Pillow Case Knotted Headband and Bracelet

Want to make a knotted headband or bracelet from some extra material you have? Well, now you can!

Note: This can be done with t-shirts or other materials. I just happened to have a pillow case.



Cut two strips of fabric. These are fairly thin strips. If you want a thicker headband (like the one I am wearing pictured below), you'll need to cut wider strips. These thin strips were for a baby headband.

Take your strips and stretch them. With this jersey  fabric, the edges rolled under. I, personally, like this look.

Lay your first strip as shown, like fish, with the right side of the strip coming over the TOP of the left side.

 Take your second strip of fabric and make it into a fish, too, but in the other direction. Be sure to put the part where my finger is UNDER the other strip of fabric.

PLEASE NOTE: In this picture, the second piece of fabric is on TOP of the right, lower piece. This is INCORRECT. I moved it for the next picture.

Finish making your second "fish," taking care to overlap them in the right places.

Grab all four straight strips and pull them tight.












Now, you could leave it like this, and simply tie the headband around your head. I did not like the way the excess looked hanging off after it was tied, so I sewed up the ends.

Take all four strips and line them up. Start sewing where you want the pieces to be together. You should measure this around the head of whoever will be wearing it for the best accuracy. You will want it to seem a little tight, as the fabric will stretch.










Finish sewing it up. I wrapped the thread around and then sewed it tight to keep the strips together.

Cut all the strips but one. If they are different sizes, keep the longest one.

Wrap the last piece around where you have sewn the strips together. When you get to the end, sew it down.









And ta-da! You're finished!

You can use the same method to make bracelets! I made one with thick strips and one with thin strips.

Happy Crafting!  -Kristen

Fleece Baby Gate Cover

So we have this problem at our house. My son, Elijah, likes to chew on everything. I've been told this is normal for 11 month olds. Well, it became a problem when he started chewing on his wooden baby gate. And pulling up pieces of wood with his teeth! We don't need babies eating wood! Or getting splinters in their mouths! So, I decided to fix this problem. I once saw something on Pinterest about covering a crib rail with fleece to protect the crib from teething babies. Well, I'm more interested in protecting my baby than our $10 baby gate, but the idea is still valid.

You can do this, too!
Start by cutting a piece of fleece to fit the gate. Doesn't need to be perfect, because the edges won't be lined up in the end anyway.

 Cut the fleece down the middle and close to the end at both ends of the fabric. Hopefully you can tell what I mean from this picture, because I don't know exactly how to explain it. But you need the ends tied down around the side of the gate, so that the top doesn't show at all.

See, the end tied down to the side? Do that on both ends.

Then you will want to cut the fleece into "strips" along both sides. I did this in sections, to make sure they were all cut in the right place. Again, this doesn't have to be exact. It won't matter once the knots are tied.

Then tie your strips from the front to the matching one in the back. I double knotted all of mine.

Then tuck the extra fabric up under the knots.

This is what it looks like all finished!










I feel much better about E chewing on his gate now. I just hope he doesn't chew a hole in the fabric! He has some awesome chewing skills. You can use this same idea to cover crib railings if you need to. And anything else, I guess.

Have a great day!  -Kristen

Fabric Coasters

Hi all. I have been working on a few things, but finishing them eludes me. I did manage to finish some fabric coasters. I found the idea (and tutorial) at this lovely blog. I figured I'd do my own little tutorial, too.

The first thing you need to do is select some coordinating fabrics (or you could just use one fabric if you really wanted to) and cut five, 5 inch squares (one of these will be the back of your coaster). As you can see, I did not take the time to cut my fabric evenly. This definitely does affect the outcome of your coaster. If you want your coasters to look precise, you should cut your fabric exactly.






Then you will fold four of the squares in half, and assemble them as shown (like you're closing a cardboard box, where each one overlaps the next). Be sure to have the folded edge facing inward.










Assemble them on top of the fifth square. Be sure to have your fabric's "good side" facing up when doing this, as you will fold the coaster inside-out later and will want the pretty side facing the back at that point. I made that mistake with one of my coasters, so learn from me!

Press them with your iron to get everything flat and pretty. Then pin it all together. (I didn't get a picture of this step.)
















Sew around the edges (this is much easier if you put the coaster "top-down." Sew all the way around. You do not need to leave a hole for flipping it, as you would for a pillow or other item.














Find the center of your coaster and flip it inside out from there. Push out the corners.










And you have a finished coaster!


 And it is machine washable if needed!




Please note, I photographed two different coasters during this process. My fabric does not have magical color-changing powers. = )


I'd imagine you could make pot holders out of these with bigger fabric pieces. Or stuff it and have a pin cushion or you could stuff it with candy or something else and use it as gift packaging and then tell the person that they also have a coaster! Fun, fun!

I actually have not had a chance to use one of my coasters yet, but I will soon! Need some coasters? Or a cute gift for a friend? Get sewing! -Kristen