DIY Monogram Bracelet for Lily - a year of handmade gift

Here is part II of Lily's present - a monogrammed ribbon bracelet.  When I asked my sister-in-law what Lily, my 11 year-old niece, might like for her birthday, she said anything with her monogram.  I was going to make a monogram pillow for her bed, but ended up wanting to send her something complimentary to the pearl combs I posted about earlier this week. I used the same gray ribbon here as the base of the combs. At first I wanted to make the monogram with rhinestones, but the strand I had wasn't flexible enough to make the letter the size I wanted.  Instead, I used the crystal bead trim that I used for the sparkle headbands and the crystal wrap bracelet - found at Joann's.

I am in love with cotton twill tape and cotton ribbon. It provides a natural feel, yet it feels lush at the same time. I found some fun 5/8" twill tape at Joann Fabrics in a number of colors.  The robin's egg blue tape came from there.  For 1/4 to 3/8"cotton twill ribbon in colors, try this resource for the 1/4" or this page for the 3/8".   I also love this resource for gorgeous cotton ribbon.  This gift is part of my year of handmade series, where I committed to making only handmade gifts this year.  To see the entire year of handmade gallery, click on the button below or on the sidebar of the blog. 

Below are the diy instructions for the bracelet.  

Materials:

100% wool felt

3/8" cotton ribbon

5/8" cotton twill tape

bead trim

decorative button

complimentary embroidery floss

thread

needle

button

shoestring elastic

Time: 60 minutes

 

Start by making the monogram on the felt.  Print out a cursive letter from your computer for a guide. Attach the bead trim to the felt with complimentary embroidery thread.   

Continue to stitch the bead trim in the form of the letter by twisting the trim and stitching between each bead.

Draw an oval on the back of the felt, around the monogram, and cut out the oval.  Cut another oval of identical size.

Stitch the two pieces of felt together with the blanket stitch. In the blanket stitch, start 1/8" away from the edge, securing in the back.  Pull the floss to the left and hold down with your thumb.

Go around the outside of the felt and come up 1/8" over from where you started, in front of the floss you've pulled aside.

Continue to do this, spacing as consistently as you can, all the way around the oval.

As you come back to where you started, come back up in the same place you started the thread. 

  Go back through in the same area, taking as small a bite as you can, and secure in the back. 

Measure the ribbon and twill tape around the wearer's wrist, leaving 1/4" extra at each end to hem. 

Turn over 1/4" at each end and hem with coordinating thread. 

Attach the ribbon to the twill tape with a running stitch, taking itty bitty bites of the ribbon on the front. Leave stitches about 1/2" apart in the back, along both sides of the ribbon. 

Let the ribbon and twill tape curve around your hand as you stitch, as this is how they will fall over the wearer's wrist. This will prevent gapping.

Attach a button to one end of the bracelet.

 

Attach shoestring elastic in a loop to the other end of the bracelet.  Make sure to come up through the elastic to ensure the elastic doesn't slip.  Trim the excess.

Here the bracelet part complete.  

Now, attach the monogram to the center of the bracelet by taking little bites of the back of the wool felt and sewing through both layers of the bracelet. I attached the monogram with six stitches, three along each side of the oval. Be careful not to bring needle through to the front.

Finis!

I love this bracelet, especially the colors.  Lucky Lily, lucky you, there is still one more part to this present.  It is the simplest pair of barrettes you ever will make.  Still, I figure its worth showing, just to share the idea with you.

Hope you all are having a fabulous weekend.  My hubby is out of town for a guys weekend, so the kiddos and I are running solo!  Looking forward to getting cozy on the couch with them.  

DIY Pearl Hair Combs for Lily - a year of handmade

My niece Lily is beautiful–willowy, with big liquid brown eyes, long stunning mahogany hair.  She loves to dress in an understated way–grays, blacks, and plums, in solids and stripes.  She is turning 11 (okay, she already turned 11 and I'm late sending the gift, but who doesn't like a late birthday present in the mailbox?).

When I was thinking about making something for her, I couldn't get away from thinking how beautiful the cream pearls would look against her brown hair.  For more easy to make handmade gifts with free tutorials and patterns, check out my year of handmade gallery here, or by clicking below.

So, here they are - this is actually part one of a three-part gift.  Get excited for more jewelry goodies to come. Here is the diy for the combs:

Materials:

3/8" twill tape

2 combs

thread

pearl trim (I got this trim at Joann's)

needle

scissors

Time: 60 minutes

 Cut twill tape to cover the comb length twice, angling ends to meet in the middle.

