I decided to make a new sleeping eye mask for my hospital stay. It never seems to get very dark in hospitals does it? So I grabbed an old maternity shirt from my first pregnancy(for sentimental reasons), a pair of hubby’s old athletic shorts, some elastic and an internet pattern.
And voila!
Now I can rest in style. 😀
I don’t want to spend a fortune on post-partum pads so I’m making a bunch of these extra long and thick overnight pads. All my materials are salvaged/free so only the cost of thread and electricity. 😉
It’s absolutely insane what companies are charging for nylon mesh nut milk bags. I wasn’t about to pay $11 plus shipping for a piece of serged nylon so I rummaged in my clothes to recycle bin and came up with the perfect item for recycling, a fine mesh 100% nylon vintage negligee robe. These can be had very cheaply at thrift stores and yard sales. Mine was free. I washed it in hot vinegar water to remove any detergent and oil residues and then began my project.
First, draft a pattern. Draw a box 14.5 inches high by 13.5 inches wide.
Mark the center line along the height. Cut out the box and fold along the center and then along the width. Unfold. Mark a curve between the side center and bottom center folds. Cut. Your pattern is ready. 🙂
Cut two pieces from your nylon. I weighted the pattern down and used my rotary cutter because nylon likes to shift.
Serge alone the top of each piece to stabilize.
Then put the pieces together and serge along the outer edges, leaving the top serged area open.
If simple is ok for you then you can call your project done right now! I wanted to add a drawstring and to strengthen the bag by french seaming.
So, turn the bag inside out and use your sewing machine to encase the serged edge inside a 1/4 inch seam.
Now fold the top serged edge over 1/4 inch and then again 3/8-1/2 inch. Sew around the top, leaving a 3/8 inch gap to insert drawstring. This “hole” will remain so be sure you’ve back stitched at the beginning and end of your top seam.
Use a safety pin to thread a length of nylon ribbon through the casing and out the hole again. Knot.
Your bag is ready!
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For Almond Milk:
Soak 1 cup of raw almond in water in the fridge overnight.
Drain water and put almonds in blender. Add 3 cups of water.
Blend until nuts stop rattling around.
Place open nut milk bag over a bowl and pour milk into bag.
Pull drawstring and lift over bowl. Squeeze bag gently to remove milk from pulp.
Refrigerate milk and remove nut pulp from bag. Rinse bag in warm water and air dry.
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My bag worked fantastic and the whole milk making process(even the bag rinsing)was fast and easy!
Kids’ clothes are a wonderful source of nifty appliques, notions and specialty fabric. They’re cheap and often free to acquire. Too often items that get a bit stained or outgrown are just tossed instead of recycled. Making gift bags is a fantastic, fast way to recycle tiny garments!
Here’s one I made out of a toddler skort and two scraps from my scrap box. Just two quick rectangles serged together and around the top with a quick serged scrap ribbon.
This could be re-gifted over and over or used to store small items like jewelry, stationary, software, a game system, kids’ toys, etc. Larger sizes can be reused as shoe bags, craft and art supply organizers, and for china storage. There are so many possibilities!
Another gift bag I made from a couple of t-shirt scraps. I made a quick ribbon from my scrap box. This is a single layer bag but I think from now on I’ll be doubling up when I use tees for gift bags. The extra layer will support large/heavier gifts and prevent a lot of the stretching that happens with knits. It will also help the bag last longer in its second life. 😀
I also did a quick(hence the messiness)reverse applique fix for a big hole in the front center of one of my son’s tees. It’s a bit sloppy but it works.
Our baby is a surprise and will be born in a very warm month so I made the easiest and coolest going home outfits I could think of. The baby will come home in a side snap t-shirt and bloomers.
I used a newborn diaper cover to draft my pattern and used two super soft tees for the fabric.
The boy’s has just a simple blue check bow.
The girl’s is my first time trying a ruffle bottom. So cute!
I picked up a wild colored baby shirt for $.10 at a yard sale last year just for the embroidery. The shirt was western style and probably from the 70’s. I used the front embroidery for the case. I still have the awesome back piece to use in another project. It’s a big peacock!
I use a scrap of sweater for the cushioning and lined it with the sleeve fabric. I think it looks pretty smashing with my new phone. 🙂
I got really lucky with this one. I wanted a 12 inch wide by 10 inch high by 6 inch deep diaper bag. I wanted a front pocket, side pockets and two interior pockets. This romper provided just enough material with only the tiniest remaining scraps.
I utilized the two pockets on either side of the dress and salvaged the invisible side zipper for the top of my bag. I added a yellow sheet for the lining, a magnetic snap for the front pocket and a couple of white rings to add some oomph to the strap. I like rings for clipping my keys , a wristlet or cell phone case to. 😉
Hanging up(long straps!):
And on my sewing table(I stuffed the bag with batting to show the shape):
These covers are a variation of the Fleece Swiffer Covers I posted in my tutorials section.
You will still cut your main terry piece 10 X 10.5 inches. You will also cut 2 pieces of terry 4.5 X 10 inches for an interior soaker pad.
I used a ratty old cotton terry bathrobe to make these.
Now serge along the long sides of your main piece.
The put your two soaker pieces together, fuzzy side out, and serge along all the edges to form the pad.
Now place your soaker pad centered on the wrong side(non-fuzzy) of your main piece and stitch along the length of the soaker edges to attach it to the main piece.
Now fold the serged edges of your main piece(fuzzy side in)to the center leaving a 1/2 inch gap. In the fleece tutorial you’re instructed to slightly overlap the edges but that’s because fleece has some stretch. The terry needs some give so leave a gap!
Now serge along the edges.
Turn inside out and adorn your swiffer!
The concept of this is really easy and a great way to recycle all those holey athletic socks your guys seem to go through.
First you need 4 holey socks. Cut off the heel and toe parts.
Then cut down the tubes where the holes are, trimming to get squares/rectangles.
You may end up with one piece that is much smaller than the others.
If you only have the four socks, trim down one of your other pieces to the same size as the smaller piece. If you have plenty of socks to work with, cut another to get a similar sized piece.
So I only had the 4 socks so I ended up with two small pieces and two medium pieces. Place 2 different sized pieces fuzzy side together and sew or serge along one side.
Repeat for other pieces. Then place them both fuzzy side together and sew or serge along the outer edge leaving a 2 inch gap for turning.
Turn and stitch closed and topstitch all around.
Now that you see the easy process I can assert that these take a mere 4 minutes to make start to finish.
Now you may ask why to do this?
#1. I used to just use the socks as is for cleaning but my hubby kept trying to put the rag socks back with his good socks.
#2. These are exceptionally soft and absorbent rags. These are as thirsty as two wash cloths for cleaning up spills.
#3. They’re free.
#4. They last longer as rags than they do as socks. I have some of these going on 4 years of use in my cleaning basket. I can’t even begin to count how many paper towels I must have saved by having these.
#5. Since these are free I feel no guilt throwing them out after a particularly yucky mess. I try to grab the oldest rag in the stack for those messes.
Lately Reconstructed 