Christmas Leftovers -- Stocking into Red Riding Hood Cape!

This project tickles me to no end! A couple weeks ago I bought a giant felt stocking at the dollar store, simply because it was an awful lot of felt for a buck. I knew I would come up with something to use it for.

I turned it into matching Red Riding Hood capes for my 9-month-old daughter and her dolly!


SUPPLIES:
~ giant stocking
~ coordinating ribbon


STEP ONE: Turn your stocking inside out and cut away the seam from the top back down to about the middle of the bottom of the "foot."


STEP TWO: Gently peel away the interfacing/stabilizer. It comes of quite easily.

STEP THREE: After trying the stocking on my daughter and marking with a pin where the top of the hood should start, I laid it out on my sewing table and cut a cape shape.

STEP FOUR: Hem all edges of your cape. Felt will not fray, but it will stretch and distort. Hemming will help eliminate some of that distortion. I simply turned my edge under about 1/4" and sewed.

STEP FIVE: Try your hood on your subject again and mark where the gathering should be.

STEP SIX: Create a casing for your ribbon. I hope this photo helps my explanation! From the right side of your cape, lay your ribbon about 1/2" below your pin line. Take and fold the pin line over the top of your ribbon as shown.

STEP SEVEN: Sew exactly on the edge of your fold. Make sure you don't catch your ribbon in your stitches!

STEP EIGHT: I sewed a few stitches at the top fold of each end of my casing, as shown. I didn't take a photo, but I also sewed down the center back seam of my hood just over the ribbon to ensure it wouldn't be pulled out of the casing.

Tie a bow and you're done!!

I ended up with just enough leftover felt to make a matching cape for my daughter's dolly, creating the same general shape to fit the doll. I didn't create a casing, but simply gathered the neckline to fit the doll and sewed it in place. I then attached two pieces of ribbon in the appropriate spots and tied it on!

Can you tell how pleased she is?
Who says babies don't like to play dress-up??

Fabulous Finds!

I don't make it to the thrift store very often (Thrift stores are PACKED this time of year, anyway!), and yard sale season is seriously OVER. I've been having thrifting withdrawals! So, when it gets really bad I pack up the kids and head out.

Here is an ADORABLE fabric panel I found a little while back. I originally bought it so I could cut out my most favorite parts for my I-Spy collection, but now I'm not so sure I can cut into it! It's just too cute!

Look at those cows!


I love the tigers at the campfire; but maybe not as much as those fishing turtles up in the corner.

And my personal favorite... A cute little nest of chickies!! They are just so sweet!

At a yard sale near the end of the summer I bought a big box of vintage silk scraps. In a recent cleanout I decided I would never use most of them, so I kept a pile of all the red-and-white scraps and let my mom and sisters have at the rest. I must say, there were some really cool vintage prints in there, but it was mostly full of really, Really, REALLY hideous ones!! Secretly I really love the hideous ones, but couldn't think of what I would ever do with silk scraps! Oh, how I wish they were all cottons; it would have made my life complete! (Okay, not really; but I certainly could have actually used them if they had been!)

This is only a small portion of a pair of giant vintage curtains I found at the thrift store. The middle section doesn't do much for me...

...but I absolutely LOVE this print on the super wide ruffle! The ruffle goes all the way across the bottom and up one side of each panel. Oodles of happy fabric!!

And, last but not least, my most recent, most favorite find: Red Riding Hood fabric!! Okay, so it is sewn together very badly to a piece of orange fabric to make a small baby blanket. (At least that's what I assume it is supposed to be!) but there's no batting, no yarn ties, and no quilting -- which means I can easily take it apart!!!
~LOVE!~

Wolfie just might be my favorite part!

....I think I just might be becoming obsessed with Little Red Riding Hood....
I may or may not have accidentally ordered some Japanese Red Riding Hood fabric this weekend! And some Japanese Red Riding Hood stickers! And maybe I spent at least a good hour looking at everything on etsy that was labeled "red riding hood!"

:o)

Finger Puppets: Red Riding Hood -- TUTORIAL

My Red isn't completely finished, but I do have patterns and tutorials for her dress and cape. Read on!

(Find instructions for Red's Grandma here, Wolfie here, and the Woodsman here!)

Red Riding Hood Finger Puppets



Create your basic person body as described in Step One here.

Attach Red's hair as described for Goldilocks, here. In this photo I wanted to show you the difference between the separated strands, left, and the regular yarn strands, right. I separated the strands after the hair was all attached and knotted. I ended up braiding her hair too, because I think it's cuter that way under her hood.

For Red's dress you will need:
(you can use this pattern for Goldilocks' dress too!)

~ scrap of fabric
~ ribbon for trim and ties (mine was 1/8" wide)

STEP ONE: Cut out one dress pattern from your fabric scrap, aligning the pattern arrows on the fold. (Yes, my fabric is under there!) Cut the slit as shown; this will create the armholes.


STEP TWO: Finger press the armholes back just slightly, as shown.


STEP THREE: Stitch your teeny little folds, down and then back up on each armhole. This is a little tricky, but it can be done.


STEP FOUR: Turn the hem up approximately 1/4" and sew.


STEP FIVE: Finger press the three top edges of the dress down a scant 1/4". Cut a piece of ribbon about 10" long and sew it across the entire top of the dress, centering it at the front, and stretching the armholes open just slightly.


STEP SIX: Sew the center back seam from the hem up about halfway. You will finish sewing the back seam after you put the dress on Red. Before I sewed the back seam I added some ribbon trim over the top of the stitching on the hem for an extra detail.


For Red's cape you will need:

~ a scrap of red fabric
~ red ribbon for trim and ties (mine was 1/8" wide)
~ elastic thread (optional)


STEP ONE: Cut out one cape pattern from red fabric, aligning the fold and the selvedge as indicated on the pattern.


STEP TWO: Finger press the hem of the cape (curved edge) up a scant 1/4".


STEP THREE: Stitch the hem, laying ribbon atop the raw edge as you sew. The ribbon will cover the raw edge of the hem, finishing the cape nicely on both sides of the cape.

STEP FOUR: Cut your pattern piece on the dotted line as shown, leaving it attached about 1/2" in the center.

Using a disappearing ink marker or chalk, mark the curve on the right side of your cape, flipping the pattern as needed to complete the entire curve. (You can decide which is the right side of your cape. I initially decided I wanted the ribbon trim on the inside, but after finishing the cape I wished it were on the outside.)

STEP FIVE: With elastic thread in your bobbin, increase your stitch length to approximately 4, and sew along your line. Don't forget to backstitch on both sides. You will then repeat this step with another line just alongside the first.
If you are not using elastic thread, stitch with a basting stitch and gather it until it fits Red how you like, then stitch over your basting stitch with a regular stitch length to secure it.

STEP SIX: Starting at one end of the hood part of the cape, attach ribbon around the rim of the cape across to the other side, leaving long tails for tying. Your hood is done!

A Little Sneak Peek....

Here's another little itty-bitty something I've been working on: