Super Chunky Knitted Pillow

So I'm trying to get all these posts done that have been postponed so many times that it's been already months since I actually created these things ;P. Well what can you do when life gets in the way :))
One of those things is this super-duper-mega-üper-(insert some other extreme adjective here)-chunky knitted pillow(case) I made.
I got some really chunky yard from my mum and decided to make a pillow out of it.
The design is actually really easy and I didn't follow any particular pattern. I just knew that I wanted there to be knitted cables in various sizes on it. And that's basically what I created.

I tried to make a printable pattern if anybody would happen to be interested. Since this is the first time I've done this it might not be perfect but I tried my best to make it clear :)) I knitted a piece that was approximately 30 cm wide and 95 cm long repeating this pattern.

 

Then I folded the piece lengthwise so that the ends would overlap approximately 5cm at the top. I sewed the sides together using instructions from this tutorial on YouTube. After that i sewed on the buttons, inserted the pillow and that's it :))

It was a pretty quick project to make since the yarn was so thick and the needles were also huge (10mm ones). The only problem right now is that the buttons are too small for the button holes because I used the biggest buttons I had lying around which clearly weren't big enough since the buttons keep slipping open ;P I should really get some bigger buttons... I probably will..at some point...if I remember ;P


Ciao-ciao,

Easy DIY Ruffle Pillow

Christmas came and left and so did New Years Eve... I can't believe it's the year I turn 25 already ;P
We are also kind of in the middle of moving right now so the last few weeks have been quite an exciting and busy time for me and my little family :) Luckily i have had this post waiting or some time so I can publish it now :))
Do you remember the post about the duvet cover I made? Well anyways I had some leftover ruffles and of course I couldn't just dismiss them and throw them away. So I decided to make a little ruffle pillow. And I even took pictures of the process (for once!) ;D so I can share it with you and try my best to explain all the steps.

First cut out the pieces, for my pillowcase I cut out a square that was 40cm x 40cm and two pieces that were 40cm x 30cm. I used these measurements just because I already had a pillow and those were the measurements that I thought would suit best. You can always alter the measurements according to your needs.

Turn back the edge twice on each of the smaller pieces of fabric, so you will have a "clean" edge. This will be the opening for inserting the pillow. Pin first and then stitch to place.

Then take your ruffles (if you don't have leftover ruffles like I did, you can always make some and then come back to this step) and arrange them on the larger piece of fabric (40cm x 40cm) in a way that pleases you. I just arranged them in (relatively :P) straight rows and pinned them down.

After pinning go in with your sewing machine and stitch them in place (instead of a sewing machine you could do this whole project by hand, it will just take you more time to finish but it is absolutely doable if you don't own a sewing machine or are not familiar with using one).

After sewing on the ruffles it's time to assemble the pillowcase. Lay the larger piece down so that the ruffles are facing up (right side up). Then lay one of the smaller pieces so that the "raw" edges are lining with the larger pieces edges on one side and the other smaller piece so that the edges are lining on the other side (as seen in the picture below). Both of these pieces have to be laid down so that the wrong side is facing up.

Pin the pieces to place and then sew all of the sides together.

Now the last step would be cutting off the corners as shown on the picture below. This step is not necessary but it makes it easier to push out the corners after you have turned the pillow case right side out. After you have turned the pillow case right side out, insert your pillow and...

Voilá! You have yourself a cute ruffly pillow :))

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I hope you have an amazing day, at least I'm loving it because we finally got snow yesterday!
Ciao-ciao!

Do a Redo: Women's shirt into a dress for children

It's been a loooong time since  last posted anything but I want to get back on track again :))
And what would be more suitable than a very summery post about a very summery dress...ok i can think of many more suitable things to post about now that it's getting colder and we're nearing Halloween etc, but the truth is that i was supposed to post about this dress before the summer started and then...the summer started and I forgot...
So I'm posting it now and if not for anything else then at least as a reminder that the summer will return in about ...9 months ;D

But anyways let's get to the business...
So my sister in law gave me a bunch of really airy and light white blouses and at the time I was planning on wearing them during the summer...and then I cut them to pieces and made children's dresses :D




















I used a pattern from a craft magazine I had in my stash. This differs from the post I made about re-purposing a men's shirt into a girl's dress in a couple of ways. Firstly the bodice and the skirt are two separate pieces. I wanted to maintain the interesting look the fabric had originally so I cut the front piece of the bodice out of that and then I wanted the skirt part to be quite gathered and flowing so I pleated the skirt to the bodice.

I left the sleeves loose instead of shirring them like I did with the other dress.It came out pretty much exactly as i wanted it and I will definitely make her a couple of these for next summer, too :))

Hope you have a beautiful autumn day!!
Ciao-ciao!

PS. Looking at these pictures I realized HOW MUCH Tindra has actually grown during the summer :))

Do a re-do: men's shirt into a girls dress

So some weeks ago my hubby and I decided to clear out our closet. And although we donated quite a bit of the clothes that don't fit anymore or we just don't wear anymore we I ended up keeping a bunch in my "I-have-such-great-redo-ideas-I-will-definitely-make-so-I-keep-way-too-many-old-clothes-we-don't use-anymore pile".
And I have actually been trying to make stuff out of those garments in that huge pile. Now that we have a child, it's easier to redo old clothes into new ones because you can just make a smaller version of everything :D
I'm also more motivated to make clothes for my daughter because I love seeing her in cute clothes :))
Anyways let's get into the business.





