7 Layer Studio

Ghoulish Grub

 

I hosted a little (okay, not so little) Halloween party for the neighborhood kids today, it was a lot of work but so much fun to do!  We had all sorts of themed foods, most of the ideas coming from FamilyFun.com.  Some of them, like the worm bowl, were a little too convincing...they're just sliced hotdogs boiled in water to make them curl, but most of the kids wouldn't touch them!  Even my own children, who love hotdogs, repeatedly declined even trying them...I guess they were a little too real to be appetizing.

 

Don't they look disgustingly great?

The dish that the worms are in is a trifle bowl...makes you want to dig right in, no?

They were served with Blood Sauce (ketchup) on the side in a separate little bowl.

 

These bones were made from the refrigerated breadstick dough you can buy at any supermarket.  I pulled at each dough section gently, made slits at either end and then rolled/formed the rounded bone ends until they looked right.  I sprinkled the tops with a little garlic salt/parsley combo.

Next time I'll butter the tops of the dough a little bit before sprinkling the seasoning on. 

The store-bought dough wasn't as tasty as homemade, but with an entire haunted menu to deal with, I was very grateful for the convenience of the dough-in-a-can!

 

 

Here are my tiered plates all loaded up with gross goodies...cheese stick witches fingers, cracker spiders, and monster mouths.

 

These were the most time-consuming project on the menu, but so much fun!  Each mozzerella cheese stick was cut in half, with a place for the olive fingernail carved out of the curved end of the cheese.  The knuckle creases were carefully carved out as well.  The olives were sliced twice lengthwise to create 4 sections, and a small portion of each quarter was cut off the bottom.  The "nails" were attached to the cheese with a touch of cream cheese.  Note:  in retrospect, it would have been better if I had placed the cut olive pieces on paper towel prior to putting on cheese, as it would have absorbed some extra moisture (thus making it adhere better to cream cheese and cheese stick).

 

I made little peanut butter sandwich tombstones, and piped chocolate frosting on them.  My kids didn't really get the whole RIP thing, even after I told them what it stood for.  The edge of this dish was embellished with a crepe paper "skirt" made by folding up a section of crepe paper, then cutting the fringe along one edge.  I then wrapped a narrow black ribbon around the top, but since the edge of the plate was curved and at a slight angle, the ribbon didn't want to cooperate very well, even with lots of bitty pieces of double-rolled tape to hold it in place.

 

I had a great time finding ways to elevate the dishes; it has such a great "fancy shmancy" effect, and it makes the table display much more interesting...not to mention the extra opportunity for more ribbons!!

The spider cake is sporting another version of the crepe paper fringe + ribbon.

 

The wormy spider brew was a big hit - the kids loved the taste of it as much as they loved the spiders and worms in it!  It's very simple to make:  I used a packet of strawberry Kool-Aid, a half-cup of sugar (instead of the a whole cup like it says on the packet), added about a quart of water and a container of frozen lemonade concentrate and stirred until the lemonade dissolved.  Then came about a liter of 7-Up, a bunch of ice and more water until it tasted right.  Not too sweet, and with a fun kick from the carbonation and lemonade!

You can't really tell from this photo, but I didn't actually use a punchbowl.  It's an inverted lid to one of those chip/dip and/or cake platter combos (I was using the other half as an elevated graveyard for the tombstones) and I have it resting on another bowl with ribbons sticking out all over from beneath the glass dish.  A very versatile piece of dishware - I have used mine in so many ways.

No kid's party is complete without cupcakes.  I got lazy and just used some little toothpick cupcake decorations I bought at Walmart.

I know, you're probably disappointed in me (and you thought I was such a purist) but hey - efficiency and convenience has to take precedence sometimes.

 

Speaking of Walmart, that's where I got these darling little paper bags. (and the tablecloth, and the paper plates and napkins...)  There's nothing in them (much to the disappointment of the kiddos), but they really brightened up the table.  To form the larger square ones, I put a square glass vase inside temporarily until I was able to fold the top down crisply like a present, then I removed the vase and carefully taped it shut and added a ribbon (of course).  The smaller one is just folded over twice with holes punched in the top to thread the ribbon through.

 

This spiderweb cake is just a single 8 inch layer of cake.  I froze it, and made a quick icing with a bit of soft butter, about 2 cups powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk (sorry, I didn't measure so I can't give exact portions).  The consistency wasn't extremely thin, but it wasn't as stiff as normal icing either.  I dumped the whole little bowl of icing onto the middle of the frozen cake, and it slowly oozed its way down the sides (with a little bit of encouragement with a spoon).  The cold temperature of the cake resolidified the butter in the icing so it set up pretty quickly.  Then I just swirled some chocolate icing on the white icing and used a butterknife to make the lines distort a little bit, retracing the knife marks with more chocolate icing.  Very quick and easy!

I almost forgot the Monster Mouths!  After cutting the wedges of apple, I placed them in a solution of lemon juice and water (the acid prevents the cut apples from browning) for about a minute.  Again, no specific measurements; I think it was about one part lemon juice to 4 parts water.  The almond slivers kept breaking when I'd try to shove them into the apple, so I took a butter knife and poked it into the flesh of the apple to make grooves for the almond slices.  That technique worked much better!

Here's my good friend Andrea helping the kids with the most popular item (!), the punch.  People think we're sisters, and sometimes get us confused because they can't tell us apart, which is very funny to both of us.

Since it's almost midnight yet again, I think I'd better call it a night and post the games portion of the party tomorrow.  I hope you were able to find something fun to treat your kids to on or before the big trick-or-treating excursion!  Children get so excited about fun and creative ways to make themed food, and it's really not that hard to do.  So go make some bones, worms, or brains for your kids and have a Happy Halloween!

A Prelude to Halloween

 

We went to a Halloween party last night, and the kids got to don their costumes a week early.  Our neighbor, dressed as a darling little black kitty, came along too.  Yes, that's Hyrum and yes, he is a banana.  Don't ask me why, but that is what he was wanting to be all week long (his previous ideas were things like broccoli, a tree, a racecar, and a dinosaur).  I waited until the last minute to make his because I knew he'd be changing his mind often...and sure enough, as soon as it was finished he decided he'd rather be a dinosaur!  Poor little guy, it's not the most comfortable costume ever created (slight understatement) because it's, well, a little on the top-heavy side.....

