Bibs and Bean Bags

I was looking for some quick little projects to use up some small scrappy bits of fabric, and found this really cool bean bag tutorial ... I love the idea of having throwing, counting games :) These bean bags not only helped with reducing my fabric stash a tad, they also helped with my pantry clear out, using a packet of pretty old lentils that had been forgotten about! (Each bag took half a cup) :D

The bibs were made from an old, 1971 Simplicity baby pattern (another Op Shop find). I doubt that this pattern differs at all from its modern day equivalent (other than its awesome 20c price tag!) ... I love to use patterns that have been used

before, especially all those years ago! ... its cool to imagine who made it and what their fabric choices were like etc. My favourite pattern finds are the ones with handwritten names, notes and corrections on them

... it's made me think that I might start slipping a small photo of my finished projects inside the pattern envelopes, so that in many years to come, when my patterns are doing the Op Shop circuit again, the new sewers can see exactly what has been done before :)

Just using what I've got ...

...seriously, I need to stop buying yarn and fabric! I do know that I have tried this before, but this time I'm going to try really, really hard!! I have got so much stuff that it's gonna take me forever to use it! I'm on a definite mission to drastically de-stash - use what I've got as far as possible without going to the shops. I guess the only exception will be to buy buttons and things to finish off items, but I will try my hardest to make do :-) (I'm slightly worried that Big W will do one of their annual yarn sell-offs soon to make room for the summer stock, and if that is the case, I'm not sure that I can resist buying 50c balls of yarn!!!... but, we will see) :-D


...so, to start me off, I made a couple of things from my stash :-) The sweater actually started off as a Bad Penny, but after wearing my other one for a while, realised that I didn't like the wool so close to my neck ... too itchy, so I frogged and used the yarn to make this basic top down, scooped out neck version instead (this time I just made the pattern up as I went along). I still love the Bad Penny pattern, but just not with the Sean Sheep Armytage that I was using. I thought that I only had 5 balls of yarn, so I just knitted down until I ran out (I then found another ball in my stash, after it was finished, but by then, I couldn't be bothered to lengthen it. I just tend to tug at it now if it rides up :-D) The bag was made with some fabric oddments that I got from a local sheeting seconds outlet (Talking Textiles at Christie's Beach) ... at the time, I think I got 10 various sized pieces for $1. Not bad, a bag for $2! The free pattern is here. The only thing I will change on it next time, will be to place the internal pockets nearer to the bottom of the bag. Other than that, it's perfect ... comfy to carry, great size, especially since South Australia banned all plastic check out bags from supermarkets. My everyday bag now has to be big enough to fit in my small shopping bags and my Woolworths roll up ones ... oh, and I quite often have a nappy, bottle and dummy to carry as well :-D

Nappy Bags

This is the most awesome nappy bag pattern :-) It's from 'Crafts for Baby' by Alison Jenkins, and it really is worth buying the book just for this pattern alone ... (I'm sure the other patterns are equally as good, it's just that we haven't gotten around to trying them yet). I say 'we' as the book is actually my daughter's (she bought it for $10..what a bargain!). After seeing how good her nappy bag turned out, I had to have one of my own ;-D (Her's is the blue one, mine is the green)With the fabric I had left over, I made a matching shopping bag from this free pattern at Uhandbag ... the fabric worked great for bags as it was block out curtaining from Spotlight. The thermal coating gave it just the right amount of stability without having interfacing. I need to get back down to Spotlight soon to get some more...Here in South Aus, all supermarket plastic bags are being banned from January next year, and my local Woolies has started to get rid of them already... so ... I'll be in need of a boot full of eco friendliness to carry my food home :-)