Makin' Stuff Monday: Soap Bag

So... I am a fan of the loofah. I love the soapy lather it gives me... I love how I feel like it is exfoliating my skin when I wash with it!

Recently, I am not so much a fan of body wash gels. I mean, I use them... and they are okay. but I have been doing a little research, and I am realizing that the materials used to create the gel are not my favorite. A bar of soap has fewer of the ingredients I don't like. And... to find the really safe body washes, it ends up costing around $8 a bottle. So I have been thinking I needed a good way to later up my soap like a loofah! And I decided on this:

These little soap bags are great... they lather up very well and hold your soap. The drawstring keeps the soap inside and you can hang them from the drawstring as well! Also, these are machine washable, so you can toss them in the wash when you finish a bar of soap... and then reuse it!
This is a SUPER fast project, and can totally be adjusted as you like.

Ingredients:

1 ball cotton yarn (I used Sugar and Cream)

1 crochet hook size I (or similar)

Chain 23

Row 1: SC in second chain from hook, and across row (22 SC) Ch 1 and turn.

Row 2: SC across row (22 SC), Ch 1 and turn.

Row 3-10: repeat row 2.

Once you have 10 (ish) rows, fold the strip in half and stitch up the sides, creating a little pocket.

Then join in yarn at top of one of your seams, chain 3 (counts as first DC) and double crochet around the mouth of the pocket. Join last DC in with third chain from Chain 3. Repeat 1 time.

Chain 4, skip 1 stitch, *DC in next spot, chain 1, skip 1 stitch* Repeat from * to * until you reach your first chain 4. Join into chain 3 and bind off.

Tuck in all your loose ends.

Chain 25. Thread through the top row, tie and use this as your draw string!

Let me know if you decide to try this... and if you have any questions, shoot me an email and I will try to guide you through this!

Makin' Stuff Monday: Little Play Wallet

Be sure to enter the Picky Sticky Giveaway HERE before Friday!

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This sweet little wallet works for your cash or for your little kiddos play money... simple, thin and not too difficult!
You need:
2 8x9 rectangles
1 4x8 rectangle
2 3x8 rectangles
1 7in. zipper
iron on vinyl (next to the wonder-under in your fabric store)
velcro
bias tape

Iron on the vinyl to one of your 8x9 rectangles (the outside fabric) as well as the three smaller rectangles.

Pin the zipper to one side of the 3x8 fabric with the right side facing in.

Using your zipper foot....

... sew the zipper onto the fabric.

Open out and repeat with the other side of the fabric.

When you open the fabric out, you should have a nicely tucked in zipper!

Top-stitch over the fabric to secure the zipper and create a finished edge... repeat for the other side.

Sew a bit of velcro onto the rectangles... one on the 4x8 and one on the zipper side.


Then sew some bias tape onto the non-velcro side of the 4x8 and velcro pieces of fabric.

Pin the two rectangles to the inside 8x9 fabric. Sew across the bias tape on the zipper side. This should attach the zipper pouch to the inside fabric. Only sew across the zipper pouch, as the other side needs to be an open pocket.

Pin the outside fabric to the top of all the insides. Stitch around the outside, leaving a 4 inch opening.

Trim the corners and turn inside out.

Top stitch around the outside of the whole wallet.


Now you have a sweet little wallet for your cash or your kiddos play cash.

Enjoy!

Makin' Stuff Monday: Outside Play Blanket

It is the season for picnics and outdoor concerts and afternoons in the sun... which means it is also the season for damp bums after the moisture soaks through your picnic blanket... am I right?!?!?!
Well... this handy little outside play blanket puts an end to that embarrassing little conundrum.

You need:
light to medium weight vinyl fabric (comes on 54 inch wide rolls)
equal size pieces of two fabrics (I used cotton and flannel)


Cut your fabric the same size... I did mine in a 48 inch square to make a small play blanket or to seat one adult and one child.
Line up and pin your fabrics, right sides in... like this: fabric #1 (facing in), vinyl, fabric #2 (facing in).

