Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pizza. Show all posts

Friday, July 6, 2018

DIY: Beach Towel to Circle Skirt!

I got a joke for you: Crazy art teacher walks into Walmart and sees these:
 Totally ignoring the words "beach towels", she immediately thinks CIRCLE SKIRT and the rest is extra pepperoni history...
Now if you've been around this blog during the holidays, then you already know that I have a thing for buying tree skirts and making them into lady skirts. When I spotted these round beach towels, I thought of doing the same. I mean, why should such an amazing print like this be limited to just the beach?!
While stitching last night, I filmed the process so you could see just how stinkin' easy it was. I wasn't quite sure if it was all gonna work out so at the time, I only bought the pizza towel. Y'all better believe I went back to day and bought ALL OF THE REST OF THE TOWELS. Can you even blame me?
 I totally went to Walmart in my skirt. As I was leaving the house, a neighbor drove by and shouted "is that a PIZZA skirt?! AWESOME!" I didn't get much attention while at Walmart (I mean, it's WALMART, there's a whole website dedicated to the crazy stuff people wear there. Pretty sure I flew under the radar!) but I did get a lot of giggles and stares from little kids. Which means my students are gonna love it. 
 I can't wait to wear this skirt during the upcoming school year...we just might have to make Pizza Pillows again! 
 I'll keep you posted on the many more beach towels to circle skirts to come! If you decide to make one, the supplies are:

* One round beach towel. Mine was 58" in diameter, the perfect length.

* One circle skirt pattern. I used Anna Maria Horner's circle skirt pattern in the video. Any one would work. You could probably even find a tutorial online to make the pattern yourself!

* One 7" zipper.

* Fabric for the waistband. 
And the steps are just as easy. I'd go through them all but, meh, I'm lazy. Just watch the video, y'all! And have fun! 
Oh, snap! This just in: Walmart commented on my IG...AND quoted the one and only Tim Gunn! WHHHHHAAAAAA. I'm dead.

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Saturday, July 22, 2017

In the Art Room: Stitching Pizza Plushies!

A little over a month ago, I got an email from Trixi Symonds over at Coloured Buttons. She asked me if I'd like to join her super fun #sewasoftie project for the month of July. Her concept was simple: introduce kiddos to stitching with a month long sharing of sewing projects via her Facebook page (which, by the way, is LOADED with fabulous sewing inspiration for kids of all ages). I happily agreed and used my recent trip to Italy (and love for all things pizza) as my inspiration. 
Another reason I chose pizza is because my kiddos always find inspiration in food. Are your students/kids like that? It's so funny to me: give a kid a piece of clay and it's guaranteed that they will come back with a clay cookie, pizza or a taco. I know when I share this project with my third and fourth graders in the spring, they'll be all in. 

Let's talk supplies:

* Craft Felt in bunches of colors. I find that I have a TON of craft felt. Does it multiply? Are teachers secretly dumping the stuff in my storage closet? The latter is more than likely the case. It would also explain the ziplock baggies of broken crayons I always receive (y'all, I don't even use crayons!). 

* Chenille Needles are my jam. They have a big eye that is great for threading and a nice sharp point which is perfect for puncturing that felt. 

* Thread can be tricky. Get the cheap stuff and it can break with a slight tug. We use embroidery floss with the single thread...not the one with 6 threads. Cuz we ain't got time to be splittin' hairs. 

* Paper for creating a pattern and for making a needle threader.

* Scissors are great...and if you have one for fabric and another for paper then you are just the bee's knees. 

* Pins and a Magnet to park those pins. They make these great pin wands that my students love. You just wave them and the pins snap right to the wand. 
When I first got the idea to create this lesson, I kept getting more ideas. First it was allowing the kids to create toppings that can be changed at any time. Kind of like the felt boards I played with as a kid. That's why I created the segment in the video where the toppings are changed. Then I thought it would be great to introduce button sewing...for that the toppings would have to be tacked down. And, of course, I had to throw on some puffy paint because PUFFY PAINT MAKES MY WORLD GO ROUND. Thank you, Puff Daddy for the Puffy Paint. He's the one who invented it, right?
Then I got the idea for a silly-faced pizza. I spotted these giant googly eyes at the craft store and thought it would be fun. Because I wanted to add arms like we did with the Stitched Monster project, I knew I'd have to go about sewing a little differently. Originally I was going to make one video...but I decided that two was best: one for the Stuffed Pizza and Button Sewing and another for the Funny Faced Pizza
So, just some thoughts on sewing with kids: I usually do a fibers unit in the spring, after clay. Kids love sewing, weaving, felting, you name it...and it's a great follow-up to clay as they pink-puffy-heart-with-sparkles LOVE clay. However, sewing is a challenge that you and your students need to be prepared for. Whenever we tackle something new, I remind the kids that we are learning and that takes practice and patience. I tell them that some of them will get it right away...and others will take a little longer...but we will ALL get there. With practice and patience. It's important to emphasis this so that frustration does not lead to a defeatist mentality.
Now, I'll have my students glue their items down with tacky glue. But, for those kids creating at home who wish to change the toppings of their pizza frequently, they could simply keep their cut pieces in a sealed bag. 
This pizza was created the same way as the first but I really wanted to introduce button sewing. What better way to do that than with pepperoni buttons?! And, of course, puffy paint. 
No doubting that I grew up in the 80's...I got puffy paint in my veins. 
Shortly after posting my Stuffed Pizza video on my YouTube channel, Jeanne Kemp, an art teacher out of Baltimore shared this with me. She'd done the project with her students! How fun and they did a fabulous job. I had pizza for dinner in their honor. 
This project is a little more involved simply because of the addition of sewing the arms and sewing three sides verses two. For that reason, I'll reserve this project for my older students. 

I def don't plan on purchasing them all googly eyes as I don't have that kind of budget. So, more than likely, if my students decide to make a face, they'll have to create the eyes from felt. No biggie. 
 I really had fun creating these pizzas. They got me excited about hand sewing again...and the upcoming class I'm taking at Alabama Chanin. More on that to come. LOVE to know if any of you all have taken a class there before! 

Until then, have a super fun time stitching your pizza! 

Arrivederci!

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