 

The time I spent actually planning and sewing the shape was a fraction of the time I spent trying to fix the technical difficulties of the thing.  I grossly miscalculated the weight of so much stuffing shoved up into the top of the banana to make it stiff.  I had already cut the face and armholes, though, so I couldn't just take some of the stuffing out to make the top less heavy and cut fabric off the bottom.

After about 6 fittings, I was finally able to get the built-in hat and support tethers that went under his arms all figured out, but as you can imagine by that time Hyrum was very very sorry he had asked to be a banana!  He was a good sport and posed for the camera, but there was not a Banana Boy at the party that evening.  (sigh)

Guess I'd better get busy making a more comfortable costume for trick-or-treating night!

 

Hazel decided that she was not going to be a candy corn witch either.  This is the one shot I was able to get of her with her hat actually on her sweet little head (sort-of, her hat ribbons are all askew), as she proved that her hat-removing ability was faster than the speed of shutter.  :-)

Here's a close-up of the candy-corn hat I embellished for Hazel, as you'll never get a good look at it actually on her head!  I tied extra ribbons on the hat and made the felt candy corns, with a simple blanket stitch to hold them together. 

 

Here is Hazel demonstrating once again how to remove one's hat. 

 

 

Hazel started walking the day of her birthday, and it's so fun to see her teeter and totter all over the house.  She's already becoming quite a little speedster, and her favorite game is pulling everything within her reach down off the tables, desks, shelves, and pantry.  Great game, Hazel!

 

Eliza has decided that she can't be a true candy corn witch without a pocket in her apron in which she can store her candy corn, so after these photos were taken I went back and sewed a little pocket on for her precious cargo.

 

The pocket is stitched with a little bit of narrow elastic in the top seam (I pulled on the elastic while stitching it, so when the tension is released the elastic gathers the fabric), so it will do a better job keeping the candy inside the pocket without spilling it when Eliza jumps around.

I'll try and do a quick little tutorial to explain exactly how it's done within the coming week, so stay tuned!

The People of Chin

So my friend Edith posted these hilarious pics of her kids doing the Chin People thing, I know it's been done before but it is always so funny!  I think they did a particularly convincing job, and since her kids have a variety of hair colors and textures, it makes it all the more interesting.  You can go see all of the Chin Family at her blog.  The stuff of memories. 

As for projects of my own, I've been kind-of spinning my wheels in that category this week.  I have several things almost done, but not ready for sharing yet.  It's been a busy week, what with Halloween costumes to make, the activity involved in trying to sell our house and find a new house in DC area, and an emotional one too because one of the daughters of our dear neighbors has been diagnosed with multiple types of cancer.  

Lily is only 3 years old, and it is just heart-breaking.  Since they just recently discovered the tumors, there is still a lot of uncertainty about what is likely to happen and what treatments they will need to use.  She came out of her first surgery last week, with more to come.  She's a trooper, though, and one of the most strong-willed, spunky, and loving kids I have ever met.  If anyone can beat the odds, Lily can!  Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers during this extremely difficult time in their lives.

Ghosties

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I drew up these little ghosts for a project at Eliza's new school (for those of you who read about my previous struggles with Eliza's original school, the principal and the new teacher she got shifted to, I ended up removing Eliza from the school altogether and was able to get her into a nearby elementary school that is MUCH better!  The environment at her new school is wonderful, and her teacher is great.  What a relief).  I thought I might as well post them for everyone to use (personal use only, please!) for coloring or other ideas.  I'm going to try and turn them into PDF files when I have a bit more time, because I think then you'll be able to print them out better...but for now here they are.

KidScience: Growing their first crystal

 

My kids love PBSKids (the only TV channel I let them watch!) and among their favorite shows is Arthur.  In one episode, the kids have to come up with a science experiment and Francine chose to grow a sugar crystal.  Eliza has been fascinated by the idea ever since, and so I thought I'd help my kids grow their own.  I didn't think it could be that hard; just dump a bunch of sugar in some water and watch it accumulate on the string.  Well, several days later and no crystal to be seen, they gave up on their unscientific mother and went to Daddy. 

Like the good researcher that he is, Steve went online and promptly found several methods for growing sugar crystals (none of which used my "dump a bunch of sugar in cold water" technique...imagine that!).  He helped the kids choose a "recipe", and several cups of sugar later (including some that got spilled on the hot flat ceramic stove, and is still there to this day...but what's a little scorched sugar in the name of science?) they got their real crystal environment set up. 

 It has been so fun to see how excited the kids have been during the crystal growing process this past week.  Every day, first thing in the morning and right after school, they check their crystal to see its progress.  Then they run and tell me (or bring me to see it too) and yell excitedly about how much bigger it had grown since the day before. 

I think we're going to have to find some more science experiments, the kids have been having such a blast with this one.  Any ideas, anyone?

 

Here are a few quick shots of the kids I took today.  I took the tripod and camera outside and had Eliza take some headshots of me (you may have noticed the new photo of yours truly on my sidebar...after 6 months I finally got around to getting my picture taken for my mug shot!) for the blog, and of course the kids wanted to pose too.

 

Here's Eliza looking all sweet and coy - Mommy's eager little photo apprentice.  She did a good job standing there pressing the shutter button for me - thank goodness for digital photo technology, where I can delete the 90% of goofy expressions and blurry shots and only save the few "keepers". 

Things sure are easier nowadays in that regard...I remember the eagerness and excitement of waiting until the whole roll of film was shot, taking it to the drugstore for processing, waiting a day or two to get it back, and then the final moment arrived; seeing the long-anticipated photographic results.  There were many times when I would be disappointed at a messed-up shot due to closed eyes, silly expression, or some other goof-up that was too late to do anything about...I sure am grateful for today's cameras with instant replay and large LCD screens on which to review your shots.  Yet another indicator of our instant-gratification, "I-want-it-now" mindsets....although I must admit that I'm quite happy with this particular manifestation of immediate results!  Go digital cameras, go.

From twirly skirt to grown-up skirt: Adapting my tutorial

 

 

Before reading through these tips, I strongly recommend reading through the twirly skirt tutorial, or this will likely not make much sense...

1)  MEASUREMENTS:  You will need precise measurements for your waist, the widest part of your hips/rear, and the width of your hips 5” below your waist.  You will also need to know how long you want the skirt to be.

2) Using the same method for designing the girl’s skirt, draw a diagram of your skirt, with these tips in mind:

If you want multiple layers, or “tiers” (meaning the skirt gradually gets wider and wider with many levels of gathers), you usually start out with tiers measuring about 8”, then 10”, then 14”(If you are tall, that is.  If you are 5’5” or shorter, start out with 6”, then 8”, then 12”, etc).

