I've managed to keep my sanity through these Epic Tantrum Days by sewing and knitting. We are currently on an extremely tight budget, so I have to be a little creative with my projects. Mother's Day is coming up and I knew I wanted to make something for both my mom and my MIL, so I rifled through my stash and searched the internet for inspiration. There are some very smart people out there and thanks to them, I was able to make some pretty awesome stuff for both moms and a couple things for the Bean as well.
For the MIL:
Gift: Oven Mitt
Material: old t-shirts
Cost: $0
I had originally planned to do this for Christmas and ran out of time. I was intrigued by the idea of using stretched strips of t-shirts as yarn, and I especially loved the price: free. I found a great tutorial on how to cut the shirts in one continuous spiral:
I used two of my old maternity t-shirts and two of Nick's undershirts (he has a ton, he won't miss them). One thing I learned: use seamless shirts if you can. My maternity shirts had seams at the sides which showed up in my knitting. No big deal, really, but next time I'm sticking with seamless.
I used this pattern for my oven mitt. The pattern was very simple, the project was done in three days, and it was free!
I was very happy with the finished product. And the best part about making an oven mitt: it's a mitten, but you only have to make one.
For my mom:
Gift: Tote bag
Material: canvas and cotton from my fabric stash and a placemat (that I never use)
Cost: $0
I felt bad about this one. Last year I made aprons for my MIL. I had promised to make some for my mom, but have yet to get around to it. I really wanted to get them done for Mother's Day, but with no extra cash and very little time (Ellie's birthday is the same weekend as Mother's Day and I'm already behind) it just wasn't going to happen. I rifled through my ridiculous stash of fabric (seriously, I have so much fabric) and found enough to make a tote bag. Then I found this fabulous pattern for free (yay!) and got to work. I literally made this during Ellie's nap, which time leftover to relax. It was so fast and so simple. I added the pocket using a placemat because it the only piece of fabric in my entire house that was the color I wanted (and I love that it adds a different texture).
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| Oh yeah, and it's reversible! |
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| So there is a pocket on the outside and the inside. |
These next two projects were for Ellie. There wasn't any particular reason for making them, they were just fun projects. The first is a pillowcase dress:
This style/pattern was entirely from my head. I was basically winging it and hoping for the best. I love how it turned out. Because it was a vintage pillowcase, the fabric is so soft and flowing. It's the perfect breezy summer dress.
I don't have any pictures of her in it, but it fits her perfectly. She even has a little red cardigan and combined I think it might be the cutest 4th of July outfit ever. I have another pillowcase with which I hope to make a second dress. Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures. Maybe I'll even make a tutorial! (Don't hold your breath on that one)
I also made Ellie some yoga pants. We have started potty training (I hate potty training) and my daughter is so very tiny that whenever she wears her big girl underwear all of her pants fall off. So I took the one pair of leggings that actually stays up and used it as a guide. I had some stretchy jersey knit in the stash. It's a fun neon/gray stripe, which I bought with Ellie in mind.
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| She's never very cooperative when it comes to pictures... |
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| Watching the ceiling fan... (you can kind of see the foldable waistband) |
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| Dancing... |
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| The visible side seams were a mistake. I was too lazy to rip them out and in the end I think it's kind of cute. |
So that's all my projects this week. Next week is birthday week, so I'll probably be too busy for projects, but I'll be sure to post party and yummy cupcake pictures!
Have a great weekend!
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