Guest Host and a Great Cause - Ladybird Ln.

I am so glad to be able to welcome Carlee from Ladybird Ln. here to Come Together Kids.  She has a fantastic blog filled not only with great ideas and projects, but also a monthly focus on a charity cause.  For the month of June, her theme is pillows and she has a fantastic charity to go with it.  Take it away, Carlee...

I am so excited to be here at Come Together Kids... My name is Carlee, and I have a little blog with my sister Alyssa called Ladybird Ln. Today, I am going to talk about a FUN blog contest, for charity I am having on my blog in June, Pillow Fight--For a Cause!

Every month on our blog, we feature a charity, service organization, etc... and a project we crafters/bloggers can unite in to help with that cause!

This month I am featuring a project very near and dear to my heart. I have a great friend, Malynn, who is 14 years old, and has undergone some tough TOUGH medical stuff recently. She has been in and out of the hospital for the past 6 months. One might expect after all the medical problems she has endured she would be bitter and resolved. But not Malynn, she is amazing in so many ways. Instead of focusing on her issues she wants to help others. Malynn is an incredible seamstress, at the age of 14 she far surpasses my sewing ability!  Just look at one of her latest purses..

Yup, she is amazing!  She has made it a goal to donate 100 bright cheerful pillow cases to Primary Childrens Medical Center, to brighten up the patients rooms!  When she was in the hospital it was so comforting to have her own pillow.

I decided I wanted to help her out with this great cause.... and what better way than a

PILLOW FIGHT!  It is called Pillow Fight--For a Cause! Essentially this is a pillow contest where you can enter your homemade ruffly throw pillows, your sweet decorative pillows, your fleece flower pillows (!!!), your bedazzled pillowcases... pretty much anything pillow related, that you have made. THE CLINCHER IS, in order to enter this contest you must donate a pillowcase, one pillowcase per entry! A bright, cheery, fun pillow case! You can either send it to me, and I will let Malynn donate it, or you can donate it to a local hospital, womens shelter, etc. You just have to let me know that you donated one!

We have some FABULOUS prizes for this contest. HUNDREDS of dollars worth of prizes!  We will have guest judges narrow down the pillow field to ten, and then open it up to voting. The top three pillows will receive some amazing prizes. Sponsors for this event include... Kati Cupcake, Cap Creations, Sew Obsessed, Vinylize It, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Naptime Crafters... And Malynn and I are even going to throw in some prizes. We will also have one random prize for anyone who links up--sound terrific, I think so!  For more information click HERE!

So are you in? What is that you say, you don't know how to make a pillowcase? Well, let me show you! Creating a pillow case is simple, fast, and fun. It is a great beginner project, for any age.  This would be a great project to teach your child how to sew! It took me less than an hour to complete this pillow case, and that was taking pictures as well!

Basic Pillow Case

Cutting List:
Main Body Fabric: 3/4 yard fabric {or 27 inches by Width of Fabric (WOF)}
Band Fabric: 1/4 yard fabric {or 9 inches by WOF}
Trim Fabric: (Optional): 1 strip, 2 inches by WOF

Instructions:

All seams are 1/4 inch, unless otherwise noted.

With wrong sides together, fold the band fabric in half lengthwise and press. Do the same with your trim fabric.

Baste together the folded trim piece to the folded band fabric. 1/8 inches from the raw edges along the length of the strips.

Basting, simply means create a long running stitch, so that the two pieces stay together. Don't worry if they do not line up perfectly at the ends, we will fix it later on!

Pin the band/trim to the right side of the pillowcase panel along the long edge, raw edges together, with trim sandwiched in the middle.

Sew together. Zig zag, serge, or overlock raw edges together (To help prevent fraying).

Trim up the uneven layers of your pillow. I used a rotary cuttery, ruler, and mat. But you could just use scissors!

Your pillow case should look like this now!

Fold the pillowcase right sides together. Pin together, making sure to match the band seam line. Sew a strait seam along raw edges. Zig zag, serge, or overlock raw edges.

Turn right side out; Press! You are finished Easy Peasy right! Below is some pillow case inspiration, all of these pillow cases are ones that I made, or that were given to me. Pillowcases make great gifts!

I tried to make this tutorial as strait forward as possible, but you can email me with any questions!

Please come join the Pillow Fight, on our blog! You can link up your pillow creations
June 15-22!

I am trying to spread the word about this contest, I would love to donate 100 pillow cases! I can not imagine what it would be like to have a child in the hospital for extended periods of time.  I hope these pillowcases can be a comfort, and reminder of home! Please put a button on your blog, or contact me, I would love to come to your place and guest post about it!

<a href="http://www.ladybirdln.com/2011/05/pillow-fight-for-causepart-1.html" target="_blank"><img alt="Ladybird Ln" src="http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n514/LadybirdLN/Pillowfight.jpg" /></a>

Thank you so much Laura for letting me crash your fabulous blog today!!

Thank you, Carlee, it was my pleasure! I wish you tons of success in reaching your goal of 100 pillow cases!!