Casserole Cozy

I just wanted a little blanket for my casserole to keep it warm and be able to handle it a little easier when hot.  With some quilted double-sided material (of course, you could make your own) I cut out enough fabric to come up to the top of each side and a little extra on the ends to act as pot holders.
Then to get it to hug the dish, I sewed two darts on each corner,--

--using pins, just make darts as if fitting a dress to a mannequin. I basted mine first since there is no pattern to follow and pulled out a couple to restitch.

After trimming around the top to make it all symmetrical, I made some bias tape trim and applied to the edges for the finished look.




I just turned the darts towards each other on each end and made that my inside.

Then when serving, tuck the ends down to keep food from getting on them. This particular dish has "handles" which it works well on.

A straight sided dish would not need the longer ends.

Custom Bedspread, Shams & Pillow

After seeing this fabric at Joann's Fabrics, I just had to have it for our newly painted master bedroom. It is made from two lengths that lay crosswise, and I joined them matching the patterns by meticulously pinning and hand sewing at spots to assure accuracy, then finishing on the machine. The other side is a bottom weight black cotton, and it is finished off with a black rope cording sandwiched between the two.

 On a trip to Mackinac Island, I purchased a dozen pieces of Frette linen with the Grand Hotel logo on them at a great price. Why not make shams with them? But they are stark white, so I tea dyed* two, which made them the perfect color. I added red strips of fabric to the sides to make them king size and added black braid over that seam (an idea from Eastern Accents shams). Leftover bedspread fabric was used for the back of the shams, as well as to cover cording for the edging. 

I felt it needed one more pillow, so I took an embroidered part of a blouse from Salvation Army, embellished with buttons and beads, added quilt fabric, black cording, and a ruffled edge.

*Tea dying instructions:
Boil water in a pot large enough for your fabric. For every cup of water, you will need one tea bag. Drop in tea bags; let steep for 5 minutes. Wet down your fabric (natural fabrics are best) before immersing into the tea bath. Push down on the fabric making sure it is completely covered and let it set for 10 minutes. Rinse out the tea completely and even give it a bath with a squirt of dishwashing liquid to be sure to remove the tannins. Remember it will dry a shade lighter. Repeat if necessary for a darker color. 

Flavored teas may give it a slightly different color; like, cinnamon, would be more of a red, etc. You can alway try coffee, too.

Fabric Tote for Walker

Walker tote

Tote for Walker

My mother-in-law needed something to carry a pen and phone in to 
attach to her walker, so after getting ideas online, I came up with a piece that drops over the front bar of the walker.  It has two large outside pockets and shorter divided pockets on each inside.

As shown above, there are seven pieces: a 12" X 23" backing on which I put velcro to keep from slipping off the bar, a 12" X 23" lining on which are sewn the shorter pockets, a handle to assist in lifting off walker if needed, and the 2 outer pockets which are 12" X 16" and folded over to create 12" X 8" pockets. 

Assemble the pieces as shown, then flip the outside velcro piece on top so right sides are facing, sew around, keeping a 4 to 5" open area to turn. Make sure handle in on the correct side and topstitch all around which will catch the open area, so no need to slip stitch closed.

The outside fabric was a jumper and the two other fabrics are from blouses. Of course, I got each piece for $.49 on Salvation Army's day of the week when a certain color is ready to be taken off shelves and they mark down to a crazy $.49 price.

Tote Bag From Old Jacket

Cotton Velour and Linen Tote Bag

Good old Salvation Army find for $.49 last Monday!  An XL purple cotton velour button down casual jacket had embroidered flowers at the bottom.  The left side is the front of the bag and the right side, the back. Using knowledge from Amy Butler and Lisa Lam, it is made with a gusset, an inside zippered pocket and open pockets, as well as an outside pocket in the gusset using another embroidered flower that was on the back of the jacket. The yellow flower showing on the right is part of the gusset. A gusset is simply one straight piece sewn between front and back...think upholstered seat cushion. This one is 4" wide.

The inside is made from an orchid linen jacket. One of the straps is the front buttonhole placket. Each strap is faced with the linen fabric and attached using the applique stitch on my machine.



A decorative stitch was also used along the top of the open pockets. The tote is lined with fusible fleece, so could be used to transport a laptop, if desired.

Little Girl's Pink Bedroom Makeover

Bedskirt with Pottery Barn bedspread and wall hanging

After Painting, Before Decorating

Granddaughter's Bedroom Before

There was no bedskirt on the twin bed nor were there curtains. So using my Salvation Army finds in pinks and greens and whites, I fashioned a gathered bedskirt with alternating pieces of fabric from skirts, blouses, and shirts.

The wall hanging above the bed was made with pink satin as the background, a crown cut from a skirt & pink trim from another skirt. Gathered fabric circles with buttons at the center are at each point and "Princess" is embroidered below.


The ceiling light was an old can light, so I found a small chandelier that didn't drop down very far. Electrician husband had to do a little tweaking in the old can and also had to buy a cover from Home Depot to camouflage the big hole.

Chandelier and curtains

The ruffled white curtains were a purchase from ebay.

Fabric bins and stool

The fabric bins were in one of my previous blogs, now filled with toys. The coffee table was found at an antiques consignment shop, bought with the intention of being a longtime piece that can be repurposed as my granddaughter grows and even go into a first apartment.

The stool is made of felt and filled with all  my scraps from all the projects I've worked on this past year. The instructions are in the book, Reinvention.

The lamp beside the bed has a shade I covered with fabric that has flowers made from ribbon; round swirls of ribbon.

