Sew, Mama, Sew! October Holiday Sew Alongs

I've mentioned Sew, Mama, Sew here before.  I heard about a fun activity they have going for the month of October, their Holiday Sew Alongs.  If you're thinking of making placemats, napkins, an advent calendar or tree skirt you should have a look and see if it is for you.

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday: Reusable Lavender Dryer Sachets

I occasionally indulge and purchase the Lavender Dryer Sachets from Trader Joe's.  They're quite pricey in my opinion, around $4 for a plastic packet of four.  I dislike the idea of tossing that plastic in the trash and the bags degrade so they're not infinitely reusable, despite the fact that the scent seems very long lasting.  I've also had one pop open in the dryer and found my lint trap overrun with the contents.  Luckily nothing overheated as a result of that incident. 

Recently I found myself wondering what I could do to prolong the life of the two sachets I had in my laundry area and decided I would try emptying the contents into some fabric scraps and seeing how long the scent lasts.  I can tell you that these two little sachets have been going for months now and still have a light, pleasant scent.  I find the lighter scent more pleasing, I don't want heavily scented clothing, it will give me a headache, but I like having a dryer sheet substitute, since I'd never put one of those in with my laundry.  Between my wonderful wool dryer balls and these sachets, we've got it all covered.

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday: World's Raggiest Boxer Shorts Edition

This is the story of a pair of boxer shorts. They are cotton with an exposed wide elastic waist that says Old Navy and very soft. They were given to my son but at the time they were a size too big so he didn't want them.

Since I wear hand me down boxers for pajama shorts in the summer I appropriated them. I don't care if they're too big, they're comfortable. They were worn and washed hundreds of times until finally the elastic gave out. No problem, they were too big anyway, right? I simply cut off the elastic, serged the top of the fabric to keep it from unraveling, then folded it down and sewed the fold in place for a very easy casing which I filled with a slim elastic that I tied together at the ends. I wanted to be able to replace it easily if this elastic wore out as well. I planned to wear these for another bunch of years, until they were nothing but threads thank you very much.

Well, the time of the threads is beginning but I'm not ready to let go. So, out come the pinking shears. I cut a couple of patches from a little boy's shorts project gone wrong (the rest of the project went into my box of fabric scraps for Karen's Online Angels quilting projects and the waste into my stuffing bag) and sewed them over the disintegrating areas of the boxers.

You can see the edge of the waistband elastic in this one.

I plan to add patches as needed until there is no more room to patch. ;)

Sew, Mama, Sew! May Giveaway Day

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 58 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

 

Congratulations, nicmowat!  Check your email when you can, please. 

The Sew, Mama, Sew May Giveaway Day is here! Thanks for clicking through from there to drop in on me. I won a couple of cute things last year and was eager to participate as a giver this year.

Here is what you can win:

You'll receive two of my recycled grocery totes. I make them from all sorts of materials that might otherwise have wound up in the trash - stained tablecloths, curtains that no longer suit our decor, vintage sheets, fabric remnants, even no longer used clothing.

What I think is much nicer about my bags than the ones you buy at the store are that mine are fully washable. Just toss them in the laundry (I drop them in my towel load) and you've got clean bags for every shopping trip. They're especially great for use at the farm - the ones made from tablecloth are a nice heavy cotton that keep the moisture in leafy greens.  At our CSA I bag them and they go straight into the refrigerator in the same bag.  So convenient.

* To enter, please follow my blog and leave me a message letting me know how you're following- in a reader or directly through Blogger.

* I love tutorials, especially ones that help keep something from ending up in the trash and create soemthing useful. For an entry please leave me a link to your favorite tutorial.

* I have been thinking about maybe selling these on Etsy. Do you think $3 each would be a fair price? Tell me in a separate comment.

So you can enter this drawing up to three times, once for following, once for a tute link and once for your opinion.

I will ship internationally.

Please leave your comments by 11:59PM Eastern, Wednesday, May 25th. I will select a winner on Thursday using Random.org and contact them immediately for shipping information.

If your email address isn't available by clicking through your comment, please include your email address or I will have no way to contact you and will have to draw a new winner.

Enjoy!

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday: UnPaper Towels

I haven't bought a roll of paper towels in years. Now don't let me give you the wrong impression - I can't seem to prevent my spouse from buying them for use in his car, but I have not brought a roll of paper towels into the house in probably five years, maybe more.

