The Monogrammed Laptop Sleeve

I made this red "M" laptop sleeve as a gift for a friend for her 13-inch Macbook. It is a fabulous personalized gift!

Needle: US8 24-inch circular
Yarn: Bernat Super Saver yarn in Burgundy (worsted weight)

Pattern:

Cast on 90 stitches. Knit for 8 rows.

Knit in stockinette (purl one row, knit one row) for 22 rows, finishing on the RS (Right side).

Start monogram (I used the letters from this website):
*Knit all even rows

Row 23 (WS, wrong side): p14, k6, p9, k6, purl to the end.
Row 25: Knit.
Row 27: p14, k6, p9, k6, purl to the end.
Row 29: p13, k7, p9, k7, purl to the end.
Row 31: p13, k8, p7, k8, purl to the end.
Row 33: p15, k8, p3, k8, purl to the end.
Row 35: p15, k9, p1, k9, purl to the end.
Row 37: p15, k19, purl to the end.
Row 39: p15, k4, p1, k9, p1, k4, purl to the end.
Row 41: p15, k4, p2, k7, p2, k4, purl to the end.
Row 43: p15, k4, p3, k5, p3, k4, purl to the end.
Row 45: p15, k4, p4, k3, p4, k4, purl to the end.
Row 47: p15, k4, p5, k1, p5, k4, purl to the end.
Row 49, 51, 53 and 55: p15, k4, p11, k4, purl to the end.
Row 57, 59 and 61: p13, k8, p7, k8, purl to the end.

Rows 62 to the end: knit even rows, purl odd rows in stockinette for about 5 more inches (about 40 more rows). Bind off loosely and leave a 2 foot tail. Sew the cover up on the wrong side along the edges using the mattress stitch then weave in all ends.

 Estimated time for this project: one week, that is, one hour per day for about 7 days.

Notes:

• For any of the letters from the above website, you will need to knit them in reverse (top-down). Most of the patterns there are written from the bottom up.
• The "M" design is (c) Rhonda K. White, done in 2005. Again, the link to this website is <http://www.knittingknonsense.com/M_cloth.html>. I do not claim this design as my own, I merely incorporated it into my laptop sleeve design.

Ideas:

• This is a great unisex design for a Mac laptop sleeve. 
• If you don't like the letters designed in the website credited in this post, you are free to try it with others!
• For other computers, try this trick: cast on 7 more stitches per inch. This is for a 13-inch Macbook, but a 14-inch laptop would be 97 stitches, a 15-inch would be 104 stitches, etc. Also add 7 more rows at the end per inch to keep it even.

How to dye fabric

Do you have an item that you like but you hate the colour? Why not dye it?

For most of this project, you need to follow the manufacturers directions. I used one package of black fabric dye, a large bucket, hot boiling water and a large Dutch oven pot, a wooden spoon, a ratty old dishtowel, rubber gloves, 2 dark or ratty towels, an iron and an apron.

This is one of the two pillowcases that have serious bleach damage so I decided to dye them - the project for the dyed fabric is coming.

I set everything up by the kitchen sink and put the fabric in the plastic bucket. i put on an apron to protect my clothes then I boiled a full large pot of water on the stove. Once it started boiling, I poured the water into the bucket with the fabric.

I added the dye packet to the hot water and stirred vigorously as the instructions said. So, I turned on the music and stirred for half an hour as best as I could. As you can see, it turned my wooden spoon black!

After 30 minutes, I dumped the water out and started rinsing the fabric under cold water. At this point, I put on the rubber gloves so that I didn't dye my hands. I started first by dunking it into a filled bucket of water then ran the fabric under running water until it ran clear. Then I set up two dark towels in the bathroom so that I could allow the fabric to drip dry -- without accidentally dying my towels or my tile floor. I then used the ratty dishcloth to clean up the sink in the kitchen as there were dye spots everywhere.

Once it was dry, which happened overnight, I ironed it to set the color in the fabric. Done! Now the fabric is ready for my next project.

Estimated time for this project: 8-10 hours (including drying time). The actual hands-on time is something like 45 minutes.

Notes:

• This turned the tan-coloured fabric a lovely slate grey. It wasn't completely black but I didn't expect that. And, the bleach stains were gone. 

Ideas:

• If you have a pair of jeans that faded over too many washes, why not dye them indigo again? There is jean dye out there. 
• I read in a craft book one time that you can dye patterned fabric. It won't be a uniform result but it's an idea!

How to make a fooler top

I hate this shirt because it's too short and it doesn't fit right anymore after going through the dryer one too many times:

I hate this shirt too, also because it's too short.

