First Communion is coming up quickly, only two weeks away, and I just finished the dress over the weekend.  Now it is time to make the veil, a fun and quick project that could also be adapted to make a wedding veil for a little girl’s dress-up box.

• 1 yard tulle 45″ wide-  the finer the tulle the nicer it will drape
  
• 1/4″ satin ribbon (5 yards)
• thread
• fabric padded headband
• assorted millinery flowers -optional

Step 1: Fold in half width-wise to a size 45″  x 18″ and then fold in half again to have a square 22.5 x 18.”  Lay this on a cutting mat and with a rotary cutter cut a gently sloping quarter circle to give the veil shape.

First fold to 45 x 18

2nd fold to 22.5 x18

cutting of veil shape

Step 2: Machine sew 1/4″ satin ribbon to edge of tulle.  Start sewing at the widest point (at edge of 45″ width point.)  It will be gathered at the headband and hidden.

It might be a little difficult to start in the machine, so begin with an inch of ribbon under the presser foot.  Trim excess ribbon prior to making the full circle to overlap the ribbon.  Continue feeding the ribbon over the edge of the tulle and stitch all the way around the tulle.

Step 3: Fold veil to the position where you would like the tiers to hit, about a 6″ difference gives a nice look or keep them even.  Baste along the folded edge.  This will be where the veil is gathered.  I did this by hand but you could quickly machine baste.

Step 4: Evenly gather veil and hand stitch to the headband.  This is most time consuming step (still only about 15-20 minutes).  I found the easiest way to evenly gather was to tack the veil to the headband at the end points and center point and then distribute the gathers between them hand stitching in place. Be sure to stitch evenly in place to the back edge of the head band to conceal stitch and leave a nice edge.

Step 5: Optional additional millinery flowers may be hand sewn to the headband to cover any stitching and add some pop to the veil and customize it to match any details of the dress.

To make a wedding veil the same techniques apply, just with loads more tulle, for example use 60″ wide tulle and 1.5- 6 yards, depending on length and number of layers.

TaDaa!

Finished veil modeled by a very silly girl!

It’s that time of year again when Valentine’s Day crafts abound. This year I decided to experiment with stitchable cards because they look so cute and there are many pink and red fabrics that work for this holiday.

I started with blank, white notecards.

Then, with a pinking shear, I cut out my design from the fabric I had chosen and taped it in the center to my card. Use a cookie cutter, a design already on the fabric or a stencil as your guide, if you do not want to free-hand the design.

Next, I placed the card on top a piece of felt.  With a needle I punched evenly spaced holes through the fabric and card.

Collect your floss and start stitching!

I used a running stitch for my fabric designs, a back stitch for the border of the heart card and a cross-stitch for the border of the bear card.

Another idea: leave the top of the heart open and insert a stick of gum or another type of candy.

So, I love the idea of chalkcloth, but the idea of writing with chalk just gives me the willies.  The mess of the chalk dust has stopped me from having fun with this fabric.  But this weekend, I found a solution, Chalk Ink markers.  The name is a bit misleading since they are not chalk, but they can be used on chalkboards and chalkcloth and just need to be washed off with a wet cloth.

Once I discovered the markers, I was immediately onto a project, I’ve been wanting to do–creating a message center for the family so we can keep track of things to be done and school reminders.

I already had a fabric-covered magnetic memo board, that I had made a few years ago and decided to rework it.  Go to your local Goodwill, re-use center, or Salvation Army and find a huge frame with a picture (you need the insert!).  Mine cost about $5.00 for a  24″ x 30 frame, which I spray painted white.  I then purchased a piece of sheet metal from the local home improvement store (less than $10) and with a metal snips cut it to size and glued it with a spray adhesive to the insert.

Before! fabric covered board.

In my case, I just peeled back the fabric and revealed the the sheet metal.

Sheet metal for magnetic surface

Used a can of spray adhesive and was very generous with the spraying  of the sheet metal.  I then rolled out the cut to size piece of chalkcloth on the adhesive covered sheetmetal and smoothed  it out (no air bubbles!) and let dry for about 1 hour.

Chalkcloth covered sheet metal for reminder board

Insert in the frame, secure  and TaDaa!

TaDaa! finished magnetic chalkboard

Time into this project after all the supplies were gathered about an hour or so of actual work.  Cost less than $30.

My kids love the board, checking to see what things they need to do and then the satisfaction of crossing them off or erasing them.  Of course lots of funny messages from Dad have been written along with loads of drawings already.

I made up some of these fun notebooks to have on hand for hostess gifts and other last minute gifts of appreciation. I had received one myself years ago and still use it to organize all my computer passwords!

1. Lay notebook of choice open on a table and cut oilcloth with pinking shears so that it is 3/8” bigger along the top and bottom and 3” wider on the sides.

2. Fold sides in to make flaps and tape into place to secure while sewing.

3. Sew along top and bottom of oilcloth, securing the flaps into place.

4. Insert notebook and TaDaa!

Tip: If you wish to put embellishments on the front of the notebook, sew them into place first before sewing.

I’ve also made these with cotton fabric. The procedure is the same, except first double fold and sew the fabric around the perimeter to prevent fraying.

Happy Holidays!