Baby Cot Mattress Cover

Digging out the baby cot, after lots of knocking, assembling, the old baby cot was fixed up again.  Just one problem...... there's only 1 set of mattress cover!  Don't remember where the other one went..... maybe we gave it away with the other cot a few years back.

Oh well, we need to have at least 2 mattress covers, right?  So it was time to start sewing again.  Ultra-budget project as there was a pile of old bed sheets sitting around waiting to be recycled.  Snip snip snip, sew sew sew..... viola! Here it is:

DIY baby cot mattress cover

The fit wasn't perfect, but I think it's good enough for a first attempt =)

DIY Pom Poms

Remember all the wool that I found from abandoned projects?  At last, I found another use for them using the ultra simple tutorial that I found previously.

DIY Wool Pom Poms

The pom pom on the left had a nice haircut while the scraggly one on the right has not been trimmed yet.  Guess what will happen to these pom poms?

Pinking Shears/Scissors

Ikea pinking scissors

I've been wanting to get one of these pinking shears or scissors for a long long time but was usually put off by the price of some of these at crafty shops.  I finally got one from Ikea.  Hmmmm...... what should I use this on first?

Low Cost DIY Bag

Last year, I made a reversible bag using a tutorial from verpurpleperson.  After using it for months, it was starting to get dirty and grubby, so it was time for another DIY bag!  The materials for this bag are:

1) Brown fabric ($1 from the As-is corner at Ikea)
2) Japanese kimono cloth (left over from older projects like this and this)
3) Flowery cloth for the lining
4) Detachable strap from another bag

I like my bags with lots of packets, so there are:

• 2 pockets attached to the gusset pieces on the inside
• 1 zipper compartment on the inside of the flap of the bag
• 1 zipper compartment strengthened with interfacing (to prevent my keys from poking a hole in it) for the back of the bag
• 2 more side slip pockets on the external gusset pieces

I spent a relaxed morning planning, measuring and cutting up the cloth, and the rest of the afternoon piecing everything together.  Here's the final product:

DIY bag with kimono cloth accents

Simple Envelope Cushion Cover Tutorial

I've done quite a number of cushion covers so far, mostly with zippers, whether they were the normal concealed ones, or invisible ones.  For many of those projects, I found lots of good tutorials online and they really helped me, a beginner with zippers, to learn how to sew those intimidating things.

I always considered myself a beginner sewer, so it never occurred to me to put up my own tutorials.  However, after a friend's comment that she didn't know how to sew cushion covers, I decided to put up a really simple one which only requires the fabric -- no zippers, no studs, no buttons.  So here it goes:

Note: White colour is the wrong side of the fabric, and blue is the correct side of the fabric.

Step 1: Measuring
Measure your cushion cover.  I have a square cushion cover of about 40cm by 40cm, so my length = 40cm (I've left diagrams labelled as "length" so that you can plug in any number you want). Leave about 1 inch of seam allowance all around.

Step 2: Hemming short edges
Now we need to hem in side A and side B (the short edges of the cloth).  Each fold is about 1/2inch.  Do the same for both sides.

Step 3: Folding and sewing with RIGHT sides facing out
After hemming side A and side B, lay the cloth out in the same orientation as in step 1 and fold as follows:

After sewing on the red lines (about 1/2 inch away from the raw edge), use a scissors and cut off some of the cloth at those edges about 1/2cm to 1cm away from the sewing line.  Once that's done, turn the almost done cushion cover inside out.  Make sure to poke out the corners nicely.  It would help to give it a good ironing at this stage.

Step 4: Last sewing step
Now, just 2 more lines of sewing and we'll be done:

turn it the right way out, stuff in your cushion, and we're done!!

Here's how mine looks like:

envelope side of cushion cover

front of cushion cover