Homemade Iron-on Decals

Homemade Iron-on Decals
Photo used with permission
from FilthWizardry.com
Thanks, Lindsey!

Did you know that you can decorate your kids’ clothes and other sewing projects with HOMEMADE iron-on decals?

That’s right – according to Lindsey over at Filth Wizardry, you can make permanent decals from plastic shopping bags. So check out her post for all the details and be sure to also read her follow-up posts linked to at the bottom. Lindsey has a lot of cute ideas and great photos, so browse around Filth Wizardry to get many cool ideas.

And when you’re done there, check out the simple and cute skirt-from-a-t-shirt how-to over at Mama Smiles. What a great project for a sewing beginner! In fact, why not make the skirt and then decorate it with your own decals?

Potato Chip Bag Apron How-to

Photo by Debra Atlas
used with permission

This clever potato chip bag apron was one of the winners in the “Treasures from Trash” recycling competition held at the Shasta District Fair. How cute is that? And what a great use of bags that would otherwise be thrown away! This is a perfect project for sewing with kids - fast, easy and cheap. Also, what a nice gift for any summer occasion, such as Father’s Day or for use during the Fourth of July. So what are you waiting for?

Easy Potato Chip Bag Apron Instructions

You can easily make a cool apron from empty potato chip bags! Just follow these simple steps:

1. Cut off the tops and bottoms of the bags
2. Slit each bag down the back
3. Wash the bags thoroughly with soap and water to remove grease, salt and chip debris, and then rinse and wipe them dry with a dishtowel
4. Turn the bags face up and cut the fronts to the sizes desired
5. Sew the bags together with strips between the bags (as shown), or just sew the bags directly to one another to create a large enough piece for the apron front
6. Layer your potato chip bag “quilt” with denim or other heavy cotton, wrong sides together, and trim the edges to the size and shape desired
7. Bind the edges, and add ties to go around the neck and back.

Voila! A cool apron for indoor or outdoor use!

No-Sew Option

And what if you don’t have time to sew? You could just tape the bags together, finish off the edges and attach the ties with colored duct tape.

Also, here are a few kid-friendly recycling books on Amazon that you might like:

Simple Homemade Sewing Cards

Sewing cards are not only fun for kids, they also develop eye-hand coordination and teach a practical skill that can be used throughout life. I made these simple sewing cards for my 2½-year-old grandson, choosing basic shapes and primary colors to further enhance his learning. I’ll post a full tutorial when I have more time but here’s the basic instructions.

Tools

• Ruler
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Small plate (to make the circle)
• Iron and ironing board (fabric covered cards only)

Materials for Each Sewing Card

• A piece of cardboard (I used a Minute Rice box)
• Colorful fabric and heavy-duty iron-on fusible webbing, or paper and glue
• Yarn
• Tape or plastic sewing needle

Instructions

1. Cut the fabric or paper to 8 inches square. If using fabric, fuse iron-on webbing to the back of each square following manufacturer instructions.
2. Fuse the fabric or glue the paper to the cardboard.
3. Draw your shape on the back of the cardboard and cut it out.
4. Punch holes all the way around the shape, about ½ inch in from the edge.
5. Cut a piece of yarn and tie one end to a hole. Wrap the other end with a small piece of tape or tie on a plastic needle.

That’s it - your sewing card is done!

Tips

• Pretest the hole punch on the cardboard to make sure that you can actually punch holes. After punching several sewing cards, I had to turn punch duty over to my hubby.
• Use plain paper on one or both sides of your sewing cards and let the kids draw pictures and color them.

I also made a sewing card for the little guy with a racecar cut from fabric. Which do you suppose will be his favorite?

For additional ideas, check out some other simple sewing projects for kids.

Find a Variety of Kids Crafts in the Wrights Classroom Online

Wrights brand trims have been around as long as I can remember. As a child, my favorite trim was rickrack – and I still have a bunch! Anyway, I found the Wrights Classroom online which has a variety of craft projects for kids.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, the Wrights classroom has disappeared so I deleted the broken link. The Simplicity Creative Group classroom has lots of projects, however, and seems a good replacement for the Wrights classroom (Wrights appears to be part of the Simplicity Creative Group now?). Here's a banner link (affiliate, btw) for your convenience. Once you're on the site, just click on Classroom & Free Projects on the lower left side of the homepage.



Simplicity is absolutely my all-time favorite pattern manufacturer, so I feel confident recommending the site. I had a look around and there's a ton of info you need to see! I'd give links to my favorites but I've learned my lesson - I don't want a bunch more broken links on this site just because other sites that I've linked to change. So just head on over there and check it out. The site is easy to navigate and has a lot of free projects that would be perfect for kids. Isn’t the Internet great?