Pillows and Pajamas and Pictures, Oh My!

Hello Readers.  There are times when I have worked on small projects that don't seem worthy of an entire blog post of their own. I have a few of those to show you today. I am just going to put a few of them all together in this post.

*** PILLOWS ***

 The first project is a set of pillows my daughter made. Someone requested she turn two sweaters into pillows as mementos of her loved one. She cut two circles from the sweatshirt below and stitched them together to make a pillow with this cute tea applique on the front of the pillow. 

The sweatshirt was so soft that the edges looked a little lumpy after it was stuffed. She added this little green blanket stitch detail around the outer edge of the pillow. It was pretty and it made the edges look smoother. 

Here is the second pillow. It started as a pretty sweater. The center placket was very pretty and so it became a focal point of the pillow.

This one was a simple rectangle. The bottom edge of the sweater was a nice balance to the center design. These were a sweet way to honor and remember a special woman. It made me wish I had a sweater of my grandmom's to make into a pillow.

*** PAJAMAS ***

This quick project was just an emergency measure to prevent my son from taking his pajamas and diaper off when he went to bed. All of my kids eventually figured out how to take off their clothes and it is a serious problem. (A lot of mess can occur when toddlers take off their diaper. POOP!!!!!)

I took his footie pajamas and cut the feet off right below the elastic at the bottom of the legs. That way I could turn the pajama around and zip them up the back. He knows the zipper is back there but he can't reach it. They are just as comfortable as they were before and fit fine.

I am being honest when I say that I was serious about this. I did this to all the footie pajamas. If it is really hot I have cut the arms off the pajamas so they are short sleeved and cooler to wear. And if it is cold I would add socks and an undershirt. 

This solution has worked with all 3 of my kids. No more naked naps. No more terrible messes to clean up. 

*** PICTURES ***

This final project was large but not complicated. I have always spread my blog projects out on the floor for photos but it didn't always work well. I thought a white background would be better. I decided to make a white backdrop. It took a while to figure out how and where to do this. After a few failed ideas I used a king sized dust ruffle from my old bed and a white full sized sheet. I basically made a giant rectangle. 

I turned the top edge under and made a small pocket for a curtain rod. I hung my giant rectangle from a tension rod that I hung across a closet doorway. The closet light is a gentle back light. And the wide sides of the dust ruffle are spread out on each side to hide the walls. The fabric is long enough to come forward over the floor and cover the carpet. 

I can put my dress form or myself in front of the white background and hopefully the clothes will show more clearly in photos.

That is all for today. Thanks for reading, now go make something fun for yourself.

The Photo Clock

Hello Readers. My project today is for the house and it is all thanks to a nice lady named Donna. (Thanks Donna!) She was getting rid of this clock and gave it to me. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it at first, but then I had an idea. 

This clock is pretty neutral in color. It will be a good base for my idea. I started by opening the clock up. It had small screws on the back. The front was basically a round frame and a piece of glass. I put them aside and focused on the clock itself.

The second part of this project involved the pictures. I found a dozen pictures that I liked and cut circles around the faces. I used this circle cutter but you could easily use a small glass, trace the circle, and cut it out with scissors.

This step is easy. I used tape to attach the little picture circles where the numbers would appear on the clock. It will hold well in the frame and I can remove and replace a picture later if I want. After I stuck all the pictures on the clock I put the front frame back on the clock.

Here is my finished photo clock. It is nice to see all the little pictures.

Thanks for reading, I wish you a happy, healthy 2017.

*** BONUS TRACK ***

I got a new clothes rack in time for the new year. The old one collapsed one day and seemed like a lost cause. The new one is stronger and not held together by duct tape. I straightened up and have hopes of keeping my sewing area nice and neat.