On one of the walls, I placed a castle decal from Disney.

Another Fabric Box

Yet another fabric box.... this one uses cereal box cardboard inside for stiffener. This idea is from the book, Sunday Morning Quilts.  The authors' quilted the outside of their example, unlike mine. A cute labeling system is just a square of clear plastic sewn on with a walking foot. The cereal box pieces are inserted before sewing up one inside bottom edge. The box is very stable. Cutaway handles would not work in this application.

Pretty Curtain for Ugly Storage

Here is my back door coat rack and ugly storage.

















And here it is after adding a curtain gathered on a tension rod.

I repurposed, from Salvation Army, a pair of white linen pants and a cream linen skirt for banding at the edges. Still ugly and unorganized under there, but now everyone does not have to see it!

Repurposed Suede Jacket as Seat Cover

I found a use for yet another 49 cent item from Salvation Army. This seat cover is cut from the back of a suede jacket which had three seams, but looks good on the chair. Since the jacket had soiling at the cuffs and collar, as well as a ticket showing it was just dry cleaned, it couldn't have been worn. Hmm, I have a red suede jacket in my closet in the same condition...

Fabric Cube Bin

This fabric storage bin is made from two blouses bought at the Salvation Army.  It is the same as the burlap coffee bag ones in a previous blog about the book, Reinvention. The back inside wall is from a blouse front with a pocket.

I stitched 1/4" up each outside corner seam after constructing, using the Garnet Hill inspiration, for greater strength as these are just lightweight cotton fabrics, but with the cotton batting inside, they stand up fairly well.

My plans are to make three coordinating bins to put under a low table in a bedroom.

Free Prints from Library of Congress

This picture was downloaded from the Library of Congress website.  After seeing an idea in Martha Stewart Living's April 2013 issue, I made sure a picture could actually be printed from the website.

The magazine's idea was to have clipboards mounted on your wall to which you can display a changing display, whether it be art from a website or your children's art. They had three rows of three clipboards with black and white architectural images.  It is suggested to use cardstock; I used what I had on hand-a notebook divider.

Reversible Purse

Reversible purse is in Sew the Perfect Bag from SewNews, which I checked out from the library.

All the fabrics are recycled linen. The floral print was a skirt, the light blue was a pair of pants, and the green, a jacket. The buttons were on another jacket. Of course, all were gathered at my Salvation Army for $.49 each.

The purse requires 4 pieces that measure 28" X 18.5" in a triangle shape with the ends chopped off. Since using deconstructed garments, I had to seam two pieces together. I modified the the book's instructions and added a pocket on two sides in this seam. Cut two squares for each pocket, sew to each piece so they are opposite each other, then, when sewing the seam, at the pocket square, pivot, sew around the pocket, pivot back to the seam, and continue. Better instructions for adding a pocket are at a Modicum of Ingenuity blog. Thanks, Jessica.

Play Time Fun With Cake Slices

Grandaughter, Ady, wanted to pretend to be a bakery owner and sell slices of cake to me. So I made a strawberry frosted cake from scrap fabric and stuffed it.  The slice was a bit rounded at that point.  Later I found some foam laying around the house that I cut and stacked and made into firmer foundations and made lemon, blueberry, and grape (!) per Ady's instructions, and redid the strawberry.
Buttons, beading embellishments, and most of the fabric were all from my Salvation Army $.49 Saturday specials.  These make safe play things and are fun to create.

Instructions: Draw a circle using a plate on the foam and divide into eight pieces, use a box cutter to score and gradually slice thru to make the pieces. Use the pieces to trace on each piece of fabric and add a 1/4" seam allowance while cutting out. The white or chocolate cake part can be just one long piece.  Sew the two frosting pieces together first, then attach the cake, sewing up the back, across the top on one side, then the other, and down the other side. pivoting at each corner. Then sew only one side of a brown bottom piece to one side of the cake. Insert the foam (if stacked, glue together), then slip stitch closed the remaining seam.

Reinvention - Garlic Onion Burlap Sack

This is also from Reinvention. What a great way to store garlic and/or onion--in a burlap bag so they can breathe that looks great in the kitchen. I made a stencil and used fabric paint for the garlic bulb and onion on the front. The burlap is part of a coffee bean sack that was used for the storage cubes.

Reinvention - Little Girl's Skirt from T-shirt

Here's another project from the book, Reinvention, called "Little Forager's Skirt". It has a detachable apron that has pockets in which to stow treasures. I didn't use a T-shirt as the instructions call for, because I found this heavy jersey skirt and jacket at Salvation Army (paid $1.00). The jacket had this cute embroidery of potted plants which is used for the pocket. I also "cheated" by using the waistband of the skirt at the top, and the hem of the skirt for the flounce at the bottom, cutting down on my sewing. Hope my granddaughter Ady enjoys!

Reinvention - Coffee Bean Burlap Sacks

These 2 projects are from the book, Reinvention, which has oodles of projects using various cast off materials. The first is using coffee bean sacks that I got at a regional coffee shop. These went over big as Christmas presents with the boys/men. For the insides, I used jackets or dresses that had pockets, making extra storage. They are made with batting in between the burlap and the lining.

 

Garnet Hill has some like these made from canvas fabrics, and the vertical edges were all pinched out and topstitched probably since the flimsier fabrics need a bit more support.


This next project, a reversible bag, was made from a long linen dress.  The top front of the dress had the  stitching already on it that is used for the front pocket.

 

I will be making a couple more projects from this book later. Definitely, a great book to check out from the library, or to buy.