Home remedies, recipes, and VooDoo.

What you will need:

• 2 to 3 socks (depending on how long they are. I used 3.)
• quilt batting or polyester fiberfill (I used the stuffing from an old pillow)
• popcorn kernels (you could also use dried beans, peas)

Starting with the popcorn kernels, alternate adding layers of the two materials. I used a small plastic cup with the bottom cut out to facilitate pouring the corn in (but I still managed to get it all over the floor!)

I think each layer of corn kernels ended up being approximately 1 cup, but I didn’t measure. Each layer of “stuffing” was comprised of a couple of big handfuls of the stuff. There is no precise measuring here…you just want about a 1/2 and 1/2 mixture.

The popcorn is used for weight and won’t go rancid like some other dried goods. The batting/stuffing helps give the sock some shape and insulates against the cold air. Pack each tube all the way to the end, with the final layer being the stuffing.

Repeat with 2nd (and 3rd?) sock(s). Now attach the sock sections to each other by simply overlapping the open end of one sock over the closed end of another. Think of it as “putting a sock on” your sock! When the sock sections are fitted snugly together, a few hand sewn stitches will keep it all in place. Or you could even use some fabric glue if you are allergic to needle and thread. :-)

What you need:
One adult t-shirt in any size, I used a male medium.
Baby Shortall Pattern size 6-12 mos
sewing supplies and sewing machine

1. Lay out your t-shirt and place the neckline of the pattern on the neckline of the shirt.

 

2. Pin through both layers.

3. Cut out. At the neckline cut straight up then cut across into the neck hole at the top of the pattern. (If your neckline is really big, you might not need the whole neckline.

 

4. Cut out the other pieces. When cutting out the sleeves, place the bottom on a hem so you don’t have to hem the sleeves. You should have one front and one back, four leg opening pieces, two sleeves, and one crotch piece.

5. Perfect the shoulders by angling in the edge so that the neckline ends in a point.

 

6. With the back on the bottom right side facing down and the front lying on top facing down, overlap the points by 2”.
*This is where you can alter the pattern for head size and shoulder width. If your baby has a big head and wide shoulders, overlap less. If your baby has a small head and small shoulders, overlap more.

7. Find the center of the sleeve by folding in half.

8. Line up the center of the sleeve with the center of the 2” right sides together.

9. Sew a zigzag at 1/4”.

This is what your neckline and shoulders should look like.

10. With right sides together line up the sleeve seams at the armpit. There will be a difference in length because of the size of the neckline. Also, the white arrow is point to the corner where the side should meet the sleeve. It doesn’t meet because I overlapped my neckline 2”. If you overlap yours less, I left room on the patter so that you will have more room in the sides.

11. I drew a line from my sleeve seem to my hem and pinned. (It’s hard to see in the picture.) Sew with a zigzag at 1/4” from sleeve hem, pivot under the sleeve and then sew down to the bottom.

12. Trim off excess.

13. Now lay down your shortall and cut off the excess so that the back to matches the front.

14. Fold the back and the football to find the center of each.

15. With right sides together, match the centers together.

16. Pin together. This is a little tricky because the two pieces are opposing curves. Sew at 1/4”.

This is what it should look like.

17. With right sides together sew with a straight stitch at 1/8” on the outside curve. Do the same to the other two.

18. Turn right sides out.

19. With rights sides together pin the inside curve to the front inseam. Sew with a straight stitch at 1/8”.

20. Flip over to the inside and sew with a straight stitch at 1/2” from the inseam.

This is what it should look like.

21. With right sides together pin the inside curve to the back inseam.

22. Pin up the bottom 5/8” and sew with either a zigzag or a double needle.

23. Apply the closure of your choice. I did both snaps and buttons. I prefer buttons and buttonholes.

DIY Dog Bed from Old Beach Towels and Pillows

DIY Dog Bed Instructions

1. Gather your materials

• 2 contrasting used beach towels
• scissors
• 2 old standard pillows
• lawn size plastic bag

2. Lay the towels on top of each other, aligning the sides.


3. Cut 4” x 4” squares from the end of ONE of the short sides of the towels. My picture show that I actually tied some strips before cutting the squares out, but now I know better!

4. On the same short side, Cut strips through both towels, about 5/8” wide by 4” deep all along the way to the end. Leave the other short side alone.

5. Lay both pillows (long side to long side) along the end of the cuts you’ve just made. This will show you where your stuffing will end. THAT’S where you should stop cutting strips. Go ahead and cut strips (as in step 4) on both long sides, leaving a flap of about 18,” beginning where your pillows end.

6. Double tie the top and bottom strips as close to the end of the cut as possible. Repeat all the way around the three sides.


7. Place a pillow in the lawn bag, and drop the bag/pillow into your towel “case.” Then place the other pillow in the bag. Cinch up the bag and tuck it in.

