2009 August | Lil Blue Boo

Yummy Tie Dye Colors

August 31, 2009 By Ashley 10 Comments

I’m working on Sienna’s fall clothes and finishing up a new fall pattern so I am running through a ton of t-shirts. My husband gave me a huge stack of dingy white t-shirts and I used oxyclean to brighten them and then I used fushcia and purple RIT dyes to tie dye them before I cut them all up into a million pieces.

I soaked the shirts in soda ash for 30 minutes before dying……then twirled them into spirals and secured with rubber bands.

I drain them on the side lawn…..since we live in the desert the ground doesn’t hold water so the grass makes a great “strainer.”

Filed Under: Recycled, Things I've Made

Guest Blogging at U-Create Today!

August 28, 2009 By Ashley 11 Comments

Come and see my tutorial: How To Make a Distressed Folk Art Painting*

*If you’ve ever been scared to paint before, here is your chance….anyone can do this. Acrylic paint is VERY forgiving. If you mess up, just paint over it!

Filed Under: Featured/News

Flaming Pants

August 27, 2009 By Ashley 32 Comments

I’ve been neglecting making things for boys lately….so I made these little black sweatpants for my newborn nephew today. I made them with an old t-shirt and a layered freezer paper stencil. He’ll look really “tough” at 6 months old with the flames don’t you think? You can make them too…..I scanned and uploaded my flame sketch at the bottom of the post.

Step 1: I cut out two legs from a black t-shirt (you can find my t-shirt pant tutorial here).

Step 2: I cut an 8.5 x 11″ piece of freezer paper and printed my template directly onto it (make sure to print on the paper side…NOT the waxy side or you’ll have a real mess). I cut the template in half…. one flame for each leg.

Step 3: I cut out the large flame from each piece of paper (save the inside flame for later)…..

Step 4: I ironed on my flame stencils to the t-shirt (read this tutorial for more info on freezer paper stenciling, and fabric paint). I ironed a piece of freezer paper underneath as well so the paint didn’t bleed through.

Step 5: I mixed a red/orange color and painted several layers onto the stencil.

Step 6: I cut out the smallest portion of the inside flame.

Step 7: Once the red/orange layer of paint was dry, I ironed the “inside” stencil directly onto the paint and larger stencil.

Step 8: I mixed a little bit of white fabric paint with yellow (to make the yellow more opaque) and painted several layers onto the “inside” stencil.

Step 9: Once all the paint was dry I peeled off the stencils and my flames were finished!

Step 10: I sewed together my t-shirt pants and added the elastic waist (see the t-shirt pant tutorial here for directions).

And put them on my new little “baby manny” that a friend gave me! He sure is frumpy.

Flames Template

*Copyright © 2009 by Ashley Hackshaw. All rights reserved. This applique is for personal and home use only. A license may be purchased for limited production. Please email me at ashley (at) dc.rr.com for more information. Thank you for respecting my copyright!

Filed Under: Children's Clothes, Freezer Paper, Printing/Stenciling, Recycled, Sewing, Things I've Made, Tutorial

Q – T – REX Applique

August 25, 2009 By Ashley 22 Comments

Sienna is all about dinosaurs right now (since seeing Ice Age). Not much out there for girls though….so we had to improvise. I drew the T-Rex skull from a photo of a skeleton…..it probably isn’t very anatomically correct but Sienna yelled “DINOSAUR…….RAWR” when she saw it and that is good enough for me! I was putting “Cutie-Rex” on the shorts but Brett came up with “Q T Rex”….. love it!

The great part is this can be an applique for a girl OR boy!

The tank top is reverse applique and the shorts are regular applique (click on the links for the tutorials). I’ve uploaded my applique sketch at the bottom of the post if you want to make one for your little boy or girl too.

Sienna in her outfit:

From the rear:

Cutie Rex*

Filed Under: Applique, Children's Clothes, Downloads, Sewing, Things I've Made, Tutorial

Today requires…..

August 24, 2009 By Ashley 11 Comments

…..some organization.

