Denim Flower Patch

I bought some pants for super cheap from Target last year, but they came with holes in the knees. The holes have only gotten bigger and started looking ridiculous, so I used denim scraps from other jeans to make flower patches on the knee. I think it turned out pretty darn cute if I say so myself…

Here’s how I did it:

1. I printed out a flower I liked and traced it onto Wonder Under.
2. I then (following the instructions on the packaging) bonded the Wonder Under to some scrap denim and cut out the flowers and flower centers.
3. I removed the paper backing and ironed the flowers over the holes (I put paper in the pant leg so I wouldn’t bond the pants shut). And then I bonded the flower center to the flowers.
4. I took thread and hand sewed the flowers to the pants so they wouldn’t fall off. The edges have frayed over time and look super cute. I used back stitch.

It took a little time, but they look so much nicer than a traditional square patch and these pants should last me quite a while longer! This would be super cute on jeans for little girls, especially if they wear holes in the knees faster than should seem humanly possible :).

Monster Patch

We are officially to the ages where pants don’t stand a chance in this house with two active boys. I am seeing more and more holes in the knees and knew something had to be done! After seeing some posts on Pinterest linking to here, I knew monster patches were exactly what those holes needed :)…

I loved how cute it turned out and how simple the patch was to do…just cut a red piece of fabric slightly larger than the hole. Cut some teeth out of white felt or other fabric and sew it to the top of the red patch so the teeth show. Place the patch on the inside of the leg with the teeth facing out and either sew it on or fuse it on using Heat N Bond or other similar products.

Cut two circles from white felt and two smaller circles from blue or other colored felt and hand stitch them above the “mouth” patch to make the eyes.

Now your kids’ knees won’t get cold and they’ll look super cute! Roar!!!

I’m linking up to Kids Get Crafty, Works for me Wednesday, Look What We Did, Mom’s Library, What are little boys made of? Clever Chicks Blog Hop, and Share It Saturday.

Back Pocket Pot Holder

I LOVE creative ways to reuse jeans. When I came across Creating My Way to Success, I had to make my own back pocket pot holder that day! It was super simple to make and I had everything on hand :).

All you need is:

• A back pocket from a pair of jeans (I used men’s jeans so the pocket was bigger). Make sure to leave as much denim around the pocket as possible.
• A piece of fleece the same size as your back pocket piece. This acts as the insulator to prevent you from getting burned. I have used this potholder several times and have never been burned so I know the fleece works fine.
• A piece of fun fabric the same size
• Bias tape of your choice in color
• A sewing machine

Back Pocket Organizer

If your husband is anything like mine, he can go through jeans pretty quickly…basically, I have a lot of extra denim sitting around :). I’m saving most of the denim for another project but I’ve been stock piling his back pockets for quite a while now. When a friend gave me some of her old jeans, I had the perfect amount to make a back pocket organizer.

To make your own back pocket organizer, you’ll need:

Rice Bunnies

I figured my boys could use some more friends for Bunny & Clyde this year and after seeing Dana’s Peeps Bunting, and pondering on it for a while, this is what came to mind:
Rice bunnies! You know the rice bags that you heat up for a sore tummy…or bean bags for throwing around?

Pant Leg Bag Holder

Do you ever make something out of pure laziness? I got tired of running downstairs for plastic bags to line our upstairs garbage cans and this is what I ended up with:

This is probably one of the most frugal bag holders you will ever see :). All you need is a pant leg (perfect if you have some jeans with holey knees…just cut off below the hole). This even saves you from sewing side seams.

Bedside Book Bag

What do you do when you have no room for an end table or nightstand of any sort for your book loving 3 year old? You make a bedside book bag of course!

Old Jeans to Cute Pencil Skirt

Don't you hate how the knees wear out in jeans and there goes your favorite pair of pants? That fit you just right? Sure, you can make cut offs, but you probably already have some of those if you're like me ;)

A wonderful alternative is making your old jeans into a cute pencil skirt.
Cut or tear off the legs at the length you want the skirt to be, or where you're forced to because of those pesky holey knees.
Using a seam ripper, rip out the seams from the inside of the pant legs, up to the crotch.
Lay your soon to be skirt flat inside out as shown below, with the sides together and the front and back opposite each other so the crotch sticks out.
Using a long ruler, mark/pin a straight line from where the edge starts curving out, straight down to the bottom. (On mine, I started just below the zipper on the front and cut straight down). I took this picture after it was cut, but just make sure it's a straight line.
Baste with a wide stitch along this line and try on. If this fits well, sew along the line again with a normal stitch. If there are lumps or indents, come in a bit more and try it on again. Repeat this step until you are happy with how the skirt lies.
Press the seams open and top stitch along your seams for a neater look.
If you cut the legs off at the beginning, you will need to hem your skirt. Serge the bottom and fold up once, sewing along the bottom, or if you don't have a serger, fold the bottom hem up twice, however wide you want the hem to be.

If you tore the bottom off, and your skirt is even along the bottom, you can let it be for the frayed look. It shouldn't unravel anymore and looks super cute! If it's uneven (half of my skirt was an inch longer), tear off the part that's longer to make it even.
Caution! This skirt is not for chasing children in :)

If you would like a little bit of wiggle room, follow Jill's instructions on keeping a slit. Jill turns her jeans into a super cute maternity skirt!

Thank you Aleesha @ Ready, Set, Create for my inspiration!