8. Tuck both towel flaps in the open end and smooth them out.

There…washable, waterproof and green (I recycled!). It was also inexpensive - ok, CHEAP! The only downside I can see is that it is a MESSY project, so be prepared for little towel particles everywhere.

an old sweater, scissors, and thread

Step #1: Create the handles of the bag by cutting the sleeves and neckline off of the sweater.

Step #2: Lay the material so that the side seams of the sweater meet in the front.

Step #3: Pin the bottom of the sweater together and sew a straight line to join the two sides.

Step #4: Turn the bag inside-out and fill it full of all your favorite goodies.

**An additional step that is optional is to fold and sew each bag handle to create a clean handle line. This also aids in making your bag more sturdy**

 

 

The top side of the rug looks great, but so does the bottom side. Flip the rug over for a new look and feel! If a scrap falls out or gets uneven, simply put it back in or pull it until it is even. It’s very easy to maintain. If you would like to wash it, please use a lingerie bag and run it in a delicate cycle as it could fall apart in the wash. However, the fabric is not delicate itself, so if something were to happen, it can be cleaned.

Cut the 1st towel into the following pieces (you should have a medium sized piece left over)

The instructions (sorry they’re so hard to read on this one): Draw both edges together and pin - leaving 1cm(ish) between the edge of the pillow seam and your new seam, so that the towel lies flat (see the pic below for further clarification…

Then sew!

The pic doesn’t show it, but both handles are on the same part of the towel, the erm, flap.  One on either side of the pillow.

 
I think velcro will work much better than domes, but either would be fine…

Materials
Pair of recycled stretchy jeans (You’ll be using a pant leg and a pocket)
Aleene’s Quick Dry Tacky Glue
Aleene’s Patch and Applique Glue
Tulip Fabric Spray Paint Emerald and Fuchsia
Tulip Soft Matte Fabric Paints in Azalea, Ebony and Glacier White
Tulip Pearl Dimensional Fabric Paint Clover Green
Tim Holtz idea-ology Mini Masks Regal
Star Stencil
Hero Arts Writing Stamp

Tools

3. Run a bead of glue along the top and bottom edge of your folded fabric, stop gluing approximately 2.5” from each edge. Allow to dry.

4. Slide the front of the book cover into each side of your folded and glued fabric, creating protective sleeve.

5. Adjust the fabric tension and glue the edge down on each side. Repeat for the back cover. Allow glue to dry.
6. Glue pocket on front of cover with Patch and Applique glue. Allow to dry.7. Decorate the pocket using a variety of fabric paints, stencils, rubber stamps and splatters. I used the Tim Holtz flourish mask with pink and green fabric spray paint, the Tim Holtz flourish stencil with the azalea paint, smeared and flicked on the green paint on the pocket with my pointer finger and stenciled the stars on with the stencil brush and black paint. 8. Use a foam brush to apply fabric paint to a rubber stamp with text and stamp on the center of the pocket. Allow to dry.

Materials:

1. One long-sleeved shirt
2. 1/2 yard fusible fleece
3. 1/2 yard fabric for lining (I used a heavier weight home dec fabric)
4. 82″ canvas strap

First you’ll cut out all the pieces. The following two photos show all the pieces together and also where each piece came from. The numbers correspond to the list below.

1. Using the free PDF pattern from Google Docs here, cut two each from the shirt (top and bottom of the back side of shirt), fusible web, and lining fabric for the main body of the tote. The pattern is 2 pages. You’ll want to print both pages out, line up the dots and tape them together. In your browser the PDF preview may show the pages are cropped. If you are having problems printing the whole pattern through Google Docs, use your mouse to click on File (left side of screen), then choose “download original.” Open the downloaded document and try printing again.
2. but once you download it, it  will show correctly.
3. Cut one 9 3/8″ x 4″ rectangle from the shirt, fusible web, and lining fabric for the tote bottom.
4. Cut two 13.5″ x 4″ rectangles from the shirt and fusible web, and four from the lining fabric for the sides. I cut the shirt fabric horizontally from the front of the shirt with the button 1/3 of the way in. This piece will become a pocket.
5. Cut off the bottom 8.5″ sleeves including the cuff. Use the slit in the cuff and cut it open into a rectangle and remove any buttons. Mine is 10.5″ wide but it will vary by shirt. Also cut a 8.75″x10.5″ rectangle from the liner fabric.

Now that you’ve got all your pieces ready, let’s prep the outer pocket. For the front pocket, fold over the top 1/4″ of the liner fabric and iron it down.  then with wrong sides together, stitch the tops together. Then, flip the fabric so right sides are together. Line up the bottom of the two fabrics and stitch them together. Then turn it right side out.

