DIY Pillow Pet

Who doesn't want to take their pet with them everywhere?  This is a great way to bring your favorite animal in plush form to work or maybe vacation where our little friends are not always welcome...or it can just stay at home too as part of your home decor.  Plus, it's just a great way to put their cute mug on a pillow.  It may be verging on crazy, but I think it's just perfect for anyone who loves their pet(s).  I know I'm not the only one.

 

Materials:

pet photo

iron on transfer paper

computer program and ink-jet printer

fabric: solid colored cottons or jerseys work well

scissors

needle & thread/sewing machine

polyfil

I chose the best photo to use for my pillow and cropped it with a computer photo program.  Some may have options for printing on special paper like the photo transfer paper, if not I am sure you can just make sure that the photo fits when printed.  

 

Cut printed photo paper around the actual cropped photo.  You can certainly cut closer to the

photo if you choose.  It's definitely your preference.

 

Iron on the photo paper picture side down.  Make sure to read the directions for proper application!

 

After several minutes peel the back of the paper, and the photo is transferred onto the fabric.

 

Cut one inch around the photo.  Make sure to cut two pieces: front and back.

 

Time to sew.  You can just sew by hand or use a sewing machine which will certainly be

more sturdier.  The picture should be "sandwiched" in the middle before sewing both pieces together.

 

Make sure to leave an opening.  

 

Turn the pillow right side out, using the opening that was left unsewn then fill with polyfil to 

desired puffiness.

 

Darling's face is now on a pillow!

Here's Darling posing with her pillow.
As you can see the pillow version of Darling has a green tint to it.  It may be due to the ink in the printer.
Note to self: change photo to grayscale next time.

The pillow will be traveling on holiday with my aunt, and Darling will be staying with us.

I may end up making a pillow of each of the dogs in my family; some standing, sitting, sleeping....so many ideas.  

Made It: Brass Fastener Clutch

Materials I used:

vinyl

grid/template I made on the computer

tape/duck tape

box cutter/exacto knife

old magazine

hammer (optional)

fabric (lining)

zipper

1 I used a rectangular piece of vinyl folded in half.  There will be a front and a back.  Honestly I found this piece in the remnants section at my local JoAnn Fabrics.  I'm sure you can use whatever type of sturdy material you'd like to use.

2  Made sure that my grid/table was centrally located on the top side of my folded vinyl.  This is the front part of my clutch.

3  To make sure that my grid/table didn't move around I put some duck tape to keep it in place.  

4  I put my old magazine inside my folded vinyl to make sure that I only punctured through the front part.  Then, I started poking through where the lines intersected.  Side note:  Make sure that you have enough brass fasteners for your grid or else you'll have a problem later.

5  After puncturing the vinyl with the box cutter, it was easier to put the brass fastener.

6  I checked the "wrong" side of the material to make sure that the brass fastener went 

7  After putting through all of the fasteners, I lined them up horizontally

8  I also made sure that the back of the fasteners were flat with a small hammer.  Remember to use an old magazine on the underside of the material.  

9  Time to flip it back to the front part of the bag and take the grid and tape off!! 

10  Once the paper and tape are off then I sewed it into a clutch with lining and zipper.

Finished product completed.

Perfect for the essentials for a night out on the town!

Fancy Brass

Studs are in.  No doubt about it.  It's on shoes, clothes, bags, accessories. Then the lightbulb over my head went on.  I wanted to make my very own studded clutch with brass fasteners.  It was quite a process since my crafty OCD kicked in especially when adding the school supply bling (which I'm surprised if people still use them) onto the vinyl.  The sewing was the easy part - surprisingly.  I'm thrilled with my end result and has that edgy and simple look that I like.  Can't wait to use this little number.  Maybe when I go out for dinner with the husband or maybe when I go out with the girls at a rooftop bar??  The outfit possibilities are endless and my clutch collection is suddenly getting bigger.

Tutorial coming up soon.  What do you think so far?

Here Birdy Birdy

If you've been keeping up with my posts, you may already know that I love joining craft exchanges.  Especially the Craftaholics Anonymous Craft Exchange Summer 2012 hosted by Linda of Craftaholics Anonymous, who's relentless efforts always make the experience truly worthwhile for all of the participants.  This time, she's joined forces with Elfster to make the craft exchange event go smoother.  Imagine trying to match up hundreds of crafters out there with email address and mailing addresses?? Hello?! That is a job in itself.  Elfster helped her out a little bit with this event, and I think it went pretty well...well enough that I'm excited to join the next one!

My craft exchange giftee loves birds, bird houses, and accessories.  I wanted to incorporate some sewing and crocheting in my gift.  I made a hand sewn bird from the Spool Sewing website and added my own addition of the legs with floral wire.  I like how it turned out since it's able to stand on its own.  It was a pretty easy project so I made another type of bird, this time with my own owl pattern.  I added a loop on top so that it can be hung as a decoration or even an ornament.  I also made her a "delachic" signature necklace with a crochet covered wooden bead on a silver plated chain.  My giftee was very excited to receive her package and so was her little daughter!!! Mission completed!  

Big shout out to the lovely Linda of Craftaholics Anonymous who single handedly organized another successful craft exchange.  I'm down for the next one coming up in November.  If you'd like to participate or see what others have crafted for their partners, please check it out and you can even get an email reminder when it's coming up!!