By chance, I washed both of these shirts before I was going to take them to the Salvation Army then I realized something: they are both the same color. Hmmm...I wonder if I could make my own  fooler top out of these two shirts? A fooler top looks like a button-up shirt and a sweater with the collar, sleeves and tails under a nice simple top but the fool is that it's only one top, not two.

So, I planned on making this the ultimate shirt: make it longer by sewing the "tails" from the button-up shirt onto the hem of the v-neck sweater to extend it, add cuffs to the ends of the sleeves and add the collar (like a dickie) to the neckline.

For this project, I used the two shirts, matching thread, scissors, a tape measure, a white dressmaker's pencil, a seam ripper, and my sewing machine. I also used a basic needle for hand-stitching.

Cutting:

To start, I cut off the first cuff. I went about 1 inch above the first cuff, smoothed out the fabric and cut it off.

I used the cut cuff to measure how much I needed for the second cuff (like a pattern) and then cut the second cuff.

(pardon the cat hair in some of these photos: my cat decided to sleep on both shirts last night)

Then, I looked at the hem. I measured (by sight) the approximate amount of fabric that I wanted from the button-up shirt.

Using the measuring tape, I measured 4 inches on both side seams and marked it with the dressmakers pencil. Then, I held the measuring tape horizontally between the two sides and marked a line. 

I smoothed the shirt out well as I was going to cut through the two sides and then cut.

Last, was the collar. This was more difficult. I marked on both sides of the shoulders where I wanted to cut then went straight down to the first button from both shoulders. This cut through both sides.

 Sewing:

Once I had all of the cut pieces, I used a zigzag stitch around all of the cut edges. If I had a serger, I would have serged them.

For the actual sewing, I started with the cuffs. I pinned the cuffs to the wrong side of the sweater on the sweater band so that it would blend in with the style of the sweater. I started with the buttoned side of the cuff.

At this point, I discovered that the cuff didn't fit on my sewing machine, so I sewed both cuffs on by hand with a needle and matching thread.

Once both cuffs were sewn on by hand, I did the collar. I pinned the fabric collar to the v-neck from the outside so that I could follow the line of the knit cuff on the sweater.

Once the collar was sewn on, the hard part began - the hem. I found it rather difficult as the button-up shirt was slightly bigger than the sweater. So, the first thing that I did was I lined up the side seams from both the sweater and the button-up shirt and pinned them together with about 2 cm seam allowance.

Once both side seams were pinned, I worked my way around the back then the front. I kept the same seam allowance so that it wouldn't be uneven. 

Once it was pinned, I turned the shirt over to see how well everything lined up. I didn't want to be uneven on the sides and such. I made sure the the front was pinned so that it came out slightly, like a real shirt. 

Then I sewed it down. Once I took the pins out though, I noticed that I had some overlap on the back:

So, on these "tucks", I took out the seams with a seam ripper and repinned them, this time with some give.

Then I sewed them back down again, stretching the fabric with my fingers as I went. 

Lastly, I had to do something with the collar "dickie". It wouldn't stay in place when I put it on. 

So, using the needle and thread again, I sewed it to the sweater along the lines. I didn't do it all the way down, just in key places I added a stitch.

I pinned it and added a stitch where all of the pins are.

Done!

(now you can really see how short the sweater was on me before this project)

Estimated time for this project: 2 hours. It was actually more for me due to the fact that the cuffs were sewn on by hand. The cutting took about 20-30 minutes (measuring and all that) with the sewing a bit more than that. 

Notes:

• Next time, I will cut the collar closer to the seam so that I don't have extra fabric. 
• A serger would be very useful to sew down the cut edges before sewing begins. 
• When sewing the cuffs, be sure that the buttoned sides line up - either both facing out or both facing in. 

Ideas: 

• This could easily be done with a patterned shirt and a solid sweater, or vice versa. It can be done with old cardigans as well.

What can you do with a T-shirt?

The most useful item in a secondhand shop is a simple T-shirt. There are so many options and I am sure that this post doesn't even do it justice! This is actually my list of items that I want to make with T-shirts so stay tuned to the blog.

Here are some of the things that I can think of on how you can reuse a T-shirt:

As T-shirts:

