I Can Find The Time

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Recover plain Wal-Mart storage bin

Since I've been working on finishing my daughters' rooms with as many DIY and re-purposing projects as possible I wanted to get this one out as soon as it was done so hopefully someone else to can use this idea.

My kids rooms have quite a few bins that we use to store all sorts of items. In the baby's room we use them for diapers, small and large blankets, toiletries, and pretty much anything else that fits! I like using this type of storage since it's easy to access with one hand on a squirming child, and can be changed out at any time.

This isn't much of a tutorial, more if an idea suggestion:

Don't pass up on a sturdy storage bin because the fabric is bad!

I bought quite of few of these metal framed storage bins...

...from Wal-Mart before my oldest daughter was born and have used them in her room ever since. But now that we are settled in our new house and I'm actually decorating the kids rooms, the plain primary color canvas material had to go!

Here's a speedy tutorial to show you how quick this project is

First, take off the old covers and rip out the Velcro strips
(see how good and sturdy that wire frame is!)

Seam rip the four side seams, but keep the bottom attached. Fold the fabric in half and trace a pattern onto craft paper

Cut out a new cover in pretty fabric

(make sure that fabric is folded in half)

Sew all four side seams together

Put the new cover onto the metal frame and mark and resew in the Velcro that came with the original bin

And just like that I re-purposed some ugly storage bins into beautiful "Baby Girl" bins. So easy, and so much prettier!

Keep this in mind the next time you see a storage bin that has a sturdy frame...and just ask yourself "Can I tear that apart and recover it?"

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Categories

DIY, Home Decor, Kids, organize, sewing

Author

Kathryn

Toy Storage with Plastic Window

If any of you have kids then you definitely have toys all over the place! We have a 3 year old and 1 year old girls and the toys are out of control.

My oldest has recently started getting dress up dolls and she loves them. I'm glad she is getting into more 'story telling' types of toys, but the small pieces are such a mess. And they come in these cute wooden storage dishes, but they are not at all practical and the pieces are constantly spilling all over the place. Not to mention how potentially dangerous this is now that Baby-zilla is roaming around and loves to put everything in her mouth. So I had to come up with a way to store her dress up dolls that kept them away from the baby, but allowed my 3 year old to still play with them. My solution is:

Toy Storage Bags with Plastic Windows

I love this idea for her dress up dolls, but it could be adapted for any type of toy. And since you can make any size bag the options are endless!

Here the supply list:

Fabric

Plastic sheeting/fabric

(I got mine for $2.79/yd at Hobby Lobby in the home décor section)

elastic or cording

sewing supplies

First you'll have to decide what size bag you'll need. I just measured the doll in this play set and added about two inches to the height. It's not an exact science so just go with what works for your toys. Here is the drawing I made of the bag I wanted to make to make sure I cut the right sized pieces.

I choose to place my plastic window toward the bottom of the bag so you could clearly see all the dress up pieces that come with this toy. You can place it anywhere you'd like based on the toy you are working with.

Next, you'll need to cut the fabric and plastic. Based on your measurements you'll need one piece of plastic for the window, one large solid piece of fabric for the back, and 4 smaller pieces of fabric to 'frame' the plastic in the front.

Now for the sewing. I have never sewn with this plastic sheeting stuff and here are some tips I learned:

GO SLOW! I didn't have any problems with my needle going through the plastic while sewing slowly.

When pinning the plastic to the fabric place the pins PARALLEL to the seam, not perpendicular like you'd normally do. This makes sure that you don’t have a hole in the plastic that is visible outside the seam.

All my seams involving the plastic were sewn with the fabric on the bottom. Even so, I still had to use my hands to help feed them through the sewing machine. (You can see that my first attempt did bunch up a little bit as I got the feel for how much help was needed).

Now to make the windowed panel for the toy bag.

First, I sewed the two side panels onto the plastic window.

Next, I added the top and bottom panels to complete the front of the bag.

Then to help finish off the look of the 'window', and help to further secure the plastic into the bag, I did one finishing seam all the around the window. This will also hold down the seams that we sewed in the first two steps so they don’t show through the window.

Next, sew your two panels together on three sides to get a simple bag.

Now for the opening at the top of the bag. Since part of my goal with this project is to keep small toys away from our little one, I wasn't comfortable using a standard draw string closure. I just know that string would get pulled out by my oldest and we'd be back to dress up doll parts all over the floor. So, I decided to make a tight stretchy closure with a fully encased piece of elastic. My oldest can stretch it open to get out the dress up dolls, but it's almost fully closed the rest of the time.

To make an enclosed elastic top you need to fold down the top of the bag one inch and sew most of the way around. Leave a small opening so you can feed your elastic through.

Next, feed the elastic all the way around the bag.

(Tip: I always use a paper clip or safety pin like this to feed any elastic or cording through a narrow casing. Such a life saver!)

Find the right tightness for your bag and tie off the elastic into a complete circle.

Tuck in the elastic and sew the remaining part of the seam closed.

Turn the bag right side out and stuff with toys! That’s all there is to it! In less than an hour you can have a fun toy storage bag with a see through window!

You just have to find the time!

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2 comments

Categories

DIY, Gift, Kids, organize, sewing

Author

Kathryn

Felt Silhouette Pillows

One of the easiest ways to change out the decor in a room is by making new throw pillows. A bright fabric or design can make a plain tan couch the rooms focal point. Or can add a temporary holiday theme without spending a ton of money.

I decided to do just that with my plain tan couches by adding some new pillows. I love the look of a bold silhouette design, and decided to use that style for my pillows. I have some fleur-de-lis decor in my living room, so that's the bold design I decided on.

