toots!

letter embroidering

2010-02-08T10:10:00.000-08:00

embroidering is easy!

write your letters out in pencil.

chose your string. they usually look like either of these at the craft store.

does anyone else still have one of these from making friendship bracelets in grade school?

cut off a length and pull 2 strains off. thread your needle and put a knot on the end.

start at the beginning.

make your stitches about 1/8" long.

come up from the back. 1/8" stitch.

come back down and fill in the gap.

come front again in the same hole.

1/8" stitch again

finish a line and start again

sometimes the thread might get snagged up on itself in the back. watch out for this. it will mess up the front when it comes untangled later.

all done. front.

back.

TIP: make sure you don't pull too tight or leave your stitches too loose. you want your thread to lay flat against the fabric without puckering.

amish puzzle ball!

2009-12-10T15:54:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to do this one for a while. I made a couple for christmas gifts (which is why the fabric keeps changing :p) so you got a tute!

This is probably the most involved tute I've done so far.

The basic instructions are 1.) make the little footballs 2.) stuff 'em. 3.) tie them together.

The little footballs are what take so long. let's get started with them.

Here's the pattern. It doesn't have to be the same size. This is probably the smallest one I've made so far. It just needs to be the same general shape.

Cut the pieces diagonally out of the fabric.

You need 3 pieces for each of 12 footballs. 36 pieces total.

Take 2 of each group of 3. Sew them together. Leave a 1/4" space and back stitch on either end.

Chaining them all together takes less time and saves thread.

Cut them apart. Pin one side up. This will keep it out of the way when you are sewing the third football piece on.

Lay the 3rd piece on and sew down. Leave 1/4" and backstitch on both ends.

Chain them together.

Pin together the 2 sides that you've already sewn.

Sew the 3rd size together. Leave 1/4" and backstitch on either end. Also, leave a space in the middle. backstitch on either side of the gap.

Chain them together.

Clip them apart. Snip either end. Make sure you don't clip your stitches.

Turn them inside out. push the corners out with your finger. Stuff!

I used recycled stuffing from a black pillow. It got black fuzzies all over my pink footballs!

Try not to loose any.

Whip stitch the holes closed. You can do this on the machine but it came out sloppy when I tried to. It took a lot longer to hand sew them.

Footballs! Now the fun part. Assembly!

With a big needle and about 8 inches of yarn, start tying them together. Push the needle through the 2 bottom sides.

Tie 4 together to start.

Tie them with a square knot. I did 2 square knots on top of each other just to make sure.

Tie 3 to the first 4.

And 3 more to them.

Tie on 2 more and attach it to the other side. You will make a ring with 8 flappers.

Tie the flappy pieces together and you are done!

dill pickles!

2009-09-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

this is the cheater's way of making pickles. there is no processing involved. we all think they taste MUCH better than pickles that were processed in the canner.

also, there is NO special equipment! :)

this is the book i got the recipe from. there are a bunch of good ones in here. also, for every recipe it has 4 copies of it to tear out and give to your friends.

page 16
ingredients:
3lbs - 4" cucumbers (i'm using regular ones from the grocery store, slices up)
1/2 cup - salt (as per my note to myself, i'm using less salt)
4 1/2 cups - water
1 1/2 cups - white vingegar
1/2 tsp - mustard seeds
4 heads - fresh dill (i'm using 1/2 tsp dried for each jar)
4 cloves garlic (i'm using 2 cloves of canned garlic per jar)

it says that it makes 4 pints. this recipe made 5 for me and there was enough brine left for a 6th.

get your ingredients and assistants together.

prep your jars. put them in water until it starts to simmer, then turn the stove off until you need the jars.

do the same with the lids. don't forget to put them in the pan up, down, up, down, so they don't stick together.

wash and slice your cucumbers. i washed them with soapy water to get as much of the waxy gunk off as i could. then slice off the ends. i cut them between 1/4 and 3/8 of an inch thick. we like thick pickles though. you can cut them how ever you want. i ended up cutting some in spears too.

i started by only cutting half because i didn't want to waste any cucumber that i didn't need. i cut them as i needed them to pack later.

you can use your food processor with the slicing plate for this too. they turn out way too thin for us though.

a mandolin would be good for this also because you can adjust widths. but the knife worked just find for me.

make the brine:
bring the water, vinegar, salt and mustard seeds to a boil until the salt dissolves.

take the jars out of the hot water and put the dill and garlic in each jar.

pack the jars with cucumber. now, when i say pack, i mean PACK. get as many in there as you can. just make sure you leave 1/2" to the top of the jar. try not to touch the rim of the jar.

wipe off the rim. center the hot lids on top. screw bands down to finger tip tight. turn upside down until cool.

i don't know why they tell you to turn them upside down. but i do know that i forgot to this time and only 2 of the jars sealed.

any of your jars that don't seal should be kept in the fridge.

they should be ready in a few days. ours will probably be all eaten before then. :P

brocolli and cheddar soup for colleen!

