Monthly Archives: February 2010

Mary Jane Slippers Tutorial

Posted on February 21, 2010 | 5 Comments

Step 10

I found these patterns in a Japanese craft book on how to make some house slippers. I sort of modified them and did my own thing (I added my own straps) since I cannot read Japanese. I have not had the chance to scan in my version of the patterns, but hopefully I will have the chance to do that eventually.

Anyhow, below are my 10 steps tutorial on how I did this (it is more like 9 steps, but 10 just seems better).

How to Make Mary Jane Slippers

Step 1
Step 1 – Cut out patterns from the fabric of your choice for the outside of the slippers. You will need 2 x bottom, 2 x side panels in the outer fabric.

Step 2
Step 2 – Pin side panels to the bottom of the slipper.

Step 3
Step 3 – Sew around the outside of the bottom of the slipper (what you pinned in step 2).

Step 4
Step 4 – Where the back of the side panels meet, sew the back of the heel together. Trim excess.
If you flip the unfinished slipper inside out, you should have the results of the picture on the right.

Step 5
Step 5 – Repeat steps 1-4 for the lining fabric.

Step 6
Step 6 – Create the straps by placing one piece of the outer fabric and one piece of the lining fabric together. Sew around the sides, but make sure to leave an opening so that you can flip the strap inside out. Trim edges with pinking shears if you like.
You may want to use a chopstick of knitting needle to help “flip” the strap. (This was actually one of the hardest part of this project for me!)

Step 7
Step 7 – Flip your outer fabric slipper with the right sides out and then pin the strap in place. Make sure the outside fabric of the strap is facing the outside fabric of the slipper when you pin.

Step 8
Step 8 – Pin the lining of the slipper with the outside slipper. Make sure you have the right sides facing together when you pin. Then sew around the pin edges and leave an opening about 2 inches wide (don’t forget this or you won’t be able to flip your slipper inside out).
Flip your slipper inside out. Then tuck the unfinished edges and sew around edge to finish.

Step 9
Step 9 – Add some buttons and decorate your slippers if you like. If you want to make then “non-slip” you can put some puffy paint on the bottom or hand sew some leather patches. Don’t forget to try them on!

Step 10
Step 10 – Enjoy!

If any of you try this tutorial I would love to see some pictures. Thanks for reading!

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

Posted on February 14, 2010 | 1 Comment

Happy Valentine's Day

Lowly WormMy son has recently been reading a lot of Richard Scarry books. We bought some online and we also borrowed a few from the library. His favourite character is Lowly Worm (who doesn’t like him?). Then I saw this blog post that made me want to sew my own Lowly Worm doll and I was on the search for a Richard Scarry’s Best Make-It Book Ever! (apparently this is not that easy to find since it was printed in 1977). I finally found one on eBay and it’s the cutest thing ever. Lots of crafts and fun stuff to do, and all the pages are in colour.

Anyhow, I did end up making my son a Lowly Worm doll this week and when my hubby gave it to my son on Saturday morning, he’s been carrying his wormy friend around with him since then. So cute.

We also made some cupcakes this weekend. I think I added WAY too much confectioner’s sugar in the buttercream frosting so when I had out the cupcakes, people are totally going to have a sugar rush from eating them (whoops). Perhaps I should have tried to correct that by adding more butter… I made the cupcakes and frosting using the recipes from Martha Stewart’s Cupcake book.

IMG_1388

♥ ♥ ♥

Well, it was 13 years ago that my hubby and I started dating. Wow, time flies. Now we have a son and are expecting our second child soon.

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day and a Happy Chinese New Year everybody! :)

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Posted in crafts, family, felting, sewing, son

Monkey Pants

Posted on February 5, 2010 | Leave a comment

One of my son’s current favourite toys is his stuffed monkey which he calls “Munga”. I bought Munga a $0.99 knitted sweater from the discount sewing store today and after I placed the sweater on the monkey my son says, “Munga wear pants.” I said, “But we do not have any pants for Munga. Do you want mommy to make Munga some pants?” And of course he says, “Yah.” At first he asked for pink pants, but I eventually convinced him for brown ones.

Anyhow, it turns out that I don’t have any plain brown fabric so I ended up using this funky print (yes, I realize that it does not match the sweater). So tonight I ended up sewing a pair of pants for the monkey and I will quickly share with you how this was accomplished.

How To Make Pants

Gather the materials that you will need:

  • fabric
  • elastic for the band
  • thread
  • safety pin
  • some paper, a marker (or pencil), and some scissors for creating a quick pattern
  1. First of all, create a pattern by placing the subject on a piece of paper and then tracing around a leg. Then extend the tracing by adding about 1 to 2 inches more. You should end up with one side of a pant leg that you will use to place on your folded fabric. Cut pant leg pattern.
  2. Place pattern on fold of the fabric and cut so that you end up with what looks like 2D flat pants. Repeat on another piece of fabric so that you have 2 matching pieces.
  3. Place the 2 pieces you have cut right sides together and sew along the inside of the pant leg and then on the sides of the pant leg. You can then serge the edges if you like or use a zigzag stitch to make sure the ends do not fray. I was lazy and just used pinking shears to trim the edges.
  4. Roll up the bottom of the pants and sew edges.
  5. Measure your subject with the elastic band and trim to desired length.
  6. Roll down the waist of the pants and make sure there is enough room to fit the width of the elastic. Sew edges down, but leave an opening of about 1 inch so that you can later run the elastic inside the waistline.
  7. Place the measured elastic band on a safety pin. Run the safety pin inside the waistline of the pants and gather until you reach all the way around.
  8. Sew the ends of the elastic band with a zigzag stitch to keep it in place.
  9. Finish sewing the edge of the waistline.
  10. Flip the pants inside out and you are done!

I also created a hole in the back of the pants for the tail of the monkey. If you would also like to do this, just create a “button hole” large enough to fit the tail in the back of the pants between steps 2 and 3. Make sure you place the button hole low enough to leave space for the waistline to be folded down.

Here are the pictures of the process. Sorry, I am too lazy right now and I just put the pictures together into this mini gallery. Hopefully it makes sense when you look at it and read the instructions above.

Have fun!

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Posted in crafts, family, sewing, son, tutorial