The other consideration in designing is the circumference of the loops you will be sewing together.  The waistband is going to be only slightly wider than your waist measurement, but you need to make sure it is wide enough to accommodate the measurement of your hips 5” below your waist.  (I learned that the hard way - the waistband fit at my waist, but it was too tight 5" below the waist due to my, er, pear-shaped figure)  Each succeeding loop needs to be at least 10” wider in circumference for it to look right.

 

For example, if your waist is 35”, then the waistband needs to be about 37” to 39” wide (not including seam allowances), making sure that it will fit 5” below waist.  If not, make the waistband wider.  The first tier (after the waistband) needs to be about 55” wide (make sure it’s wide enough for your hips/rear), the second tier about 70” wide, the third tier about 84”.

HINT:  most fabric is only 42-44” wide, meaning that the maximum width you can end up with for the bottom tier of your skirt is 84-88” wide if you want to keep all the side seams matched up on the sides of your skirt.  Here is an example of the finished dimensions and cutting dimensions:

 

 

 

I didn't write in the cutting dimension chart above that for every tier that has a circumference greater than the width of the fabric from selvedge to selvedge (usually 42" to 44") you will need to divide the circumference measurement in half and cut two strips of fabric to those dimensions. 

 

For example, in the diagram above, the waistband tier is cut in one piece.  The second tier needs to be cut 8.5" wide by about 23" long (half of 55") but 2 separate pieces need to be cut.  The third tier need to have 2 pieces cut 10.5" x 35" (half of 70"), and the fourth tier needs to have 2 pieces cut 14" x 42" (half of 84").  This way all the side seams will match up on both sides of skirt, and each tier has a circumference about 15" greater than the tier above it.  I hope that's a little clearer than mud...

NOTE: this method works for waist sizes around 45” or smaller.  If your waist measurement is larger than that, you will need to reduce the number of tiers so that the bottom tier is no greater than about 85”, or you will need to make it wider and not have all the side seams match up on the sides because you will have more than 2 strips of fabric to sew together on the bottom tier.

Sew skirt just like you did for the girl’s version, attaching and completing one tier at a time, starting at the waistband and working your way down.

 

 

 

As you can see, there are no set rules about determining the proportions of the tiers.  This skirt only has 2 tiers (plus waistband) because I didn't want to interupt the gorgeous pattern of the fabric.  This method of using white with just a small amount of designer fabric (it's about 17" wide) is a great way to stretch your budget too - it requires much less designer fabric than using the fancy stuff for the whole skirt.

 

 

Not every tier needs to be gathered, either.  It's hard to see in the photo, but this red, black, and white skirt is only gathered 3 times.  The rest of the fabric shifts are just sewn in strips to eachother.

 

Okay, this one was admittedly quite time-consuming.  I loved the way these fabrics related to eachother (Taxi Trio by Timeless Treasures) and I was getting tired of doing skirts in horizontal strips.  So I basically made a random quilt top (minus the quilting) and attached it to a skirt.  To give it a more random look, I constructed it by making 3 separate "tiers" that were each 6" wide and about 80" long.  I cut various widths of fabric and put them together so that the sum of them equaled 6" (4" + 2", 3" + 3", etc, plus 1/2" for seam allowances).  When each of the 3 strips were pieced together, I sewed each of the separate 6" strips together to create 3 separate loops, which I then attached to eachother so that there wouldn't be any obvious side seams.  Yeah, that took awhile.  I'm happy with the results, though - it's my personal quilt-on-a-skirt!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These last two are from Heather Bailey's spectacular Pop Garden & Bijoux lines...and they do indeed pop!  I love the colors and designs of the fabrics.

 

And just in case you were wondering, I did NOT make all of these recently.  I finished the skirts with Heather's fabric in recent history, but the others have been gradually added to my wardrobe over the past 2 or 3 years.  My body type necessitates long skirts (to hide my ugly legs!) but you may find that making shorter skirts is your preference (uses less fabric too).  Just be sure to map out finished dimensions first, and calculate the cutting dimensions from there. 

 

A long skirt like mine requires 2 yards, a shorter one probably 1.5 yards or less.  Enjoy, and send me photos of your creations when you're done - I'd love to see them!

Twirly Skirt Tutorial - at last!

I finally buckled down and put this skirt tute together for you, complete with pics every step of the way.  About 6 months ago I gave a class here locally with step-by-step instructions, but with drawings instead of photos.  I think the photos will help a lot. 

And for those of you who aren't interested in learning to sew a skirt (I'm including tips for making grownup skirts too!) I'll apologize right now for the length of this tutorial.  I haven't taken the time to figure out how to do a separate file that you can click on in the sidebar, and my previous attempts at doing so were less than successful.  So, since I don't have the time or inclination to figure that out, be prepared for my longest tutorial yet! (insert cheer or groan here)

 

Before you know how much material to buy and cut, you'll need to measure the wearer.  Decide how long you want the skirt to be, and how many different fabrics you'll be using.  In this example, the FINISHED dimensions of the skirt parts are as follows:

waistband: 3.5" wide     cherry fabric:  13" wide   polka dots:  2" wide 

bottom red+white fabric:  3.5"           TOTAL FINISHED LENGTH: 22"

For a girl size 3T to 6T, the total finished length generally ranges between 17" to 22" for it to be at the knee or below.  Eliza is very tall for her age, so your skirt will likely be shorter than 22".

Establish the girl's waist size.

Decide if you want to add contrast fabric to the bottom of the skirt (I added 2 different contrast fabrics to the bottom of this one, but if you're a sewing newbie, you might want to simplify on your first one).  Draw a little diagram of what you want the finished dimensions of your skirt to be, and write those dimensions on the left side of the diagram as I have done below.

 

Now, to establish the true cutting dimensions.  The waistband will have a built-in casing from fabric folded over itself, so you need to allow 1.5" additional fabric to whatever finished dimension you want.  In the drawing, the finished width is 5" so it is cut 6.5" wide.  In the cherry skirt example, the finished width of the waistband is 3.5", so it needs to be cut 5" wide.

Always remember to allow 1/4" seam allowance in your calculations, so in the drawing above, the 12" wide piece needs to be cut at 12.5" (1/4" seam on top and bottom).  The fabric that is at the hem of the skirt needs to have 3/4" added because extra width is needed in the hem.