2009-08-28T12:05:00.001-07:00

i don't have any pics yet but i will update with some next time i make it.

ingredients:
1 stick butter
2/3 c flour
1 onion
1qt 1/2&1/2
1 qt stock (i use chicken, but use what you like)
3 lg carrots
2 heads of broccoli
16 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese block (pre-shredded doesn't melt the same and is yucky)
1/2 tsp nutmeg

4 basic steps:
1.) make a roux
2.) mix the stock and 1/2&1/2
3.) cook the veggies
4.) blend

- chop the onion, in a small pan sweat the onion with about a 1tbsp of butter
- while the onion is cooking, make the roux (turn the stove on LOW and leave it there until the soup is ready.)
- melt the rest of the butter in a big soup pot. when the butter is melted, stir in the flour.
- pour in the stock and 1/2&1/2. stir
- set your timer for 20 minutes, stir once in a while
- while you are waiting, peel and shred the carrots and chop the broccoli
- when the timer goes off, dump in the cooked onion, shredded carrots and chopped broccoli, stir
- set your timer for another 20 minutes
- while you are waiting this time, shred the cheese.
- when the timer goes off, use your immersion blender and chop up the veggies.
- then mix in the cheese slowly so it has time to melt. (if you blend after you put the cheese in, your blender could get gunky.)
- stir in the nutmeg (ew. nutmeg? yes. trust me.)

this recipe makes enough for about 10 servings. we eat half and freeze half. the frozen half is poured into a 12 cup and a 6 cup muffin tin. i put the muffin tins in the freezer over night and in the morning i pop them out and put them in a ziplock.

churning butter

2009-08-27T13:17:00.000-07:00

ok, making homemade butter is the easiest project i've posted about yet. really. easiest project.

3 steps:
1.) churn
2.) strain
3.) wash

ok, step 1:

you need heavy whipping cream and a mixer. some people will tell you to leave the cream out over night. but, eh, i don't bother.

pour the cream in the mixer.

turn it on. start slowly and gradually turn it up as high as it will go with out splashing all over.

it will be a little frothy to start.

see?

then it gets thicker...

and thicker.

then it starts getting a little chunky looking.

then a lot chunky looking.

then it starts to separate. you can see a little milk in the bottom of the bowl.

then you have butter! (and buttermilk.)

exciting!

step 2: straining

fish out the big chunks of butter.

and put them in a strainer.

pour the rest through the strainer into a bowl.

straining...

now the messy part. squeeeeeeze the butter. more milk will come out. pour the milk into the milk bowl. then squeeze more out. there is a lot in there.

step 3: washing

put the butter into a bowl of ice water (or really cold water) and squish it around. this gets even more milk out.

there you have it. butter and butter milk. easy, right?

1qt of heavy cream will make 2 c. butter and 2 c. buttermilk.

quarter your butter and wrap it in wax paper. i froze 3 and put 1 in the fridge.

you can use the buttermilk to make pancakes. the recipe i use is:

2c. buttermilk
2c. whole milk
2tbsp baking soda
3 c flour
3tbsp melted butter

mix the milks together. whisk in the baking soda. stir in the flour. stir in the melted butter.

2 file folder games

2009-07-27T09:17:00.000-07:00

upper and lower case letter matching

i used: a file folder, printer paper, crayons, a sharpie, packing tape.

i realized after i taped it down that i should have laid the letters straight across instead of like pages. oh well. you can learn from my mistake.

Italian Wrap Diaper

2009-07-23T11:01:00.000-07:00

I think they are called Italian wrap diapers. Maybe Italian tie diapers. They are Italian and diapers. *shrug*

At any rate, this is how you make one from flannel.

This is what a real one looks like.

and what it looks like on a super cute baby.

