January 2020 – Creations by Kate

I’m always on the look out for new projects and, occasionally, people clearing out their own craft stashes will ask if I have any use for things they’re wanting to unload. This is how I inherited a bag of fuzzy fabric. Most of it was just remnants, however, a bit of the blue looked like it might have been a muppet at one time; it even had ping-pong eyeballs. So, it seemed fitting that the blue fabric become a monster again!

I sketched up a plan and, looked up a few tutorials online for help and for inspiration, and set to work! I used chalk to mark the patterns on the back of the fabric.

Next step was to put on a face. I wanted a cheery, silly face with big eyes. I think it turned out pretty close to my sketch!

Originally, I had thought to make the arms and legs fuzzy too. However, I couldn’t get the hair to lay the way I liked and turning the thick cloth right-side-out was rough. So, I switched course and opted to use some different fabric for the arms and legs – cute and floral, and much easier to work with. Then it was time to put it all together!

Stuffing the body and sewing up the head felt a little like brain surgery. I can understand now why doctors shave people’s heads for the process! However, I managed to get it closed up and voila!

So cute!!

This being my first time making monster and also using fuzzy fabric, I did learn a few things about working with these new materials. Still, I love how this cutie turned out and I’m excited to try again very soon!

Plus, everything was recycled or repurposed! Cute and eco-friendly!

Nothing like a holiday break to bring out the creative juices!

When we first moved into our place, way back in 2014, I made a bunch of boxes to house our movie collection.

Over the last few years, our collection has grown. Also, our family games have encroached on the movies’ space in that cabinet.. and then, this past Christmas, Hubby got a bunch more movies. So, it was time to move our game controllers out of the last box in the cabinet and into a new home to make space for it all.

Since adding a new box to the full cabinet wasn’t an option, something else would have to be done. So, to the internet I went! Turns out there’s lots of inspiration out there. What I settled on was upcycling a basket from the dollar store.

Supplies:

basket of the right size (from the dollar store)
a roll of natural fiber rope (hardware store)
fabric (from my craft stash)
hot glue gun and glue (from my stash)

Somewhere, recently (probably Facebook), I saw a video of how to make a basket by wrapping rope around a cheap basket (or a cardboard box). This seemed just the thing! Sadly, I couldn’t find the video again so I did some searching and found a few tutorials that looked similar and I set to work.

It was all hot glue, all the way. I was really pleased with how much stability wrapping with rope added to the dollar store basket. Most tutorials suggested only wrapping as far as the rope would be visible. However, I opted to go all the way to the top so it’d be reinforced to the top (hopefully it’ll last a good long while!)

In the video, they had some kind of trick to cut and fit the fabric just right… however, I couldn’t find the exact directions I saw. The other tutorials suggested putting the outside fabric first and then add the lining, so that’s what I did.

I got it all put together, and only burned my fingers a little bit. Adding the lining after the outside fabric made it a little bulky along the inside, but not terribly so. Still, if I was doing it again, I’d try to get it all done with one piece of fabric. However, this is still a great little basket! I’m very happy with how it came out.