My tiny little daughter has started toilet training, and being 20lbs at 2 years old all the commercial panties are too big for her, so I made her some.  I used an Ottobre pattern which was super easy.  The Elmo fabric is quilting cotton, the red is t-shirt fabric.  I edged them in fold-over elastic (the greatest invention ever).  I lined the front and gusset with bamboo fleece to make them slightly absorbent. 



The inside:


Another pair:

On a whim I picked up a copy of Somerset Apprentice about a month ago because it looked good, and was really inspired to try one of the tutorials (you can see the original work here).

I did it a little differently because I didn't want it to be all yellow.  

This is my first time doing anything like this so comments and encouragement and ways to improve are welcome.


Some close ups:

So I will admit that I really have no clue what I am doing with felting, but for the second time ever I am wet felting with some roving I bought years ago. 

It's not going too badly except that I keep having layers that separate from the rest during felting and have in a few spots felted as their own layer. 

Any ideas what I might be doing wrong or what I can do to fix it?

Has anyone ordered fabric from fabric.com?  What's the quality like?  They seem to have great prices but that is making me skeptical of the quality.   

I've heard that most people use 1/4 seam allowances for piecing quilts.  Is this true?  What do you use?  How does your machine handle small seam allowances (mine likes to chew them...)?  Any tips?     

I'm currently following a project tutorial in Somerset apprentice and it includes using ink at the end, but I have do idea how to use ink.

I bought a little bottle of ink (I think it has a dropper in it), and realized I have to idea how to apply it, what it will look like when I try to use it, or even where on my project I should consider putting it.

Can anyone help me with this?

[Supplies:]

*Note for all former, current, and future employers, I do not condone the use of work time or office supplies for personal projects, this is merely a turn of phrase to emphasize how common the supplies are. 

Supplies:
Computer and Printer (or another source of images to stencil)
Scotch Tape
Scissors and exacto knife
Acrylic Paint
Paint Brush
Something to put your image on (in my case cotton fabric)
Toddler for stealing craft supplies is optional (and not typically found at work)

I bet all these things are currently in/on your computer desk (I’ll wait while you round them up so we can begin).

Step 1:  Decide what you want to stencil and steal find some online images that suit your desires (please only do this for personal use, I do not condone stealing other’s images for selling or anything like that). 

Remember that simple images (ones without a lot of small details or interior parts) stencil better.

Using some fancy photo editing software (like Paint and MS Word) prepare your images for printing by making sure they are the size you want the image to be, and by ensuring you aren’t wasting a lot of ink printing things you don’t need (we don't want to be wasteful of office supplies...). 



Step 2: Gather Supplies (and if a toddler is present, make sure to keep your eyes on the acrylic paint at all times—don’t say I didn’t warn you)





Step 3: Cut a rectangle around the image leaving a border.



Step 4: Cover both sides with a layer of scotch tape.





Step 5: Cut out the area you want to stencil.  An exacto knife is handy for this but you could use scissors (keep in mind whatever you cut out is where the paint will go).  If your image has interior pieces cut them out careful and keep them for when you stencil. 





Step 6: Place stencil in desired location and apply paint using a stamping sort of motion.  Note: you need to make sure you are holding the edges of the image while painting or it may bleed beyond the edges of your stencil. 





If your image has interior pieces, use your original image (I printed it out a second time) as a guide for placing them on your printing surface.  Use your fingers to hold the pieces in place as you apply the paint (this was awkward and messy, and to be honest didn’t turn out all that great). 





Now you not only have unique stencils but a great way to craft while at work, but I didn’t tell you to do that. 

[Ingredients:]

I forget exactly how the idea for this came about, but it has become a favourite special winter meal around here, and tastes great over mashed potatoes. 



The recipe is based off of this one with some very obvious changes. 

Ingredients:

Note: The mix of vegetables and amounts vary every time I make it, use things in the quantities you will enjoy and base amounts on what will fit in your Crockpot or pot)
Sweet Onion
Celery
Garlic
White Mushrooms (a lot)
Portobello Mushrooms (3-4)
Carrots
Parsnips
Turnip
Sweet Potatos
Potatoes (a few for in the stew and more for mashing (ones for mashing are not in this photo))
Water (not pictured)



McCormick’s All Vegetable Beef Bouillon (typically 2 cubes)
1 Large Can of Guinness (other beers might work but I don’t drink the stuff so I cannot offer any advice in this area)
Thickener such as easy blend flour (pictured above) or Veloutine (pictured below... oops)
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Thyme (a few shakes...)
Rosemary (a few shakes)
Malt Vinegar (1Tbs) (not pictured because I forgot it...)

Directions:
Chop Onion and Celery and Fry in a bit of oil with minced garlic until softened.


Chop the rest of the veg into approximately ½ cube-like pieces and put in crockpot.


Add onion mixture to crockpot and fill with water
Add Guinness and bouillon cubes and stir


Cook for 3-4 hours on High or 6-8 on Low




Add thickener to give the gravy base your desired consistency (like a thin-medium gravy)




Add Seasonings to taste and let cook a little bit longer.

As it is finishing make mashed potatoes


Serve Stew over Mashed potatoes with some nice Red Wine


Or milled up in a food mill with a side of avocado and crackers if you prefer

I volunteer at a fair-trade store and always love all the scarves that we sell, but have always been nervous about trying to wear them.  I figure I am not coordinated enough to make it work.  So I was very excited when in the February issue of Marie Claire there was a short article on Lemlem and was inspired by how they used scarves to make simple clothing articles.



To be honest, I didn’t think this would turn out to be anything special, but I love it.  It was the fastest thing I have ever made, and I think it turned out pretty well.  Now I just need summer to come so I can wear it and not freeze.





Pattern and Instructions:
Supplies:
1 Rectangular Scarf (mine measured 13” by 60”)  The width needs to be greater than the circumference of your arm, and the length determines the length of your sleeves (for reference I am 5’3/4” tall). 
Note you could probably also use fabric but would need to finish the edges.
A sewing machine (unless you love hand sewing—it probably wouldn’t be that bad to hand sew)
A measuring tape
Thread and pins
Up to 1 hour of time (seriously this took less than 1 hour from start to finish) 

Directions:
Step 1: Take some measurements:
Measurement A: From Armpit to armpit (can be done across your front or back)
   For me this was 16”
Measurement B: From Armpit to Elbow
   For me this was 8”

Step 2: A little bit of Math
Divide Measurement A by 2 (for me this is 8”) (we’ll call this number C)
Divide Measurement B by 2 (for me this is 4”) (we’ll call this number D)

Step 3: Mark the Centre Point on the long sides of the scarf

Step 4: Fold the Scarf with wrong sides together such that you have a long narrow rectangle

Step 5: On each side of the Centre Mark Measure (C+D+1”) (this is where your seam will start)

Step 6: Pin the fabric together along the length of your seams

Step 7: Sew both seams with a half inch or less seam allowance

Step 8: Cut threads, turn right side out.

Step 9: Put on your awesome new bolero and show it off.   

I want to put together an art journalling started kit for a 14 year old family friend and would love some thoughts on what to put in it.  I can't spend a fortune, and am not certain the recipient would have ever been exposed to art journalling before.  I was looking at a couple of books to possibly include ( this one and this one )  would these be a good teen friendly introduction?  Are there better ones? 

What supplies would be essential to include?

Thanks everyone for your help.