Re-purposing: Tshirts into 5-strand-braided-headbands I was walking through Target a few weeks ago and noticed this little knit fabric headband that was not just braided together…….but woven. I decided they were charging way too much for something that could be made with t-shirt scraps. And that means free. So there you have it. (Or you may need one for working out. I kinda love it on my little girl . She always has little hair fly-aways that get into her face…….and this helps with that problem. It even works great with her hair down…..and keeps that hair tucked behind her ears. And yep, good for me too. Thanks little t-shirt scraps. Want to make your own? First, find some old t-shirts. Then, cut your fabric into long strips. Next, stack your 5 strips on top of each other and sew together at one end. Now, pull on each strip of fabric so that they kind of curl on the edges. Now, to create this 5 strand braid……..you’ll kind of be braiding on the left side and then braiding on the right. But let me explain a little better. And that’s it.
Make Your Own Eye Makeup Remover and Reusable Pads. Quite awhile ago I wrote about making your own make up remover wipes. It was killing me to pay the high price of the ones sold in the stores. Lately, however, a couple of other things have been bothering me about the whole taking makeup off thing! First, since getting rid of paper towels in the kitchen…I feel a little hypocritical still using them in the bathroom. :-) Second, I feel like my face needs something richer, with more emollients, for taking off my makeup. Cuz I ain’t gettin’ any younger! :-/ So I spent much of today searching for and developing a slightly different make up removal system, that after using tonight I think I am going to like A LOT! PART ONE:First I made some REUSABLE make up remover pads similar to something I saw on The Sproutz Store Blog. PART TWO:Now I needed something to use ON the reusable pads. 1 cup distilled water1 1/2 Tablespoons baby shampoo (no tears)1 Tablespoon coconut oilA few drops of essential oil (optional) Improving on a good idea is today’s…..
Soft Toys | Laura Lee Burch Blog Fun with shapes Making soft toys/shapes is another subject from my book, Sew Magical for Baby . The babies and toddlers loved playing with the big shapes that I made; the boys and girls loved the balls the best! LOOK! Tia hugs a cone Wee! sewing 101: making a pouf Add a burst of color to your room with this crafty pouf! At 17” wide and 10” deep, it’s large enough to serve as floor seating or a foot stool. (And if you have pets, I have a feeling they may want to make this their new favorite spot!) This project is a little challenging to sew, but it’s not too difficult, so if you’re comfortable with the basics of sewing, give it a try. I love the idea of making a set of these poufs in a range of sizes, for a sculptural stack of cushions that will become a room element in their own right. CLICK HERE for the full how-to after the jump! Finished Dimensions: 17” diameter by 10” tall What You’ll Need ¼ yard each 12 coordinating fabrics (I used quilting cottons) 1 yard muslin 3 pounds fiberfill stuffing 2 large buttons (approximately 1 ½”) 2 flat metal washers, slightly smaller than your buttons 12” upholstery needle (get this where upholstery supplies are sold) fishing line sewing thread hand sewing needle sewing machine sharp scissors iron 1. 2. 3. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
12 gifts of christmas blog hop: organizer wallet tutorial and a giveaway Hello! Welcome to day 12 of the 12 Gifts of Christmas Blog Hop hosted by the awesome Jennifer of Ellison Lane Quilts. Have you been following along since day 1?? If not, there's a list of links to all the tutorials at the bottom of this post so go check them out! Supplies: fabric (I used 3 different prints but that's optional)fusible interfacing (I used Pellon 911FF-Featherweight and Pellon Craft Fuse)cotton battingthread5/8" braided or knit elasticusual sewing supplies: rotary cutter/mat/ruler, scissors, hand sewing needle, soluble fabric pen, pins or binder clips, a walking foot is helpful if you have one3" x 5" memo pad (I bought mine at Target - Mead brand)printable pattern piece - download here A few notes of interfacing: I used two different fusible interfacings for this project but you can easily substitute what you have on hand. **Tutorial is for personal use/gifts only! *sorry for the tutorial photos in advance. 1/4" seam allowance used throughout the project.
Tutorial by Rae: Make baby tights This tutorial will show you how to make a pair of tights by tracing another pair. Don’t have a pair on hand to trace? I’ve made a PDF baby tights pattern in size 3-6 months (with 6-12 months size modifications) that will be available soon (UPDATED: PATTERN HERE)! These baby tights can be sewn with either a serger OR a regular sewing machine. Stretchy knit jersey or old t-shirts make the best materials, and you’ll also need some 3/4″ wide elastic. I’ll talk about fabric selection, needles, and sewing techniques, so here we go… Step 1: Get some fabric For baby tights you’ll need very little fabric. So where can you find such a fabric? And just in case you’re wondering, here’s what I used from left to right in the top photo: aqua: bamboo/spandex blend jersey from Joann (worked great! If you don’t have t-shirts you can recycle, look for knit jersey with cotton/lycra or bamboo/lycra blends. Of course, you don’t have to use bamboo blends, cotton/lycra blends will work fine too. Finished!
