Felt BBQ and More

While I was in Lake Arrowhead in May. Matt's mom and I had a sewing party. It's fun sewing with other people. I've offered to have sewing parties at my house, but sewing seems to be a lost art so nobody is interested. Our project of choice was making more felt food.

I had purchased this pattern a while ago so we decided to make some cheese burgers from this pattern. It was fun and they both turned out so cute. I definitely recommend this pattern and it was definitely worth the money.

When I got home I finished the set by making the hot dog, steak, and grill. The grill was pretty time consuming, but I did it while I was watching TV so I honestly didn't think it was too bad.



Eventually I want to add a soft drink, french fries, and condiments for the hot dog to the set. I'm planning on covering a small Pringles container for the soft drink. If only I had more time! Maybe I'll post a tutorial for them when I get around to them. This will definitely be after I'm done with my MBA in August.

Matt's mom and I also made a felt orange. We used this tutorial for the orange peel and this tutorial for the orange wedges. One tip is to make the orange peel first and then make the orange wedges. We ended up only needing 4 sections to fill our orange instead of 6 which is what the tutorial said. We also gathered the top to make an orange naval because our oranges ended up looking funky at the top. Maybe we did something wrong not sure? Overall adding the gathering at the top fixed it and it turned out so cute. I'm in love!



I also finished three other random felt food items. Felt strawberries, eggs, and a baked potato. I love just making random stuff to add to the collection and when I eat real food I think about how to make a felt version. I'm having a blast. If it doesn't entertain my kids it at least entertained me!

I used this tutorial for the strawberries. However the pattern printed way too small so I had to play with it to get it the right size. I guess I can't complain since it's free, but it was frustrating and I had to make a couple test strawberries to make sure it was big enough. I wasn't about to embroider all those french knots on them if they didn't turn out!

I used this tutorial for the eggs in the egg carton. I believe I used the larger egg size and it worked out perfectly using the edge of my presser foot. Very easy and fast. Also this seems to be the favorite felt food item with kids. Strange I know, but they love taking the eggs out of the carton.

The baked potato was pretty easy. I basically just sewed a white oval and stuffed it. Then I sewed a matching brown oval and cut down the center. Then I sewed some yellow fleece together in a small square for the butter. Pretty simple.

Making your shirts actually fit

So over the past week Matt and I have stopped by the Van Hansen outlet. They were having a mega sale and had some really cute T-shirts for $8. Problem was they didn't fit well. For some bizarre reason their shirts tend to be wider and baggier than most shirts even in extra-small. I decided to buy them anyways. I guess I fell in love with the cute ruffles and yoyos on them.

Today when I went to go wear it I looked in the mirror and sort of regretted buying them. They made me look fatter than I actually am. So I went on a search on how to take in a t-shirt. I came across this video. I then took a leap of faith and tried it out.

I was so surprised when after 5 minutes of work it looked great! I wish I knew how easy this was before!

Thank you youtube! Now I don't have to look frumpy and can enjoy my $8 shirts. I might just have to go through my closet and make more of my shirts fit perfectly.

Before

ew I'm even embarassed to post the before. Not flattering!

After



*The pictures don't show off the drastic change as much as in person. Just take my word for it. It was a huge difference. I took in 2 inches on both sides! Yes ironing does make a difference too, but aren't all before pictures supposed to look awful so everyone is shocked with the final result?