2/3 yard of flannel. open it all the way up. fold it width-wise. then fold it length-wise. cut off 1 1/2 for the tie.

sew both side of the tie

turn it.

top stitch and set aside to sew on later.

now, take the rest and sew it in half length-wise.

then turn it inside out and top stitch.

turn it outside in and center up the seam. fold it almost in half. leave about 3 or 4 inches sticking out the top.

Cut out some leg holes. it doesn't have to be perfect. just cut, kind of, approximately, somewhat where i did.

unfold it and sew the holes closed.

Turn it inside out and top stitch around the whole thing. (the top and bottom ends still have their salvages so i didn't bother turning them in.)

now take the pieces that you cut out from the leg holes to make the wings.

pin the top and bottom, then pin the middle. it will make things go a little easier because of the curve.

sew it down and topstitch around the wings.

** I forgot to take a pic but now you sew the tie on. sew it across the middle on the inside (the side with the seam).

to put it on, roll the back down as far as you need it. (if you want to stuff it with a microfiber towel for more absorbency, put it between the layers before you roll the back.)

lay your babe inside. bring the wings up around his hips. fold the center up (the front might need to be rolled in too) and wrap the ties around back and tie in the front.

He loves it!! <3

pickled garlic and bbq sauce

2009-06-24T11:20:00.000-07:00

We've been on a hunt for good hfcs free bbq sauce for a long time so I just made some. I got the recipe from allrecipes and modified it a little. It called for melted butter and since that is a big canning no-no, I left it out. It's just as good though. It also called for way more worcestershire and liquid smoke than I used.

We love to use garlic but it always seems to go bad sitting on the counter. So when I came across a recipe for pickled garlic in the ball home preserving book, I figured I'd give it a shot.

the recipes are:

pickled garlic (makes 5 8 oz jars.)
2 1/2 c white vinegar
1 c dry white wine (I don't know anything about wine so I just used what we had.)
1 T pickling salt (I used sea salt.)
1 T sugar
1 T dried oregano
12 large heads garlic, separated and peeled
5 whole hot peppers

BBQ sauce (I made 4 recipes and it made 3 16oz jars worth.)
1 c ketchup (I used organic. Not only is it hfcs-free, it tastes SO much better.)
1/4 water
1 1/2 T brown sugar
1/2 t celery salt (I used celery seed instead.)
1 1/2 t mustard powder (I used mustard seed.)
1 T liquid smoke (I used 2 1/2 T total.)
2 T worcestershire (I used about 3 T total because it was all I had.)
3 T melted butter (I left this out entirely.)
salt and pepper to taste

ok! Let's start!

First, peel the garlic. You will probably want to employ some help. This part takes for-ev-er.

We peel garlic one day and did the rest the next morning. I like canning in the morning anyway because it's not so hot.

ok, so first thing, get out everything you need so you know you have it and you don't have to go searching later.

Yes, that is a gallon jug of wine. Yes, it's fancy.

Now, prepare your jars and lids. Fill the pot with tap water until it's full to 1 inch above the jars. Turn on high. Just before the water starts to boil, turn it off. This will take a while because the pot is so huge. *See note about pots at the bottom.

A purple ring is what happens when your husband uses your canning pot as a tie dye bucket...

Put the lids in a small pot. Alternate the lids right side up and upside down so they don't stick together. You don't have to prep the rings but I like to.

Turn the stove on high. Just before the water starts to boil, turn it off.

Dump all the BBQ sauce stuff in a pot and stir it up. Set the stove to medium and forget about it for a while (except for the occasional stir).

Get the pickle brine ready. Put vinegar, wine, salt, sugar and oregano in a pot. (everything except garlic and hot peppers) Turn the burner to medium high.

Get your tongs, funnels, rings, etc. ready. I lost my jar grabber in the move. So far, it's the only thing I can't find, so it's ok. :P

Let the brine boil for 1 minute. Then dump in the garlic.

Take the jars out of the pot.

Using a funnel, pour the BBQ sauce in the jars with out getting any anywhere but inside the jars. This is difficult. :P Drop the lids on and screw on the bands. Put the jars back in the big pot.

Put 1 dried pepper in jar.

The using tongs (and a wide mouth funnel if you have one, I don't) pack ONLY the garlic cloves in the jars. THEN add the brine. Drop on the lids and screw on rings.

Put the jars back in the pot.

Put the lid on the pot and turn the stove on high. When the water starts to boil, turn the timer on for 10 minutes.

When the 10 minutes is up, turn the stove off and wait 5-10 minutes.