I'm linking up to  Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch, The DIY Showoff, Made By You Mondays @ Skip to my Lou, Motivate Me Monday @ Crafts Keep Me Sane, Creative Chick Parade @ Trendy Treehouse, and Making the World Cuter Monday @ Making the World Cuter.

Soft Baby Book

After I finished making this book, C held it in his chubby little arms while he fell asleep and all the time I spent on it was totally worth it! This is a great project to use up all those extra scraps of fabric lying around.
On a side note, I might be slightly addicted to appliqué, but it’s so much fun!
What you need:

• 4 pieces of fabric measuring 13x6.5 inches each. I used old denim.
• Batting
• Wonder Under or similar product
• Appliqué patterns of choice
• Scrap fabric to fit appliqué patterns. Use different textured fabric such as knit, corduroy, silk, felt.
• Sewing machine and thread

1. Choose appliqué patterns and cut out each piece of the pattern separately. Here are the patterns I used:

Ball Applique

Elephant Applique

Truck Applique

Apple Applique

Duck Applique

Sailboat Applique

 For the letters, I printed out an image of alphabet blocks backwards. For the dinosaur I used the pattern I drew for my no sew dinosaur shirt.

2. Cut out fabric with each of the pattern pieces and trace onto the smooth side of Wonder Under. It’s helpful to initial each piece to make it easier to figure out what it belongs to later.
3. Press rough side of Wonder Under to the wrong side of your scraps of fabric except for the apple leaf, elephant ear, sail and duck’s wing. Cut out along the lines.

4. Peel the backing off of Wonder Under and press to your main fabric. Follow the product’s directions for this step.

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5. Set your zig zag stitch to zero and sew around each pattern piece to secure it since babies will be playing with this. Or you can straight stitch about 1/8 inch from the edge of the shape.6. For the elephant’s ear, sail and duck’s wing, cut out 2 pieces of each. Layer on top of a larger scrap of matching fabric and zig-zag stitch all 3 layers together. To make this easer and neater, you can use Wonder Under between the layers. Trim excess fabric.
You can skip this step and just sew all sides of these pieces to the fabric so they won’t flap up.

7. Place the elephant’s ear, sail and duck wing where desired, and setting zig zag to zero, only sew along the straightest edge, so the rest can flap up.

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8. For the apple leaf, I cut out a piece of green felt and sewed a straight line down the center of the leaf, so the sides can still lift up.

9. Place two of your sheets of fabric face to face, and add batting. Stitch together. Make sure to leave enough room to turn right side out. Trim the corners.10. Turn right side out. Fold the opening in, and iron flat. Iron all edges for a neater look.

11. Sew along the edge, about 1/8 inch from the edge, to close the opening and make your book look extra nice.

12. Fold each page in half and iron to give a crease. Draw a straight line down the crease. Put the pages on top of each other and sew down that crease. You will be sewing through all four layers of fabric. Backstitch at the beginning and end so the stitches don’t come undone.
To see my inspiration, head over to Thimbly Things.

Car Caddy

When I saw Jill’s Cozy Car Caddy Tutorial, I knew that K had to have one. My favorite part about it? You can easily make it from scrap fabric on hand! Since mine was a little different from hers, here’s how I made mine:
What you need:

• Two pieces of denim (mine was from an old pair of jeans); one piece measuring 17x8.5 inches, and the other piece 17x6 inches.
• Once piece of fabric 17x8.5 inches
• One piece of black or grey fabric 17x3 inches
• 7 pieces of yellow fabric, each measuring 1x1/4 inches.
• Scrap fabric for appliqué car.
• Snaps
• Sewing machine
• Wonder Under, or similar product

1. Cut out fabric and iron black fabric and yellow strips onto Wonder Under (directions are on the packaging, or read my directions here).
2. Fold your black fabric in half lengthwise and arrange yellow strips in the middle of your road (use the crease as a guide). Remove the paper backing from the Wonder Under and press onto the road.
3. Remove the paper backing from your road and press onto the 17x8.5 inch fabric. The road should be centered in the top half of the fabric. 4. Trace the appliqué car onto the Wonder Under and adhere to the scrap fabric of your choice. Cut this out, remove the paper backing, place in the bottom center of the 17x8.5 inch piece of denim and press.
5. Stitch around the yellow lines and the road if desired for added durability, as well as the appliquéd car. This isn’t necessary with Wonder Under, but kids can be pretty brutal.
6. Fold your 17x6 inch piece of denim in half and press. This will be the pocket for your cars. Pin and sew the bottom of the pocket along the bottom of your 17x8.5 inch fabric.
7. Sew vertical lines spaced about 2.75 inches apart through your pockets. Make sure to backstitch at the top and bottom of the pockets. (Sorry, I took these pictures after it was done, but this should give a general idea.)
8. Pin the two 17x8.5 inch pieces of fabric right sides facing each other and sew together, making sure the pockets are being sewn. Leave a space large enough to turn. Turn right side out, iron the edges if desired, and ladder stitch the opening closed.
9. Attach the snaps. I folded the caddy into thirds and marked where I wanted the snaps to be. If you have never hammered a snap on, go here. Make sure the snaps are facing the proper way so that when it is folded, you can snap it shut. If you would rather use velcro, check out Jill’s tutorial for how she places the velcro and strap. If this makes no sense, please let me know and I will try to explain better. 10. Give this fun little caddy filled with cars to a boy who will cherish it.
You can appliqué or paint letters or numbers onto the pockets, but I thought it looked cute as is and left it alone, for now at least :)

Also linking up to Santa's Gift Shoppe Spotlight Yourself, and Childmade.