Projects to Make

Plush Baby Toy

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Plush Baby Toy

Yesterday I had an idea about making Light-bulb-momentmy own plush baby toy but wasn’t quite sure how I would implement it. I did a Google search (don’t you just love Google!) and found this tutorial.…..DING……the ideas started coming in.

 

 

Now I had some fleecePlush Blanket left from the booties I made in a previous post (here) and you’ll know by now that I like to get the most out of everything! This bit of fleece started life as a baby blanket, cost £2.45 and I’ve already made 4 items out of it.

I decided to incorporate the teddy bear embellishment for this one. I also decided to use the purple ribbon I had in my stash but you can use your imagination here, even do different shapes if you wish. I had a cushion I no longer needed so took the stuffing out and used some of that. No purchases needed for this upcycled project!

 

 

I used a 6″/15cm bowl and drew around it Cut 2 circleswith tailors chalk to cut 2 circles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next step is to cut your Showing how to pin ribbon onpieces of ribbon, (mine were about 5cm) then fold each piece in half and lay on the bottom piece of the plush fabric. Lay the upper piece right sides in on top then pin making sure you also pin the ribbon. The folded end goes in towards the middle and leave a small bit sticking out over the edge.

 

 

Leave a few cm open, this is Circles Pinned togetherwhere you’ll turn right sides out, put your stuffing in and add the piece of ribbon for hanging.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carefully sew where you’ve Round circles sewn togetherpinned it, I put the machine on slow speed when I’m doing anything circular for more control. Remember to leave the end open.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turn right sides out and stuff, Plush baby toy stuffed with  top edge pinneddon’t stuff it too tight, you want it to feel a bit “squeeshy!” Cut a longer piece of ribbon, length depending on where you’re hanging it then, pin into the opening at the top at the same time turn the edges in and pin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I machine stitched this part but in hindsight it might have been a bit neater hand sewing it. And that’s it, a simple plush baby toy which took around 1 hr to make! You could make a few of these with different shapes and colours and hang them from a baby bouncer handle, no need to purchase expensive toys!

plush baby toy finished

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Wall Organizer

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I did say I was going to do some tutorials on the “Home made Christmas Gifts” page and a wall organizer can make a useful and adaptable gift for anyone.

I made this one withCompleted Wall organizer fabrics I had to hand being an avid upcyler but you can really let your creativity lose  and choose according to who you’re making it for. A wall organizer will even work in a garage if you use stong fabrics so there’s an idea for the men in your life!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I gathered my materials together:Materials for wall organizer

  • Cotton velvet and printed cotton, I’m sure you recognise them from other projects, after all this blog is all about upcycling!
  • A piece of cane cut according to the size you make.
  • A piece of strong ribbon or thick string,  cut depending on low you want it to hang.
  • I used gift ribbon for embellishing but you can use anything for this.

You can make this any size you wish, just adjust the following measurments to suit.

Cut out:Pieces cut out and folded

  • 61cm x 102cm of velvet (any strong fabric will do for this)
  • 3 pieces of cotton 25 x 50cm (any non stretch sturdy fabric will work)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fold the velvet in half lengthwise right sides together and pin then fold the cotton in half right sides together and pin.

 

Sew 3 sides on all the pieces Pieces sewn togetherleaving an opening for turning right sides out. Finish off the seams either with overlocking, pinking shears or the zig zag stitch on your sewing machine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turn right side out then press Square pieces sewn on to rectangleand topstitch all pieces. If you’ve been reading my other posts by now you should recognise a common theme, squares and rectangles doubled and topstitched. There are lot’s of useful items to be made this way!

Make a hem at the top of the velvet piece to hold the cane.

 

 

Pin the 3 cotton squares evenly down the length of the velvet. This is where you’ll see how accurate your cutting and sewing has been so far. I will blush here and admit I got somewhat distracted, making it trickier to line everything up! Stitch them onto the velvet leaving the top open (for putting things in). I used a zig zag stitch for this to add more interest (the photo doesn’t show it too well).

