Day 42 - 7 days and 7 ways to use an old dictionary - Part 1

This week I am embarking on a challenge to use an old dictionary for 7 different craft projects. Not sure what they are all going to be yet but that's part of the fun. Day 1 is dictionary flowers. Made them snuggled up in bed with my 2 year old son while we watched 'Guess how much I love you'. It's starting to get cold here!

Love them or hate them?

Day 41 - Glittery girly stuff

My daughter bought one of these craft sets with her pocket money a couple of weeks ago, she was instantly in love.  She started making it when she was staying with my Mum and we finished it off today. Here she is below, working hard on her creation.

Then we tied them all on a string and hung it up in her bedroom window. Very cute. Did you love these when you were younger? Did anyone do shrinkies?

Day 40 - Reversible baby pants from a doona cover, men's shirt and scraps.

What do an old Where's Wally doona (duvet to some) cover, a men's shirt, and a scrap of old chenille bedspread have in common? A pair of reversible baby pants of course.

I've been wanting to make these pants for a while, based on a pattern by Anna Maria Horner from her 'Handmade Beginnings' book.

I had already made some pants about a year ago from the doona cover for one of my boys, and the bedspread (which I found on the footpath during hard garbage week and gave a good clean) has been used in many, many of my sewing projects. There is only a tiny bit left. I decided to use one of my husband's old shirts to complete the project.

We are going on holidays for a few weeks later this year and I think these reversible pants will be awesome to pack - you only need half the number of pants in your bag.

Front - 

Back -

A little spill? Turn them inside out and.....I left the shirt pocket on the front so there is even a pocket feature on the front leg.

The model doesn't need any help in the cute department. But they are adorable on him.

 

 

Day 39 - Photo Mobile

Up to day 39 now. Wow! More than 10% of my year down.

Thanks so much to Amy at Sugar and Spice for featuring my tea party chair (http://365crafty.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/day-35-reclaimed-chair-gets-second-life.html) on her blog this week for her drab to fab link up http://www.amynjesse.com/2012/04/drab-to-fab-link-party-14.html. I'm very excited!

Today I have combined a few loves. My family, my photos and some of my favourite fabrics and papers. I've made a photo mobile using one of these clip mobiles from kikkerland.





http://www.kikkerland.com/products/mobile-photo-clip/


Here is mine. It's a bit difficult to photograph. Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Day 38: Kids Tool Belt

Kids tool belt anyone? Easy to make and hours of fun. Have you got a toddler or child who would like one? I used some red fabric from a rocket costume I made for book week last year and a scrap of contrasting star fabric leftover from a pair of shorts I made for my son.

Evil has a new name!

Jack of all trades.

Handy girl.

Day 37 - A $2 top and a poppy to remember.

Today's inspiration comes from the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps). I know the poppy isn't typically an ANZAC thing but it is a symbol of remembrance that befits this day and I saw one this morning which started me off on my journey to transform this top I got last week at the op shop for $2.

My ideas kept changing as I went along with this one and I've ended up with a top I love that is just my style.

Firstly it had a high skivvy neck which I didn't like so I cut off the neck band and drew a pattern for a poppy. I decided to make the poppy from a red fleecy lined knit that Mum recently gave me a remnant of.

I still wasn't happy so I cut off the sleeves as well and cut a stem for the poppy from a vintage paisley fabric scrap.

I sewed these on, and to add a bit more color I made a red band from the same knit fabric just by folding it in half and sewing it to the bottom of the top. (I chopped some off the bottom of the top first because it was a little longer than I wanted).

I loved the red band so much I did the same thing to the arm and neck holes. Then I topstitched with some red thread to make the bands sit a bit better.

Very happy with my new top now.  Hooray!

Day 36 - Toddler Time on a rainy day

The weather is a bit nasty here today as winter begins to creep up on us, so we are indoors for a bit of toddler play. We are using boxes, some pieces of fabric, and other bits and pieces we find along the way.

First we made a home for the dinosaurs. This little man seemed intent on taking everything out of the box and stuffing it into shoes though, so we moved on to the next activity.

After the dinosaurs had finished their reign on earth we made a rocket, always popular in our house. Next time I'm making one without a door though, so I don't get asked every minute to close it, only to have it opened half a minute later with a new request to close it.

Then we did a bit of beading.

I'm exhausted, it must be time for lunch.

Day 35 - Reclaimed chair gets a second life.

I live on a bush block of 7 1/2  acres and I recently found this old chair around the side of my house (I moved in about 4 months ago). It was behind my water tanks so I hadn't really been around there since we bought the place. It was a bit weathered and slightly warped but still very strong and quite comfortable to sit on. I knew it needed rescuing as soon as I laid eyes on it. I've been working on it for a couple of days and here it is.

I still wanted it too have an old shabby look so I cleaned it up a bit and then added a thin layer of paint in some mauve and rose. Here it is after a wee bit of paint.

Then I used some decoupage glue to glue strips of fabric to the seat area and some lace along the top.

Finally, I made the back piece. For the back I used this gorgeous Amy Butler fabric from my stash and sewed on a pink fleece backing to make it soft to lean into and also to add body to the fabric. I stretched this around the chair and nailed it to the back.

There you have it, a tea party chair.  All ready for scones and tea. Well, Andy likes it anyway.

Before and after pictures side by side

You might also like...

http://www.amynjesse.com/

Day 34 - Dreary pants needing some cheer.

This was one of the trickiest things I've attempted so far! I thought I'd cheer up these little pants I got at the op shop yesterday for 50 cents by adding some little cuffs and a chenille fake pocket. I was hoping it would only take about 15 minutes as my hubby is working all day today. Unfortunately, I underestimated how difficult it was to sew around the bottom of the tiny stretchy legs. It was really hard! Sewing straight and lining up the fabric for the cuff was difficult without the leg being able to fit it around the arm of my machine.
Anyway I still love the idea and luckily the little almost 5 month old man they are for is not a fussy little dude so all is good. I think it will be more successful on a larger sized pair of trousers. They are still cute but don't look too closely.

Day 33 - Curtain Hat - Part 1 of the curtain files

Today was a pretty exciting day. I made my first ever hat, and, I made it without a pattern. I was pretty happy with how it turned out. I think the peak/brim should have been slightly wider but it really did exceed my expectations for a first try. I wanted to make a hat like what old men wear but for a little boy. It feels good to be growing more in confidence with my sewing and experimenting a bit more with new things. Another benefit of my 365 project. I think I'll be trying some more hats in the future.

Here's what I started with:

Vintage curtain - a wool blend. Stay tuned for more ways to use this curtain.

So I made a pattern first, cutting out a brim, a round circle from the top and measured around Aidan's head and added an inch (seam allowance) to cut two strips to go around the head.

Cutting out the pattern and pieces - I used a soft cotton to line the hat in case the curtain was a little itchy.

The inside of the hat - fully lined.

Outside of the hat.

The spunky little dude wearing it.