Some notes on the pot:
I have a pressure canner. You DO NOT need one for this project. You can use a water bath canner. They are significantly cheaper and you can can a lot of things with them. It is basically a huge pot with a lid and a rack inside for the jars to sit on. You do not want the jars to sit on the bottom of the pot.

Take the jars out carefully. The liquid inside might still be boiling. Set them on the counter and wait for the lids to pop. If one doesn't pop, use it first.

After they cool, take the rings off. They can be really really hard to take off later if you leave them on now.

Enjoy!!

denim basket

2009-02-03T12:14:00.000-08:00

OK, I'm going to start by saying that this is definitely not a project for a perfectionist. There is a lot of fudging to make things fit, but it's worth it. Once you make the first one, you will want to make more. They are super handy.

First, get an old pair of jeans.

Fold the jeans in half and cut around the knee-ish area. No need to measure. Jeans that have a more narrow leg I usually make a little shorter.

Cut off the bottom hem too.

Lay the 2 leg pieces end to end and sew together with a zig zag. Lay one side about an inch over and sew down. Flip it over and sew down the little flap that you made.

Make sure you sew short end to short end.

Then sew the other side so you have a tube.

When you have your tube, you are going to zig zag lines through the whole thing. This is for 2 reasons 1.) it holds the 2 sides together and 2.) all the extra thread makes the fabric really stiff.

Sew in a continuous line so there isn't any starting and stopping. It will go a lot quicker this way.

When you start to get to the outside it might get a little tough to maneuver so just fold the inside to make it a little easier.

This is what it should look like when it's done.

Now take your tube and lay it on some of the left over jean.

Cut it out through both sides. It doesn't have to be perfect. You could trace and cut it out but I don't. Make it a little bigger than you need. You are going to trim off the extra later.

Zig zag in a circle starting in the center and working your way out.

Sew the bottom to the tube. Only sew half of it though.

Now turn it right side up and trim off what you don't need. leave about a half inch around the bottom.

Here's what it should look like.

Zig zag around the bottom one more time so the seam is extra strong.

Turn it inside out. You will probably need to get your finger in the seam and press it out pretty hard. Once it's turned though, it will stay.

Cut off the back of the waist band and cut it in half. There are the handles. You don't have to sew these at all, just cut them off.

Sew the handles on either side. Go back and for 5 or 6 times to make sure they are really secure.

Fill your basket with things like little children. :P

carseat toy hanger chain

2008-10-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

materials:

scrap wool (I'm using worsted weight in this but I've used a little lighter weight too and it turned out just as well.)
size tiny hook

chain 30, join, ch 2 (somehow, for the example I only did 20. it turned out ok, just smaller than I like.)

DC in each ch, join, ch 2.

*only dc in one loop from the chain though. so you hook through one and leave 2, we will need them later.

dc in each st, join.

now, fold the tube in half and use a sl st to join. sl st through both st from the dc's and both from the beginning ch.

Here is the top...

and the bottom.

To do the next loop in the chain, join the beginning chain through the first one you made, then continue with the instructions as though the others weren't even there. (I put it through that one and some I already had done.)

6 of them all joined together.

(I wouldn't join any more then this together to prevent strangulation. That would be bad.)

Fleece diaper cover

2008-10-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

Choose 2 colors of fleece (or one, your choice). The tie dye one is going to be the outside and the blue, the inside.

Using a diaper you already have, measure and trace onto your outside color. Add about an inch or so around all the sides. If you are using a disposable diaper to measure, add about 2 inches.

Make sure you stretch out the cover you are tracing from side to side and front to back.

After you have the outside cut out, lay it on top of the inside color. Cut it out, adding about an inch or so around all the sides.

Using a long straight stitch, sew the outside to the inside as close to the edge as you can. You can pin it first but the fleece tends to want to stick together for me and I haven't had to.

Then, roll the outside forward and medium zigzag down.

This is what it should look like.

A close up of the corner. You don't have to do it like I do, as long as it gets stitched down.

Velcro:
The hook part should always be on the front. zigzag down with a medium stitch.

small cover:
the front is 8" long. the sides are 3" each.

big cover:
the fronts are 4" each. the sides are also 4" each

Elastic:

Clip holes here-ish

To measure how long you need it, stretch the elastic from one hole to the other. Cut it about half an inch longer.

Use a safety pin and guide the elastic through the casing until just a little bit it peeking out.

Use a tiny zigzag and stitch it down. Go over 4 times or so.

