Hello again! I know I don't write on here much but, I've got a few minutes to share with you how to change the fabric on the leg padding of your Tula Baby Carrier. **PLEASE NOTE** Customizing or changing your Tula Baby Carrier in any way voids the warranty. Please use extreme caution when stitching!

I finally got a toddler sized Tula but, I did not care for the mustard yellow leg padding on the Grey ZZ. I decided to change it.

Materials used:
Cotton fabric (I found it at Walmart with the fat quarters)
Lining (if needed. I used white fleece since it was all I had but, there are better options out there)
Needle
Matching thread
Thimble!


First, I measured the width and length of the leg padding and just cut a rectangular square of fabric to pin to the leg padding on the Tula. It came out to be 4 1/2 inches wide and 8 1/2 inches tall (with a 1 inch seam allowance included). You will want to measure your Tula since they are not all exactly the same. (My standard sized Tula's leg padding was about an inch shorter than my toddler sized Tula.)

Doing just a rectangle, I discovered there was just so much fabric and it was bunching everywhere. It just looked bad. Even after trimming to get it to fit properly, I hated it. So, I took a sheet of paper and with my measurements, drew the rectangle with one side more rounded to allow me to pin it better. This is the result. (Sorry, scanner is currently packed up and I didn't get a picture before I cut it out.) Click the photo for full size.



Next, I pinned the paper to the fabric and cut 2 pieces.


I began pinning the fabric to the leg padding on the Tula by starting with the top of the curve. To pin it, fold a small hem along the edge of the fabric and put the folded edge all the way to the edge of the leg padding, just touching the canvas. Here's a photo kind of showing you how I folded the hem and was pinning it to the leg padding.


To get it to fit better at the top, I folded it like this:


After I pinned the fabric, I then discovered that you could see the folded edge through the fabric. It bothered me so, I took a piece of white fleece (all I had on hand) and used my template to cut out 2 pieces of it. I then trimmed it so it would fit inside where I had folded so it wouldn't cause the hem to be bunched up. *Please excuse the poor cutting job. Fabric scissors are packed up and I used the only ones I could find.*


Here it is pinned on one side (before adding the fleece)


After adding the fleece:


Then I pinned the other side too.


Next, I took a needle and thread and blind stitched all the way around by hand. I don't have any pictures of this part, sorry!

To blind stitch, I watched a few youtube videos and a video posted in the Customized Tulas! Facebook group by Ashley Brostrom. Here's the link for those of you in the group. Click me

I will post the youtube link once she puts it up there.


And all finished!

I've wanted a bird's nest necklace for quite some time and after seeing many different posts on how to make one, I decided to finally give it a try. Here's how to make your own... with measurements :) Or, you can skip the tutorial and just buy one from me here.

Materials Needed
*120 inches of jewelry wire (I used 22 gauge. The lower the number, the thicker the wire - aka the more difficult it is to bend and manipulate.)
*Beads (I used 6mm sized beads. The larger the mm number, the larger the bead)
*Wire Cutters
*Pliers
*Jump ring (optional)
*Necklace chain

Thread the beads onto the wire and thread the wire back through the beads to secure them as shown below. Pull the wire end tight.





Hold onto the beads. I usually hold them with my thumb and index and middle finger which I tried to demonstrate in this next photo.





Hold the beads and wrap the wire around them in a circle. If you are having a hard time with the wire staying, you are wrapping too tightly and need to loosen your wrapping. As you wrap more, you can wrap tighter. Here’s what it looks like after you’ve done it a few times.





Continue to wrap the beads in this fashion until you are happy with the fullness of the nest.





Take the wire, and thread it in the space between the beads, from the front of the nest to the back as shown.





Wrap around in the same spot, from front to back about 3 or 4 times.




Do this again in 1 or 2 more sections of the nest.





Once you have completed your last looped section, thread the wire through the jump ring. If you do not have a jump ring, just form a loop with the wire and wrap the wire around the bottom of the loop a few times to close it off.





Wrap around the wire below the jump ring to secure it.





Cut the wire if needed and crimp the end down so the wearer doesn’t get poked with it. Enjoy!






If you would like to purchase a necklace from me, I would appreciate your business!! Click here or click on a picture below :)

I love looking at Pinterest. It's a great place to stir my creativity and I found a picture of a faucet extender someone had made out of a baby lotion bottle. Unfortunately, that person did not take pictures of their process of making it so, I had to just wing it. Here's how I did it.



Materials:
Empty bottle (I used a large Johnson and Johnson bubble bath bottle)
Scissors (I used my trusty Cutco scissors... you know... the ones that can cut through a penny)
Razor or knife (optional. I didn't have one but, you'll see why you might want one later)



Step 1: Cut the top off the bottle
Cut a small amount of the top off. Measurements aren't super important here. Just note that the more you cut off, the shorter your extender will be. Thankfully my scissors could cut through the bottle. But, you might want to use a razor blade or knife or something if you can't get your scissors to cut through.



Step 2: Cut the back for the water flow
Cut the back of the bottle. I pretty much just followed the water drop design around which worked out nicely. Don't cut it all the way down. You need to leave a little bit of a "lip" on the bottom to go over the top of the faucet.



Step 3: Cut out the bottom of the bottle
I hated this step. Seriously. It was very hard for me to cut through because the plastic was so thick. Maybe using a razor blade or knife or something would've worked better but, since I am "accident prone" I decided against it. The picture above shows how I finally had to cut to get to the bottom.





Step 4: Fit extender over faucet
Slide the bottom of the bottle over the faucet. Make sure you position it right. Don't put it too far back or you'll have water all over your sink like I did.





Step 5: Turn on the water and cheer!
Yay! You made it! You can use some of the leftover plastic to wedge the extender in place and make it fit tighter but, it works just fine for me without it. Also, if you find your edges are too rough, you can always sand them down.

Have any questions? Feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer it. I'm not a master crafter. Just faking my way through :)

Welcome to my new blog :) It'll be a little bit of crafting, a little bit of mom stuff, and a little bit of anything else I feel like putting on here. So, enjoy!

Oh, and bear with me as I try to figure out all the components of this template.