Riddle me this: When is a Men’s Shirt NOT a Men’s Shirt?

Please choose from the following:

1. When it’s a zippered pouch
2. When it’s a bean bag
3. When it’s the main piece of a girl’s pillowcase dress
4. All of the above

Yes, you guessed it;  all of the above!

I suppose it’s true that everything old is new again.  I find immense pleasure in taking a discarded  item and giving it renewed life.  Up-cycle, re-purpose, re-invent…call it what you will, it all means the same thing–I can get rid of something I’m not using and not feel bad about it.

This work shirt of my husband’s never saw much outside of the closet walls until this past fall.  First I used it to make a cute zippered pouch…(Well, I did but the picture you’ll see is of a gift card holder.  I used the cuff and it took all of 2 minutes to make).

Then I made the bean bags for teaching Tiny Tots dance classes…

And now I’m using the rest of the button down front of the shirt for a dress destined for Little Dresses For Africa….

I haven’t added the bias tape yet  for the arm holes/ straps, but I’ll do that soon.  For the bottom, I used leftover scraps from the duvet cover I used for a Valentine’s Day wreath.

I love using this stuff up.  I still have much of the back of this shirt (seeing as my husband is not a tiny man), and tons of the duvet cover left.  I’ll use that for more pillowcase dresses for Little Dresses For Africa, but send along any other ideas you may have for these discarded yet full-of-potential fabrics!

Dancin’ Rice

Still on the hunt for fast n’ fun props for teaching Tiny Tots dance classes, I whipped up some bean bags.  Well, technically they’re rice bags.  I’ve never made rice bags for freezing/ throwing in the microwave, but now I think I may.  What a great, inexpensive gift to give someone, especially in the winter.

I took an old (but barely worn), sassy work shirt of my husband’s and made a dozen rice bags.  The most liberating thing about this is that I didn’t measure anything.  Nada.  Nothing.  How great!  Since these are destined just to be dance class props, I didn’t mind that the shapes weren’t perfect rectangles or that they’re all a little difference in size.  Different shapes and sizes–just like people.

I serged up 3 sides then on the fourth used the sewing machine, leaving about 3 inches for turning and filling with rice.  I used a sheet of notebook paper for a funnel to pour the rice into the bag and didn’t overfill.  This helped when I went back to the sewing machine to stitch up the 3″ opening.  Just like when making a placemat, sans the rice.

These were great in class today and who doesn’t love the tactile feel of a bean bag?  We used them to test balance while standing on one leg.  When we were done with our balance game, they got to throw the bags into a bucket;  funny how the new game soon became “Hit Miss Jen with the bean bag!”  Well, whatever works….  🙂

Here’s Abby testing out a bean bag while doing tendu (foot extended to side on floor) and passe (toes touch opposite knee).  Bean bags…the modern day take on the Finishing School’s “put-a-book-on-your-head-and-walk” challenge!

Plastic Bag Holder/ Dispenser

Over last summer I had a few baby showers to make gifts for.  I opted for gender neutral and more sophisticated color schemes and set about making minky & cotton burp cloths.  With the remnants of those cotton prints, I made a few plastic bag holders/ dispensers.  I LOVE having a place to neatly keep all my plastic bags and it’s saved me much in the way of under-the-sink space.

While I do my best to opt for reusable grocery totes, I still like having some plastic bags around for lining the bathroom trash baskets, etc.  Theses were easy to make and quick, to boot.

If your kitchen, pantry, or laundry room could use a splash of color and dose of effortless organization, check out sew4home’s tutorial here.

I won’t horrify you on the waaaaay off seams of mine shown above, but I did get a little better with my latest holder (after a hands-on lesson with Nicole)…

Seams aren’t perfect, but much better than my last attempt…

Unfilled plastic bag holder…fill ‘er up!

And if you make one, share a picture;  I’d love to see the color combos you come up with!

Ribbon Rings

 

I was trying to think of an inexpensive and quick prop to use while teaching Tiny Tots Dance Class for 2-3 year olds.  The dance studio didn’t have much in the way of props, so I made about 30 ribbon rings.  Each kiddo got two (one for each hand), and they were a big hit.

If you work, live or come into contact with the younger set, try these simple-to-make rings;  they’ll love the rise and fall of the ribbons, the visual stimuli of the colors, and will dance with abandon.  A favorite exercise was when we pretended to be big birds (eating up as much space as possible), fairies, bumble bees, and airplanes.

GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES:

• Package of plastic shower curtain rings (Each package will have 12 rings.  I got 3 packages from the local dollar store).
• Satin (or grosgrain) ribbon  (I used mostly satin for the way it moved).  You’ll need almost 4 feet of ribbon to wrap it around the ring and have 2 strands.  To tie on extra strands, you’ll need about 32 inches to make 2 strands.

Simply leave a long tail (about 16 inches long, or to your liking) and start to wrap the other end of the ribbon around the ring.  When you meet up with the other end (in other words, there’s no more of the plastic ring showing), double knot your ribbons together.

Now add one or two more 32″ length ribbons to make your ribbon ring fuller.  Double knot them onto the ring, right where the first ribbons meet.

When you have the desired fullness of your ribbon tails, trim if necessary and heat seal the ends so they don’t fray.  (To heat seal the ends, run a lighter close to–but not against–the ribbon ends.  You’ll find they become a little hard to the touch and slightly glossy).

Make as many as you like and use them yourself, too…it’s incredibly freeing!

Here’s my daughter test driving a couple of ribbon rings.

Have you ever sewn one of these?!

I’d be willing to bet my Brother (sewing machine, that is) that you probably haven’t sewn one of these.  “Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  NO!  It’s…a reusable sanitary pad!”

Yes, you read that correctly.  But before you get thoroughly grossed out, hear me out on this one.

Several weeks ago I blogged about how much I was enjoying making pillowcases for the wonderful organization 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge.  While I finished those, the word “pillowcase” still kept floating through my head.

That train of thought led me to want to make my first pillowcase dress–fairly intimidating for a person who has little experience sewing apparel.  Making the pillowcase dresses led me to search out how to make my own bias tape for said dresses.  I made a tractor load of bias tape (another first) and was relieved to discover it was easy, albeit a little time-consuming.

While browsing online for pillowcase dress tutorials, I came across Little Dresses for Africa.  It’s an inspiring non-for profit that not only delivers dresses to girls, but also hope.

And dignity.

Here’s where I finally get to the topic of this post.  These amazing angels distribute sewn, washable and reusable sanitary pads to girls who otherwise are using dangerous substitutes like bark, rags, and newspaper.  The recipients of these pads can manage their periods easier, better and safer.

You can learn about Little Dresses for Africa’s sani-pad program, and I’ll show you my very first attempt at making a sani-pad. 🙂

1.  I cut out flannel pieces for the front and back of the pad, along with the “wings.”  (I traced a maxi pad, but you can just roughly make one 4″ x 9″)

2.  I cut up an old yet absorbent towel and two more pieces of flannel for the inside of the pad.

3.  Then I sewed the 3 inner layers to the back of the pad.  After that, I quilted it for extra security, following the diagonal lines on the towel.

4.  I sandwiched the wings in between the top and (thick) bottom layer, leaving a 3 ish ” opening to turn it right side out…just like when you’re sewing a place mat.

5.  Then I top stitched around the whole thing.  I still need to add the velcro to the “wings.”

This was certainly a first for me.  My goal is to  make 25 dresses and 25 sani-pads by the summer.

And that, dear friends, was my convoluted journey from pillowcases to sanitary pads.  🙂