Now...how do I get a good fleur-de-lis cut out of felt? I could try to free hand it, but we all know that will turn out...wonky! So I began the clip art hunt. I found quite a few options that would have been OK, but it was too hard to print the images in the size I wanted. So I did some more exploring and remembered one of my favorite tips for finding silhouette images: wing ding fonts.

If you don't know what a wing ding font is...get ready because this is gonna change your crafting life! Wing dings are fonts where each character is a picture, not a letter. So when you type 'A', you get a smiley face, or a flower, or in my case an amazing fleur-de-lis!

And from my experience the best place to get free fonts is at www.dafont.com . I don't get anything for saying that, they really are my favorite free font resource and have tons of wing ding fonts.

Once I downloaded and installed The French font I was ready to go.

I printed out my favorite wing dings to make a pattern on plain paper.

I chose my favorite two for the pillows and cut them out of chocolate brown felt. (I saved the other two patterns for other projects)

Now for the slow part...applique the felt cut out onto a 17" square piece of fabric that will be the front of your pillow. Very slowly sew all the way around your cut out as close to the edge as possible. Since felt does not unravel, you don't need to worry about finishing the edge.

Once the applique is on, have two options to finish the pillow. If you are going to want to change out your throw pillows, finish the back with an envelope closure or a zipper to allow for easy removal. If this is a forever pillow you can stuff it and sew the whole edge shut.

And there you go...a few simple steps to get really special throw pillows to spice up your home decor. And the best thing is that the possibilities for this project are unlimited. You can make Felt Silhouette Pillows for every season and every room in your house.

You just have to Find the Time! :)

{Note: the Fleur-de-Lis pillows featured in this post are currently for sale in my Etsy shop: By Studio 13 along with other great gift ideas!}

I AM LINKING TO AS MANY OF THESE PARTIES AS POSSIBLE:

SUNDAY The DIY Showoff - Under the Table and Dreaming - Mad in Crafts - I Heart Naptime MONDAY Home Savvy A to Z - 1929 Charmer - Be Colorful - TheSouthern Institute - DIY Home Sweet Home - Singing Three Little Birds - Homemakeron a Dime - Between Naps on the Porch - Cottage Instincts - It’s So Very Cheri - Keeping it Simple - Making the World Cuter - Sumo’s Sweet Stuff - The Girl Creative - Sew Can Do - Skip to my Lou - Craft o Maniac - Trendy Tree House - BlueCricut Design - TUESDAY Me and My Boys - Home Stories A 2 Z - Bowl Full of Lemons - My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - Coastal Charm - Confessions of a SAHM - Homework - Vintage Wannabe - Strictly Homemade - A Soft Place to Land - Hope Studios - Today's Creative Blog - CSI Weekly Challenge - Creative Itch - I’m Topsy Turvy - Sugar Bee - All things Related - Letting the Creative Juices Flow - Night Owl Crafting - Tip Junkie WEDNESDAY Momnivore'sDilemma - SouthernHospitality - YesterdayOn Tuesday - Blue Cricket Design - Someday Crafts - Domestically Speaking - Sew Much Ado - Seven Thirty-Three - My Backyard Eden - Take it from Me THURSDAY SavedBy Love - The ArtsyGirl Connection - MyCrazy Beautiful Life - DelightfulOrder - Fireflies and Jellybeans - Somewhat Simple - The Shabby Chic Cottage - It’s Fun to Craft - The Train to Crazy - Craftastical - Treasures for Tots FRIDAY SassySites - French Country Cottage - HappyHour Projects - Whipperberry - DesignerGarden - Serenity Now - Bacon Time - The Crafty Nest - delicateCONSTRUCTION - Young & Crafty - Lolly Jane - Remodelaholic - 504 Main – Kojo Designs - Fingerprints on the Fridge – The Shabby Nest - Simply Designing – It’s a HodgePodge Life - J A Girl – Design it Chic – SATURDAY Tater Tots and Jell-O – Along for the Ride – Funky Junk

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3 comments

Categories

DIY, Gift, Home Decor, sewing

Author

Kathryn

Car Seat Slip Cover

We all have them...car seats. And if you're like me, you are using an infant car seat that was bought for an older child and the pattern is getting a little old.

Booooooring!

And if you are also like me the thought of tearing apart the padding and making a completely new one is a little daunting. So why not just make a slip cover that goes over the existing fabric padding and gives the car seat a new look? Brilliant!

Here are the steps you need for a quick slip cover to put over you existing car seat padding for a quick new look!

Supplies:

Car Seat Padding

coordinating fabric/thread

basic sewing supplies (scissors, pins, etc.)

First you'll need to take off you car seat padding and make a pattern. My car seat padding was two large pieces sewn together at the seat. I simply laid the cover down as flat as possible to trace each piece onto a big piece of muslin. (You can always trace the pieces right onto your fabric and skip the step of making a pattern. But I like the idea of having a pattern available to make other slip covers later on.)

Next, cut out your pieces with as much seam allowance as you can spare. I added at least 4" all the way my pieces.

Do a quick basting stitch where the two pieces meet.

Lay the pattern in the car seat and center.

TIP: I learned while making this slip cover that the best option was to have elastic only on the top and bottom of the slip cover, and not on the sides where the handle moves up and down. As little bulk as possible will make moving the handle easier.

Using a marking pencil and straight pins, work your way around the car seat marking off where the slip cover should be and where the elastic should be sewn in. Make sure that the elastic is going to go low enough behind the car seat that it will hold in place.

TIP: It's also helpful to put something heavy in the car seat while you're marking it to make sure you keep it centered and don't lift the fabric up.

Trim the excess fabric based on your markings.

If using muslin: lay pattern on fabric and cut out both pieces.