BEFORE YOU CUT:  prewash and, if necessary, iron your fabric.  Line up the selvedges so that fabric hangs nicely at fold (the raw edges will likely NOT line up to accomplish this, so fiddle with it until fabric doesn't bubble and buckle at fold.  The raw edges will be off; Just make sure the selvedges are parallel.  Only then will you have it truly on the grain.)  Use a rotary cutting mat and ruler for best results.

FOR WAISTBAND:  Cut 1 strip of desired width.  (in cherry skirt, 5")  Now open strip up and cut the length about 12" longer than waist size.  My daughter's waist is about 20", so I cut the length to 32".

FOR MAIN SKIRT:  Cut 2 strips of desired width (in cherry skirt, 13.5"). 

FOR CONTRAST FABRIC:  Cut 2 strips of each contrast fabric you use (in cherry skirt, 2.5" and the bottom fabric is 4.25" to account for hem).

Okay, are you ready to sew???  Remember that all seams are 1/4" (usually the distance between the needle and edge of presser foot).  If you feel more comfortable sewing a wider seam than that, be sure to allow for extra width when cutting, or your skirt will be much shorter than expected.

1)  Take the 2 strips of each fabric, face right sides together lining up the selvedge edge, and stitch ONE side together to create a single, very long strip of each fabric.  You may want to cut off the selvedge edge before sewing if it is really wide so it doesn't show on the right side.

Notice that I'm using a serger (I LOVE that machine!) but you can also treat your edges after straight stitching on a regular machine by zigzag stitching over raw seam or using pinking shears on raw seam (but don't cut too close to stitching!).

2)  Now, take contrast fabric and line up the seam with the seam on main fabric (right sides together!).  To ensure that the side seams line up exactly (because the lengths of the various fabric strips will all vary slightly), start stitching strips together where the side seam is instead of at one end (this eliminates the need for pinning as well).  Stitch, making sure edges are flush, until you reach the end.  Now clip the thread, turn it over, go back to the side seam, and stitch the other direction to the other end so that the two strips are now sewn together into one big strip and the side seams line up exactly.

The side seam will look like this (it would have looked better if I had ironed the fabric before cutting!) 

Do a thorough job ironing all the seams at this point, first on the back side and then on right side to make sure seams are pressed open all the way.  Press seams all in one direction.

 

The loose ends of the strip will be uneven, like this.

 

3)  Cut off uneven selvedges from both loose ends of strip. 

4)  Now, with right sides facing eachother, sew the ends of the strip together so that you now have a giant loop of fabric. 

 

Press the sideseam you have just sewn.

 

5)  For the waistband, join the two short ends together and stitch (right sides together) so it forms a loop.  Press.  Turn inside out.  On one edge of loop, press under 1/4" all the way around edge.

 

6)  Now, on the edge you just pressed under 1/4", fold over an additional 1"+a little bit, so that a piece of 1" elastic can easily slip through but not wide enough that the elastic will easily get twisted during wear.  Press this measurement all around edge, checking for accuracy from time to time.

 

7)  Once top edge is pressed, turn right side out and stitch all along top edge to create casing.  Take care to catch the underside of fabric but make sure you leave the casing wide enough for elastic. 

Take your time, you can feel where the fabric is underneath with your fingertips before it's fed under the needle.  When you have come full circle with your stitching, backstitch.

Now your waistband is ready for attachment to skirt.  Set aside.

 

8)  It's time to do the gathers on the skirt!

Turn skirt loop right side out, and at top edge you will need to stitch a scant 1/4" away from raw edge with a basting stitch.  The numbers vary by machine, but increase your stitch length number to as high as it will go (on my machine, a #5) so that the stitches are very long.  I also like to increase my bobbin tension so that it begins to gather even as I stitch it, as you can see in the photo. NOTE:  be sure to leave a long "tail" of thread both at the beginning and end of stitching.  DO NOT BACKSTITCH when you come full circle, as this will make it impossible to gather.  Do not gather stitches yet.

9)  Okay, now take your waistband and turn it upside down.  Turn the skirt inside out.  Locate one of the side seams on skirt and line it up with the side seam on waistband, and put one pin there at the side seam, making sure the skirt is right side up (but inside out) and the waistband is upside down (but right side out).  How's THAT for confusing?!

Hopefully a picture truly is worth a thousand words.

 

10)  Now locate the other side of waistband (there won't be a side seam) and pin that to the other side seam of skirt.  You will now have it pinned on both sides, and the skirt will be all floppy.

Grasp one of the bobbin threads that you left tailing out (right?) and GENTLY pull to begin gathering one side of skirt.  Some machines make the top thread easier to gather, but on my machine it's the bobbin.  Just experiment and you'll figure it out.  Work the gathers (patiently so you don't break the thread) down the whole length of the side until it matches the length of that side of the waistband. 

   

11)  Pin gathers in place every 3 or 4 inches or so.

Now, grasp the other bobbin thread and repeat gathering procedure to other side of skirt.  Pin in place.

 

12)  Your skirt should look like this -now you're ready to stitch the waistband to the skirt!  Hooray!

 

13)  Making sure your machine is switched back to its normal stitch length, stitch carefully around the entire loop, readjusting gathers as necessary and making sure you don't accidently get extra fabric caught beneath the needle. 

DO NOT RUN OVER YOUR PINS!  It could break a needle or, worse, damage your bobbin casing.

Backstitch when you have come full circle.  Inspect to make sure no fabric got caught underneath.

 

14)  Treat the seam with a serger or zigzag stitch, or it will be an ugly mess.

Turn skirt right side out.

 

15)  Topstitch seam where gathers and waistband meet, taking care to ensure that the bulky seam underneath is facing UP so it gets caught in the topstitching.  This will make your seam lie much more flat. 

As you are topstitching, make sure that you are using both hands to pull the two fabrics apart so that the true stitching line is seen and you won't have any bubbly and wobbly problems with your topstitching.  Go slowly and carefully, as it can be a little tricky to sew over the bulky seam underneath.

 

This is what the completed topstitching will look like.

 

16)  Using a seam ripper, rip out about 1.5 to 2" of casing seam near side stitching. 

Cut a piece of 1" non-roll elastic about an inch shorter than actual waist size.  Hint:  stretch out the elastic to "break it in" before cutting it, as it gets more stretchy with use. 

Attach a large safety pin (I use a diaper pin) to end of elastic and draw it all the way through casing, easing the gathers around the waistband.  Take care not to let the tail end of the elastic get drawn through as well - or you'll have to start all over!