Finish guiding the elastic through and hold it down with 2 fingers.

Zigzag down with a tiny stitch. Watch your fingers! Clip the safety pin off.

Repeat for the other 2 sides.

All done!

Matching covers for Nicky and New Baby!

dying yarn with food coloring!

2008-04-15T07:25:00.000-07:00

I started with regular Lion Brand Winter White Wool Yarn. You can use any natural fiber for this project. You can even do tie-dyed t-shirts this way. As long as the fibers come from a plant or animal, you can do it this way.

To start, you need to unwind the yarn ball. Wrap it around something big. I used Oscar the Curious Ostrich.

After you wind it, tie a slip knot in the front to hold it all together.

Put 3 tall drinking glasses worth of water in the bottom of a big pot.

Then, in the sink, (I don't have pics of this) WASH your yarn. It's super easy.
1.) Fill the sink with about 2" of room temp water. Room temp is very important.
2.) Squeeze in about 1 tsp of baby shampoo.
3.) Put the yarn in and slosh it around.
4.) SQUEEZE the water out. Don't wring!
5.) Let out the soapy water.
6.) Rinse with room temp water until it's not soapy anymore.
7.) Squeeze the rinse water out.

Okay, now that we have squeaky clean yarn, comes the fun part. Put the wet yarn in a METAL colander. Put the colander in the pot.

Make your dyes:
1.) Get enough small cups for all your colors. (I recommend 2 or 3 so the colors don't get muddy.)
2.) Put a little water in each cup (I used a double shot glass to measure.)
3.) Drop the food coloring in. More drops for light colors like yellow and less for dark colors like red.

I used neon food coloring: 5 drops of blue, 5 drops of purple and 10 drops of yellow (that ended up being green). I used a big spoon and ladled it the dye on. You can use an eyedropper or whatever else you have handy. As long as the dye gets on the yarn.

The purple turned out pinker than I liked so I made a second cup of blue.

Now, put a lid on top of the colander in the pot. Steam on med high for 20 minutes. (Make sure you do this on the back burner, especially if you have little curious hands around the house.)

After it steams, move it to another burner and let it sit in the pot for at least an hour. It needs to cool. It doesn't need to be room temp, just cool enough to handle.

After it cools, you have to rinse. Get your faucet running and try to match up the temp of the water with the temp of the yarn as closely as you can. To rinse, kind of fill up the yarn with water and squeeze it out over and over. Make sure the yarn stays horizontal the whole time. If you hold the yarn by one end and let the water run down, the dye will get places you don't want it.

You can stop here if you want but I always loop it around the back of 2 chairs set apart. It takes about an hour to dry like this. Leaving it the other way will take a couple days.

When it's dry, ball it up and have fun!

I will post a pic of what I make with it when it's done. :)

prefold to fitted

2008-03-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

This was my first tutorial posted on another site. No one really saw it
so I moved it to here. Enjoy!

Newborn homecoming hat!

2008-03-10T16:26:00.000-07:00

This hat is modeled after the one Nicholas came home in.

First, I unfolded the bottom to see how long it was. 6"x6"

Cut out 2 squares of fleece that are 6"x6 1/2". Make sure the stretch goes side to side.

Round off the top corners.

Stitch around the top. Start an stop between an 1 1/2" to 2" from the bottom. You don't have to be exact. I used extra big stitches with a contrasting thread so you can see it more easily. You will use small stitches with a matching thread, obviously.

Turn it inside out.

Sew up the bottom. For the first and last stitch go over it 3 or 4 times because there will be a lot of stress on those points and they need to be strong.

Fold up the bottom and embellish.

Faux Waldorf Dolls

2008-02-27T11:07:00.000-08:00

Cut out your pieces:

these are all approx.

Fleece - 1 - 4"x10" (purple - make sure it stretches the short way or your baby will come out extra tall and funny looking)
1 - 3 1/2"x2 1/2" (blue tie dye)
Cotton - 1 - 5"-3"

Cut out the body.

Fold the big piece in half and free hand the body. the fold should be where the neck is and then after you are finished cutting out the body, clip the neck so you have 2 body pieces.

Sew.

Sew around the outside of the body. Leave the neck hole open. i used my machine but you can whip stitch it too.

Trace the head.

Fold the cotton in half and draw a circle with a pencil. make sure the bottom of the circle is about a 1/2" from the bottom open side of the fabric.

Stitch.

