wide by 10" tall and 3.5" deep.

Cut two pieces 12.5" x 12.5" of both outer and lining and two pieces 2" x 15" of each fabric for the straps. Cut the same size for interfacing for all pieces if you like. (1/2 yard is plenty for each fabric and you need 50" of interfacing that is 20" wide)

Fold the long edges of the strap pieces towards the middle. Put one outer fabric piece with one lining fabric piece and topstitch along the edges. Put the two lining pieces right sides together and sew up the sides, do the same for the outer fabric.

Turn outer fabric tube right side out, center and pin down the straps on either side.

Put the outer fabric tube with straps inside the lining tube so that right sides are together.

Sew around the top, turn and topstitch.

Make sure the bag is inside out and sew all layers together at the bottom. I like to use a 1/2" seam then trim to 1/4" and zigzag over the edge. If you have a serger I am sure it would be much easier to just sew up the bottom with that.

In the corners on both sides of the bottom mark out a 1.75" square from the folded edge and the seam. Pinch the corners so the lines line up and sew along the line.

Turn it right side out and you are done!