Heart Felt Pocket Warmer Tutorial

Valentine's Day is drawing near, and many of us are sitting in some pretty cold temperatures this time of year. 

Not long ago I came across these on Etsy (created by WormeWoole)...

These adorable little fleece hearts are re-usable pocket warmers!

With three kiddos on the go, I thought these would be the perfect thing for our cold morning runs to school.  Pop them in the microwave for 25 seconds, toss them in their pockets, and we're out the door.

So simple to make.... are you ready??

Supplies Needed

- Fleece, I used 4 - 4" x 3.5" pieces for each pair

- Thread

- Rice, about 1/3 cup for each pair

Optional: Pinking Shears, Funnel

Directions

1. Cut your hearts!  I made a paper pattern by folding a piece of paper in half and shaping it until I was happy with the result.  My heart pattern was approximately 4" wide and 3.5" tall. Then I cut out all of the hearts I needed from the fleece.  You will need 4 fleece hearts for each pair.

2. Start Sewing!  Match two hearts, back-sides of the fabric together, and stitch around them as you see in the photo above.  Make sure to leave a small opening!  I used a 1/4" seam allowance.

    

3.  Fill 'er Up!  I found it helpful to use a funnel to add the rice to each pocket warmer.  Fill them with as much rice to get a fairly plump result... but don't go over-board!  The more rice inside, the harder it will be to sew your opening closed!

 4.  Close it Up!  You might want to hand sew here... I don't have time for that sort of thing!  I held things together and ran the fleece through the machine to sew my opening closed.  Here's proof that I'm not perfect ;)  See what I mean about stuffing these full of rice?

5.  Trim Your Edges!  Ok, so this isn't necessary... and if you don't own a pair of pinking shears, skipping this step isn't going to make these any less functional.  I just thought a little edge would dress them up a bit.

.. and Viola!!

How To Use

Pop these in the microwave for 25 seconds, and stick in your pockets for up to an hour of warmth.  Be careful NOT TO OVERHEAT, as these can get very hot.  Test them out before you pass them onto your little ones.  They can be used over and over again.  Just keep dry!

The Downside... they aren't washable... but being so simple and inexpensive, they are easy enough to whip up when you need a new pair.

I made a pair for each of my kiddos...

My daughter says they make nice eye-warmers too.  Perhaps mom can use these when she puts her feet up!

Super simple!  I'm thinking these would make some pretty sweet little Valentines.

What do you think?

Happy Chinese New Year!!

It's the Year of the Dragon!

Yep... those of my three crazy children,

posing in front of a Chinese New Year display at the mall near our home.

We had decided to stay put during the Chinese New Year, though many of the other expats are vacationing away from China this week.  We were told that there would be fireworks.... LOTS of fireworks.  That was no joke.  Here is a video I took from our apartment window (from the 24th floor) around 11:45pm last night.


The Chinese LOVE fireworks!

You can buy these fireworks year-round, but in preparation of the CNY, you can find stands selling boxes and boxes on every street corner.  Don't think you'll be paying the big bucks for these either!  The displays shooting off closer to our building can be purchased for about $15 USD a box (with 50 rockets inside).

Here are some great shots I managed to capture...

I have been told by my Ayi (I like to call her the "other wife", as she cooks, cleans, takes care of the children, does the laundry and ironing... etc.) the Chinese celebrate the CNY with fireworks, food, playing games, food, fireworks, and more food.  No work!  While we give gifts of all sorts for Christmas, the Chinese give gifts of money and clothing.  So in honor of the CNY, we gave our children money in the traditional red envelopes.

You should never give an amount with a '4' as that means 'death' in Chinese.  It wouldn't be a very nice gift to give a wish of death, right?  However, the number '8' is very lucky in Chinese, so giving a gift of 88RMB (about $13USD) or 888RMB (about $130) would be very well received.

So in honor of the Year of the Dragon,

I'm sharing some great Dragon Inspirations.

Flying Dragon Puppet (with free printable)

shared at Sun Scholars by JellyfishJelly

Dragon Slipper Tutorial

at Made by Rae

Paper Dragon (with free printable)

at Martha Stewart

Dragon (Monster) Eggs

at Creating Through Life

Dragon (Dino) Tail Tutorial

at Running With Scissors

Fire-Breathing Cake

at Family Fun

Chinese Lantern Craft

at Alpha Mom

Happy Chinese New Year!!

Kindle Sleeve Tutorial

Santa brought my daughter a Kindle for Christmas, but he did not bring her anything to store it in when she wasn't using it.  Charlotte is 8, and it was inevitable that the Kindle would be doing quite a bit of traveling to keep up with her.  So I needed to whip up something... but it had to be girly as well as functional, right?

So here it is... made entirely of scraps and took me less than 2 hours to create!

I was inspired by THIS Kindle Case, dubbed as a 'Fail' at Blue Robin Cottage.

Perhaps a 'Fail' in function, but I thought it was darling!