 

17)  Lap one end of the elastic over the other end about 1 inch, and stitch back and forth a few times over the lapped edges as shown.

Insert elastic and adjust so that it is fully inside the casing and all the gathers are distributed evenly around waistband.

If possible, make sure that it's a good fit on your little girl.  Readjust length of elastic if necessary.

 

18)  To stitch the casing shut, make sure elastic is where it should be and the loose ends of the casing are where they should be.  Position the needle over the point where the stitching was ripped out, backstitching over a little of the existing seam.  Gently pull elastic tight in that area using both your hands, so that the casing area to be stitched has no wrinkles or gathers.

Carefully stitch casing all the way closed, backstitching at the point where original stitching starts up again.

 

19)  For the hem, turn under about 1/4" (or less, if it's not too tricky) all the way around the bottom edge.

 

20)  Turn under one more time, so that the raw edge is completely hidden.

 

21)  Stitch hem, making sure that needle catches the folded-under edge underneath.

Press hem.

.....and you're done!  Unless you want to add some ribbon embellishments.  If so, follow the instructions below.

 

Decide which ribbon you want and where you want to put it.  Lay it on the finished skirt to visualize what it will look like, paying attention to color and width of ribbon.  Step away from it to look at it from across the room to see if the ribbon you're considering is the right choice.

Make sure you have enough ribbon to go all the way around your skirt, but don't cut it to exact length yet!

 

22)  Place the ribbon about 3/8" beyond the side seam and sew all along one side, paying attention to where the ribbon is in relation to the seam of fabric that it is covering.

 

23)  Just before you come full circle, stop stitching and cut off the ribbon about 3/8" beyond the side seam so there is about an inch of overlap.

 

24)  Carefully fold under end of ribbon so that the fold happens exactly where the side seam is on the skirt. 

Finish stitching that side of the ribbon, backstitching once or twice at the fold.

Lift up needle and presserfoot and bring needle over to other edge of ribbon.  Begin stitching just after the fold, so that when you come full circle the fold will be the last thing you sew over.  Backstitch over the fold a few times at the very end of your stitching.

 

25)  With needle still inserted in ribbon, lift and pivot presser foot at edge of fold so you can stitch the fold completely shut.  Backstitch before needle runs off the ribbon.

Press ribbon, and now you have finished your very own twirly skirt!

 

Since this post is already a mile long, I'll write directions for adapting the skirt into a grown-up skirt in a separate post.  Please let me know if something is confusing to you, and I'll rewrite it or explain it further.  Also, I'd love to see what you end up with, so feel free to send pics my way!  Enjoy your new skirt!

Cake Post-Turned-Essay

 

We had the baby shower on Saturday for our friend (it's her first baby!) and it was a lot of fun.  Here is the cake, styled after the invitations I made, and you can see in this photo the drawback (if you consider it thus) of using the CoolWhip+yogurt icing - it's very hard to make it smooth over large surfaces!  The texture, like I mentioned before, gets pretty grainy after a few minutes, and especially in the window light you can see that it is not unlike the texture on a plaster wall!  I'll just pretend I did it on purpose...yeah, that's it.  :-)  It's all part of the Olde World charm, right?

Anway, I formed the dress shape by butting two frozen 9 x 13 cakes together with the long sides touching, and carved away until I got the desired shape.  (tip: a good use for the extra cake is to break it into chunks and make a trifle out of it, layering the extra Coolwhip icing or pudding in between the cake layers in a clear glass dish)

 

The rose is just made from fondant; I formed it the night before so it would be ready to put into place the day of the shower.

Many thanks, by the way, to all the people who are passing my pouch tutorials along to the readers of their own blogs!  Thank you specifically to Whipup, OnePrettyThing, Jan Andrea, Joy, and 10marifet (a blog that appears to be another craft sharing hub, but it's in a language I don't recognize so I can't be sure!)  At any rate, it's great to see my tutorials reaching an ever-expanding audience - learning to sew and being able to make things with one's own hands is a very rewarding and satisfying experience.  I'm happy to be a part of what appears to be a rennaissance in the home arts. 

My own mother majored in Home Economics education when she went to college as a young woman, but when she got married to my dad and he was drafted right after he graduated from college, she had to quit school because they were transferred all over the place.  When her 5 children were all in school (we have a birth span of 16 years!) she went back to college but her major had been eliminated from the program(!) so she had to start all over in elementary education. 

I personally think it's a tragedy that, generally speaking in this country, domestic skills are considered inferior to academic careers and the Stay-At-Home-Mom is somehow short-changing her identity and potential as a human being.  Home Economics classes, 4-H programs, and similar teaching tools are being eliminated across the country, and generations of young people are growing up without the slightest idea of how to run a household, cook a meal, or sew on a button. 

Please don't get me wrong; academics are of extreme importance to me just as they were to my mother, and she made sure we all did our best to achieve academic excellence as well as learn essential life skills.  As a result, all of us did exceptionally well academically in both high school and college.  My point is not that academics are unimportant (because they're very important), but that just because a woman chooses to be a homemaker instead of pursuing a career outside the home doesn't mean she is any less of a valid contributor to society.  Indeed, it is my personal belief that much of what currently ails our country has a single root cause; that of a crumbling foundation of home and family and the consequent loss of self-reliance, home and life skills, and character formation. 

I know that many of you will disagree with me, but think of the biggest domestic issues we face in America: crime (both violent and corporate), a sinking economy and a national (and international) credit crisis, drug culture, broken homes, abuse, gangs, moral decay (and I'm not even talking about the hot-button issue of gender preference here; I'm referring to the general loss of integrity, honesty, and other "old-fashioned" values).  Now, before you write me off as another annoying conservative idiot :-), consider this:  Back in the days of "traditional" American households, when the average family consisted of a breadwinning father, a homemaker mother, and children who had many household chores, everyone worked together as a unified whole. They all had important (different but equal in value) roles to fulfill, they all felt needed, they were all vital to the success of the family unit.

There were far fewer latchkey kids wandering around getting into trouble because they're bored and nobody is home anyway (or else their brains are rotting under the influence of too much TV or violent video games).  Young children were not typically raised by daycare centers, and most women knew how to sew, cook, and run a household.  The responsibility of teaching children life skills and values was commonly understood to rest squarely on the parents; not the school, not the YMCA or other community program, and not the government.  Parents typically took care to teach their children the difference between right and wrong, the value of a job well done, the dignity of self-reliance, and the consequences of poor choices.  Families lived more simply, because the possibility of over-extending one's finances through compulsive credit card spending and unwise, risky loan products hardly existed.  Most people didn't expect to live like Hollywood stars (who, by the way, prove to us daily that exhorbitant lifestyles and fame don't guarantee or even prove conducive to happiness) and people expected to do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. 