This part has to be hand sewn. Leave about a 3/4" opening for the neck. DON'T tie off yet!

Clip.

Cut the head out and clip around the edges so the seam is smoother after you turn it inside out. be careful not to cut your thread.

Pull.

Pull your thread so the head is a little bunched up. This makes the head round. Tie off the thread and clip.

Turn.

Turn the head inside out. Use scissors to smooth the edges.

Stuff!

Stuff the head and body.

Sew head on.

Stuff the neck in the neck hole. Whip stitch the head on the body.

Don't clip the thread.

Tie the thread when the head is on but don't cut. We are going to use the thread to stitch the hat on later.

Measure.

Measure your hat. Sometimes there is a little extra on the back. If it comes out small, it's ok. fleece is stretchy. If it is REALLY small, cut a new piece.

Sew.

Stitch up the back of the hat.

Baste.

Using the thread from the neck, baste the hat on.

All Done!!

Now make a bunch!!

toy place setting!

2008-02-09T09:43:00.001-08:00

you will need:

2 - 7"x11" pieces of cotton fabric

2 - 7"x11" pieces heat-n-bond fabric adhesive

1 - 7"x11" piece of felt

iron heat-n-bond to one side of the felt

peel the paper off

iron fabric onto heat-n-bond

flip over and repeat

cut out your plate, fork, knife and spoon

done!

jingle bell baby

2008-02-04T11:13:00.000-08:00

you are supposed to use a cork for these but i didn't have one so i used a round block. it worked just as well for me.

you also need a jingle bell and some scrap yarn.

pants:

chain 2

rd 1 - 5 sc in first ch; join

rd 2 - 2 sc in each sc around; join

rd 3 - 3 sc, 2 sc together, 3 sc, 2 sc together, 3 sc; join

rd 4,5,6,7 - 1 sc in each sc around; join

rd 8 - 1 sc in each sc around; join; end off

hat:

chain 2

rd 1 - 3 sc in the first chain

rd 2,3 - 3 sc

rd 4 - 2 sc, 2 sc in last sc

rd 5 - 3 sc, 2 sc in last sc

rd 6 - 4 sc, 2 sc in last sc

rd 7 - 5 sc, 2 sc in last sc

rd 8 - 6 sc, 2 sc in last sc

rd 9 - 7 sc, 2 sc in last sc

rd 10 - 8 sc, 2 sc in last sc

rd 11 - 9 sc, 2 sc in last sc

rd 12 - 10 sc, 2 sc in last sc

rd 13 - 11 sc, 2 sc in last sc

rd 14,15,16 - 1 sc in each sc

rd 17 - 1 sc in each sc; join

attach bell to the top of the hat.

put the hat and pants on the block or cork.

draw 2 little eyes with a sharpie.

all done! so cute!

circus tent!

2008-01-23T07:34:00.001-08:00

sew together 3 pieces of fabric that are 3 yards long each. hem. with some yarn and a big, sharp needle, attach a hula hoop to the center.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

use a big heavy hook and a butterfly expander nut thingy and attach it to the ceiling. like these

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

cut out a door and that's it! have fun!

mamacloth!

2008-01-22T15:49:00.001-08:00

start with fleece (green), microfiber (blue), flannel (white w/ stars), waterproof sheet (yellow), and velcro.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

cut out your pieces -

the waterproof, microfiber and flannel should all be the same. 9" x 3 1/2" with the center cut down to about 2 1/2".

1 piece of microfiber - 2"x6"

2 pieces of flannel - 2"x4"

1 small strip of velcro

1 piece of fleece - 11"x5 1/2"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

with a medium zig-zag, stitch the small piece of microfiber to the center of the big piece

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

with a long straight stitch, baste the waterproof to the microfiber.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

with a small straight stitch, stitch, turn, and top stitch close to the edge the 2 small flannel pieces. these will be the wings.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

match up 2 wings that are closest in size (if you are making a bunch) and with a small zigzag, stitch on the velcro.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

with a long straight stitch, baste the flannel to the waterproof side.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

with a medium zigzag, sew the wings to the center of the pad to the flannel/waterproof side. sew with the microfiber side up so you can see the edge more easily. trim.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

lay the pad with the microfiber side down on the fleece with the fuzzy side down. curl the fleece up and over on the short ends. zigzag down with a medium stitch.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

trim the sides of the fleece so they curve in to be the same shape as the pad. curl the edges over and stitch down with a medium zigzag.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ALL DONE!!