April 19: Sew a pillowcase

I'm not too great with sewing. I know how to thread the needle (yay!) and occasionally I'll sew up holes in old work clothes or sheets. I haven't really tried to "make" anything before, only fix things.

I still have a set of twin sheets from when I was a teenager, with cows jumping over moons, and stars! I love these sheets, and for years I've been using the pillowcase that came with them when I go on trips and take my pillow. I haven't used the whole set in a long time because we only have a queen bed now. I held on to because these are my favorite sheets ever.

Recently the poor pillowcase ripped. :/

But the sheets are still perfect! I decided to make new pillowcases out of the sheets so I can enjoy them on trips. I dug the sheets out of the closet and realized I'd used the pillowcase more than I realized because the case and the sheets are two different colors. Also, remember the flannel I bought the other day with my Electric Orange debit card? Well I didn't really need to buy it, because apparently these sheets are flannel and I had forgotten this because the pillowcase has been so worn out for so many years that it doesn't even feel like flannel anymore. Haha! I told you I loved these sheets.

After cutting the elastic off the fitted sheet and cutting off the ends for my flannel project later, I decided it needed ironing if this was gonna go remotely well. I've only owned an iron for about 4 months. I never iron clothes, and the only reason I bought it was for a melted crayon project.

 

I didn't have a pattern, and instead just cut the sheet in half, then in half again to end up with 4 pieces. I *roughly* (you can see mine is bigger in the picture) measured the old pillowcase and marked the new pieces based on those measurements. I pinned them together and sewed them on three sides after sewing an edge on each piece for the side where you'd insert the pillow. It turned out pretty well! Here is a picture with the old and new cases side by side, and of course, Mindy is there to let you all know that she helped me a lot by bedding down on the sheets while I tried to work.

April 17: Yarn wrapped bottles

Lee and I have a hobby of trying new beers. There are a few local breweries we've tried, and we also like to try seasonal beers of breweries that we already know. I was happy to find out from one of our friends that he knows someone who who uses bottle caps to make art, so we always save the caps for him!

But I still hadn't figured out what to do with the bottles. I'm not quite sure how to recycle in Williamson County yet, but I don't want to throw them away. Why not make crafts with them (or at least some of them)? Sounds good to me!

Here are the materials I used for this new project. And yes, the tea is the most important part! (Also, I needed scissors, but I forgot to put those in the picture)

And don't forget music in the background.

First, I had to make homemade decoupage. I found the recipe here: Do It Yourself Divas. I was so excited to have an excuse to buy "school supplies"! I had so much fun making swirls with the glue!

Okay, down to business. The whole bottle of glue, plus 4 oz. of water, and Shake Shake Shake!

Wrapping a bottle with yarn is a whole lot harder than I thought! The yarn didn't want to stay straight at all because the glue was so slick. I had to mold it with my fingers after I wrapped it. The larger yarn was easier to work with.

The finished bottles look pretty good!

Maybe I could add a flower to one, or wrap another size/type of bottle for some variety. But I like them plain too.