Toddler Belt

I’m not going to bother posting a tutorial for this project! But I wanted to show what I made for my little guy. He loves belts.

My Fabric Stash

I use t-shirts and other repurposed materials quite a bit. However, that doesn't mean that I never buy fabric. Here's a few items in my stash that I *LOVE* yet haven't decided on the perfect project in which to use them:

Tea towels from Target. $1.98 for two of them. I couldn't pass them up. I originally thought they'd be perfect in our kitchen, but when they came home, they're slightly 'off' in color. They'll be repurposed somehow.

I won this fabric about two years ago and *STILL* haven't used it. I was considering making ties for my little boys to wear, but that was before my mom brought over a bunch of bow ties my brother wore when he was little. They're super cute, so I'll have to think of another project for this yard of fabric!

I bought someone's scraps on Etsy! There are some great designer prints in this stack:

Bedroom Decorating Ideas

This is our bedroom. I like it, but it needs something. I don't know what. Our headboard (you can't see it well, but it's two twin headboards that are about 12" wide) belonged to my grandparents. We refinished both headboards a few years ago. So they won't be changing! And I really love the cedar chest in front of the bed, even though it doesn't match the wood of the headboards!

Here are two beautiful, inspiring rooms I've found:

Those two fantastic nightstands? They were a single desk. So cute!

I love this headboard! I love this whole bedroom! The linens, the lamps, the symmetry of the nightstands...it's fabulous!

We don't need a new headboard, but this room is beautiful.

More Zippered Pouches

I made another zippered pouch using upcycled clothing. This one turned out way better than I'd imagined!

Perfect fall colors.

Repurposed T-Shirt Shag Mat Tutorial

This project was a [time consuming] way to create a comfortable, cute mat for my toddler’s room using materials I had on hand.

Do you want to make one???

I started by cutting up t-shirts (you’ll need about 10) in the color scheme of his room. His room also has green in it, but I did not have any shirts in the “right” color of green, so I just used navy, gray, light blue, and white.

I made my strips 1 1/2” x 4”. Using a rotary cutter saves a lot of time.

For the backing, I used a white standard-size pillow case. We seem to have an abundance of pillow cases in our linen closet, so we won’t miss this one! It was a little scratchy for my taste anyway.

Side note: my grandmother always called pillow cases “pillow slips”. I referred to it that way in college once and a few friends made fun of me for years!

Anyway, draw lines on the pillow case that are 1” apart. This will be the guide you use for sewing on the strips. Do not assume you can sew a straight line without a guide!

Start sewing on the strips!

To sew on the strips, pinch them in the middle. Backstitch at the beginning and end of each row. My rows run vertically so I could sew fewer strips per row.

Fold the strips over so that you don’t catch them in the next row of stitching.

Keep sewing rows of strips until you’ve completed the mat!

This will probably take a long time. You may have to cut more strips. I sure did.

Up close:

I like how it turned out! I think it would make a great bathroom mat.

My husband made fun of me a bit for taking on this project. I think he wasn’t sure our toddler will use it, considering the little guy rarely sits down!