I took this shirt that didn't fit my hubby anymore. I used the basic guidelines of this tutorial. But I made it a bit easier by taking one of my daughter's dresses placing it on the shirt and tracing around it. I did the same for the sleeves.

 I made the neck casing and put a rubber band inside but I didn't put a rubber band into the sleeves or the waistband. Instead I just shirred the sleeves and also the waistband, much easier in my opinion :))
The little lady is walking on the grass bare feet for the first :)) She didn't find it very enjoyable ;P


















I already have a couple of other dresses in the making, I'll keep you posted on those :))
See you soon!
Ciao-ciao!

Sleeping Bag for Baby Stroller or Car Seat

I saw a picture on Pinterest of a car seat blanket (unfortunately the blog post doesn't exist anmore) and thought it was a great idea. So I made one which can be used for the car seat but also in a baby stroller which has straps.

I used a sleeping bag for babies that I already had at hand (we actually have 3 of those, so I didn't mind making a few alterations to one of them), I also used my rotary cutter, some pins, a water erasable pen and some bias tape.

Firstly I roughly measured how long the cuts have to be for the straps to fit through,  made the markings with my water erasable pen. After this I took my rotary cutter and cut two long slits vertically and one shorter one horizontally (according to the markings I had made previously).

Then I pinned the bias tape all around the sides of the slits.

I also decided to hand stitch the bias tape before sewing it with the machine just because sewing a bias tape is one of the things i don't have the talent for ;P

This is what it looks in our stroller with the straps pulled through the slits.

And this is what it looks  with a baby in the stroller :)) The sleeping bag has a zipper so if she falls asleep we can just zip the sleeping bag up and she's nice and cozy :)) This will definitely get a lot of use from us :))

I wish you a day full of sunshine and positivity!
And don't forget to like and follow if you enjoyed it.

Crochet Mittens (instructions included)

Ok, so I know I promised you some summery posts but the weather here in Estonia is very reluctant to let go of winter. So when I saw a picture of some crochet mittens then I instantly thought "Why haven't I thought of this?!" and immediately (I literally stood up right away) went to get some yarn from my yarn basket and tried it out. It was super easy, in my opinion easier than knitting a pair of mittens and I've knitted a few pairs in my life ;)
I decided to write down the instructions so anybody who would like to crochet mittens but can't be bothered to invent the pattern themselves can get the instructions here :)) 
I used quite a thick yarn (I didn't have the packaging and info anymore because they were leftovers from previous projects) and a 5.00 mm (European size) hook.

So here we go!

EDIT: Count -chain 3- in the beginning of a row as a dc (so the dc at the end of the row would add up).

Make a magic circle (see video instruction here)
Row 1: Make 10 single crochets(sc) into the magic circle, slip stitch (sl st) in first sc.
Row 2 : Chain 3, *double crochet (dc) in next sc, 2 dc in next sc* ; repeat from * to *,join with sl st (14 dc)
Row 3 : Chain 3, *dc in next dc, 2 dc in next dc*; repeat from * to *join with sl st (20 dc)
Rows 4-5 : Chain 3, dc in every dc, join with sl st(20 dc)
Row 6 : Chain 3, *dc in next dc, 2 dc in next dc*, repeat from * to *, join with sl st (29 dc)
Rows 7-11. Chain 3, dc in every dc, join with sl st (29 dc)
Row 12: 
*Right hand:Chain 3, dc in next 10 dc, chain (ch) 3, skip 3 dc, dc in next 15 dc, join with sl st
*Left hand: Chain 3, dc in next 15 dc, ch 3, skip 3 dc, dc in next 10 dc, join with sl st

Row 13: Chain 3, dc in next 15 dc, dc in each ch (3 dc), dc in next 11 dc, join with sl st (29 dc)

Rows 14-16: Chain 3, dc in every dc, join with sl st (29 dc)
Row  17: Chain 3, dc in next 4 dc, dc next two stitches together, dc in next 8 dc, dc next two stitches together, dc in next 8 dc, dc next two stitches together, dc in next 2 dc, join with sl st (26 dc)
Rows 18-20: Chain 3, dc in every dc; on last round fasten off.

Thumb:
Attach yarn with a slip stitch to one of the dc in the space for the thumb, chain 3, dc around the edge, join with sl st(12 dc)

Rows 2-3: Chain 3, dc in every dc, join with sl st
Row 4: chain 3, dc in next 2 dc, dc next two stitches together, dc in next 3 dc, dc next two stitches together, dc in remaining two dc, join with sl st (10 dc)
Row 5: Chain 3, now make a cluster stitch (see video instruction here) with all of the remaining stitches and on the last stitch pull the yarn through all of the loops on your needle. 
Side note: I actually put about half of the loops on a safety pin because otherwise it's very difficult to crochet on the last stitches (you'll see what I mean if you try it ;P).
 




Now just fasten off and hide all the loose ends and you're ready!

I hope these instructions were relatively easy to understand but if have any questions feel free to ask me and I'll do my best to answer you!

Here is my wonderful hubby modelling for me :))

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There will be other crafty posts coming soon :))
Ciao-ciao!

EDIT: Thank you to a couple of readers for pointing out some errors / confusing parts in the pattern. I've made corrections and hope that it is now easier to understand the instructions :))