Then it’s time to add your Embellishments sewn onembellishments to suit the recipient of your gift. Buttons work well as do scraps of cloth and ribbon.

Thread the cane through the hem then make a loop at each end of the thick string and hook one over each end of the cane.

 

 

 

 

And there we are, the simplest of gifts and these wall organizers can be made for every room by using colours to suit your theme.

Completed wall organizer

 

 

 

 

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Free Baby Dress Sewing Pattern

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I was searching for a free free baby dress sewing patternbaby dress sewing pattern (I’m using this resource while I  learn how to make my own) and found this
one at See Kate Sew, so simple and I love the elasticated shoulder straps very effective!

I decided to make 2 of these at the same time, they looked so simple. I had some cute apple print cotton which was purchased in a sale and some cotton velvet, (I have a massive bolt of this from a close down sale).

 

 

 

 

I downloaded the pattern then cut all the Pattern pieces cut outpieces following the instructions on Kate’s blog. The velvet frayed terribly and I thought about not bothering with it, bits everywhere!

 

This where my Brother Overlocker came in handy and I went round all the pieces with it. If you don’t have an overlocker you can use pinking shears or the zig zag stitch on your sewing machine or, just stick to a cotton fabric.

 

It’s worth taking a bit of time Overlocked Velvetto do this, it gives your seams a much nicer finish.

 

 

 

From there the instructions were straight forward with clear images to guide you through the tutorial. Three hours later I had 2 cute dresses! The seams on the velvet dress were a bit bulky so if I was using it again I’d just have 1 layer of velvet for the outer bodice and use a thin lining for the inner bodice. I had the butterfly motif in my box so hand stitched it on for a bit of decoration.The velvet dress could be worn over a top with a cardigan making it suitable for colder weather, versatile wee dresses and all from a free baby dress sewing pattern!

2 baby dresses from free sewing pattern

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Handmade Bookmarks

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In our busy lives it’s always handmade bookmarks nice to find time to sit and read a good book. It’s also nice to have some lovely handmade bookmarks to hand, I hate to see a book getting the corner of it’s page turned over!

 

These are really simple to make in about 30 mns, depending on whether you hand or machine stitch.

If you’ve read my other posts you might recognise the fabric and trim in this bookmark, remember my tip about not throwing small pieces of fabric away?

 

 

 

So, gather your materials Materialstogether,

  • Fabric, most fabrics can be made into bookmarks.
  • Iron on interfacing (if you’re using a very stiff fabric you won’t need this)
  • Trim

 

Cut a piece of fabric Pieces cut out12cm x 23cm (I used an existing bookmark to measure). Cut a piece of interfacing 6cm x 23cm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Iron the interfacing onto oneSewn up and tseams trimmed with pinking shearsInterface ironed on to fabric half on the wrong side of fabric.

 

Keep right sides together sitch the long side and one short side together. Trim the seams.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turn right sides out and press Book mark top stitchedSewn piece turned right side outturning the open end in.

This is another place where you can use my favourite Top stitch technique. Top stitch round all four sides making sure you catch the open end.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All that’s left now is to add your trim/decoration. There are lots of things you can use:

  • Fabric paint, paint your own designs
  • Buttons
  • Lace
  • Ribbon
  • The decorative stitches on sewing machine if you have one

I used gift wrap ribbon for mine, Gift ribbonit was on special at Lidls (discount store), it was in the bargain bin for 49p. I’ve already used it in a few projects!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One completed bookmark. I would normally make a batch of these they’re so quick and easy but did a single for this tutorial. They make great wee gifts and stocking fillers!Completed bookmark with gift ribbon sewn on as embellishment8

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Diaper Bag from Old Curtains

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After searching for some fabric suitable Completed diaper bagfor my latest project I located a curtain pelmet which I’d stripped down into fabric and lining. So now for my latest project, a diaper bag from old curtains using a tutorial I found at Karen’s blog here.

