Word of the Day!

Word of the Day

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

I made this bib and burp cloth set for an upcoming shower - the bib is backed in the same polka dot fabric as the burp cloth. They were extremely easy to make, and took very little fabric.

Like the slippers, I also found the patterns for these free online. The bib came from Chickpea Studios, and the burp cloth is from New Conceptions.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Slippers!


This morning I realized that my old slippers, which really aren't that old, since I've only had them about a year and a half, have mooshed down in the heel so much that it turns my ankles in. This is not a desirable position for my ankles. So I thought, "I need some new slippers." I wrote it on my shopping list.

If I didn't live in the country, instant gratification would mean that I dropped by a store and bought some that day. Since I only go to Clovis once a week, though, and there are no stores in Farwell besides Family Dollar that would have slippers (and I try to avoid Family Dollar for a number of reasons), instant gratification meant that I looked online for a free slipper pattern and made them myself (in my new sewing shack, more on that some other time). Finding the pattern was surprisingly difficult; I bet it took half an hour using Yahoo, and then it turned out that the pattern I chose was on Burdastyle, where I should have looked first.

The pattern calls for 2mm thick felt. I don't have any of that, so I used some felted wool (turquoise) that I had in my stash. For the sole I used three layers: one of denim for the bottom, a middle layer of batting, and a top layer of soft fuzzy yellow flannel. To give it a bit more stiffness I quilted the three layers by machine.

This was a very very easy project, except for applying the bias binding that keeps it all together. That was only difficult because of the many thick layers. I poked myself with the pins A LOT. But I am thinking of making a couple of pairs of these as Christmas gifts. It only took about an hour, and if I hadn't quilted the soles, would have taken a good bit less than that.

I must say, I am particularly pleased with the color scheme. Very cheerful, and since I'm not a morning person, I need that when I first get up. There's a lot of talk on Burdastyle about how to attain non-slip soles, but I didn't bother with that, since I won't be moving fast enough in the morning for that to be a problem. :)