But instead of buying fabric to make UnPaper Towels with, I like to take the recycling approach. Surprise, surprise, huh? The sweet fall leaves fabric you see here used to be a pair of pajama pants. Yes, it's true, all our old pajamas become UnPaper Towels. It is hard to see in the photo, but the pile on the left is the reclaimed fabric after I cut out all the seams and ironed it flat. The pile on the right is the finished product, serged all around with wooly nylon. I use the serging process to make built in loops at each corner. I use those loops to secure the towels to the paper towel holder over my sink. The towels are in the same place everyone is used to them being. They work for all the same things, only they're much prettier and don't create waste. In fact, for quite some time they are keeping themselves out of the waste stream.

When they become too soiled they get put in the rag bag. Once there they can still be used many more times, until they do eventually get tossed in the trash. But even then I feel good about how much work I've done with them as UnPaper Towels and as rags.

Do you use UnPaper Towels? Do you make them or purchase them?

Fat Quarters Swap

I swap with Swap-bot!

I think I truly hit the jackpot on this one. My swap partner sent beautiful fabrics, each one perfect for me in some way, along with a delicately woven lace bookmark in my favorite color.

But back to the fabric. Those jungle prints are AMAZING! I'm not a quilter, but I'm encouraging myself to make a mini quilt with them. I have some carved giraffes and other jungle animals in my bedroom that would be so enhanced with something like that displayed on the wall above them. Wish me luck!

Hello Kitty Fabric is Now a Pillowcase.

Remember the Hello Kitty fabric I got at Salvation Army? It's now a soft flannel pillowcase destined for Online Angels.

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday: Spidey Strikes Again

More of the Spidey valances projects.

This pillowcase will go to Online Angels.

This is the Spidey gift complete. The letters fit nicely into the matching zippered bag.



This is something I had to mention. I was not thinking happy thoughts when I went to sew in the zipper and couldn't find the zipper foot. So when I was looking at it, inside out, I noticed how beautifully the photos matched up. At first I got excited - it was completely random that it happened that way. Then I remembered I was looking at the inside of the bag and got cranky again. Well, when I turned it right side out it was just as perfect.

That was when I knew God was smiling on me. He reminded me that even if I couldn't find the correct tool He would help me make something beautiful.

Fabric Prayer Cloths

For those not familiar, prayer cloths are made many ways, but what they all have in common is that the maker prays over them while they work, for the intentions of the receiver. The receiver holds the cloth when they pray.

These two are made from fabric that makes me think of heaven. They're simply sewn together right sides facing, with a small hole left for turning. Once turned, they're ironed and topstitched. Some folks add an ornament of some sort. I leave mine plain because handsewing isn't the best for my arm. They may have ornaments added when they reach Online Angels.

Thrifty Thursday: Spider-Man Valance

I picked up this brand new looking Spider-Man valance at Salvation Army for $1.99. Gosh, I love that place! The person who donated it surely blessed me.

My little great-nephew's birthday is next month and I thought of him the moment I saw it; I have an idea in my head for what to do with it. I've started off by washing the piece, pulling out the seams and ironing the fabric up. It is quite a bit of fabric, 22" x 120", and I'm really excited to get to work with it.

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday: Grocery Bags

These were my Christmas gifts. I started with a goal of forty. Twenty were to go to our family holiday gathering and twenty to the folks in my daughter's office who have graciously cared for our animals during various emergencies this year. Then I got a little more ambitious and decided sixty would be better so folks might have more than one each. I went at it like a beast, cutting up clothing, sheets, curtains and remnants from my stash, assembling them in various stages without counting. The third photo shows an old guinea pig cage cover I'd sewn for our pets. We'd used it for a couple of years before switching to a different cage. I'd always wanted another project for this very pretty fabric to go to - this was definitely the one!

I wanted each to have a tag tied to it that identified what it came from - remnant, pajamas, curtain, etc. and since my daughter is the scrapbooker that was her contribution to the project. Well, that and tying and cutting all the threads which was one heck of a job! Her poor fingers.

When I finally finished sewing she had tagged and counted over 80!

I'm told they were enjoyed at her office for which I am glad. I wish I'd had more of an opportunity to sit down with folks who were going through them at our family Christmas. When one pink bag was described as being curtains from one of my parents' old places in Hollywood my brother, a big guy you wouldn't imagine wanting a pink bag, immediately spoke up for it. That was exactly what I had hoped for - to bring a little bit of fond memory to someone's day as they drop a loaf of bread into their bag...and to do some recycling and destashing.

