Tuesday, June 26, 2007

I'll Trade Ya

My friend, Deanne, over at Fragile Flower invited me to barter with her. She makes lovely handmade cards, I make hooded towels - a perfect trade.

I sent off her Shark Towel today, but it will take it a couple of days to swim across the ocean, and I thought she might enjoy seeing her shark-in-progress, so I (me this time, really, not Nathan - I'm so proud!) took some pictures:


The Ingredients:
One whole blue towel
Another blue towel cut into a hood, a tail and a fin*
White, black, and blue thread
Scissors - bonus points if you can find the sewing scissors
Sewing machine
Shark teeth.
*I always buy three full size towels and make 2 hooded towels out of them - the towel that gets cut apart is just big enough to make two sets of hoods, fins and tails.


First I stitch on the eyes with a nice wide zigzag stitch - almost, but not quite, a satin stitch.


Next up - the teeth. Sew the teeth to the front of the hood - right sides together. Here's a little jump-roping rhyme I sing to myself while I sew, so I don't forget to put 'em right sides together: Right sides together, girls, first by the weather, girls, when I call your birthday you must jump in....


Body parts come next - stitch together, then turn right sides out.


Don't forget to trim the seams, clip your strings, and cut in at the corners.


Now, go get that whole towel, and find the center. Measure out from the center and cut a slit for the hood to attach.


Put the hood inside the towel (right sides together, again) and sew around the opening 3 times - first straight, second zigzag (this is where a serger would come in handy,) and third topstich. When the hood is attached, it's nearly done! All that's left is attaching the tail and clipping any loose threads.


And there you have it! One shark towel - perfect for the beach, the pool, and bathtime! I hope Caleb likes it as much as John likes his!

I make these towels in a variety of styles and sizes and creatures - For Sale or Trade!

20 comments:

nikko said...

Oh my. That is so cute. Are the eyes and teeth felt?

Lana said...

those are REALLY REALLY cute! Wow! good job.

cake directions: turns out rice krispie treats are much like play-doh, and beg to be shaped into things. The trick is to keep your own hands very buttery. I smashed the rice krispies into a bowl, then dumped it out. With that roughly roundish form I sculpted it into a car. I had to add more to the front to make the hood. Added oreos for tires, altough oringainlly I was going to use cocoa krispies but that batch had a bit to much butter and didn't hold together well so the oreos were an emergency back up. You can form RK into anything. Whoo HOo!

Deanne said...

Caleb is sooo excited about his towel! It looks awesome Wendy, I can't wait for Mr. Postman swim over and deliver it!!!

Amanda said...

How cute!! I've always loved your hooded towels. I wish I sewed better, those would make such cute gifts!

Super Happy Girl said...

That's the awesomest towel I have ever seen!! WOW! I;d have loved to have one when I was a kid.
You are awesome.
We might be sewing machine post twins, but that's were our twinness ends, your post is much better than mine.

Gina said...

K, how much would you charge for that exact same thing? I LOVE IT! You are so talented! Maybe I could trade you some lettered T's or something.

http://workingmomofliam.blogspot.com/2007/01/shirts-ive-done-so-far.html


email me at ihartpartly@hotmail.com

Anne/kq said...

Those are awesome!

My sewing machine (I make purses, custom costumes, custom-designed dresses, all kinds of things) and my beading stuff (I make jewelry) are currently packed away; the only hobby I have right now is buying stuff to sell on eBay. :( But, you know, if you think of something we could trade, I love doing stuff like that...

wendy said...

nikko - felt teeth, fabric eyes - I iron on the eyes before I stitch them (my ironing board is all ugly so I didn't want to take pictures of that!)

txmommy - rice crispies! brilliant! I love it - and John will love it, too!

Deanne - it should be there in 3-4 days!

Hi Amanda - you made the ducky towel, right?

ncs - but you sewed with your daughter = bonus good mom points.

gina - Liam would look great in a shark - I sell the shark towel for $20 + shipping, let me know if you want me to send you one.

Tori :) said...

Ok. You are just awesome. I'm not crafty or talented in anyway, so I'll have to fork out the dough. :)

wendy said...

and gina - you t-shirts are adorable = I'll email you.

anne - what do you sell on ebay? is that fun to do?

Unknown said...

You lost me at "sewing maching."

:-)

Anonymous said...

Wow that towel is so cute. Juddah loves his duck towel that you made him, wow almost three years ago!!

Suzanne said...

How darling! I've never seen a shark one before! My kids have a duckie themed bathroom so I'm trying to figure out if I have a skill I could trade for one of them. How much do you charge for the towels and how much is your shipping?

So, so cute! :D

Elizabeth-W said...

Those are the cutest things ever!! Time to start thinking about Xmas!!! I have a little nephew who might really dig something like that. I don't suppose you do a spiderman theme???

Super Happy Girl said...

Inspired by your post (and our twinness) I decided to make an apron.
It's the goofiest and dumbest looking apron ever made. Ever.
Fashionista says she loves it, ah my poor child, so innocent.
This mean I'll not be making these for profit or trade.

Sketchy said...

Adorable!! I think I need my kids to be littler again so I can make them wear them.

orchard_girl said...

This must be why I've been itching to sew. We love our ladybug, shark and duckie. Maybe I should order a bunny to round out the family. love you!
Heather

Jenn said...

Awww - this is so cute! What a cool idea! I'm sewing-impaired, so I could never do it, but you give some great instructions and I almost feel like I could do it. But I can't.

I hadn't been on here in a while - what a treasure I've been missing out on!

And to save me posting another comment on another post...I LOVED Stranger Than Fiction!

Jody said...

That is ADORABLE!

Anne/kq said...

I sell all kindsa stuff. I sell kids' and adults' leotards and unitards (dance and gymnastics), maternity clothes, patterns, kids' clothing, Halo sleep sacks, Boppy and My Brest Friend nursing pillows, other baby stuff, whatever I find that I think will sell! It is kinda fun, it's an adrenaline rush and I like the money. Right now I'm mostly on maternity and baby clothes.