Soft Cowl

I have had the idea to sew myself a cowl for a while now, and I never got up the nerve to actually do it since I didn't have a pattern for it. Then when I was buying the fabric to make my laptop sleeve, I thought that this fabric would be perfect for a nice cowl. The fabric already had a soft fleece on the wrong side, but I wanted to make it extra warm so I added some white fleece to it.

I don't know why I was so nervous about not working from a pattern, this was really easy. I measured a cowl that I already had. Added an inch to the length and width to accommodate the seams. I sewed the fleece to the knit fabric (wrong sides together) flipped it inside out and sewed the ends together. Voila! A perfectly cute cowl that will keep me warm this winter.

Tablet Sleeve

I got a new tablet for Christmas and I needed a case for it, but I couldn't find any that I liked in the store. So after seeing a tutorial on how to make my own case, I decided that was the best option for me. The Cottage Home has a great step-by-step tutorial on how to create your own custom sized sleeves with fleece lining. I made mine with a really cute pink and black fabric and some soft fleece for the lining. Unfortunately, either my calculations were wrong or my sewing was flawed since it was just a bit too small. So back to the fabric store I went, and I found this great fabric with soft fleece already attached to it. I made the sleeve over again and skipped the steps for the lining. It turned our perfect, super easy to make and didn't take much time at all to complete.

Another stash busting challenge complete

This picture is not very clear - It was taken in a dark room on my tablet.

I wanted to knit my puppy a comfy blanket to keep her warm this winter and I had some left over Homespun yarn (stash busting challenge #3!) that was taking up a lot of room in my stash. This was a really quick knit that gave an amazing result. I held two strands of yarn together and knit it garter stitch until no yarn was left. I used whatever yarn I had left so It has a bunch of different colors in it and this makes it even cuter!

Warning Symbols Matching Card Game

For another activity for my first semester in my Early Childhood Education program, I had to make a safety activity that could be used with children. I had to make it myself, not use any store bought activities. So I made a matching card game out of fabric using warning symbols that are found on common household items (corrosive, flammable, explosive, poison). The idea is that the children will learn to identify the warning symbols and know what they mean.

I printed each symbols onto transfer paper and ironed them onto a piece of white felt. Then I used the tutorial on Stash of Pixels to make the cards out of them. I used some orange polka dot fabric for the back side of them, so they all look the same. This means that for older children it can turn into a memory card game.

 

They turned out even better then I expected. They are really sturdy, washable and reusable. Just perfect!

3 Plush Cubes

I am currently in the Early Childhood Education program. During my first semester, I had to implement an activity with a two year old. I had to make the activity from scratch (no store bought games) and this is what I came up with!

I made 3 different sized boxes (small-medium-large) using the tutorial from Sew Fun for the basis of the cubes, and I added some of my own modifications. I made them out of felt, and I added the applique animals and handles to each box. I stuffed them and put shakers inside them that made different sounds: the small box has sand in the shaker, the medium box has small plastic rocks (the kind that are used to decorate), and the large box has a shaker with plastic beads in it. I made them using (new) plastic prescription bottles that had child-proof lids on them. So even if a child was somehow able to rip open a cube, they wouldn't be able to get to the potential chocking hazards inside the shakers.

The concept was that the child would be able to develop the concept of loud (plastic beads shaker) and quiet (sand shaker). I used the board book Quiet Loud to reinforce the concept. It's an amazingly cute book and was great for this activity.

This was a great project that was relatively simple to make once I figured out how I was going to do it.