Of course this is an oversimplification, used for illustrative purposes, and of course there were many exceptions to the above description.  I also want to be sure that I'm not misunderstood to be saying that the evolution of women into the workplace is wholly negative.  There have been many valuable contributions by the feminist movements, among others, to the betterment of women and society in general.  There are few things that make me more upset than to see a person discriminated against because of gender, race, religion, or beliefs, and we owe many of the rights we enjoy today as citizens of the US to those fearless suffragists and civil rights leaders who have fought for Justice For ALL.  I just think that our society has swung too far the other direction, to the point of negating the value of home skills, staying at home to raise young children (when possible - of course some circumstances require the mother to work outside the home), and a lifestyle conducive to learning and teaching by example the character traits described above.  In short, the disintegration of the family unit has played, in my view, an undeniable role in the disintegration of our domestic national health.

....WELL....I didn't intend to get on that soapbox when I sat down to post a few pictures tonight!  One more thing - just so you don't get this idea of me as someone who always has an immaculate house, neatly folded clean laundry always stacked in the drawers, perfect children (at whom I would NEVER yell), and 3 homemade meals a day with never a dirty dish in the sink, let me be the first to tell you that NONE of those scenarios are true!  I can't stand laundry, sometimes making meals is a dreaded chore, and with 3 young kids at home the house is never immaculate.  I get frustrated and burned out just like any other parent.  I can, however, attest to the deeply satisfying and enriching experiences that come from being here at home with my children.  Beyond the dirty diapers, runny noses, tantrums and baby talk, there is a rewarding sense of place and purpose that means more to me than any accolade, award, or promotion. 

Along with the benefits of being at home with my children, I also feel deep gratitude and satisfaction in being able to use my "domestic skills" on a daily basis for the benefit of my family and friends.  I'm so thankful that my mother taught me to cook, sew, clean (although I must admit I'm no expert in that arena - I'd much rather be creating something!), and work hard in general.  We are able to save money because I can make many things instead of going out and buying them, we eat at home instead of going out to restaurants (although I must admit I love to eat out, especially Thai food - we just don't do it very frequently), and we don't have to hire a cleaning service, yard service (Steve maintains the yard now that we have so many kids - thanks hon!  I actually enjoy yardwork, but lawnmowers and weedwackers + toddlers don't exactly mix), or daycare service.  I'm very grateful for a husband who has prepared himself his whole life to be a good provider for his family, so that I don't have to seek work outside the home to make ends meet. 

I love to do all those fun things that make a house a home, and I also love to teach others what I have been taught or have learned on my own.  So go give your kids a big hug, learn a new skill or practice an emerging one, and enjoy the satisfaction of making the world a little bit better place...all within the walls of your own home sweet home.

My Funny Little Darlings

 

When Hyrum had his birthday party, I helped him draw (meaning I loosely held his hand while drawing the outline, and he did all the details) this dinosaur which we copied to make the invitations.  The original drawing you can see in black.  After that, he very meticulously drew in every single bone you see within the dinosaur outline.  Don't you love the skull and the backbone?  Hyrum is a very detail-oriented little guy, as you can tell.  he even labelled the bones for us, to make sure we knew what they were. 

This priceless piece of artwork is headed for Grandma and Grandpa (can you see their names up top?  It's hard to read the letters because he thinks they need to be connected with lines, like cursive).  I couldn't send this off without documenting it first, though - I love it!

 

This is Eliza's most recent family portrait - isn't it charming?  I especially love the bird's happy face and the nest with 3 eggs up in the tree.  The square yellow thing is a picnic blanket, and the 5 circles are our plates with burgers on them.  On the other side of the paper she is writing a very imaginative story to go along with her picture - pure fiction, but it flows so well it's as if it really happened.  I am loving her stories and pictures, and I'm so glad she enjoys doing it - I loved to do that sort of thing when I was young, but I don't remember being able to write pages of stories at her age!  It's wonderful to see.

My kids are all growing up so fast - and Eliza's starting to realize that Hyrum is getting much bigger and better at things, which is beginning to worry her.  She used to bully Hyrum quite a bit, and we'd always tell her to watch out, that someday Hyrum was going to be bigger than her and he might turn around and beat HER up.  The other day Eliza came to me with a worried expression on her face.  "Mommy," she asked, "Is Hyrum bigger than me yet?"  I answered no, and she replied, "Oh - well I just thought I'd ask because he just beat me up when we were wrestling!  When is he going to be bigger than me?"  Needless to say, Eliza's been treating Hyrum a little more fairly these days....

Okay, one more thing before you grow weary of me going on and on about my kids....I overheard Eliza say this to Hyrum as they were practicing their "gymnastics" (translation: jumping, twisting, and leaping off the one sofa in the house on which that sort of thing is allowed);

"If you want to be a superhero, you have to practice EVERY DAY and EVERY NIGHT.  I'm not kidding either.  It's A LOT of work!"  You tell him, Eliza.  Maybe someday he'll grow up to be a superhero just like you!  :-)

Sewing Spree

 

My little niece Riley's birthday was at the end of last month, and I STILL haven't sent her this skirt that I made for her!  I can't send Riley a present without sending Ruby (her little sister) a fun little something too, so now that Hyrum and Hazel's parties are over, I'm done with the flu (the second time in 2 weeks), and things are almost ready for the baby shower I'm hosting tomorrow, I hope to get that package in the mail today!

 

I had Eliza model this little apron I made for Ruby, isn't it fun?  I'm afraid I accidently made it too big for Ruby, but it'll leave lots of growing room, right?  It's hard to sew for little people whom I only see once a year or so - it's hard to imagine how big they are!  My sister says Ruby loves to play in her little pretend kitchen, hopefully she'll like this.

 

And, not to leave baby Niko out of the fun, I'm sending a VERY belated little baby gift his way, several month after he was born.  (I told you I'm a slacker auntie...sorry kiddos!)  My motto inadvertantly always seems to be the ol' "Better late than never!" excuse.....