• Yoke-neck T-shirt: try this idea that details how to fix a crewneck.
• Ruffled girly T-shirt: Cut part of the neckline away on an old T-shirt along with the sleeves. Take it in so that it is fitted then sew the sleeves back on in gathers. Do a ruffle with the leftover cut part from the neck back on. This is what I did with this T-shirt.
• Remodeled men's T-shirt: this version has a ruffle, buttons and nice billowy sleeves.
• Tucked neck: cut the crew-neck collar off then do a series of tucks around the neck (inspired by this T-shirt from calpatch on Craft Stylish).
• Victorian ruffled T-shirt: first, fit it on the sides and the bottom to your figure. Save all of the extra fabric. Cut the crewneck off and sew the neck down to a more comfortable place, pin and sew down. Then add the extra fabric to make a ruffle down the front centre of the shirt like a Victorian top. Leave space in the middle and sew the ruffle to the shirt. Add buttons down the middle.
• Smocking: add smocking! Anywhere! try the shoulder seams, under the bust, around the sleeves or all three options! I love smocking, it looks so cool.
• Gathers: like tucks, you can get a large T-shirt and fit it by creating gathers on the sides, or perhaps just one side to create an interesting look. 
• Dolman sleeved wonder: use two T-shirts to make a dolman-sleeved shirt. Stay tuned, I plan on trying this.
• Baby doll T-shirt: take a really big men’s shirt and cut at bust line, fix sides and shoulders then sew arms back on and gather the shoulders. Then, leave bottom as one large connected piece and sew on with gathers so that it flares all the way around. 
• Crocheted details: after adjusting a t-shirt, add crocheted details like a crochet neck, sleeves or hems. 
• Piped details: add piping in contrasting colors around neck, arms and bottom of fitted shirts. Piping can be made from other t-shirts that are solid colours, or printed T-shirts.
• Lace: take a T-shirt and cut off the sleeves, and cut it in half for a front and a back. Buy a sheet of lace in the same colour and cut to fit either the front or back. Then, sew to the shirt (either front or back), and reassemble the shirt. Take it in to fit on the sides, shoulders and sleeves. Fix the neck perhaps with some satin ribbon in the same colour around the edge.
• Tank or racerback T-shirt: turn a men's T-shirt into a racerback tank top or a tank top. Perhaps even add details like a lace panel on the back or the front. 
• Elastic: try adding an effect by sewing elastic underneath the seams on the neck (like this t-shirt) or on the sides (like this t-shirt)
• Screen printing: try using fabric paint and a stencil or spray paint to create your own logos. Here is an idea on how to do it.
• Beading: adjust the T-shirt to fit then add beads along the neckline, sleeves or anywhere else.

Other clothing items:

• Underwear: have you ever tried to make underwear from t-shirts? Here is a tutorial from calpatch.
• Jersey skirt: what about cutting the neck off and using the arms as pockets on a T-shirt skirt?
• Cardigan: a t-shirt can be cut up the middle and turned into a ruffly cardigan from this tutorial or a button-up one from this one.
• Dress: turn two T-shirts into a dress. They could be the same colour or different and the connection between the two can vary from the waist or an empire waist. It can be fitted or not. Ruffles can be added along with other embellishments as well as darts.
• Hairband: Use leftover scraps to make a hairband. This can be flat, embellished with beads, or braided. Along with many other ideas.
  

As home items:

• Cloth handkerchiefs.
• Cleaning rags: these make fabulous rags for dusting and polishing any surfaces and also for washing the car.
• Cloth garbage bags: I am going to attempt these with leftover white men's T-shirts. I will post the results. I only plan on doing these for the smaller garbage bins around the house, not the one for the kitchen.
• T-shirt quilt: if you can't part with them but they are taking up space, make a T-shirt quilt.
• Lunch bag: try making a lunch bag (perhaps like this one) out of an old T-shirt.

For ideas on what you can do with other clothes in your wardrobe or from a secondhand store, see my post on what you can do with secondhand clothing. This is everything else but T-shirts.

100% wearable wardrobe

I heard that we wear 20% of our wardrobe 80% of the time and I started thinking: why do we do that? It's so true that I have clothing that I just don't wear and every year I take some of it to the Salvation Army. Other pieces I keep with the thought that I can wear it someday or that I will wear it someday.

Well, time to throw all of those thoughts out the window. I want to pick up every article of clothing and wear it this year. So, time to get organized.

I will go through the closet, drawers and other places that I store clothes bit by bit and I will decide if these items are a keep or a toss. These are the following categories that I will most likely have:

• Keep - I wear it a lot
• Keep - It's stained / ripped / etc. and I want to fix it
• Keep - It's too small and I can't part with it
• Keep - I want to remodel / refashion / upcycle / reuse it
• Salvation Army - I can't do anything with this
• Garbage - It's beyond hope (this is usually old pantyhose and things like that).

So, I will pick up every single article of clothing that I have and think for a second: do I have a good feeling about this article? Do I wear it often? Is there something wrong with it that is stopping me from wearing it today?

Then after that, I will examine everything for holes, stains, rips, tears, and any other issues (it's too small, it's too short, it's too long, etc.).

Stay tuned for updates! More posts will come as I remodel, upcycle, etc.

Ice cream for dogs

I was talking to a friend the other day about her dog and she mentioned that she was taking him out for some doggie ice cream. I thought that this was a great idea so I decided to write a post about it.

