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Meet Amber Lynn from Posies and Planes.

Her sweet little Tillie turns one today (at least I think it’s today…maybe I made that part up).  Lucky for us, they celebrated last weekend, because look what she wore!

The fabric covered party hat tutorial can be found here.

And, the applique template for the number 1 is here.

The bloomers?  Maybe if we all ask nicely, she’ll tell us how she made those.  They might be (and by “might be” I mean “for sure are”) my favorite part!

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We use the Alfred books. They measure approximately 9” by 12”. If your books are bigger, you’ll need to make adjustments.

All seams are 1/2", unless otherwise noted.

Out of the exterior fabric, interior (lining) fabric, AND interfacing (I used fusible fleece) cut the following pieces:

2 – 11” X 14” (front and back)
1 – 13.5” X 14” (flap)
2 – 11” X 3.5” (side panels)
1 – 14” X 3.5” (bottom panel)

Out of exterior fabric only:

1 – 5” X 28” (strap)

Out of interfacing only:

1 – 4” X 28” (strap)

You’ll also need 2 – 2” pieces of velcro.

Here we go!

Embellish your exterior fabric front flap as desired. I used freezer paper here and applique here. My piano keys template can be found here. Be sure one of the 14” sides is the bottom.

Apply interfacing to either the exterior fabric pieces or the lining fabric pieces….whichever you prefer. Some people like the exterior fabric to be “stiffer” while some prefer it stays smooth and any fusing “bubbles” are hidden on the lining. I’m going to fuse it to the exterior pieces.

Fuse the strap interfacing right down the center of the strap fabric, leaving approximately 1/2” along each long side.

Next we’re going to sew velcro to your interior flap piece and your exterior front piece. Place the corner of your velcro 2” up and 2” in from each corner.

Sew in place.

If you want to add a pocket to the lining, now is the time to do that, too. I cut a piece of fabric about 13” X 7” and folded it in half, right sides together.

Sew from folded edge, around 3 sides. Leave a 2” opening along the bottom (marked by pins, which are barely visible).

Clip corners, turn right side out and press.

Center on back lining piece and stitch in place, leaving top (folded) edge open.

Next, get both flap pieces. Place right sides together.

Along each bottom corner, mark 1/2” seam allowances. Using a cup or bowl, mark curve.

Sew along 3 sides, leaving top open and following curves you just drew. Trim seam allowances. Turn right side out and press. Set aside.

Next, the strap. Press the “extra” fabric along the edges over the interfacing.

Fold the whole thing in half lengthwise and press.

Stitch the open edge shut, about 1/4” from the edge.

Sew 1/4” from the folded edge, too. Set strap aside.

Now let’s assemble the body of the bag. Take the front piece and make sure the velcro is at the bottom. Place a side piece on the right edge, right sides facing. Start at the top of the bag and stitch.

Stop approximately 1/2” from the bottom corner. Be sure to backstitch!

Fold the corner back at a 45 degree angle like this:

Put the bottom piece on top of the folded side piece and the front of the bag, right sides facing, and stitch, starting about 1/2” in. Be sure to backstitch!

Stop 1/2” from the next corner and do the same thing, only attaching the remaining side piece and then sewing all the way to the top edge. You should now have something that looks like this:

Attach the back piece to the side and bottom pieces the same way.

You’ll notice once that’s done that the bottom corners are still open.

Fold them flat and stitch them closed.

Trim the bulky seams.

Turn right side out and set aside.

Assemble the lining pieces the same way, but leave a 4” opening along one of the bottom seams for turning.

Center the flap piece, matching right sides, on the back of the body of the bag. Make sure it is NOT on the side with the velcro (that side is the front).

Use some pins to hold it if you want.

Center one end of the strap on each side of the bag.

Here’s what you should have now:

Slip that into the lining (which should still be wrong side out).

Match seams. Pin all the way around (but you’ll probably want to take out the pins you used to position the flap and the strap, since they’d get trapped inside when you’re sewing).