Next, you’ll stitch together the strips for the sides and bottom of the tote. Line up the strips from the shirt face side down (side, bottom, side). Place the liner strips on top of the two side strips (these will line the side pockets seen in the photos at the bottom of the post) and sew them all together with right sides together.

Then with right sides together, sew the side/bottom strip to one of the main body pieces. I found it easier to line up the center and sew from the center out to the top. Then I went back and did the other side. Then sew on the other main body piece (not pictured) and turn it right side out.

Stitch the pocket on along the bottom seam. The pocket will still have raw edges.

Iron the fusible fleece to the liner strips for the sides and to the main body pieces. Line up the side strips (side, bottom, side) and sew them together. Then sew that strip to the main body pieces using the same method as the exterior. Trim off any excess material around the seam allowance.

Now nestle the liner inside the exterior of the bag. Fold the tops inside 1″ and stitch around the top with a 1/8″ seam allowance.

You’re almost done and just need to add the strap! Make sure the strap isn’t twisted and overlap the edges by 1/8″. Zig zag stitch back and forth over the strap until the raw edges are secured. The strap will now be one big loop.

Line up strap with the raw edges of the front pocket. Start by pinning down the zig zagged seam on your strap to the bottom of the bag. Then pin down the sides. Stitch along both sides of each canvas strap and make an X at the top of each strap. (Before I stitched down the straps, my husband pointed out that the front pocket didn’t stand out so I went back and added the pink strip to the top.)

And you’ve made a shirt into a tote! I really like the pleats from the sleeve on the front pocket and the side pockets from the front of the shirt. The side pockets are mostly just for show. In my pattern they’re too narrow to fit much. If you want them to be more functional make the side/bottom strips wider.

What You Will Need:
-Old T-Shirt
-Good Scissors

Step 1:
Go through your old T-shirts and find a daring print or color combo. For a cleaner look, choose a solid.

Step 2:
Cut horizontally across the shirt, just below the armholes, to create a rectangular tube.

Step 3:
Working your way around the tube, make a series of vertical cuts that extend from the raw edge upward. The longer the cut, the longer the fringe will be.

Step 4:
Tug down on each strand to elongate it. You can also have some additional fun with it by knotting some of the ends!

What you will need:
-lots of duct tape
-scissors
-nail polish remover and toilet paper to clean the gunk off the scissors
-a pen/marker
-a straight edge

Step 1Make the base

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At the base of this wallet are two sheets of duct tape. I’ve found that the easiest way to make one of these sheets is to start with a piece of loose leaf and cover that in duct tape on both sides. that way you can get nice straight lines. It also adds a bit more stability.

-10”x9.5”
       This one is to be folded into three sections. The first is with the cards, the second  is the pocket for the money, and the third it the flap with the velcro. You can see these on the finished wallet. Once you make it, fold it to the appropriate proportions. the two larger sections should be about 4” long.
-4” x 9.5”
        This one is taped in the middle and is part of the pocket for the money.

Step 2Tape the base together

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Make one strip of duct tape either by using the loose leaf or just by lining two strips up together.
Cut two lengths about 3” to 3.5” long. Fold them in half long ways and then cut them into triangles. (see the picture). Then tape these to the short sides of the smaller sheet. Then tape the long side of the small sheet with the smaller sides of the triangles to the large sheet at the fold between the two larger sections.

Then finally tape the free sides of the triangles (in orange) to the middle section of the big sheet so that you get a pocket big enough for money.

This sounds confusing but I think the pictures make it relatively clear.

Step 3The card slots

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The wallet holds 8 cards but I do two per slot so there are only four slots.

1. take to cards and wrap them length wise with duct tape, sticky side out.

2. slide the little sleeve you made down so that a reasonable amount of the card is showing (so that you would be able to grab card)

3. make cuts on each end of the duct tape that is now sticking out over the sides. Then fold those down.

4. Slide the sleeve down again so that the folds are at the top of the of what will be the card pocket.

5. take another piece of duct tape and put it over the bottom of the card pocket (sticky part out)

6. Then put that on one side of the bottom section of the big sheet, towards the top (see picture)

7. repeat steps 1-6 except put it on the other side.

8. Then lay a piece of tape over those two pockets so that the sticky part is covered.

9. Repeat the whole thing to make another row of pockets on the bottom.

Step 4The finishing touches

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Add some strips or half strips to all of the exposed sides and joints just to make it sturdy and a bit prettier.

Then fold it all up and add some velcro to the top, smallest section and to the front flap. I didn’t have any velcro on hand for this wallet but I included a picture of an old one to show the placement.

Now you’ve got a nice big wallet with room for plenty of cash and 8 cards. This one turned out a little sloppy and the colors are a bit much, but it’s for an 8 year old so it should do.