 

 

TIPDon’t throw away small pieces of fabric, even small pieces can be used for decoration.

 

 

 

I started with my curtain pelmet material Materialsusing the lining for the inside and cut a piece out of each plus the straps, following the instructions on the tutorial.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Pieces cut out

 

 

 

 

 

At this point I noticed my white thread was getting low so had a look round for special offers. With thoughts of Christmas gifts starting to appear it might be prudent to make sure you have all you need, there’s nothing worse than starting a project and not having the right colour thread etc. I decided to stock up on threads and sundrys when I found this special offer Save 10% + Free P&P with offer code CRAFT10. Valid on orders of £20 or more at Stitch Craft Create

BARGAIN!

 

After the excitment of buying some nice bits and pieces it was back to the diaper bag.

My overlocker came in handy for the next Sewn seamsbit as the lining was fraying everywhere! Pinking shears will also work for this (check here for help on buying scissors). You can also do a zig zag stitch close to the edge.

 

 

 

Following the instructions, I turned it Turn right side outright side out but didn’t manage to get the corners as neat as I’d liked. I’m going to practise this technique, neat square corners look so much better.

 

 

 

 Strap sewn onNext it was the strap, straight forward following the instructions.
 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t have nappies/diapers and wipes to test Upcycled Diaper bag completefor size so guessed based on the tutorial image.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then finally a fastener for the strap, I used velcro as it’s what I had in my sewing box.

And that’s it, it took me around 1hr 30mns to do including the photos, and it would make a nice gift filled with some nappies, wipes and cream. I’m going to be making more of these, a great way to use up smaller pieces of fabric.

Complete with diapers and wet wipes open Complete with diapers and wet wipes closed shut

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Onesie Dress Tutorial

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Babies spend a onesie dress tutoriallot of time in sleepsuit/onesies, they’re easy to get on and off a wriggly squirming baby! The thing is, when you have a new baby girl you want to dress her in girly things so I’ve found a solution, this onesie dress tutorial from Emma’s blog

Now I’ve done my own take on this, I live in Scotland and we’re coming into the cold weather so I used a sleepsuit (see right). I also upcycled an old shirt so had to fiddle around a bit to get enough fabric.

 

 

 

I took the back of the shirt and Materialscut 2 strips, overlocked around the edges the joined the 2 sides.

 

TIPPress your fabrics before you start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long-Tube overlocked

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there I followed the Gathered tuble to make skirtinstructions on the blog, doing the gathers was fiddly but keep measuring against the sleepsuit till it fits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had some trim in my stash so edged the hem with it to pretty it up, then I made a wee bow for the kneck and VOILA, a pretty but cosy dress for your baby girl!

Complete onsie dress

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How to make Plush Baby Booties

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As promised I’m going Plush baby bootiesto show you how to make plush baby booties like these, and the ones in an earlier blog post Here’s one I made earlier.” I used fleece but you can use any fabric or trim. These are small enough that it wouldn’t take long to sew them by hand if you don’t have a machine.

 

First download the pattern here  Upcycled-Baby-Booties

The pattern is for 3mths but I’ll explain how to make them smaller later in the tutorial.

 

Next gather your materials: Materials

  • Fabric (fleece and cotton work well)
  • Elastic (1/4″)
  • Pattern

 

 

 

Cut out the pattern pieces from the paper. Paper pattern pieces

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fold the fleece (it doesn’t matter which way) Paper pattern pinned to fabricand pin the pattern pieces to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then cut out the pieces remembering to cut 4 for Pattern pieces cut outthe upper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take the 2 “back and side” pieces and stitch a hem alongHem stitched for elastic the straight edge wide enough for the elastic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thread the elastic through the hem using a Elastic being threaded through hemdarning needle with a large eye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hold onto both elastic ends and pull to Pulling elastic ends together to form top openinggather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

To secure the elastic in place stitch backSewing elastic in place and forward over it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tidy up the ends and you’ll be left withFirst 2 pieces complete 2 pieces like this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, this is the bit that’s tricky to explain Sandwich upper pieces with elasticated bitshence the extra pics! Take 2 of the uppers and sandwich the elasticated pieces between along the straight edge.