Ok... so I was determined NOT to fail on this one.  Here is how I created my Kindle Sleeve.

Kindle Sleeve Tutorial

Materials Needed

Fabric:

- Outer Sleeve, Cotton (2 - 6"x8" rectangles, 1 - 6"x16" rectangle)

- Outer Sleeve Band, Cotton (1 - 3"x8" rectangle)

- Liner Fabric, Fleece (2 - 6"x8" rectangles)

Thread

Optional:

- Shoulder Strap, Cotton (1 - 3"x40" strip)

- Fabric for Rosetts

- Vinyl (1 - 3"x4" rectangle)

- Wax Paper (small chunk, if using plastic)

Directions

1) Measure your Kindle.  I'm not going to assume that they are all the same size, but perhaps they are!   Measure just to be sure.  My daughter's Kindle measures 4-1/2" by 6-1/2".

Depending on how many rhinestones you have added to yours,

your Kindle may or may not measure larger. ;)

2) Cut your fabric!

You'll need to select two fabrics for the outside (I've chosen the pink polka-dot and the black with paws), and a soft flannel or fleece for the inside.  Cut your fabric as directed in the photo above.

3) Prepare your band.

  

Turn the edges under on the length, about 1/4" to 1/2", and press.

4) Prepare the ruffled front.  Take your long rectangle (8"x16") and create three gathering stitches as shown in the photo below.  One gather stitch will be down the middle, and the other two about 3/8" stitch from the edge.

You will want to create a gather on each stitch so your long rectangle matches the length of your smaller, 6"x8" rectangle.

Once they match, pin A onto B, as shown below.

I chose to pin back-sides together, but it doesn't really matter which direction your B fabric is facing... just as long as your ruffle print is on top!  Once it is pinned you can even out your ruffles a bit.

Next, sew your fabrics together.  Sew along each edge where you have your ruffle stitch (not the center), with  a 1/4" stitch.  Do not sew over your gather stitch, or it will make it difficult to pull out!

Pull out the gathering stitches along the sides (leaving that in the center).

5) Attach the band.  Decide if you want your band in the center or slightly off-center.  Pin it in place, making sure your ruffles are evenly separated underneath.

Then sew along the edge of the band to secure it.

When you are finished, you may find that the "front" panel of your sleeve is a little out of wack.  No worries... just trim it back to it's 6"x8" size and carry on... :)

6) Add an ID pocket.  Optional
I happen to have some vinyl on hand from a previous project, so I thought it would be great to add a little ID pocket in case the Kindle was left behind somewhere.

SOMEWHERE in blogland I remember coming across a tip to use wax paper over top of the vinyl when you are sewing... as it keeps your needle from sticking.  AWESOME tip!!!

Add your vinyl square on the 6"x8" rectangle to be used for the back of the sleeve, place a piece of wax paper over top, and sew along three sides of the plastic to secure it.

Now you just carefully tear away your wax paper!

7) Finishing it off.   With right-sides together, pin a 6" edge of one lining rectangle to a 6" edge of your sleeve front, like below.

Then... with right-sides together, pin a 6" edge of the second lining rectangle to a 6" edge of your sleeve back, like below.

Then sew, using a 3/8" seam allowance.

Lay your pieces, right-sides together, as shown below... 

making sure your seams are lined up as shown in the photo on the right.

Pin the three sides as shown, leaving the end of the lining fabric open.

Sew along all three edges pinned above, using a 3/8" seam allowance.

Snip the corners as shown below, being careful not to cut into your stitching!

Turn right-side out....

Sew a stitch along the open edge of the liner.  You will never see this... so don't worry if your thread doesn't match, like mine :)  Just sew close to the edge!

NOTE: I first trimmed off about 1/4" since I wasn't using the 3/8" seam allowance here.

Tuck the liner inside... and Viola!

Here's the real test... does it fit???

SUCCESS!

8) Finishing Touches!  I love the fabric rosettes that have been popping up everywhere.  We have made several for other projects, and I thought they would be perfect for this.  So I found three fabrics in similar colors, but different texture, and made some embellishments.  I also cut a couple of leaves from the extra fleece from the liner to make leaves.

I attached the rosettes and leaves using a glue gun.

HERE and HERE you can find some great tutorials for making fabric rosettes.

9) Need a strap?  I thought it might be useful to have a strap so my daughter could use it more like a purse, as we travel quite a bit.  So I cut a long strip, folded it in half, and stitched along the edge like you see in the image below.

Turn it right-side out, and attach.

Now... I wish I had thought to add this sooner, as I would have sewn with the lining.  Because I hadn't, I tucked the edges in to make a nice ends on the strap, folded them in and stitched them onto the sides as you see in the photo below.

It works!  :)

And here, Charlotte has added her ID card, with her name.  I put my phone and e-mail contact information on the opposite side.

One happy reader, and one safe Kindle!

Now... to make one a little less fancy for dad.

Happy Sewing!