Large Stuff Sack Tutorial

I made this drawstring stuff sack for my son's blocks. I made it out of a t-shirt and the bag ended up being so big, I would need to buy more blocks to fill it up!

I took a t-shirt and cut it off below the armpits. You will use the hem of the shirt as the drawstring for the bag.

I added some stamped fabric (see the tutorial I made for fabric stamping here). If you want to add stamped fabric patches like I did, add them before doing any assembly of the bag.

To make a square bottom for the bag, I measured the perimeter of the shirt (44") and then cut a rectangle piece of the same perimeter. I cut a piece that was 9" x 13" x 13" x 9".

Then I pinned the rectangle to the unfinished side of the t-shirt. Then I sewed the rectangle to the bottom of the bag.

I opened up a small part of the hem to put the drawstring through and then reinforced it so it wouldn't continue to unravel.

Here is what the bottom of the bag looks like:

Nursing Cover Tutorial

If you are a nursing mama, you may have found that it's nearly impossible to avoid public situations when your baby needs to feed. After nursing our first child for over a year, I determined that every breastfeeding mom needs a nursing cover to maintain privacy and modesty!

A friend of mine recently borrowed my cover while we were out and I wasn't using it. She decided she needed her own but didn't want a flashy print. I ended up making her one in the fabric of her choice and I wanted to get a tutorial written for other moms.

These covers can be really expensive to purchase ($35-40!!) but you can make your own for far less money.

This is a picture of the top of the cover; you can see how I put boning in the top to make it stiff so you can see the baby. Also, the neck is adjustable with the D-rings.

What you'll need:

1 1/3 yards fabric (home decor weight works well)

12" boning

6.5" x 6.5" flannel

2 D-rings

Cut the main fabric piece into three pieces:

The largest (for the cover) is 38" x 30"

Cut a piece 27" x 4.5" for the strap

Cut another piece 6" x 4.5" for the D-ring strap.

Fold the strap in half and sew it with right sides together. Leave one end open and clip the corners.

Do the same with the short D-ring strap.

Turn each of them right sides out and press. I topstitched the strap. Add the D-rings to the finished end of the short strap, fold down the corners of the strap so they don't overcrowd and creep up the D-rings' sides and stitch into place.

I've added a little wipe (for the baby's mouth) to one of the bottom corners of the cover. I took the 6.5" x 6.5" scrap of flannel, folded it in half, and then pressed it. Then I pressed the bottom side of the cover under 1/4". I pressed the other side of the cover's corner under 1/4" as well.

Then I folded and pressed over the bottom side of the cover 1/2" and pinned the flannel underneath.

I sewed along the whole bottom side (this is the 38" side).

Next, press and pin the right side (the 30" side) of the cover under another 1/2". Sew along this side as well.

Repeat this process for the other corner. I didn't add flannel to the other corner, but you could if you need a back up wipe! It also makes a handy pocket for nursing pads.

The only unfinished side at this point should be the top side. You're going to fold and press the top under 1/4" and then fold and press it again, but this time by 1". Mark the center of the nursing cover with a pin.

Your boning should curve into a "C" shape. The back of the "C" should be facing down on your fabric when looking at the cover from the wrong side.

Place the boning under the 1" folded piece. Pin the fabric in place over the boning.

Immediately to the left of the boning, pin the D-ring piece you've prepared. Place it right side up.

Now place the strap directly to the the right side of the boning and pin in place. Sew along the edge of the 1" folded over piece down the entire length of the cover.

Next, turn the cover over. Flip the D-ring piece up as shown and sew a rectangle to hold it in this position.

Final step! In the same manner, flip the strap up and sew a rectangle to hold it in

this position, too.

Hopefully you can make your own nursing cover, maintain your modesty while feeding your baby, save some money over purchasing one, and express your individuality by choosing your own print or solid color!

Guest Post: Tutorial for Shirring

Hi All! My name is Abby and I'm here from GouldThreads. This is my second guest post here on Monkey See Monkey Do! You might remember my first post from just a few weeks back on how to crochet flowers.

