Sewing Things

I think you can guess that my three projects were all sewing related! I’m afraid I jinxed myself when I said good things come in threes, because first Joe was sick and now I’m sick! I hope there’s not a third person next. I’ve tried my best to quarantine myself all week.

At least I was able to whip out my sewing machine last week before all the sneezing ensued. Now I just have cabin fever.

Thing 1 – The No Sew Shirt Convert

First thing is a no-sew project. But let’s not get hung up on the minor technicality.

I started with a brand new tee shirt I ordered from VS.com. I didn’t realize it was one of those extra wide, baggy tees. Since it was a clearance buy, I figured I had nothing to lose trying to alter it.

I made some horizontal cuts in the back.

And tied little bows between layers. It was really simple and looks much better!

Thing 2 – Sweatshirt into Pillow Trick

I think it’s safe to say my brother does not read this blog, so I can talk about his Christmas present freely. You don’t even need a sewing machine for this one either!

He was throwing out his X-country sweatshirt from high school, so I sneakily said, “I’ll take it!” It’s a really nice one with embroidered stitching, not just screen printed.

Little did he know, I was about to upcycle it into a throw pillow.

So simple. I cut off the sleeves and collar, flipped it inside out and sewed three sides up.

Stuffed in an old pillow and stitched up the last side. It’s got his name and track number stitched into the back, so it’s not like anyone else would want to wear it anyway. Now he can take it as a keepsake!

Thing 3 – Bean Bags

You may remember when I made a bag toss set for my parents. Well, we didn’t have time to make the bags so Joe let me take his to them. I promised I’d make him some really cool ones. And a month later, I finally delivered on my promise.

We hit up Joanne and found this heavy-duty neon canvas from the leftover fabric rack.

Funny story:

Joe asked a lady who worked there, “Excuse me, do you have any scrap buckets?”

She says, “Scrapbooking? Oh yes, aisle 5.”

And Joe proceeds to briskly walk that way. Hahaha.

I’m like, “No,no,no do you have extra scrap fabric remnants?” Oh Joseph, thank you for coming to the fabric store with me. Made my day. It takes a true man to suck it up and go with his girlfriend. <3

I don’t know why I bother looking up instructions for things; I end up going rogue 99% of the time. Nevertheless, I reference these Wikihow instructions for the 7″x7″ dimensions.

 

I started snippin’

and sewin’.

I sewed three corners with about a .5″ seam allowance

and turned it right-side-out. (Much like the pillow)

It said to add 15.5 ounces of corn feed to each.

I used pinto beans.

And since each bags is 32 ounces, I thought I’d just eyeball half for each bean bag.

The main reason for this? I don’t have a scale to weigh the beanage.

So I just twisted each bag and separated them roughly.

I ended up double bagging the beans just to be safe.

And I used the extra neon as the liner for the Zubaz bags.

Yes I destroyed a pair of Joe’s beloved Zubaz to make them. But hear me out:

• To be fair, those were actually my pair and they were ancient and getting holes. He has another pair.
• I only used the legs and converted them into Zubas SHORTS for Joe. So it’s a double plus.
• Wouldn’t you rather have the Zuba pants immortalized for all of eternity as legendary bean bags?

And so they will be. Solids vs Stripes.

Shila wanted to help.

They’re not perfect, but they all weigh about the same and are solid. Oh and did you know Bag Toss/BeanBags/Cornhole is also known as Baggo? As if there weren’t enough names.

Anyone else have crafts or sewing projects to share?