T-Shirt Bags

I made some giant bags to hold my little guy's toys. They are made from adult sized polo shirts. I'll post a tutorial for how to make them soon.

The patches and drawstrings are made from t-shirt scraps.

Memory Wire Bracelet Tutorial

I love memory wire bracelets. They require no clasp and I love to wear cuff-style bracelets. However, you don't have to make a gigantic cuff-style memory wire bracelet-you could just do one coil.

Here's what you'll need to make your own:

Step 1: Bend the end of the memory wire into a loop with the round-nose pliers.

Step 2: String your beads. You may need to un-string them several to get the perfect order and positioning.

Step 3: Stop about 1" from the end of the wire (or, if you're not using the full length of the wire, cut the wire off about 1" after your last bead is strung).

Step 4: Make sure you have no extra space between your beads--push them so they're flush against each other. Cut the wire so there's about 1/3"-1/2" left. You'll be turning this end into a loop to keep everything in place.

Step 5: Use the round-nose pliers to turn the loop at the end. You might have to fool with the end a bit to make a perfect circle.

I could make these bracelets every day! I love making jewelry.

T-Shirt Sleeve Pouch Tutorial

If you do a lot of t-shirt projects like I do, you likely have lots of scraps. I don't throw away my colorful scraps and I also don't throw away t-shirt sleeves. I decided to make these sleeves into small pouches. Here's what you'll need:

You can make the pouch out of any size sleeve, just cut it off at or below the sleeve's seam. You'll need random scraps of other knit fabric and one scrap that's 1 1/2" wide and long enough to thread through the sleeve's hem to act as a drawstring.

First, start sewing on some of the scraps in whatever design you want.

I made a ruffle for this one.

Next, turn the t-shirt inside out. You'll sew the bottom seam along the t-shirt's former armpit.

Remove a few stitches with your seam ripper to open up the hem of the t-shirt. Then you'll need to reinforce the seam with a few stitches to keep it from un-hemming the whole way down the sleeve.

Sew a tube with the 1 1/2" wide scrap you've cut for the drawstring. Turn the tube right sides out with a safety pin and then run the tube through the sleeve's open hem. Knot the ends and you're done!

Using T-Shirt Scraps

Here's my latest creation using T-Shirt scraps:

These pouches were made using the sleeves from t-shirts. I just randomly sewed scraps onto the t-shirt sleeves and made some (odd-shaped) drawstring pouches.

I think I'll use some of them to keep my son's toys together. I'll have a tutorial on how to make them soon.

Fuzzy Ribbon Baby Toy II

I made another one of these fuzzy ribbon toys the other day. I actually made two before we had our little boy (one for a girl and one for a boy...just in case!) but I ran out of stuffing for both. So far, only the girly one has been completed. The embroidery isn't quite as good as my first attempt (the bear, found here).

So my little boy doesn't have a fuzzy ribbon toy right now! I don't think he minds...