Today I will be showing you how to turn an old t-shirt into a new shirt, skirt, or dress! My sister Kim first made herself a skirt after reading this post from "sew like my mom". Kim then showed me how to make one, and now I am going to show you!!!

Before we get started I must warn you that I am NOT a sewer! I knit, I crochet, but I do not sew. If you are interested in seeing some of my knit or crochet creations you can find me by searching for GouldThreads on Facebook or visit my Etsy site at http://www.gouldthreads.etsy.com/

Ok, back to our tutorial. Like I was saying, I'm not a sewer. In fact I don't even own a sewing machine (but I did borrow my sister's for a week to make the items that I'm about to show you, Thanks KIM!!!!).

Sewer or not once you get started making your own upcycled skirts, shirts, and dresses you won't want to stop! They are that EASY and FUN to make.

To get started you will need: elastic thread, a few bobbins, a spool of regular thread, some old (but nice) t-shirts, and a sewing machine.

If you are making an adult skirt or shirt you will need a men's t-shirt size Large or bigger. If you are making a child's dress, shirt, or skirt you will want to use a women's shirt size small-XL depending on the size of your child.

I happened to go to my local thrift store and bought 2 men's shirts for myself and 2 women's shirts for my 1 year old daughter. I believe that I got all 4 shirts for under $4!!!!

Here is one of my old shirts that I turned into.....


This Dress for my daughter! The shirt was a women's size small and was the perfect length for a dress for my nearly 1-year old.

Ok--are you ready to learn how to make one for yourself? Here we go!

First you will need to hand-wind a bobbin using elastic thread. You will probably want to wind several bobbins before you start sewing. I think I used 3 or 4 bobbins to make myself a skirt and just 1 bobbin for each item that I made for my daughter. I have to admit that this is the worst part of the entire project but push through the frustration, it will be worth it in the end!

Be careful not to pull the elastic while winding it or it will be all stretched out and will not work properly.

Next, you want to take your shirt and cut it off right under the armpit (or lower if making a skirt for a small child)

Once your bobbins are wound you thread your machine like normal and begin to sew! I started with the edge of my foot petal on the edge of my fabric. I also started each row near a seam and back petaled a few stitches to hold the thread (please forgive me if I am using incorrect lingo, like I stated earlier I don't typically work a sewing machine!)

As you can see in this picture the material will start to scrunch up as soon as you start to sew. Those little scrunched up rows are so addicting you might just get carried away!!!!

Once the first row is complete cut your thread and begin a second row the same as the first (near a seam with a couple of back stitches). I worked each row so my foot petal followed along the previous row (about 1/4 inch between rows).

As you sew gently pull the fabric so that the new stitches are sewn into smooth fabric and not into the scrunched up fabric.

Work as many rows as you want. I used about 8-12 rows depending on the project.

Here is a skirt that I made for my daughter from one of my old shirts.

So here is the finished skirt! Sorry that I didn't get a photo of her from the front. My daughter is almost one now and very busy, too busy to stop and get her picture taken!

This is a skirt I made for myself using a man's size Large shirt. In person the skirt is kelly green, I'm not sure why the photo turned out like this. Anyways, I love it! Its super comfortable and easy enough to dress up with cute shoes and jewelry!

I am a pretty small person so you may need to use a men's XL shirt for yourself for extra width or length. I just walked through the thrift store holding men's shirts up to my waist to find one that I thought would work. If you don't mind doing a little more sewing you could even buy some cute fabric and sew a seam up the back and hem the bottom.

Here is shirt I made for my daughter! This was originally a 3/4 sleeved women's shirt, size small (another thrift store find). I just love the colors! If you want to add a halter strap like I did just take some of the left over fabric and sew to the inside of your shirt or dress.

I hope that you found this tutorial to be helpful. I was telling a friend of mine about these skirts and shirts and she suggested shirring the top and bottom to make an adults tube top! What a great idea, I just might have to try that next.

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.