T-shirt into Babygrow

This was actually my first make of the year but I only finished it last night. It is a gift for the soon to be born baby of my friends Jen & Mike who among other things are Hot Breath Karaoke. I made it out of one of their own T-shirts that my husband won at their karaoke night.

I used sewing pattern Butterick 5896 to make it up. I used the T-shirt for the main body but had to use extra fabric for the sleeves as the T-shirt was only a small. I have made babygrows and vests from T-shirts before. Once I got the dungarees, a long sleeved top and the hat all from just one XXXL T-shirt.

I had been putting off finishing it when I got to the snaps as I have to use a hammer so can't do it when my boy is sleeping and if I try and do it when he's awake, he won't leave me alone and just wants the hammer and the components. But recently I treated myself to these pliers. Here they are in my tin of fastenings etc.

They make the job so much easier and silent. Just a little squeeze and hey presto a press stud! 

I am really pleased I bought them, I don't know why I didn't get a pair sooner.

Now I just have to wait until he or she is born, and hope that they are a tiddler because I accidentally cut out the smallest size without checking. 

Bath Toy Bag & Laundry Bag

My baby boy got so many new bath toys for Christmas that the edge of the bath just wasn't big enough any more. I needed to make something to store them in and had loads of this sports mesh fabric in my stash which hopefully will be perfect for all of those wet toys. 

It was really easy to make. I just cut a rectangle of fabric and stitched this beautiful stripy bias binding which I found at a bootsale at either end to make a tunnel for the drawstring. The cord is just from one of those duffle style carrier bags.

 Then I tied it to a rail under the boiler cupboard and as you can see, there's still plenty of room for more toys!

Next I made a laundry bag for his room out of similar sports mesh but this time in bright green. I used an offcut of the fabric I used to make his curtains at the bottom of the bag. Again I sewed on bias binding to make a tunnel but this time I poked curtain wire through and joined the ends up with a split ring to hang from a hook.

New Fabric and New Books

I've bought some lovely new fabrics

 and received some lovely new books.

Coffee Tin Re-Vamp

Sometimes I'm in the middle of doing something mundane, like wiping the kitchen surfaces when I have an idea and then just grab the things I need and before I know it, I've done it.

These little tins of tea, coffee and hot chocolate are too cute to throw away and I've had my eye on them for a while just waiting for my husband to finish drinking the contents so I can have them. 

As cute as they are, I wasn't keen on the label on the front. So the other day I suddenly thought about painting over them with blackboard paint. I wasn't sure if it would work so decided to just paint a bit on to try it, but before I knew it, I'd got the masking tape out and was going the whole hog. 

 I masked around the biggest points of the teapot design and then just painted the blackboard paint on and dried them with a hairdryer as I couldn't be bothered to wait. Then just peeled of the tape and they were all finished. 

At the moment they're still full of their original content but when they're empty they can be used and re-used for all sorts of other bits and bobs which can be easily labeled again and again and in the meantime they look nice where they are.

Sky Scarf Project for 2012

Happy New Year.

I have decided to do this Conceptual Knitting project. I had seen it on the internet last year and thought it was a brilliant idea. But this morning I was reminded of it by fellow crafters online and decided that I would give it a go. 

Basically, it is a year long project wherein you knit a scarf, two rows a day, in the colour of the sky on that day. I have slight OCD and so a project like this has to be started at a good time and 1st January seemed like the perfect time to begin. Obviously I didn't have time to go out and buy yarn but luckily as I'm such a hoarder, I already have all the colours I think I'll need.

In the process I have also joined Ravelry, so that's another website to eat up my crafting time by looking at more things I want to make. Luckily I'm not too much of a knitter, but this project is just done in simple garter stitch, so really even the most inexperienced knitter should be able to give it a go.

There is a group on Ravelry of knitters all over the world who are taking on this project and they are adding their pictures to Flickr. 

One lady said that she was casting on 46 stitches because that's how old she is while she's knitting it, I like that idea so I have pinched it and done the same (not 46 though!).

I will post updates of how I'm getting on, hopefully I won't abandon it like all my other knitting projects, seeing as it's only a row a day, I should be able to find the time...