Filed Under: Life, Work Spaces

Sewing on Paper II

August 23, 2009 By Ashley 6 Comments

I love how easy Dana’s quilted notecard tutorial is. Yesterday I needed a card for a belated wedding present and used a bunch of white fabric scraps to sew this one up really quick:

Here are some other cards I’ve made by sewing on paper (click here to go to the original post):

Filed Under: Gifts, Sewing Tagged With: cards, craft, paper, sewing, tutorial

A Big Frumpy Mess…….

August 23, 2009 By Ashley 5 Comments

I really wish I was just a LITTLE more patient. I was working on this top….. the idea was sort of an “inside-out” top. Wow….. it was SO cute until I thought it was just a little too flowy….. then I was a rotary-cutter-happy refusing-to-measure-anything-out-stubborn crazy person…. and then it just turned into a disaster. A huge frumpy-lopsided-wonky-frustrating mess. Maybe it can be salvaged into a dress for Sienna……but I am SO OVER this project for now.

It is past midnight now….. I did finish sewing up some samples for a new pattern I am working on. At least something turned out today. Oh, and I just ate some Toll House pie that I brought home from a party tonight. And maybe Sienna will sleep in past 5:30 am tomorrow morning…..could I be so lucky?

Filed Under: Oops, Sewing

A few things that make blog commenting easier…..

August 22, 2009 By Ashley 18 Comments

…..take it or leave it……just suggestions. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

1. Link up your email to your blog profile!

Go to your profile page and add your email address and website….here is what mine looks like:

My “comment” settings are such that I get an email notification for every comment. If the commenter’s email isn’t in their profile, the sender’s email address is listed as “no-reply.” It makes it easier to reply to comments and answer questions when there is an email address with the comment!

For example: Sometimes I’ll get a question and I go to the commenter’s profile and there is no blog listed, no email listed, no way to contact them back. This drives me nuts….. I’m paranoid that they will just think I am rude and ignored their comment.

I love visiting everyone’s blogs too…..but some of you have 3 or 5 blogs and it gets a little overwhelming! You can always link your “primary” blog up as your “website” so you can direct visitors to it.

2. Remove your word verification.

I can’t even count how many times I have left a comment and as I was closing the window I saw that I still had to complete the word verification……and in a hurry I lost my comment. I don’t have word verification, and I don’t get any spam. Maybe if I start getting spam I’ll rethink this, but for now it makes it easier to comment on my blog!

Filed Under: Random Tips

Sienna’s Art Journal

August 22, 2009 By Ashley 5 Comments

Sometimes is it pretty darn difficult to get projects done with a little one running around. Usually I give Sienna her own “miniature” version of whatever I am working on….. and make it slightly less messy (I make big enough messes on my own). A few months ago I gave Sienna her own “art journal.” I change up the supplies each time to keep it interesting and I give her lots of choices on what to use.

Last night Sienna worked on her book with a huge pile of sticker pages (I was catching up on Project Runway):

Inspecting a “googly” eye:

Her finished page, and I’m still sane!

P.S. I wanted Ari to stay on Project Runway! I agree with Micheal Kors….. maybe I’m just not smart enough to “get” her work?

Filed Under: Journaling, Kids Projects, Life, Sienna's Work

Little Sister, Big Sister

August 21, 2009 By Ashley 10 Comments

I made these pillowcases dresses a while back….. and was so surprised to to receive baby Sydney’s birth announcement with both sisters (Samantha is the big sister) wearing them! I had to share these photos….I rarely get to see gifts on the children I actually made them for.

Our friends Mike and Jen found out during pregnancy that Sydney had a congenital heart defect that would need surgery or several surgeries right after she was born. Sydney was born on June 19th and a few days after being born, Sydney’s parents and the cardiologist decided to do a small procedure to add an artery band to control a condition that sometimes causes too much oxygenated blood to the lungs. It is a temporary fix and the band will allow Sydney to be able to grow a little more so that when she is between 4 months and a year old she can have her ventricle defect repaired. Sydney was released from the ICU and was home with her family on July 4th! She is doing so well! She is a healthy little miracle baby Thanks for the cute photos Jen! XOXO