Drawstring Soap Sack, Plush Towels, and Washcloths
November 19, 2008|Comments (3)
These darling bath bags are so easy to make! You have options… you know how I love options! When I make these, I like making a matching towel. Then you have a gift set that is wonderfully soft, warm, and inexpensive.
MATERIALS:
- Approx 3 yards of 100% cotton flannel or very soft light weight knit or woven terry cloth or fleece
- Fleece, flannel, terry cloth binding
DIRECTIONS:
- Cut 2, 1 yard (36 inches) pieces of fabric. If your fabric is a standard 45 inches you will now have an approximately 45 x 36 inch rectangle.
- Lay your two pieces of fabric wrong sides together (so that the print/right side is facing out). Trim the pieces so that all edges are straight and they are the same size.
- Using the fleece binding, bind the edges of the towel.
To make a matching wash cloth cut two 12×12 inch pieces of fabric from the other yard of fabric. Place the fabric wrong sides together and bind the edges with fleece binding!
To make the drawstring soap sack:
- Cut out two 12 x 12 inch squares.
- Zigzag the edges all the way around.
- Place one square on top of the other so that the edges match up and with printed or “right sides” together. Pin in place.
- Sew three sides with a 5/8 seam.
- Cut the ribbon or string you want to use with plenty of excess string for tying purposes and fold the unsewn top down over it (around two inches). Pin in place.
- Sew the flap down all the way around the piece and then turn it right-side-out.
- Voila! You have a nifty little soap holder for the bath with matching towels.
Darn! Darn! Darn!
August 21, 2008|Comments (17)
So, my very good pal, Applie (a.k.a. Michelle), wanted to know how my knitting projects have been going. Do I currently suffer from the dreaded Sockitis? You bet your sweet bippy I do. The sock projects must wait until the canning projects are not in full swing. Oh, and they are in FULL swing this month. I’m canning everything in sight. I’ll can you if you stand in my kitchen long enough.
While the pressure canner hissed and the little topper did the hula, I darned some socks, gloves, and my husband’s favorite hat.
While I can’t seem to justify creating more socks (Sock Syndrome abounds, ya’ll), I did declare the repairing of old socks a worthwhile task. So, here it is. My home economics teacher would be so proud. In fact, I think the whole world should be proud of my accomplishments this week. In moments such as these, I like to imagine all my ex boyfriends and their mothers (okay… just their mothers) standing in my home eying the rows of freshly canned fruits, veggies, jams, and jellies with my sewing basket of freshly darned socks.
Of course, they would all be thinking the same thing: “Why couldn’t my son have married her?” And then… and then I would parade Josh past them a few times. Not that I’ve given much thought to any of this or anything. Nah.
Back to darning. Yes. Darning is easiest when done on a darning mushroom. First, turn your sock inside out and place the mushroom inside the sock so that it is behind the hole or thin spot. Then run a threaded needle (preferably with similar color yarn or thread) above one corner of the hole. Imagine that there is a grid patch covering the hole and begin weaving the thread through every other thread that is perpendicular. When you get to the other side of the hole, then turn and go back in typewriter fashion. Continue until you have gone completely over the hole or thin patch several times weaving when you can.
Now, turn your project 90 degrees and repeat. This time you will be weaving through your old stitches. Amazing, huh?
I will warn you that darning is time-consuming work. Excellent for killing time whilst canning collard greens (which take an hour and a half in the pressure canner… well, in quart jars anyway). But it is certainly less time-consuming than unraveling half the sock or sleeve and then knitting it back which is certainly an option though never one that appealed to me. Like water and electricity, I like the path of least resistance.
There. And if you were wondering… no that’s not my thumb. I borrowed someone else’s. I figure that you need some new scenery from time to time. Right?
Batgirl’s Beauty Secrets
June 20, 2008|Comments (none)
All girls need a lovely bathrooms. They are vital to our ability to feel whole and beautiful. We need to be able to walk in and be inspired to endure the pain of plucking our eyebrows, rub our skin raw in an attempt to exfoliate, battle the bumps from shaving our legs, and make use of that strange little torture device known as an eyelash curler. Guys, you have no idea what we go through. **insert any scene from The Bridget Jones Diary**
Why am I so hung up on this? Because Josh came home the day before yesterday after having been gone for a month. Guess who decided to get gorgeous before he arrived? I am now a blonde, press-on nail wearing, fake tan toting priss. I also committed the ultimate sin en route to picking him up: I wore high heels with jeans.
I just thought I would confess.
NOTE: I would have liked to post pictures of my newly finished bathroom (painted, decorated, and fantastic) but those Neanderthals working at WordPress decided that I never needed to be able to upload pictures again. Guess what!?!? WordPress must have heard my nasty little comment and decided to reopen the uploading feature. Either that or my wonderful friends, Carl and Kemble of Zowbie Consulting, fixed it. Those two are just superfantastic. So, you’ll notice — there are now pictures of the bathroom!
