Old Jean Made New

Ok so I have 5 kids, which means that I have a lot of jeans with holes in the knees.  With the weather warming up, my kids had a need of shorts and less need to holey jeans, so I took this weekend to do some re-furbishing.  I'm SOOO excited about how these turned out!!  All this was done with two pairs of my kids jeans and the leftovers of the Jelly Roll I used to make the table runner for my sister.  I started by making a double fold bias tape out of the fabric, and covered the edges and sewed them on about 1/8 in from the edge. (The butterfly and embroidery on the second pair was already there)  

The purse was done by using the bottom of one of the cut off legs.  I hemmed the bottom and covered it with another strip from the jelly roll.  I folded down the top and frayed the edge a bit - then using yarn, created the handles by threading it back and forth about 5 times - the single crocheting around them.  

For the headbands, I cut a strip of the leftover leg about an inch thick and took another strip from the jelly roll.  I put the wrong sides together and sewed about 1/4 inch from edge down both long sides.  The jelly roll piece was wider than the denim so when i turned it right side out and pressed it there was some of the colored fabric showing on the same side as the denim.  I then measured my kids head and put a strip of 3/4 inch wide elastic into the ends and hemmed them.  Sorry I didn't take pictures during the process, but I didn't think of it..... Anyway - what fun stuff can you do with your worn out clothing - now i just need to find time to do the rest of their holey stuff!  They were so excited about their "new" clothes!

If any of this is unclear, feel free to ask and I will try to do better - maybe when I work on the other pairs this week I can take more pictures for clarification.... :P

Scarves

This pattern was part of another kit from the Hook and Needle club through Annie's Attic. The kit came with 3 different scarf patterns, but after making this scarf, I enjoyed it so much I wanted to make it again. This first picture is the scarf I made using (mostly) the yarn I was given and (mostly) the pattern I was given. I accidentally did the first couple rows different from the pattern, but ended up preferring it that way. The pattern asked me to do 2 rows of sc after the beginning ch and then no rows of sc on the other side. Instead I did mine with the chain right in the middle and a row of sc on either side. Also - I didn't worry about gauge since it was a scarf, but that ended up being a problem since I ran out of yarn.... So i found a fuzzy yarn that was the same color and did the border round with that.


I ended up liking the fuzzy yarn look a lot, so I found some spare yarn I had lying around and modified the pattern a bit and made this scarf. Both scarfs used a bit more than a skein of yarn total.


Ok here is how I made the second scarf - the first one wasn't my own pattern - though mine was heavily based off of it. Click on the image - then right click and choose "Save Image As"

Spring Table Runner

I had fun making this table runner. I found a jelly roll that I really liked - I supplemented the roll with some coordinating solids and made a lavender trivet (see this post) to go with it. Now I just need to figure out what to make with the rest of the fabric!


Here's more of a close up - and a better view of the trivet.


And here is the pattern - I really don't know much about writing up quilting and sewing patterns, so if this is lacking - let me know and I will try to do better :) I used patterns from my scrap kit "Spring Tweets" to make the pretty pattern :) Just click on the image and then right click and choose "Save Image As" to grab this free pattern.

Kindle Cover

When I saw this pattern in the 101 Patchwork Projects and Quilts I knew I had to make it for my friend. She is the Kindle Queen! I'm still firmly entrenched in the paper world as far as my reading, but if you or someone you know has gone digital this is a great quick and easy project. It pulls together in a couple hours tops (even if you are are rather slow moving like me)

The one suggestion I would make is to measure the kindle you are planning to cover first and adjust the pattern accordingly - lol - I didn't the first time and found that her kindle was larger than the case i made - so I now have 2 cases - that look just like this one, but one fits her kindle and one fits a smaller one. :) This project can be done (haha - in either size) with just a quarter yard of 2 different fabrics, a button, a hair elastic and some batting and fusible web. I got the fusible web off amazon, the fabric from a small quilt shop and the button from a different quilt shop. The pattern gives you the option to quilt the cover - I was too lazy the second time around, but I did quilt the first attempt. It looks nice - but doesn't really add much.

Picnic Quilt

This quilt is something that we have been working on for a while now. (And by we I mean me and my hubby) It was my hubby's idea - he said he would do everything if I would agree to doing the binding. As you can imagine, that's not quite how it worked out. :) While my husband is perfectly able to handle a sewing machine, he also travels - A LOT - which means that while his intentions were good, I ended up doing all the sewing. He was thankfully sensitive to my massive prego belly and the inability to get up and down from the floor easily, and did all the cutting, and laying out and tying. We finally managed to get it finished.

A quick disclaimer - my husband picked the fabric. They are each cute by them selves, but I don't know that I would have chosen to put them together - but it is a picnic blanket, so I guess funky and sporadic works.

The quilt has 24 squares that are each made up of 9 - 5" squares. They are separated by 2" wide stripes and 2" squares at the corners. The quilt ended up being made so that it was 6 squares by 4 squares, because the backing fabric wasn't as wide as they told my hubby it was at the store. We had planned on making it 5x5. The quilt will have grommets in the corners to put stakes through and hold it down with. We tied it with brown red heart yarn.

Fall Trivets

I have been working on a lot of different projects recently with the holidays coming, but I have been unsure as to whether I should post them now or wait until after the holidays.... I figure since there aren't a whole lot of avid readers of my blog, that as long as I don't mention who the gifts are for, it's not a big deal if I post picture of them here. :) Not that every post from now until Christmas will be gifts I am making, but some will be.

These are a couple of trivets that I just finished up. This is a pattern I got from Interweave. Here is a link to the pattern. The pattern was quick and easy (even for a not-so-advanced sewer) Fabric is just some fat quarters from JoAnn's. This project took no more than a couple hours to complete - and even then - the slowest part was getting the lavender buds into it, they didn't want to go in and I ended up using a crochet hook to shove them in through the funnel. I got the lavender from Lavender Fanatic. It has been making my house smell wonderful! The order came quickly and I would definitely buy from them again.

I do plan on using this pattern again - it was quick, easy and I really like the way it came out.

The one thing I will do more carefully is be more careful of my seams, I discovered that my seams were often larger than the requested 1/4 inch - which threw off the size - I will need to be more careful next time to make sure my seams are the right size so I don't spend as much time picking seams out.... :P

Tissue Holder

This is a fun little project that makes a great gift and is quick and easy to make. This was another piece that I made for my sisters diaper bag. The one I made for her was sized larger to hold plastic bags (which are very convenient for a mommy who doesn't want to carry around soiled clothes loose in the diaper bag or a stinky diaper loose when a garbage can is hard to find) The basic pattern is easy enough to alter to fit your purpose. The size as it is in the pattern is just the right size for a travel size package of kleenex. This keeps them from scattering all over your purse or diaper bag :)


I meant to get this picture posted with this pattern, but the moving and getting internet up took longer than we had hoped (since we both got sick) and was soon followed by sewage back up problems that we have had our hands full getting fixed.... but better late than never - this is what my finished project looked like and now I have a nice set for the baby shower I'm going to later this month. :)