Stitch all the way around the whole blanket leaving a 8-10 inch opening.

Trim the corners.

Push in the corners and turn the blanket right side out so the vinyl is on one side and the flannel (or your top fabric) is on the other side. Your other fabric should be showing right side out through the vinyl.

Fold in the opening and top-stitch all the way around the whole blanket. This takes some patience, as the blanket is heavy and the vinyl tends to stick to the machine as you sew. It helps to have the vinyl side down and then hold the blanket up gently as you sew.

Outside blanket... for waterproof bums!

Look at that little mess... enjoying some beautiful time outside... with a dry bum!

"Mom... I love it out here... and I love my puffs."

Enjoy!

Makin' Stuff Monday: Upcycled Microfiber

In an effort to be "green" a couple years ago, I bought some microfiber cloths on sale. I used them a few times, but I really hated the way they felt on my skin. It was as if they were getting caught on my skin... so I stopped using them and stashed them away.
***
I have a serger. I got it for my birthday, and it has been sitting in my closet waiting for me to be inspired to use it. It is kind of terrifying... with the four spools of thread, two needles, and the moving blade. I got it out of the box once, looked at it, got spooked, and promptly returned it to the box. This week I decided it was time to face my fear and tackle the serger. There are plenty of people who use the serger successfully and never lose a finger.
***
After some playing around, I decided it was time to complete a project... so I found those old microfiber clothes and some scraps of fabric... stitch around the outside... and wala... I can now dust without feeling like the rag is going to take of my skin!

If you don't have a serger... but have the same icky feeling with microfiber, you can easily add a backing to your cloths as well... just use the same technique as I used to make baby blankets HERE.
These would make such great gifts... housewarming anyone?!?

And with the serger... even the scraps look pretty!

Enjoy!

Makin' Stuff Monday: Crinkle-Taggy Toy!!

You know how babies LOVE the tags on things... more than the thing itself??? This little toy has lots of "tags" to choose from! In addition, it has a crinkle material on the inside to add an element of noise!
You need:
two 6x6 squares of fabric
two wipes cases (cut into strips)
multiple snips of ribbon (cut into 2 inch bits)

*If you don't want the crinkle part, just use a layer of thin batting or flannel fabric.
**You can adjust the size of the fabric to have a larger toy as you like!

Fold the ribbons in half and point the fold inside. Pin them like this (with the fold towards the inside).

Pin the other fabric on top, right side together.

Stitch around the fabric, leaving a 2-3 inch opening.

Trim the corners and extra ribbon bits then turn inside out.

Stuff the wipes strips inside, fold the opening in and top stitch around the whole thing (I did it twice for a nice finished look).

Crinkle toy with all kinds of taggies!
Enjoy!

Makin' Stuff Monday: Play Mat

I have a friend whose baby boy has just turned 1 year old (if you are reading this, cover your eyes). His mom was with me when I found this great Little People set at a consignment sale for only a few dollars! Upon getting it home, cleaning it a bit and inspecting it further I decided the little workers needed a work area! So I put some scraps, felt and my hot glue gun to great use and created a play mat....

The mat also works with dinosaurs... or could easily be modified to work with other play sets... a water wonderland or an arctic tundra?!?

I started by sketching my design and measuring the length of the play set and the road so my mat would match up with the set.
Next I cut some basic shapes out of felt... rocks, a road, shrubs and a tree.
I attached velcro (using a zig-zag stitch) to the bottom layer of the shrub.

Then I stitched across all the layers to give it some shape.

Side view of the shrub.

For the tree, I used some scraps, stitched together, flipped inside out, stuffed with an old wipes bag (for stability) and hot glued the greenery to the trunk. I also glued some velcro to the bottom.

I wanted to be able to roll the mat, so I gave it a backing using some old scrap brown fabric and I added a pocket... top stitch around the whole thing to stabilize... and ta-da!!

Rolled up for easy transportation!!!




And now... a certain little one year old (gasp) will have a special area to dig and build with his Little People!

Enjoy!!