Oh, Thank Cuteness!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The fun folks at GenerationQ Magazine are stuffing us full of adorableness this week. They are sharing pictures and stories about the cute critters (2 and 4 legged) they hold dear, and are inviting readers to do the same. So in the spirit of "Oh, Thank Cuteness" week, I'm shamelessly showing off some recent pictures of my precious ones :) .

When Louie was a bald headed, sweet-smelling infant in a tiny onesie, I didn't think he could possibly get any cuter. Then he became a happy, giggly little toddler with wispy blond hair. I figured he had to be at his cuteness peak. Before I knew it, kindergarten came along, and that little guy with the huge backpack could not have been more adorable. Now he is seven - a big kid for sure, and he still blows me away with his cuteness.

We have lots of great pictures from the last few months - first day of school, Halloween, birthday parties, random precious moments, etc., but I have to say my favorites are from Cub Scouts. Not only does Lou look great in navy, but he is always beaming when he has a scouting event.




My other cutie in uniform is my husband Delmar. He doesn't usually wear his work garb at home, but the other night we had our den of cubs over for a food-centric activity. The Chef talked a bit about healthy eating and the food pyramid, but his amazing crepes were the highlight of the evening.




The "Sous Chefs" helped out by slicing strawberries.




I tried to get some posed pictures with nice smiles, but that doesn't seem to be feasible with 1st grade boys.




Can you tell they are excited to eat???




This is the best picture I got of them enjoying their crepes...only one of them is under the table.




And I can't do a post about cuteness without mentioning Madyson, the 4th grader I watch before and after school. When Lou was little, he happily tried on twirl skirts and dresses for me. Then it got to the point that I had to 1) pay him 50 cents and 2) let him wear a manly hat for the pictures. Now he just flat out refuses to be a fitting model. Thank goodness for Mady! Not only is she sweet and beautiful, but she loves to dress up in my handmade frocks.




Here she is modeling the Leighanna, a Sis Boom pattern that we are about ready to launch. She picked out the fabric and trim herself...that girl has great taste!




She and Louie are like brother and sister - best friends one minute, mortal enemies the next. Even when they act like maniacs, they are just too dang adorable.

So that is my dose of cute for the day - now I have to go peel potatoes! I can't complain because the hot chef is doing the rest of the work. I can just sit back and be thankful :). Want to join in the Oh, Thank Cuteness fun? Just go to the first post of the week on GenQ and add your link. Hope you have a wonderful day of family, food, and maybe even a little sewing!

Double or nothing

Your comments on the 0.5" wide single-fold bias tape maker made me so happy, I just had to follow up with a 1" wide single-fold bias tape maker! The great thing about 1" single-fold bias tape is that it is but 1 fold away from being 0.5" wide double-fold bias tape, which is incredibly useful for binding and finishing edges.

It works exactly like the 0.5" tape maker, I just widened the appropriate parts. It took some tweaking, but once I got it optimized it went together quickly since the instructions were essentially the same. Now I'm going to take the laziness a step further and recycle some blog content :) . The free pdf contains instructions for printing and assembling the tape maker. There is some careful cutting involved, but it goes together pretty quickly and can be used over and over again. And if you happen to smash/tear/burn it, simply print another.



The contraption is optimized for folding 1.875" bias strips into 1" wide single fold tape. You can tweak the starting strip width a bit to get slightly wider or narrower tape.



Here is how it works: The strip is fed into a "slide" that does the folding. The top notch and tabs keep the strip centered, and the "splitter" keeps the outer edges from curling or overlapping. The folded tape is pressed as soon as it comes out of the slide, and it goes under two more tabs to set the folds as they cool.
Now I'm hearing the How it's Made music in my head AGAIN!

The result is 1" wide tape with folds that are a bit over 1/4" wide (just like purchased tape of this size).




I played a bit with a single-fold to double-fold tape maker, but honestly, the easiest thing is to fold the 1" tape in half lengthwise and press to make 0.5" wide double-fold bias tape. You can make the folded edges flush, or leave a bit of an overhang for single step application (described by Angry Chicken in this video).




Now that I have an easy, foolproof way to make double-fold bias tape, I'm going to have to knock out a bunch of Betsey Aprons for the holidays!

Download the free printable bias tape maker here.
See this post for more information about cutting bias strips.