Sew along the top edge all the way around.

Turn the bag right side out through the hole you left in the bottom of the lining.

Pull the lining all the way out.

Sew the hole closed. You could hand stitch it so nothing’s visible, but who really looks inside the bottom of your bag anyway? I just do it quickly by machine.

Tuck the lining back down in and press the top edge.

Top stitch along the top edge, about 1/4 from the seam.

Enjoy your bag!

Manly:

Or girly:

Or sick of mom taking pictures:

Perhaps we have bigger issues than not wanting to practice piano….

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Cut your front flap piece 14” w X 13.5” h.

Cut a piece of background fabric (mine’s light gray) 4” tall by 14” wide.  Back with Wonder Under.

Draw a line every inch with a water soluble marker.

Peel off the paper backing…you don’t want to sew through it.  Sew on the lines you just drew with black thread.

Fuse to flap piece, approximately 1/2” from bottom edge.

Out of black fabric backed with Wonder Under, cut your black keys.  They measure 2 1/4” tall by 1/2” wide.  Fuse in place.  Stitch around edges.

Stitch around edges of keyboard, too.  I used a tight zig zag.

Rest of tute coming soon!

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My grandparents stopped by this morning, so the rest of the tute is going to have to wait a day or two, but you’ll need time for your paint to dry anyway, right?

The flap piece for the bag measures 14” w X 13.5” h. You’ll notice that I had mine turned the wrong way, so my keys are at a different angle on the actual bag.

Here is a link to the piano keys template. It’s only one octave. You can repeat as necessary.

To get the same look as on my bag, you’ll want to trace the whole thing onto freezer paper TWICE. Then, cut out just the white keys. Place and iron them onto your fabric individually, leaving small even gaps between them…like this:

Then, take a piece of freezer paper for the top and place the straight edge an even distance from the tops of the keys. Iron in place. Do the same with a piece along the bottoms of the keys.

Paint and let dry.

Freezer Paper Primer here.

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Keller’s been taking piano lessons for a month or two now. The poor kid’s been schlepping his books in a Target bag. He finally demanded I do something about it.

“Mom! Don’t make it girly like Macy’s! It needs to be manly!”

Who knew 7 year olds were so worried about their masculinity?

So, here’s what I came up with.

Manly messenger style piano bag tutorial and manly freezer paper piano keys stencil coming tomorrow…or something like that.

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I really need to take a minute to thank all of you that commented and emailed me about my sweet Campbell and his SPD.

I’m reading and responding as I get the chance.  It’s slow going, though.  Just know that I appreciate it all greatly.

Although I was a little angry in my last post (that fabric store incident set me off, LOL!), I’m really OK with everything.  Finally having a name for it isn’t going to change my day to day life.  I’m insanely blessed and I recognize that every day.  Seriously…have you seen my kids?  Practically perfect. 

And now the part where I ramble/answer some of the questions I got the most:

We HAVE seen a developmental pediatrician (not covered by insurance..yay).  She’s the one that gave us a referral for the OT evaluation.

We HAVE contacted the school district.  They said that since it’s not a speech issue, they can’t help.  Once we meet with the psychologist (in another month…he was booked like 3 months out, also not covered by insurance) and everything’s “official”, we’ll revisit that situation.

We HAVE had an OT evaluation.  They say he needs therapy, but they don’t have any openings.  After they get insurance approval, or maybe *if* they get insurance approval, we’ll go on a wait list.  The wait is generally in the 2 month range.

We DO have an appointment scheduled with a psychologist.  I guess that’s the standard procedure?  They also suspect anxiety (which given who his  mother and father are, I’d say “DUH!”).

He currently attends 3 year old preschool and does well (in fact, his teacher called me to tell me how fabulous he was in class).  He just loses it when he gets home.  The 2 hours of keeping it together is hard on him.

I’m wading through The Out of Sync Child, but it’s not keeping my attention, LOL!  And, let’s face it….there are A LOT of distractions around  here.

Anyway, thanks.  I appreciate all of you.

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