Waste Not Want Not Wednesday: Pillows

I had some stuffing I cut out of a couple pillows that had lost their shape. Here it is with some fabric remnants from my stash:




Put them together, and well, here's the obvious:




Some cute little kid sized pillows that are now headed for my charity.

As the Clutter Leaves, More Projects Get Worked On.

I had this fabric laminated more than a year ago. My plan for it was to line the shelves of my large hutch, sew appliance covers and cut a tablecloth from it. The nonlaminated fabric was to become napkins, window valances and a room divider for the laundry area. I got some gorgeous silk for sheers for the windows. It has sat there mocking me for some time now. Today when I went to change the tablecloth I found myself walking into the sewing room to lay my hands on this fabric. Happily, I have a brand new tablecloth and one long shelf lined. Hubby even asked where I got the nice new tablecloth. I'm back to work tomorrow, so no more progress this week, but I do plan to get this project completed over my next few days off. The room really needs the change, plus the cats are too interested in the long curtains. It's time to make some cute little short ones.




How gorgeous does that farm food look on my new tablecloth?

Waste Not, Want Not Wednesday One

I've got an alliterated theme day!

Years ago when I worked in a retail store warehouse I needed jeans to wear. Being an 80's throwback used to wearing leggings I purchased some skin-tight, stretchy, pull-on jeans which I wore with longer shirts. Well, needless to say, I haven't worn these in years, both because I don't own many long shirts anymore and because I generally wear skirts, even in the snowy days of winter. (You just wear longer skirts with sweater tights under them then.)

I've got at least five pairs of these just waiting for something to be done with them. Today I finally got around to the first pair. I was lazy, since this was supposed to be an experimental project and didn't rethread the serger with black thread, but other than that I will deem this a successful project. It also marks my first use of iron-on hem tape in place of pins. I think I will be using that approach for a while as I have a bunch of it I got with Ikea curtains and never used.

The insert fabric was a piece I had on hand from one of the many remnant bin raidings I have been on over the years. So many little bits of fun fabric come from there!

It was very easy to do, just cut off the legs, sew in the fabric, try on, mark the hem, serge it to the length I wanted, turn under, press in place and sew. My one frustration was that the fabric, as mentioned, is stretchy...ugh...not fun to sew with a regular machine but I did manage.

I'm planning some more of these!

The Best Produce Bags You'll Ever Use.

I made these produce bags and quite a few more from a remnant purchased from my local fabric shop (not the big, chain place, the Mom & Pop place) for $2.70. Oh, how I wish I'd purchased more of it!

The fabric was a not very attractive looking mauvey-pinkey gauze with lots of space in the weave. Whatever it was intended for, in the pre-washed state it wasn't very pretty and was just a bunch of pulls waiting to happen. For all I know it might have been intended to be waste fabric, because it certainly couldn't have stood up to much. But one of my favorite things to do with fabric is to buy things that aren't intended for washing and wash them to see what I end up with. This turned into a lighter pink, seersuckerish gauze that makes a bag intended for a large bunch of carrots with the tops still attached weigh about .07 on my postal scale!

I didn't make them with concern for weight since their intended use was for our organic farm share pickups but once I discovered how well food kept in them I continued using them once the farm season was over. Cashiers often panic or get annoyed when they see them, thinking they have to take the produce out of the bag to weigh it for me. I solve this in two ways - use the self-service line and avoid the cashier totally or tell them right off that I'm using fabric produce bags (as well as fabric grocery bags) and that there is no need for them to remove the produce to weigh it. I had a young guy in his 20's get a little annoyed with me, trying to convince me they weighed too much and I shouldn't be 'charged' for them each time they were used. I told him how much they weighed on my scale and that I'd also weighed a store plastic bag and found a difference so small I was willing to take it.

Produce stays so much longer in these bags. The moisture that icks up produce in plastic bags is absorbed by the cloth bag, keeping the fruit and vegetable surface nice and dry. If the food isn't used right away, I'm told the moisture captured in the bag keeps it moist. Whatever it is, I love these bags! Just like my cloth napkins, they're tossed into the laundry allong with our towels. They take up next to no room in the wash and come out nice and fresh every time. They cost so little it won't bother me at all when it is time to toss one on the compost.

I haven't found that great fabric again, but I have invested in twenty yards of a similar fabric in white. I plan to make a good supply of these to offer to folks who might want to have some. Can anyone think of a fun drawing I might run here?