Chevron trend on the Cheap!

Months ago, I picked up this full sized chevron print sheet at a thrift store for $1.95. Yes,  under two bucks for fabric, that's hard to beat. The chevron trend is everywhere now, so I thought I'd better do something with it before I'm over it. 

I have begun with the simplest idea, an envelope pillow.

Here it goes...

I started with 3 pieces of the fabric. First piece was 16 x 16, the size of the pillow. I didn't allow any extra for the seam so the the pillow would look stuffed. Next piece was 8 x 16, then 12 x 16. These two are for the back. On each of these two, I had hemmed one side that was 16 inches.

Here is the 16 x 16 face up.

Then the two back sides are laid on top, right sides down, hemmed sides overlapping.

I placed some pins to hold it in place, then sewed around the entire perimeter.

I turned it right side out and stuffed it with my pillow.

So, while scouring the thrift stores and garage sales, I scan the linens and clothing, not necessarily to use them for what they are made for, but to use them for easy projects like these envelope pillows.

Compare this blue chevron pillow (dry clean only...yeah right), which is over $50 plus shipping from Overstock.com (which I love), $1.95 plus the Ikea down insert was around $7,  makes it $8.95. I still have left over fabric, which may end up on my dining room chairs.

Sweater Beanie Hat

This past weekend was 80 degrees at the west coast. Then the weather dropped to about 60 degrees. Brrrrrr. So time to make a hat.

I was browsing at "Make it and Love It" where she had this easy tutorial on how to turn an old sweater into a hat. She has made a few, and they are so cute. Find her tutorial here.  Hers are much better than mine, but here's what I did on the first try. 

I pulled out a sweater from the donate bag and cut out the shape.  I cut both sides at the same time so they were even:

Then, right sides facing each other, I used the sewing machine to sew them together, leaving the opening for the head.

I turned it right side out and hand stitched rosettes I formed from some strips of the sweater.

Sew, it wasn't too hard, and it didn't cost anything. The hardest part was making the rounded shape of the beanie just right. I did do some extra trimming and sewing to have a better fit. 

This is a great way to upcycle those stretched out, or shrunken sweaters for use on a 60 degree day.

Strawberry Pin Cushions

sorry for the missing picture, you can find it here

Martha, Martha, Martha! These are so cute.
As an amateur to sewing, looking for something easy and useful to sew, I found Martha Stewart's cute strawberry pincushions on her website and just had to make one. I would say it is pretty easy if you can use needle and thread. Martha suggests using a sewing machine but I just hand stitched it. And, I have to say I use it all the time.

 Here's the one I made, less the "seeds":











If you'd like to make one, or five (these would make a great gift for your sewing friend), Martha has a great tutorial here.

Have fun!