As most animals are lactose intolerant (including dogs), ice cream would most likely be made of milk substitutes. My friend mentioned that her dog's favorite was sweet potato and the peanut butter ice cream.

Recipes

• 4 Recipes for Dog Ice Cream
• Frosty Paws Dog Ice Cream
• Gourmet Dog Treat Recipes
• Ice Cream Blog: Dog Ice Cream
• Peanut Butter & Banana Dog Ice Cream

Flavor Ideas

• Pureed vegetables like sweet potato, pumpkin, squash, potato, carrot
• Pureed fruit like banana, peach, apple,
• Flavors like peanut butter, honey, coffee, dog biscuits
• Milk (or milk substitutes) like rice or almond milk, yogurt and soy milk
• Savory ingredients like leftover meats, beef or chicken broth, and herbs

How to

• How to Make Ice Cream for Dogs
• Video: How to make doggie ice cream
• Wikihow: how to make doggie ice cream

Other Tidbits

• Nestle and Purina team up for doggie ice cream
• Ice Cream Truck for Dogs
• Blizzard Dogs in New York

10 Fabulous Cheap (and homemade) Cat toys and treats

I decided that it was time to make some toys for my cat. I have lots of things around the house that I want to reuse or get out of my fabric stash.

1. Shoe box toy from this website
2. A stuffed sock.
3. A fabric ball: take a scrap piece of fabric and stuff it with some wadded up paper, aluminum foil or other scrap fabric along with some catnip and some noisy bells. Sew it up to form a stuffed ball and toss that around for the cat.
4. Any object made from eyelash yarn (bonus points if that is glittery or shiny eyelash yarn).
5. A twist-tie: just make sure that it has no exposed metal ends. I'm rather paranoid about that.
6. The cursor on your computer screen: ever notice how a cat really goes for that little moving arrow on your laptop? Mine sits next to me and watches it move around so I let him try to attack it - provided that he keeps the cardinal rule of never stepping on the computer keys. 
7. Crumpled up balls of aluminum foil or wads of scrap paper.
8. Leaves or pinecones from outside. 
9. Feathers (or objects that have feathers on them). 
10. An old tie. We don't use string as I knit but dragging an old tie around on the floor works wonders.

Ideas:

1. Homemade cat toy ideas
2. Homemade cat treats.
3. Top 5 Do it Yourself Cat Toys

Stenciled cup towels

Yet another project that adds a touch of Christmas to every room! This time, it's my kitchen. I bought these simple white cup towels and stenciled them with blue paint, almost the same way that I did my shower curtain so I won't bother repeating the instructions.

Cup towel # 1:

Cup towel #2:

Notes:

• As these cup towels are now painted, I don't think that they can be washed -- even by hand. So, sadly, these are decorations only and cannot be used. They look nice though! I will work on an idea that is washable for next year.

Christmas ribbon out of old men's shirts

I took one of my husband's old, ratty button-up shirts and turned it into long strips of Christmas ribbon for myself. I can use this fabric ribbon over and over again to wrap presents or as part of my everyday decor. It's easy to make too!

For this project, I used 1 old men's dress shirt that matched my Christmas decor, scissors, an iron, matching thread, pins and a sewing machine. A seam ripper, measuring tape and dressmaker's pen would be helpful as well.

To start, I took an old dress shirt (that happened to be in my Christmas colors, cream and red) and cut it into pieces like I did to prepare for my apron. Next, I took the back and cut out strips that were about 20 inches long and 3 inches wide (I needed at least 1 cm on each side for seam allowance). I was lucky because I had a fabric that was checker-print so I just followed the lines. If you don't have this, mark the measurements on the wrong side with a dressmaker's pen and then cut out.

Ironing

Now, I got out the iron. I really hate ironing but this time I did it. I pressed each strip with the seam allowance (1 cm on both sides) so that it would be easier for me to sew it down.

Sewing

Next, I threaded the sewing machine with matching thread, pinned the ribbon and sewed the seam allowance down. I sewed it first very close to one edge, then close to the other for top-stitching. Since it was all ironed down, this was very easy.

That's it! That is all that it took to make these strips of ribbon.

Estimated time for this project: an evening or about 3 hours. It took time to cut up the shirt then cut the ribbon out. Ironing took about 15 minutes then it took about 2 hours for me to sew them all up. For one ribbon, I'd say that it took about 45 minutes.

Ideas:

• You could easily do this with old dress shirts (or pants, skirts) in solid colors or patterned or old skirts, pants, etc. 
• You could try different textures like tweed, corduroy, jean, etc. Mine is a fine whale corduroy.
• You could sew smaller strips together to make a longer ribbon.