Aprons made for family

Above is a photograph of my sister and her husband wearing the aprons that I made for them.

I think it can be hard to find a design that men can wear, and when they do barbecues they do need an apron!  Making a football (soccer) themed apron seemed an appropriate choice as most men like the game, especially UK men! I made his personalised to add that personalised touch. The football pocket was made from the spare fabric I had left over when I made my son's football themed room. Here is a link to that project: Football Room

My sisters apron was one that was upcycled from a dress. If you read my blog often you will know that I love making aprons from dresses.  Here is a link for a dress to apron tutorial: apron from dress tutorial

I have been busy lately making some curtains for my sister to put in the nursery room. She wanted them made with a blackout lining so to help her baby sleep. My sister and her family are here in the UK for a short visit so she wanted to take the curtains back home with her. I have a post on my other BLOG where I have some photos of her baby daughter meeting her extended family for the first time! What has everybody been upto lately, please share with me.

Linking to:

Storage Bin/Seat Makeover

Above is a photograph of the plastic storage bin/seat that I recently did a makeover on.

Unfortunately I didn't take a photograph of the the bin before I updated it.  The body of the bin originally had an old fashioned sticky back plastic on it. This bin has been in the family for many years, maybe even as old as me, because I remember sitting on it when I was young. This belonged to my grandmother who had no space for it, so gave it to me.

I thought this would be really handy in the girls' room. They keep all their bags in this and it is great as it doubles as a seat!

To transform this I cut out some spare fabric (pink of course!). I glued the fabric to the bin using general household glue.  Then I made a new cover for the lid.  The lid already had a cover but it was really worn and dated.  I used the original cover to make a pattern for the new cover.  The new cover was made from a cushion cover that my daughter already had but didn't use.  I also cut out a circle of foam to place between the cover and the lid to make the seat more comfy!

The photo above shows the white plastic lid with the fitted cushion cover I made beside it.

This photo shows you the inside of the bin where my daughters now keep their collection of bags.

This bin would have probably been thrown out because it was so dated, but with a little love it now looks brand new!

Linking to: http://www.tipjunkie.com/

Upcycling Plastic Pots Tutorial

Above is a photograph of a recent upcycling project.  This was an empty Yoghurt Pot, now being used as a container to keep loose hair accessories.

Below is a photograph of the original empty pot. You could use any empty plastic pot, I have seen similar ice-cream and candyfloss pots.

Tutorial:
Wash the container out and dry.
Measure the width and depth of the pot and cut out the appropriate size from the Sticky Back Plastic.
Then apply to the pot.

This was an easy and quick project.  I have seen many people re-use empty pots for various reasons, but I think this one is a cute idea, and my girls love anything 'pink'. This pot has a handle on so it makes it easy to carry about too!

Have you upcycled any empty pots?  Please share with me your projects if you have.

Crayon Roll Tutorial

I made my first crayon roll (see photograph above).

I have seen these on many blogs and have always wanted to have a go at making one.  So yesterday I found some spare scrap bright fabric which I thought would be great for this project.

Recognise the fabric? This was from the remnants of the sun lounger that I recovered for my mum. Link here: sun-lounger-cushion-cover

Supplies needed are:
3 pieces of fabric (15 inches by 5 inches)
Elastic (I used a hairband)
1 Button

Below are the instructions for how I made this crayon roll.

1) Cut out 3 pieces of fabric (15 inches by 5 inches)

2) Make pocket -fold over one of the pieces, iron the edge. Place over another piece (inside piece)

3) I marked with pins (or use pen) 2 inches spaces where to sew straight lines down to make the individual crayon pockets. Sew on marked lines making sure that you stitch extra at the openings.

4) Then place the other piece of fabric (back piece) onto the top of the inside piece, patterns facing each other (You will be turning this inside out). See photograph below.

5) Then sew around all the edges, leaving a gap to turn inside out. (I left a gap at one of the short sides, so to place elastic in afterwards.

6) Turn the fabric inside out, then iron all edges flat.  Place an elastic band into the space which was open for turning, then stitch all around the fabric edge, securing fabric.

