12.11.09
Terry Swiffer Covers
I made these quickly in two styles so I could decide which style worked best. I’m thinking that my original pattern, which I modified for #1 works best because it stays on the swiffer very well while I mop but it’s a pain to put on. The top pieces should be a stretch material, not cotton like in this sample, to make attaching the cover faster for mopping.
And #2. The pad shifts about a little bit while mopping.
I used an old towel for these.
I have a tutorial for a fleece Swiffer cover on this blog if anyone is looking for one. Fleece is fantastic for grabbing all those dust bunnies.
Recycled denim slippers
Here’s a pair I made from a pair of stretch denim shorts, sweat pant shorts and scraps from a quilted coverlet that I used for window quilts.
Materials:
And the finished slippers:
That weird looking splotch was just the camera’s imagination because it’s not on the slippers.
I’m wearing them now and they are warm and toasty and should hold up longer than simple fleece ones. Although I’ve got to say, I wore the fleece ones nearly constantly since I made them and I haven’t worn holes in them yet. I really expected that to happen within the first day or two.
Next up, mukluk/boot style slippers for the kids and hopefully tutorials for both styles.
11.25.09
Easy fleece slippers
I made a quick pair of fleece slippers this morning from a pilled top. They’re double layer.
My homemade pattern worked pretty well but I want to make some improvements for looks.
Since this was a prototype(and my feet were freezing at the time)I rushed and these are a bit sloppy.
But I’m wearing them now and who cares because my feet are warm!
Yay, free slippers!
11.18.09
More pads
I’m in the process of cutting up a pair of flannel pj’s to make more feminine articles. The bottoms are completely cut up and made into 7 light, 4-layer pads and 2 medium, 6-layer pads.
I used a quick process I read on another blog. You sew 2 outer wing pieces completely together right sides facing and two long ovals together completely right sides facing. Then you carefully put a small slit in the the back of one side of each piece and turn the pieces right side out. Then face together the split sides and topstitch the oval pad onto the wing pad.
The blog gave a free pattern too which had wings that were way too huge for me. So I made a custom pattern but kept the process.
I did learn that when using this process with this type of wing, that you should clip the right angles where the wing meets the body before turning right side out. The larger pad in the pic is scrunched around that area because it’s not clipped.
10.29.09
T-Shirt Braided Rug
I picked up a set of braided rug gadgets(something like these: 
)
at the thrift store for $3. I figured I’d use them to make braided rugs out of wool or old sheets.
Well, I decided to try the gadgets out on a bunch of cotton blend, stretched out and stained tees that were beyond reconstructing.
5 tees and 2 partial tees came to this 18X24 inch rug:
The gadgets worked like they were supposed to, for the most part. All the mistakes you see in the above project are just me learning.
I thought this way a fun project, really easy, frugal and not all that time or attention consuming. I spent about 6 multi-tasking hours on it start(cutting up tees) to finish(photos).
10.17.09
Large Ottoman Cover
I started this ottoman cover at least a year ago and ran into problems while piecing it(stretching, fit problems) so I set it aside and procrastinated about finishing it.
It took two hours this morning to attach the last two sides and fit it to the ottoman.
I’m glad I only spent $12 on this fabric because it didn’t turn out as well as I’d planned.
Oh well, it’ll help protect my furniture from the kids and their spills.
Sorry if the color is off in this picture, my computer monitor had lost its’ red pigment so everything appears black and blue on our screen. So I can’t tell if the colors are true or not.
10.03.09
The T-Shirt Quilt is Finished!
This took much longer than I anticipated. I was hoping to do all but the tying by machine but I found that basting the edges and sewing the binding had to be done by hand. There was just too much bunching in my machine.
So what should have been a one hour job turned into a five hour job. Plus a couple of hours to tie the quilt(it’s slow work when you have to repeatedly ask your kids to get off the quilt please!). Plus whatever hours I put into piecing and cutting blocks, maybe 10-12 hours?
So I’m estimating 20 hours total start to finish. And it only took me a few months, lol!
But I think it looks really nice and it’s super warm and cozy.
This quilt was made from about 15 old t-shirts(free), two white cotton sheets($1.60 thrift shop), 3 skiens of embroidery floss(free from another crafter), and a twin sized Warm and Natural batting($11). So total for this quilt was $12.60.
09.06.09
Busy, busy!
My personal life is a little bit busy right now as I start up our homeschooling year. In my down time I’m piecing a t-shirt quilt for my daughter. I hope to have pictures of the finished t-quilt up next weekend. 
I also picked up the needed fabric for my baby quilt backing and today the Dalmatian quilt is sandwiched and basted ready for quilting. You won’t see pictures of the finished quilt until November so try to control your excitement, ok? 
08.30.09
Dalmation Baby Quilt in Progress
Yesterday I finished piecing the top for the Dalmatian baby quilt.
I ‘designed’ it myself from a one yard cut and 4 fat quarters. I wanted the paws to look like they were walking all over the quilt.
So far, 2 hours designing, fabric prep, and math + 1 1/2 hours cutting and more math + 4 hours piecing, pressing and trimming =7 1/2 hours.
I underestimated how much backing fabric to buy. I figured in the store to make a 3′X4′ standard crib size and my design turned out to be 4′X4′. I really need to remember the 25% rule(figure what you need then increase it by 25%). Maybe I should just double what I think I need to be extra safe?
It wouldn’t be such an issue except that the nearest fabric shop is a 40 minute drive away. I bought my batting online at Joann’s. Maybe my fabric will have to come that way now too. The fabric for this project was bought in Lancaster, PA during vacation.
Anyway, enough jabbering, right?!! Here are the pics..
08.23.09
Reusable sandwich wraps
I finally got completely fed up with washing out baggies and turned to the internet to find an alternative. Well I found some clever vinyl wraps on a ‘green shopping’ site but I didn’t like the vinyl idea. I also didn’t like the $7 each price tag.
After more browsing I came to this great tutorial: www.craftstylish.com/item/43227/how-to-make-a-reusable-sandwich-wrap
Of course I didn’t have any PUL on hand so I browsed for an alternative material. Someone suggested ripstop nylon and I had a scrap of that so that’s what I used.
