How I made my cat a jumper bed Tutorial

Wally testing his new bed

Old wooly jumper

  Turn inside out and sew up neck opening

 Turn to right side.  Pin then sew across below arms 

  Stuff tube formed by arms and jumper top

I washed an old pillow at 60 degrees to clean it

 I cut it open and used the Stuffing for my Cat Bed 

  Folding back the arms makes this job easier to do

  Outer ring of bed now stuffed

Put one cuff inside the other to join circle

Pin, tack then oversew edge. Remove tacking stitches

 Put a small pillow or stuffing inside the jumper to make a base

Close hem and pull up thread to gather a little to round off

Turn over and pin base around edge

Oversew base to outer ring 

Complete.  Now I must find one of our four cats to test it !

Our Spaniel has tested it already  :-)

Pink heart pincushion and phone sock from a sock

Finished at last.  I kept decorations simple to leave room for the pins.  I made another cover for my Mobile Phone with the other half of the sock

I have just made this pink heart pincushion.  It could be a Mother's Day present, Valentine Day or Birthday present for anyone who sews ?  The fun bit will be decorating it  :-)

Recycling again...old green sock Cactus Pincushion

I have just made another Pincushion from an old green sock. I should have stuck some pins in it before taking the photo to make it look like a Cactus which is what it is meant to be  : )

I love Autumn heart and button decoration

It feels like Autumn in the UK. I think it is called The Fall in America. Tractors are going past our home with lots of hay bales. I love this time of year. Hubby is watching the Olympics so I can do what I want today ; ) I have just made this quick decoration to celebrate Autumn.

Recycling my Slippers into a hedgehog a bookmark an Owl and a Sheep

I was going to give my new slippers to a Charity Shop as they won't stay on my feet. Then....... I saw a hedgehog on top.....

A bookmark on the sole and owls and hearts on the sides and.....

A sheep inside !   

Wooden flowers made from recycled lollipop sticks and buttons

The result of playing with lollipop sticks again.  I made these wooden flowers from lollipop sticks and buttons.  I am still trying to decide which buttons to use.  I might paint the next bunch and put them outside our front door.  Hubby keeps filling up our freezer drawer with icecreams like Magnums and luckily everyone remembers to keep the sticks.  I put the used sticks in the dishwasher to clean them before playing with them.

Don't buy wire for projects if you have these

Old and no longer needed except by ME !

I cut off the ends and cut the rubber a little with my quick unpick.  Then I held the wire with one hand and the cut rubber with the other and pulled slowly.  The wire cut through the rubber when I pulled revealing the very useful wire inside

This is a very old pair of pinking shears I now only use for paper.  I cut a few cardboard shapes with the pinking shears to wrap my wire

Recycled wire now wrapped and ready to use for my wire projects

How to make a quick and easy cushion cover

Pick one large blouse or shirt. Do up all the buttons. Turn it inside out and iron it flat. Pin between each button to keep layers together.

Measure up to just below the armholes and draw a line across with a Trickmarker (fading fabric pen)  Pin along this line and along the bottom edge.

Draw a line at right angles to the line below the armholes on both sides creating a square or oblong. Pin and tack all around all four sides.

Remove all pins when you have finished tacking.  Sew around all four sides.  Trim fabric edge about 2 cms away from sewing line with pinking shears to prevent fraying. Cut diagonally across each corner to make corners easier to turn.

Undo buttons and turn to right side out.  Add a cushion pad. Do up the buttons and your cushion is finished.

Reverse of cushion with buttons done up and two useful hidden pockets to hide things in.  If you don't want the pockets simply remove them before making up your cushion.  You can also make a cushion the same way using a cardigan with buttons down the front for a cosy winter cushion.

Recycled Basque is now a pretty useful bag

My husband bought me a lovely Basque.

Unfortunately it is the size I was when we first met when I was 15 years old......a long time ago ! 

A hour later it is now a pretty useful bag.

Marked with my Trickmarker fabric fading pen

Tacked, machined and edges pinked.  Ribbon added.

Finished bag.  I still have the leftover yards of ribbon, plastic bones and fabric to make something else. 

Recycling rubber gloves

When rubber gloves get worn out cut them up into rubber bands. These larger sized rubber bands are very useful

Recycling an old sock to make a soft comfy Eye Mask

  It gets light much too early for me here in the UK in May. I now put my sock eye mask on to cut out the light to help me sleep a bit longer. It works !

HOW TO MAKE AN EASY PEASY SOCK EYE MASK

Cut a piece out of heel to allow for turning inside out

Turn inside out and sew across the toe and across the top

Trim seam allowance to about 1cm

Thread elastic thread onto a large eyed needle.

 Push needle through the edge seam from the inside bottom left

Into the edge seam bottom right

Out at top right seam

Over and into top left seam

Adjust length of elastic to fit your head comfortably

Cut off at desired length and knot ends together inside sock

Close the opening at the back with a few small hand stitches

Your Eye Mask is now complete

RECYCLING a Potato Sack to make handles for a bag

I  found these strong plastic handles with sewing holes ready for a bag project.  This is where I found them  

My handmade Denim slippers

I wear these every day. The pattern for them is in a book called 'Sew Pretty Homestyle'

Poppy jar

This empty coffee jar looked too useful to throw away with it's glass top.  I have glued a poppy under the glass and filled it with my brown buttons

Diagonal check apron made from a kitchen curtain

The extra large pocket is very handy

Bunny rabbit made from an old sock

The pattern for Sock Bunny is in the Crafts Beautiful magazine Issue 201

My husband's glasses case I labelled using cut up bar codes

Recycling socks to make a pen pot and Mobile Phone Cover