 

 

 

 

12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stitch along the straight edge.Stitch along stright line

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tidy the seams.Tidy up seams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flip the back/side over and mark the centre.Mark the centre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mark the centre 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Line up the centre of the soles to the centrePin soles to uppers of the uppers, pin and stitch.

This is where you can make them smaller by sewing the seam further in.

 

 

 

 

 

Stitch and trim seams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tidy up the seams.Tidy seams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turn right side out.Right side out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All that’s left is to add the trim, you can use anything here, just make sure it’s well secured on the bootie!

One pair of finished plush baby booties!

Finished plush baby booties with trimPlease contact me if there’s anything about this tutorial you need help with.

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Upcycled Bandana Bib

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Bandana Bibs are simple to make and great for making use of fabric scraps and towels. You can use left over fabric from a baby outfit to make a matching upcycled bandana bib. They’re also great for gifts, make a set of 3 with pretty fabric, a baby can never have enough bibs (you might recognise the fabric in this article!). Firstly make your pattern or you can use the one below. I used an existing bib, folded it in half,  laid it on an A4 sheet of paper, then drew and cut round it. You can do this for any style of bib. I’ll generally do a few at the same time as they don’t take long.

Download PDF File here bandana-bib

TIPCheck charity shops and car boot sales for towels or keep your ears open for friends who are changing their bathroom colour scheme and buying new towels!

Next gather your materials:

  • Pattern
  • Fabric of your choice, cotton works well for this.
  • Toweling or microfibre fleece.
  • Fastener, I use hook and loop/velcro but you can use press studs if you prefer

Materials

Fold your fabic in half and pin the pattern on, putting fold mark on pattern against fold in fabric.

paper pattern pinned on

Cut out and repeat for towelling, you’ll then have 2 pieces like this:

Cut out fabric

If you don’t have an overlocker, at this stage do a zig zag stitch round the towelling edge to stop fraying (not needed if you use micro fleece). Pin the pieces right sides together and overlock/sew together leaving a 4″ gap (for turning right side out).

Pin fabric pieces

Sew and overlock fabric pieces

Turn right side out and press turning the gap edges in.

Turned right side out and pressed

Top stitch all the way round making sure you catch the folded in edge.

The last thing is to sew on your fastening, I prefer hook and loop as it’s easy to whip on and off a fidgety baby!

Sew on hook and loop for fastening

And that’s it, simple! Here it is beside 2 others I made previously in a different size and style.

3 upcycled baby bibs different styels

 

 

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Here’s one I made earlier.

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As I mentioned on the “About” page, I ‘ve a grandaughter due (6 days and counting UPDATE –  SHE’S ARRIVED!) and I’ve been making baby clothes for a few months now, hence the title “Here’s one I made earlier!” I found a simple pattern for a baby dress to start me off, free here

A clear and concise tutorial and such cute pictures of her twins. I made a couple of dresses with this pattern and plan to do more but upscale in size.

This one was made from a summer skirt that had a light lining. Made-earlier1There wasn’t quite enough fabric for sleeves so I used the lining for them. There was just enough left to do a wee hairband, can’t wait to see it on new baby!

TIP: Keep all your leftover scraps from projects, great for trims/bows and making hairbands .

 

 

 

 

 

The fabric in this one I love! This wasn’t stictly upcycled as I Made-earlier2purchased the fabric from Hobbycraft for a festival belt project. There was enough left for the dress and matching headband, size 0-3mths, it’s tiny!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m going to be doing a tutorial (UPDATE, TUTORIAL HERE) on these baby booties, so quick and simple to do. I purchased a fleece baby blanket (out of bargain bin) for £2.50, plenty ofBooties-2 material for lots of booties and another opportunity to upcycle scraps for the decorative bit on the toes. I found it a bit tricky to get the toes evenly rounded on the first pair but was getting better by the second ones, I’ll show you how on the tutorial coming soon.

 

 

UPDATE…..

I wrote this post a while back, have completed more projects since then and baby Lilly is growing fast Here she is wearing the baby Christmas dress I made out of some Christmas curtain fabric!

here's one I made earlier

 

 

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Festival/Utility Belt

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Ever seen a cool looking festival/utility belts, you easily make your own with an old pair of trousers and scraps of fabric. It can be used at festivals but staying on the theme of Upcycled Baby items you can keep your own bits and pieces in it when you’re trying to juggle baby and paraphanalia! I made this festival/utility belt up as I went along, but you can let your imagination run wild for pockets and trims.

MATERIALS

I started with a pair of cords, a fake leather jacket, (both off bargain rail in charity shop) and some vintage fabric given to me by my Mum..

Materials

Instructions

I wanted the belt to be adustable, size 10 to 14 (UK measurement) so I cut off the trouser legs (leg length was 30″), turned one leg inside out then put one leg inside the other right sides together.

1Leg Inside Other

Cut along the top to straighten, then pin and stitch.

CutToStraighten

Turn right side out and you’ll be left with a long tube.

LongTube after being sewn together

The next thing to do is shape the bottom edge, I used an existing festival belt for this,.Turn the tube inside out and draw the shape with tailor chalk then cut it out.

Cut Shape

CutShape2

Stitch along 2 long sides and 1 short side, if you don’t use an overlocked seam trim (use pinking shears if you have them). Turn right side out and give it a press.

Sewn and turned right sides out

This is the basic belt so now it’s time to think about pockets. The jacket already had zips in the cuffs so I utilised 1 cuff by cutting it off and sewing up the 2 sides leaving the zip in place.

Cuff Pocket

For the next pocket I used the vintage fabric. I wanted a mobile phone to fit in it so took measurements from that but doubled the fabric for extra strength. Remember to leave a bit of room to allow for the thickness of the phone.

MoBile Phone pocket measurement

Keeping the folded edge for the top of the pocket stitch 3 sides and trim seams. I used the neck fastener from the jacket for the fastener on this pocket, you can use your imagination here or Velco (hook and loop fastener) works well.

Phone-Pocket laid in place with fastener

This gives you some ideas for making pockets. Depending on what you want to carry you can make pockets to suit with any scraps you have. It’s also useful to make a discreet pocket on the inside for carrying money/credit cards. I used some of the trouser fabric that was left, overlocked the edges then folded the piece so there was a flap and stitched it to the back of the belt. A bit of Velcro under the flap to fasten so there’s nothing to rub against the skin works well.

Secret-Pocket

 

Position the pockets onto the belt then stitch them on. I had to hand sew the “cuff” pocket as the seam was too thick for the sewing machine. Sew on any fasteningsDepending on what you used or your taste a little bit of trimming can be added. I had some in my stash (picked up from a sale in Hobbycraft) which I thought was a good match.

trimming Finished

TIP: Keep your eye on the bargain bins in craft shops, there’s quite often end pieces of trimming from the large “by the metre” rolls

Finally it’s time to get the press studs on. To make it adustable use 6 and sew them on at an angle. It’s useful to have a model here to position the studs! I sitched mine on but you can use the snap fastener rivet type.

Stud fasteners sewn on

Finished

And that’s it, lots of scope to use your artisticness (is that a word?)! This is my grandaughter with the belt on (excuse the photobombing Rosie dog!).

Festival/handy belt on Eve

Festival/utility belt on Eve 2

Festival/Utility belt on Eve photo bombed by dog

 

 

 

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