 

 

No, these aren't hair ribbons, these are cute little bow ties for my adorable nephew Nikolas!  He'll be turning all the baby girls' heads with these little numbers when he goes to church on Sunday, don't you think? 

Now I just need to make a few for proud papa, who (as luck would have it) is very much into wearing bow ties too!  How fun is that?

For a tutorial on how to make my bowties, just click on the "tutorial" section in my sidebar.

 

Here's what I made for baby Ava's mommy to put on baby Ava after she is born - she's the one I'm hosting the shower for tomorrow.  Still need to make that cake!  I'm going to make it in the shape of the white dress like on her invites.

   

A little ribbon embellishment adds the final touch...and it's sewn on very, very well so there's no way baby Ava could ever pull it off and choke on it.  :-)

I have more things to share from my sewing spree, but they're not quite ready and I haven't photographed them yet, so perhaps by Sunday or Monday...

Also, stay tuned for another giveaway - I have one lined up right around the corner!

Martha's Squash

Isn't this a fantastic specimen of squash?  I found it on Martha Stewart's blog, in her Halloween photo collection.  She has all sorts of gorgeous pumpkins and squash (but of course, could you expect any less?) in the most amazing colors and shapes.   

I really miss being able to grow squash and other colder weather vegetables here  - when I was a kid we always had a huge garden with a large squash patch, and I loved watching the squash evolve from blossom to green ball to its full, ripe and glorious finish.  When we move to Virginia I sure hope there's room in our backyard for a little vegetable garden, I simply can't wait to grow veggies again, and I look forward to teaching my kids the art and joy of cultivation.

More Boo-ish Stuff

 

Here are more fun Halloween decorations!  I taped black and white striped wrapping paper over the glass of my framed monotype for a simple background, and piled a bunch of October-themed things on the furniture. 

 

This crazy-faced bucket is something that I bought several years ago, and I just added the ribbon and the leaves.  It was the inspiration for my 2 painted urns that I have out front (see previous Halloween post).

 

 

This happy jack-o-lantern is one of those plastic electric pumpkins.  I unscrewed the bottom of the pumpkin to get rid of the cord and just placed it on a candlestick (my $3 find at Ross that I spraypainted black) and added the cute little festive ribbon.

 

I picked up these oval frames at PriceBusters ($2.50 each!), and I was originally planning to do some cute little watercolors of spiders and ghosts, but I got short on time so I just put some cool scrapbook paper in there and called it good.  I still may do the watercolors, but maybe not until next year...I have 3 costumes (maybe 5, if Steve and I dress up) to make still!

 

I painted these plates last year - do you recognize some of the patterns?  The largest plate is a copy of a fabric design by Michael Miller, I think - I'm hoping my memory serves me right on that. 

 

I draped festive ribbons all over the dining room chandelier....

 

Here's another cupcake tier, this one in black and white (I got the tier idea from OnePrettyThing.com).  Spiders, anyone?

 

 

Just like the white one I did for Hazel's birthday, I didn't glue these pieces together because of storage issues.  I used plasti-tack to adhere them temporarily to eachother. 

The nice thing about black and white is that it's very versatile, all I have to do is change the ribbons for a different holiday or season. 

Have a boo-tiful day! (sorry, I couldn't resist)

The Big 1

  We were finally able to have Hazel's 1st birthday party bash - hooray!  (last week we had to cancel due to illness)

Hazel had a great time, as did the rest of the group.  She, of course, didn't know what all the hullaballoo was about, but we sure had fun throwing her a party.  She was very impressed with her candle, and all the kids helped her blow it out.

 

Hazel wasn't a bit shy about diving into her cupcake - why use hands when you can just do a face plant?

 

 

The aftermath.  She looks a little uncomfortable about the results of face planting...

Some of my friends were teasing me about Hazel's cake, they said it looked like a wedding cake not a baby's cake....but I ask you, how many wedding cakes have paper flowers on sticks poking out of the top? :-)  Actually, I admit it does look wedding-esque, but I knew I needed to make a big cake, and I thought I might as well put the giant cake pans I had used for my own wedding cake to good use.  (No, I wouldn't recommend people make their own wedding cakes - I spent a large part of the day before my wedding decorating our huge cake, and it was a little too much stress - especially because I was also working with friends and family getting all the reception decorations set up in my dad's studio/gallery.  We saved a bunch of money, but the whole weekend was a big blur.  A fun blur, but a blur nonetheless!)  Anyway, I digress....

The icing, by the way, was my old standby of CoolWhip with a little bit of vanilla yogurt folded in for stabilization.  I used about 3 oz of yogurt per container of CoolWhip (and I used 3 containers of CoolWhip for this cake and cupcakes!).  Note:  do not mix the CoolWhip and yogurt together until just before spreading on the cake, as it becomes hard to deal with (grainy) if it sits too long before spreading on FROZEN cake.  I mixed each container as I went along, not all at once in a big bowl.  If the cake is frozen beforehand, the CoolWhip icing will stay in good shape for several hours at room temperature. 

The magic of candlelight...

 

 

Since we were expecting a big crew for the party, and since I know kids can't resist cupcakes, I just had to make this tiered cupcake stand as well.  For more info on how I did it and where I got the idea, look at the bottom of this post.

 

The bottom cake layer was a marbelized cake, which I accomplished by pouring the white cake batter in first, then dropping the chocolate cake batter into the white  in dallops around the whole cake pan.  Then I took a butter knife and gently swirled and twirled back and forth and in circular motions until I felt like the batters had been reasonably marbled.  Take care not to mix it too much, or you'll just have milk chocolate cake!

 

...and now for the pictures of sweet baby Hazel...

 

I couldn't resist making another matching set for Hazel and Eliza.  The darling fabric is from Sandi Henderson's Farmer's Market line.  I absolutely adore the bright colors and happy motifs.

 

Our happy, smiley, bundle of joy.  I know I've said this many a time, but we continue to feel so blessed to have Hazel in our lives - she is such a special little girl.  Unless she's sick, teething, or tired, Hazel is always joyous and sunny, brightening our days with her infectious giggles, laughs, and funny expressions. 

Happy birthday, Little Pumpkin Head.  We love you!

 

 

 

 

 

This tiered stand is actually just 3 plates (from Ross) and some glassware from Walmart that I spray-painted white.  The bottom piece is a sundae dish, and the two top ones are tea light holders. 

Since I didn't want to deal with storing such a huge dish assembly, I didn't glue any of the pieces together, although you certainly could.  I just took little bits of plasti-tack and gently pressed the pieces of the stack together. 