New Pattern ~ Crochet Owl Purse « Pattern A new pattern has been born. This time it’s Crochet Owl Purse! I have to admit that I have fallen in love with owls completely …and with all big-eyed creatures in general, to tell you the whole truth. The pattern took me about one week to prepare – from the very first idea up to editing the last picture and writing down the last word today. I love it when a cute idea comes. I sketch and jot down notes. Then comes the mess… and taking about a zillion pictures… and many mugs of hot tea milk. And I like when the real thing resembles the initial idea. This doesn’t happen that often, which is why I really cherish moments like these. It was a lot of fun creating this pattern. It so was! In case you’d like to learn a little more about it, or would like to make a purse like this yourself, please visit my ONLINE SHOP. Enjoy! See you soon! Love, Petra
Update-DIY Dish Soap for the Sink and the Dishwasher Finally! A DIY dish soap that works in the dishwasher without leaving a bunch of cloudy film! We didn’t hate the cloudy film; it is, after all, better than spending money on toxic, neon-colored, individually portioned dishwasher packets. But the film was yucky looking and it felt all filmy. After testing a bunch of recipes, I’m so pleased to say that we came up with an easy homemade dish soap that works really, really well. Why do we want homemade dish soap? Saving money is another good reason to DIY. And think about the reduction in waste from packaging since you’ll be reusing a container instead of buying a new one several times a year. Kinda makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. You will need: 1.5 cups water1 tablespoon grated natural bar soap1 tablespoon borax10-20 drops essential oils* Instructions: UPDATE: We gave it a few weeks to be sure, and it turns out that this soap works great in the dishwasher. Shiny and clean! **Adapted from this recipe at DIY Natural.
The Selfish Seamstress Rick Rack Rosettes A friend gave me this flower ring and necklace, when she handed them to me I thought they were porcelain–there’s a very vintage feel to them. From a distance you really can’t tell that they’re made out of rick rack! Yes, rick rack! She shared how to make them with me, and now I’m sharing with all of you readers! First, cut 2 strips of rick rack. Then twist the two pieces of rick rack together, like this. And then run a stitch down one side to hold it all together. Like so. And to make the flower, you just start from one end and roll it up. Keep rolling. Until you have this–and then tuck the little tail under and hot glue it down. You’ll notice all of the petals are closed, so to open them up you just peel them back one by one. And here it is on my finger. Awesome. (Please excuse my hands, my hand model moved to Indiana, so I’m left using what I’ve got
Superbly Simple All-Purpose Homemade Cleaner I finally used up the last spray of my store bought all-purpose cleaner and I am done! Going non-toxic with your cleaners is a great way to keep your home not only clean, but is better for the health of your home, pets and family. Plus, in most cases, it’s so cheap you’ll want to smack yourself for all the money you have spent on that store bought stuff! I decided to start with all-purpose cleaner. As I have been looking into possibilities for homemade all-purpose cleaners I discovered that there are two ingredients that seems to be the foundation for many homemade cleaning solutions. What it really comes down to? I have been reading all about the wonders of white vinegar. This being said, homemade all-purpose cleaners can be really simple. After experimenting with a couple of recipes for an all-purpose cleaner, that had a little more to it, I came up a recipe. What You’ll Need: Ingredients: ¼ cup White vinegar2 Tablespoons Baking soda4 cups of hot water10 drops of essential oils 1. 2. 3.
Ten minute no-sew recycled t-shirt bag! Tutorial time! I got a gig teaching a recycled t-shirt project at the library a few months ago, with a request for a recycled tee bag – the only bags I’d made from tees in the past had required sturdy sewing, and I didn’t want hand-sewing to be the only thing holding the bottom closed in a class version of the bags, so I started brainstorming about some kind of hand-sewing-friendly or no-sew bag idea…. and here’s what I came up with! The simplest version of these bags is great for smaller tees, or the more light-weight kind of girl-tees – just turn the bottom of the shirt into a drawstring and tie it closed! As you can see, even with a not huge tee, this will still leave a significant hole in the bottom of your bag, but for purposes like grocery shopping, this size hole shouldn’t really matter… But to make smaller holes, just make more than one of them! And now for the actual tutorial – for this one, with the step-by-step, I will be making the bottom with 3 holes. My finished Sonic bag!
Reusable Snack Bags Tutorial Cloth diapering has done something to me. Ever since switching to cloth, I’ve found myself looking for other reusable household goodies. We’ve started using cloth napkins in lieu of paper towel, with the unexpected bonus of adding a little class to every meal. We have repurposed plastic containers into seedling planters. I’ve been saving jars and bottles of all kinds to fill up at bulk grocery stores. Anyway, I decided to make reusable snack bags and it was so easy, I knew I had to make this tutorial. First, select your materials*. For a sandwich sized bag, cut your outside and lining fabrics into 7×14 inch rectangles. For the smaller snack bag, cut the coordinating fabrics into 5×12 inch rectangles. Next, sew velcro (5 inch piece for large bag, 3 inch piece for small) 1/2 inch from one of the short ends on the right side (colored side, outside) of each rectangle. Now, pin the rectangles together, right sides facing each other with the velcro at opposite ends.
Mauby's: The Ultimate Re-Usable Snack Bag: Machine Washable and Stands Upright The loops are great for opening the bag and for hanging from those rings for kids -- making it easy for little ones to snack too! Isn't this a cute bag? Stylish and practical! Brooke was making re-usable snack bags from leftover Polyurethane Laminate (PUL) she had from making her amazing diaper covers! I asked if it was ok if I made some for a local craft fair and then posted the rest in my Etsy shop. These pouches are shaped super cute and stand on their own. Perfect for bringing to the office, play date or on the go! And seriously, I know I've said it before but I adore this heirloom line of fabric by Joel Dewberry. 2, 8" x 9" Rectangles of Cotton Quilting Fabric2, 3" x 8" Scraps of Coordinating Fabric2, 4" Pieces of Ribbon2, 8" x 9" Rectangles of Polyurethane Laminate (PUL)**Please note: Several people have commented that PUL is not considered "food safe" by the FDA. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Now it's time to make those nice square corners! 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.