L is for lanyards ... lots and lots of lanyards

This is a way-overdue post ... I did L during the summer but couldn't post it until I finished J and K first! K was done kind of at the same time as L, but it took until now (the fall) to backtrack to J.

L is for lots and lots of lanyards. Sixty, in fact. This was my main sewing project for the Activity Days/Faith in God day camp I put together for this summer. Yes, I made every last one myself. I worked on them off-and-on in May and June, but once I had my registration numbers, I really cranked them out in July. I finished the last ones the night before camp started.

Adult leaders: sunflowers, teen junior counselors: the purple/cream in the middle, 11 year olds: green, 10 year olds: purple, 9 year olds: blue, 8 year olds: pink.

I came across this Noodlehead post last winter and instantly decided to make all the lanyards for the name badges instead of buying them. I had some fabric contributed by a friend but most of this was what I had sitting around in my storage room - nothing was purchased except the clips on the ends. There aren't precise directions for the lanyards that I could find, so this is what I did:

1. Cut a strip of fabric 36 inches long and 2 inches wide. This length works for both kids and adults.

2. Press the two edges in just barely, like with bias tape.

3. Fold it in half and press again, so the raw edges are tucked inside. OR, as Mindy pointed out, use a bias-tape maker for all of that. I did try that but wasn't figuring out the bias tape maker, so I did it the longer way.

4. Sew it closed, as close to the edge as possible.

5. Sew it down the folded side as well along the edge, so it matches.

6. Put the ends together, fold over the raw-edge end so it's tucked in, then wrap around the ring on your clip before sewing. I went back and forth about 3 times to make sure it was secure. The ring/clip combos were ordered on Amazon.

One of the lanyards in action, on my own kiddo, when they were decorating cookies and cupcakes to give to the Hartford Temple construction workers.

Additionally, to go on the lanyards, I put together four different clips with felt on alligator clips, to go with the Faith in God sections. The overall theme of the camp was "Stand Tall" and we had a devotional each morning of the camp to go with the three sections of the Faith in God book. I had a lot of help making the clips - I made the yellow triangles with the teeny orange feet myself. I didn't touch the hearts or the flowers - the sister missionaries, a friend, and SM spent an entire afternoon at my craft table getting them all knocked out. I split the temples with the friend. We made about 50 of each clip - we had 30 girls, 6 teen junior counselors, and 17 adult leaders working on various sections of the camp. The clips had narrow grosgrain ribbon hot-glued to the clip, then the felt shape glued onto that - the ribbon helps hold the felt to the clip better (and yes, in the past when making hair clips for my girls, I've left the ribbon off. Mistake.)

Our camp theme: Stand Tall. CLIP: yellow felt triangle, orange cardstock cut with a baby foot punch from the scrapbook section at Hobby Lobby. The Stand Tall/feet theme came from the January 2016 Friend Magazine.

Learning and Living the Gospel - in addition to the devotional, we had an outing to the Hartford Temple. CLIP: Light blue 2x1 rectangle, white felt cut in the temple shape, yellow ribbon at the top, green scrap across the bottom, glitter over the whole thing.

Service - we decorated cookies and cupcakes, and took 90 treats and thank you cards to the construction workers working on the Hartford Temple. CLIP: red or pink felt cut into heart shapes of various sizes, ribbon and lace added with hot glue - just various things from my scrap box.

Developing Talents - as we develop our talents, we become more beautiful like flowers do. CLIP: I've been making this style of felt rose for a long time - here's the tutorial. The flowers were then glued to a wonky random-cut green triangle for the leaves, then glued to the clip.

This day camp was a test run to see if this is something our church group will do regularly. There was an overwhelming positive response from the girls who participated as well as their parents, so we're going to the region level next year. It's been requested that I do the felt clips again, and I should probably spend the winter making another 100+ lanyards!

K is for knit fabric

Before I did J, I did K.

In sewing so far, knit fabric and I have not gotten along particularly well. Back at Letter D - doll clothes - my pieces with knit fabric were totally wonky and did not go well. It may have been the fabric itself. I was using old knit leggings for the fabric instead of a fresh cut that hadn't been used before. Either way, it made me skittish to use it again so I haven't, until now.

In July, I needed a skirt that was solid-colored and drapey, really fast for the play. After the toga project, I had about 4 hours before the dress rehearsal to take care of my own costume. I hadn't found anything at the thrift store that I liked, and I remembered this blue knit. Sure, whatever. It's a solid, which is what I needed. I went slowly while sewing to make sure I didn't stretch and warp the hem, and used a zig-zag stitch to allow for the give in the fabric. And I guess it worked! I did just an elastic waistband because it's easiest, and then tied a sash around my waist to cover it.

It's a bad photo because it was shot from the auditorium with an iphone by a 4-year-old. But you get the idea, and here I am telling Professor Hill what a trashy girl Marian the Librarian is. (The girl in the shorts behind me was getting her skirt fixed backstage - this was dress rehearsal. She would have been quite scandalous in 1912 wearing only that!)

J is for jeans

I've been accumulating old jeans in a pile for YEARS with the intention of cutting them up and making a picnic blanket. I'm finally working on it.

It occurred to me that making a picnic blanket out of jeans as large as I want would be REALLY REALLY heavy, and possibly even damage my washing machine when putting it in the laundry. So Plan B is that I'm making 48x48 inch jeans quilts, and then I'll put them all next to each other. Voila! My 8-foot by 8-foot blanket, just in four pieces!

One down, 3 to go!

The back is an apple print on a navy blue background - it came from someone else's clean-out that ended up at my house. Very vintage-y, probably from the 80s. I have no idea, but certainly not current. It works for a picnic blanket.

It's a little wonky (bottom right corner) - obviously I need work on my squaring off, but this is only the 2nd time I've tried this. And who cares. It's a picnic blanket to sit on the ground.

close-up of the apple print