Sew tape to comb, matching folded edge of the twill tape to the edge of the comb.

Attach the twill tape to the comb with thread and needle by going in between each comb tooth and taking a small bite of the twill tape so you can't see the stitch.

You will come to the back between the same comb teeth, but now cross the next comb tooth and repeat the small stitch in the twill tape. Cross to in between the next two comb teeth, stitch, repeat.

The stitches should look like this. 

The front of the comb should look like this. 

 Measure the pearl trim to fit the comb.

Sew the bottom line of the trim to comb in between each bead. You will be going around the comb teeth again.

 For the top part of the trim, go in between the comb and the twill tape to attach.

Finish off the ends.

  Repeat for a second comb, and finis!

I also loved the gray and pearl next to this robins egg blue tissue paper and box.  Pretty!

An Easy Ribbed Stocking Hat for Harrison - a year of handmade gift

I recently received a blog comment about how hard it is to come up with handmade gift ideas for men. Here is one! My first gift for a year of handmade is for a man (well, almost). This crimson hat, though modeled by my hubby, is for my step-brother who just turned 18 and just got in to Harvard!  Go Harrison! I'm so proud of him and thrilled that he can relax for the rest of his senior year. His birthday comes right after Christmas, so its always a scramble to give something to him. As soon as I heard he was heading up to Boston this fall, I knew he needed a Crimson winter hat. He lives in Atlanta now, so he has no idea what he's in for.  brrrrr!

This is a fabulous beginning knitters' project. It is super fast and not that technical.  The pattern consists of knitting and purling in a ribbed pattern until you get to the last row where you knit two stitches together, purl two stitches together around the rib pattern.  Then, you cinch it up and seam the edges together and you're done.  It is also great for experienced knitters as you can whip one out for a last minute gift super easily! You can get a pdf of this free pattern here (this comes up at low resolution in google viewer - click on printer icon in upper left hand corner for high res viewing) or on Ravelry here.

The best thing about this hat is that the sizing is really forgiving.  The hat that fit my hubby's huge noggin above, fit me comfortably.  It was a tad roomy, but it fit.  I almost didn't want to send it to Harrison it was so cozy!

You can get the pdf of the free pattern here (this comes up at low resolution in google viewer - click on printer icon in upper left hand corner for high res viewing) or on Ravelry here.

If you want to see all the handmade gifts I've made this year, check out a year of handmade gallery here.

And, don't forget! if you make the hat or any other great handmade gift this year, upload it here so we can all see it!

Design*Sponge Best of DIY: Notecards and Stationery

Something really wonderful happened this afternoon.  These note cards were featured at the top of design*sponge's best of diy 2011: notecards and stationery.  Now, I don't know about you, but I absolutely adore design*sponge. Grace Bonney has such elegant and beautiful taste, yet uncovers intriguing and unusual finds.  And, I love Kate Pruitt who edits all the diy goodies. To be on the top of any design*sponge list has me over the moon.  It gives me a reason to celebrate!

Still, this reminds me how important it is to take things in stride - both disappointments and successes.  I was actually contacted about these notes by Better Homes & Gardens back in July - which was also thrilling.  They wanted to potentially include them in a handmade hostess gift feature in the November '11 issue.  The opportunity to be featured in a widely distributed magazine blew me away.  I madly worked to get off a set of cards in color schemes they wanted.  

I loved how they turned out.

But, in the end, they did not include them in their issue :(.  That felt like a whopping blow. I think they wanted jewel tones all together, which is not really my thing. These things happen, and how you handle disappointment is just as vital as how you handle successes.  Inevitably, they will both happen.

I think it is especially important to show my children how to gracefully accept defeat or a mistake or a disappointment. I remind them to look at the reason behind their efforts. What it comes down to is why are you doing what you're doing?  Do you love it?  Then, get back up on your feet and keep going, keep practicing, keep doing.

In my case, I garner true and untarnished joy from making something that feels beautiful to me. Its even better if it carries meaning. Whether its knitting or sewing or crafting or photography, pretty much anything I do with my hands, I love it.  As a result, I love this blog.I'm thrilled with my design*sponge exposure and my place in their "best of" list.  Yet, rich as this success makes me feel, and I do want to enjoy it, I'm going to celebrate and then take it in stride, because I never know what's around the next corner.  I'm just gonna keep on doing what I love to do.

Here are my favorite design*sponge best of 2011 stationery picks:

Image above: Brenna’s linoleum-cut monogram correspondence set with vintage wallpaper-lined envelopes

Image above: Derek and Lauren created a personalized stationery suite using samples of pretty vintage wallpapers and blank notecards.