7) Then place the crayons into the crayon roll (see photo below)

8) Once you have put the crayons into the crayon roll, roll it up and see where you need to add a button. Then sew a button into place. Finished

Now you have a lovely gift for some lucky child!

This was actually much easier than I thought, and took under and hour to complete. I will definitely be making these again. It is a great way to use up scraps, I used the same fabric for this tutorial, but you can mix and match the fabrics.

Linking with:

Waist Apron Tutorial

Above is a photograph I made as a present for a family member.

This was an upcycled project, as I made this with fabric from a skirt.  The whole apron is made from the skirt, I managed to have enough fabric to make the apron straps too.  The lady who was given this present loves cats, so I fabric painted a black cat motif onto the apron.

This was a very simple sewing project and didn't take that long.  I didn't use a pattern, i just made it the best size from the fabric I had. The front part of the apron was the front part of the skirt which I just unpicked and hemmed. The straps were made from the fabric at the back of the skirt.  Then I just attached them to the apron skirt. Very simplistic. I even had some spare fabric remaining, which was used to make headbands!

Aprons can be a great last minute gift for somebody. If you have extra time you can make more detailed aprons, either reversible or with fancy trims! There are numerous tutorials out there to follow. Here is a link to a site that links to many free apron tutorials: tipnut apon patterns

Tudor House Craft

Above is a photograph of a 'Tudor House' that my 9 year old daughter made at school.

She brought this home last week.  At school they are learning all about the Tudor times and they worked in small groups to make a model of a Tudor house. She was the lucky one to bring the house home.  I think this is great for 8 and 9 year olds, very impressive.

Going along with the theme of Tudors, my daughter has been visiting a great educational site which informs the children of what happened during this time, but in a fun way. The bbc website shows small videos for different parts of history, and I couldn't help but laugh that in the 'Tudor song' they had to mention 'Simon Cowell's' name! My daughter knows most of this song of by heart now because she has watched the video many times. Here is the Tudor video song link: bbc link

Below is another photo of the Tudor house from a front view.

Bean Bag Seat

Above is a photograph of a bean bag seat I made to go in the girls' room.

I already had a square shaped beanbag but the cover wasn't very pretty so I decided to make my own cover.  I just cut some fabric to make a cube shape and sewed the sides together.  I didn't leave an opening, so when I want to clean this I unfortunately have to unpick one side to empty and then resew the opening closed.  If I did this again, I would definitely leave an opening.

Below is a photograph of a bean bag that another blogger made 'The Linen Cupboard', she has a free tutorial on her blog, if you wish to make one, please visit this link: here for instructions.

I think these bean bags look adorable, and I love Pink!

Linked to http://www.tipjunkie.com/

Girl's Tote Bag

The photo above shows a reversible girl's tote bag. I made this for a little girl's birthday present.

I used upcycled curtain material for the fabric in the top photo.  For the photo below I used fabric purchased by the metre from a local store.  I used the Hello Kitty Iron on applique for one of the sides.

From the remaining curtain fabric I also made a girl's apron as a present for the same little girl.  Below is a photograph of the apron I sewed. I used the apron string fabric for the tote bag handles.

I didn't use any particular pattern for the bag, but if you were wanting to make one, there are many free tutorials out on the internet showing you how to do this.

Owl Case

This week I have been making owl softies and came across a photo of an owl case that looked so cute!

I decided to make one myself out of the felt I had available in the house (from upcycled jumpers).  At first I originally thought I would use it as a scissor case.  However once my youngest caught sight of it, she immediately said that it was hers and placed her phone into the case!  It did look good on her and was the ideal size to hold a small mobile telephone. So I added a strap and she now has a lovely owl bag!

The original photo I came across online had the owl with wings, but I decided for easiness to just add a heart shape.

Below is a photograph of the case with my scissors ready to be placed inside.

Below is a photograph of the case open with the mobile telephone.  I sewed some velcro onto the owl face so that it shuts securely.

Linking up with: