Stacked Washer & Dryer Tutorial

I made this a few years ago, but am just now getting around to posting the tutorial. My daughter had one of those plastic washer/dryer things to play with, but it was not functional and took up a lot of room. I created this one with the intention of using it as a laundry basket as well. You could put a mesh bag on the inside for laundry if you chose to use it that way.

I started with this...one of those 3-drawer plastic things...minus the drawers. You could also use PVC pipe to build a simple frame.

I cut my fabric to fit the frame--plus a couple of inches for seam allowance and sliding on and off if needed.

I traced circles onto my main body fabric, showing where I wanted the holes to be.

Folded the material so that the circle was folded in half, and then cut out my circles...I cut a little bigger than my drawn lines.

Next, I cut 4 inch strips to make "bias" tape from...though I didn't cut on the bias.

Next, using your "hole circle" as a guide, cut four circles the size you want to cover the hole with (the door)...I made mine about an inch larger all the way around.

Cut your batting to match the "door" size.

Sandwich your batting between the front and back pieces of your door, and pin in place.

Sew a two short tubes for handles.

And stuff with the scrap pieces you cut off (or use poly-fil).

Quilt your batting and door covers in place.

Attach handles.

Iron bias tape pieces.

Make bias tape.

You will want four pieces of bias tape, one for each hole, and one for each door.

Pin bias tape in place,

And sew it to your hole.

Sew bias tape around your door as well.

Add the hinge to your door,

and attach to the face of your washer/dryer combo. (I mounted my doors to where they would close by gravity and I would not have to have velcro or anything to hold them closed, but it could be done either way.

Next, sew the other three sides on, creating a tube, and sew a square on for the top.

Here is what the finished product looked like. She absolutely loved it! I think in retrospect I would use a PVC pipe frame so that I could make it the size I wanted, but it worked very well this way, and I recycled my plastic thing with missing drawers.

I would love to know if you tried this tutorial, and how it worked out for you. (I assumed in the tutorial basic sewing skills...if you have any questions, feel free to ask).

Check out my link party page to see where I am linking.

Ariel Dress Tutorial

Now that Halloween is over with, maybe I can get this post finished. A week or so ago I posted a teaser pic of Munchkin in her Ariel Costume, and promised a tutorial, so here it is.

I started with an extra large pink t-shirt and half of a twin sized (I think) sheet.

 The t-shirt got pinned and sewn together in the front and back (this t-shirt had a logo on it which meant I didn't get to choose where to sew to take the body of the dress in some.)

(She is wearing pink long-sleeves under the t-shirt).

 I didn't really take pictures of the skirt-making process, but essentially, I just added a piece of elastic in  the center (long-wise) of a piece of sheet, so that an equal amount hangs on the inside and outside...I did this both to make the skirt a little fuller and to help with the sheer aspect. I actually also sewed a tube into the middle of the skirt that you could stuff with Wal-Mart bags or something to give the skirt even more fullness.

Here, you can see that the skirt is actually separate from the top. I chose to make it this way so we could change things up some if we wanted to, and she could wear the skirt with something else.

I also put elastic in the sleeves...I was in a hurry, so I cheated a bit. I just cut a slit in the sleeve hem and threaded elastic through, then cut another slit (because of the seam) and sewed the ends together. So, if you turn the sleeve inside out, you can see part of the elastic, but I am not worried about that for a costume. If this was for daily wear, I would have done the elastic properly just for comfort.

To ruffle the front of the t-shirt, I just accordian-folded the fabric in the middle until it was the right length and put a few stitches to hold it in place, which allowed the edges to drape down nicely like Ariel's dress does.

Here she is after we sprayed her hair with red hairspray. This was after the party, so the hairspray is already wearing off.

And a beautiful Ariel pose for the camera!

And there you have it!  I'm sorry I didn't take more step-by-step pictures. Unfortunately, with a 2-month old, I was interrupted often and forgot that I hadn't already taken pictures of the step I was on. Let me know if anything is unclear, and I will do my best to clear it up. Thanks for stopping by!

Check out my link party page to see where I am linking.

Sunday's Post

Well, Sunday I couldn't get my computer to upload pictures to my blog, so here is Sunday's post...a day late.

At about 1:00am (Saturday night/Sunday morning) I finally finished the rug I have been working on intermittently for the last couple weeks. I think it turned out nice, but different from my original vision. The coolest thing about this rug is that it was truly made from scraps with the exception of the dark pink...that was a pair of scrub bottoms. The rest was all pieces that were less than 1 square foot, and most were actually odd triangle pieces or trimmings that I could only get one or two strips from, so the prep work took a bit longer on this one...but  it is more recycled too, because most of the pieces were too small for much else. I'll be looking to start another project tonight or tomorrow...hopefully a simple one so I can finish it in one day and feel like I've accomplished something. Well, here is a picture of my rug, and a one of our ride today.

My wonderful rug!

Getting ready to ride out.

It was pretty cold starting out and I couldn't find anyone to watch Munckin, so I wound up driving the van instead of riding my bike or riding with hubby. It was still a fun trip, but the directions and map were absolutely attrocious! 

Remembering Rebekah

Well, I am not sure if I had mentioned it on this blog before, but I have a younger sister named Rebekah who lost her battle with cancer about a year and a half ago. Her husband is finally parting with some of her things, so I went to his house to pick out what I wanted before the yard sale starts tomorrow. I came home with 2 large totes full of yarn and fabric. As I went through all of those things, I realized again how much alike she and I are.

She had loads of fabric that had been picked up at yardsales (still had the masking tape and price on it), and several things it looked like she was planning to repurpose...like an old bedsheet and some curtains. She loved making handmade gifts for everyone, and she was great at it! I wish I could have shared with her when I found out how to make t-shirt yarn, and plarn...I know she would have loved reusing old things and making them new again. (Another thing I found was about 10 crochet needles in only 2-3 sizes...like me, she would misplace one and go buy another).

The other great thing about getting those boxes of her stuff, was finding her half-finished projects (she was working on several things). I feel like there is still a part of her wrapped up in that yarn (the part-finished things) because it is something she put work and love into. I am still deciding what to do with those projects though. I certainly will never unravel them, but should I try to finish them out?...(I don't even know specifically what she was making). Or should I just tie them off as they are and give them to her closest friends and family?

I have thoroughly enjoyed my evening of reminising and the glimpse of my Bekah that I miss so much. She was my best friend in the world, and I will never feel that I did enough to show her that when she was alive.

I won't feel bad anymore!

So, I have decided today that I will no longer feel bad for cutting up clothes that some might deem (somewhat) reusable. I took a trip to the local goodwill store and found a few choice pieces of material (quite large) for $1.50 per piece (average piece was 3-4 yards). When I went to checkout though, I asked if they had any smaller pieces for a lower price, and the cashier told me that they THROW THEM OUT!!! They are only supposed to put the large pieces out for sale, and throw away the smaller pieces. I asked if maybe they could give them to me or put them in a free bin instead, and she said that was not allowed. (She did promise to talk to a district manager about it though).

I was flabergasted that they throw away perfectly usable material pieces! I mean, correct me if I am wrong, but people donate those things thinking someone else will get to use them....and so that they don't end up in our LANDFILLS! It absolutely enrages me to think about because I know lots of quilters or scrap crafters like me who would love to have those pieces. I am holding out a small shred of hope that next time I go in there, I will see a bin of free fabric pieces. This experience has made me realize though, even if I donated my old clothes to goodwill instead of reusing them, probably half of my stuff would end up in the landfill anyway. (Either for being outdated or having a stain or something).

Well, there is my rant for the day. On a more positive note, I think I am going to try to start creating something everyday (or atleast days I am not totally overcome with school work). I hope to eventually be able to sell some of my recycled creations, so making something each day will help get me on that road to having enough to actually start selling. Hopefully I will be blogging more about my experiences also and sharing pictures!