I would recommend using plates with less slant than these, because I discovered that things like cupcakes don't fit very well on such a steep angle - they all leaned in toward the center and threatened to smear icing on the ribbons. 

I got this great idea from Rachel's site, One Pretty Thing, which features crafts and projects from all over the place.  She compiles a new list every weekday - it's an oasis of ideas!  Unfortunately, I can't find the original idea on her site anymore (it was sometime in September, I think), so I don't know to whom to give credit.  The original tiered idea used glass candlesticks, but I couldn't find any affordable ones that suited this project - so I opted for the dishes and painted them to coordinate with the plates. 

Driving Signs, 6 year-old Style

 

It's so interesting to listen to the things kids say while playing, but rarely do I have visual proof of their delightful perspective on things.  Eliza and Hyrum were making signs for their cars on a little car track that Hyrum has.  The sign on the left says, "No stealing money"; a valuable piece of advice for a car, don't you think?  I also love the prohibitive "You can never go in".

 

More valuable driving advice:  "Never climb on a wall."

"Never climb lights."  "Never walk on the road."

 

I asked Eliza about this sign - she meant to write "You can't throw stuff on the ground."  Phew - I was a little worried about that one.  :-)

 

On the left:  "Do not eat poles."  "Never climb on a house" and "Never climb on a tree".

Before you assume I never let them climb trees, that sign appears to have come about because at school there are lots of very temptingly climbable trees on the campus, but it's against the rules to climb them.  Don't worry - I let my kids climb trees when it's allowed...and when I'm there supervising!

 

And, just in case you're tempted, "Never climb on a stops(h)ine."  So there you have it - the new and improved rules of the road.

---------TIME LAPSE------------------------

So this morning Eliza had decided the original signs were too frumpy or something, because she got ahold of some post-it notes and made new and improved signs, this time about all sorts of health issues and common sense when flying on a helicopter or airplane.......

 

 

These say "never climb helicopters when they're flying" and "never climb airplanes when they are flying".  Good advice, Eliza.  I'll try and remember that.

 

"Don't jump off the bridge" in case you were wondering....

 

......and lastly, even if your mother is an artist, "never draw on home with graffiti."  Good girl.  :-)

Open Pocket Pouch Tutorial

 

 

Are you ready for round two of the pouch tutorials?  Thanks for all your enthusiasm about my Purse Pouch Tutorial, by the way - it's fun to see it put to good use! 

The Open Pocket Pouch is actually my preferred method of storing things within a larger bag (such as a diaper bag or tote bag) because it sits stiffly upright and there are no closures to mess with.  It's absolutely perfect for holding diapers and a small container of wetwipes, changes of clothes for your baby, small toys, snacks, keys, etc. because it doesn't slouch over and spill its contents.  Unless, of course, your child decides to conduct an experiment on the effect gravity has on an open container.  But whose child would ever dream of doing that?

By changing the dimensions you could make cute, quick little box/baskets to hold your favorite things in (I'll have to make some and show you the possibilities).  But for now, here's how I made this pocket pouch for my friend's upcoming baby shower:

 

FOR A POUCH MEASURING 9"high x 5"wide x 3" deep:

1)  Either cut a single rectangle measuring 20 1/2" long x 8 1/2 inches wide, OR to achieve the look pictured in the sample,  

cut 2 pieces 20 1/2" x 3 1/2" and a contrasting piece 20 1/2" x 2 1/2"

2) If using the contrasting strips as shown, sew together now and press seams outward as shown below:

   

3) Now, using this outer piece (or the single rectangle piece of fabric already cut) as a template, cut out a piece of heavy fusible interfacing (I use DecorBond by Pellon) and a piece of liner fabric the exact dimensions of the original piece.

Following manufacturer's directions, fuse interfacing to the backside of the fabric intended as the outside of the pouch.  In this case, it's the one sewn in strips.

 Now you have two identically-sized rectangles, the stiff one being the outside of the pouch.

As you can tell, I should have done a better job making sure the red+white fabric was squared up before cutting the strips - the design wanders all over the place.  Oops.  I was in a hurry to make this while Hazel was sleeping, the big kids were playing with our next door neighbors, and before it was time to start dinner.

 

4)  Fold each rectangle on itself, right sides together, and sew a 1/4" seam along both side edges.  I recommend starting at the loose corners and sewing down to the bottom where the fold is.  This will ensure that you won't end up with uneven edges at the top.

Now you have two separate bags.

 

5)  Using the same method as described in my previous pouch tutorial, square off the bottom corners of the two bags.  If you're unsure of yourself, you can draw a line that is perpendicular to the side seam to follow as you sew.  Just make sure it's sewn the same way on each corner.

Also keep in mind that the deeper you make your pouch, the shorter and narrower it will end up being.  This example is sewn with a depth of almost 3 inches.

6)  You are now ready to sew the two bags together.  Turn the stiff bag right side out; leave the liner inside out.

Slip the liner over the stiff bag, so right sides face right sides.  Pin at side seams so they align properly, as seen below:

 

 

7) Stitch the two bags together all the way around the top.

Using seam ripper, rip out stitches on one of the sides of the liner, toward the bottom of the bag.  Create a gap about 1 1/2 to 2" wide.

You could also just leave the gap there in the first place, but you don't want to have the hole get too close to the squared off corner.  Also, if it's already been stitched, the seam has a little bit of "memory" and you can be sure to stitch it back up again without alignment problems.

 

 

8)  Gently pull the stiff bag through the hole you just created, until both bags are right side out.  Before you tuck the liner inside the stiff bag, you need to stitch it closed.

 

9)  You can do this by slipstitching by hand, or by carefully stitching it along the very edge with the machine.  Since I have a fairly deep-seated aversion to sewing things by hand (takes too long), I always opt for the machine method, as seen at right.  It doesn't really show because it's at the bottom of the inside of the bag.

10)  Tuck the liner inside the stiff bag, and to get the top edge to look all spiffy, carefully press all around top edge.  I end up licking the tips of my fingers (for friction) and wiggling the 2 layers to work them down to where they're actually stitched together. 

You could staystitch the top edge for extra security, but I have not found that to be necessary with these little bags.

 

And there you have it - a tidy and darling little workhorse for your big bags and totes!

 

Here are some examples of some other pouches I've made. For the pink and orange one below, I simply sewed a wide ribbon onto the fabric before sewing the rectangle up into a pouch...an even quicker way to add some fun detailing!