Project: TARDIS Baby Quilt

So, I know that of late Scrimpalicious has been much more heavily focused on cooking, food politics, environmentalism, and natural health than it has been on around-the-house stuff and crafts, but I just had to share. It's not every day that one of your best friends has a baby, and it's not every day that your best friend who just had a baby is also super into Doctor Who (and so are her kids). It's also not every day that two other friends offer to help pay for the fabric for you to make a totally awesome TARDIS quilt for your friend's new baby.

Well, the stars aligned and everything came together just right and just in time for me to make this awesome thing for my dear friend Stacie of Red Hog Farm.

TARDIS baby quilt? Oh yes.

Reversible Napkins and Placemats

Centsational Girl shares a great tutorial on how to make quick and easy reversible napkins and placemats, to add a personalized touch to your dining room.

I love the patterns and colors she chose. I also love the idea of having placemats that, when they get dirty or boring, can just be flipped upside down for a quick change. Or, you could do an "everyday" fabric on one side and a more formal, prettier fabric on the other. Have company? Don't go rummaging through your linen closet for the pretty table linens. Just flip the placemats upside down!

For the tuturial and a lot more beautiful pictures, visit The Centsational Girl.

DIY Steampunk/Victorian Skirt

So, I don't know how many of the fans of this blog are also into steampunk, and of those how many like sewing and costuming, but, I saw this pattern for a simple faux-bustled skirt today and pretty much had to share it. My understanding from chatting with an acquaintance who's made it is that it really is as easy as it looks.

I haven't figured out yet how to work my sewing machine with a broken right foot, but as soon as I do (and find just the right fabric) I'd like to give this a try. Why? Well doesn't every girl need a bustled skirt in her wardrobe?

Shut up. Every girl needs that. It's true.

Stop looking at me like that.

Full pattern and instructions from the fabric.com blog can be found here.

Make Do and Mend

During World War II, the British government had a fantastic propaganda campaign going. War rationing hit the UK hard, and new clothes were not easy to come by. We need those nylons for the boys on the front!

Well, nobody's under war rationing right now, but the economy isn't showing many signs of getting better any time soon, and I think it's worth revisiting that old campaign to try and re-learn some of the tricks our grandmothers were using to keep themselves in stylish clothes when money and new fabric were scarce.

Busy Bee

So, I have a history of making impulsive decisions and then immediately following through on them because I'm too impatient to wait, and by wait I mean "stop, think it over, and make a plan."

By and large, this has worked out for me. I feel like my gut  instinct is good. However, I still don't think of this as a particularly great quality about myself because occasionally and eventually it inevitably leads to trouble.

That being said.. this time, I think it's going to be ok.

DIY Swiffer Cover

I am a big fan of the Swiffer. I use it to mop my kitchen, and to pick up cat hair around my house.

I am not such a big fan of constantly throwing away Swiffer pads, which never last as long as I feel like they should.

Enter Berlin's Whimsy, with this awesome Homemade Swiffer Cover pattern. Now you can Swiffer to your heart's content, unbutton (or un-velcro, cause there's no way I'm sewing buttonholes into a double layer of terrycloth), and then toss them into the wash to be re-used.

The terrycloth looks like it would be great for wet-mopping. I wonder how it does with picking up lint and cat hair.

Maybe I'll experiment with a different fabric for that--perhaps one of those really cheap fabrics that they make dollar-store stuffed animals out of. You know the ones. Five seconds out of the package and they're already covered in hair and dirt. It would be perfect!

Any other suggestions for dry-sweeping fabrics I could try?

DIY Summer Top

Newest item on my list of wicked cool things? Sew Mama Sew, a repository of hip patterns, design ideas, tips, tricks, and techniques for sewing. They also sell some really beautiful and unique fabrics and maintain a blog with inspiration photos, links, and advice. What's not to love?

I'm particularly enthralled with this pattern, which I'd like to try very soon, especially because Mr. Scrimp and I are getting ready to take a trip to the beach, and I'm going to need something cute to wear there!

Doesn't this look like it will fit the bill nicely? I'm a fan.

Reader Feature: Jill

It's long been a bloggy hope of mine that people will send me photos of projects they've done (or meals they've made, or gardens they've planted, or what-have-you) so that I can feature them here on the blog and share them with the world.

Today, I'm happy to present the lovely handiwork of Scrimpalicious reader (and personal friend to the Scrimps), Jill!

DIY Reusable Shopping Bags

Mr. Scrimp and I have a growing collection of reusable shopping bags. I like this. They're stronger than the paper bags we get at Whole Foods (and often hold more), and of course they sharply reduce the amount of plastic bags that we use.

What I don't like is the fact that every time I use one, I'm advertising for someone. Granted, if I bought a bag from them I'm probably ok with giving them a little shout-out, but I'd be just as happy having something prettier that I can take anywhere. I only use my branded bags for shopping. I don't use them, say, for a trip. Call me picky (I am). I don't wear many brand-name clothes either.

Well, now I know what to do about it! Living With Punks has posted this spectacular tutorial on how to make your own reusable shopping bag, and I love it!

She even managed to find cute shopping bag fabric at JoAnn online, so as soon as you read her tutorial you can order some fabric and prepare to get started.

(via CraftGossip)

Link: Custom Fabric at Spoonflower

I was browsing around the other day and came across Spoonflower, a company that lets users upload their own fabric patterns and prints them on organic cotton. Previous patterns are available for sale and there are some really, really beautiful and unique fabrics there.

It's pricey--ranging from $18 to $20 a yard, with 8x8" swatches going for $5 and fat quarters going for $11. Still, if you find something you really adore, a swatch or fat quarter is enough for a smallish project where it's a trim or a feature in a larger piece. Perhaps the center of a pillow or cushion, or the front panel on a purse or reusable shopping bag?

Even if it's not in your price range, go browse around for a few minutes just for the sheer enjoyment of the artistry in some of the patterns.

Hectic Weekend

There was no post yesterday, because Mr. Scrimp and I leapt out of bed late, threw some clothes on, and drove 3 1/2 hours up to Buffalo to celebrate early Christmas with his extended family. We also drove 3 1/2 hours back and didn't get home until around 1 in the morning when all was said and done.

So, I didn't have a chance to be on the computer really at all.

I will have some links and things tonight for you all to peruse, but in the meantime, I have a question. Have you ever sewed pajama pants or shorts? I have, but only from a pattern, and I was thinking that it would be silly to go spend money on a pattern if it's fairly easy to, say, make a pattern from an existing pair.

What do you think, Internet-land? Help me out here.

I'm working today and tomorrow and then Christmas vacation commences! I will finally have time to thoroughly clean my house and finish wrapping presents, and blog to my heart's content.

Snips and Sniffles

I am indeed staying home sick today. The problem with staying home sick from work is that if you're sick enough to stay home, you don't really feel up to doing all the things around the house that you ought to do.

I'm trying to decide which projects I'm going to attempt today. I've got to sort through some clothes, and if I find any appropriate t-shirts, I might try to make this re-usable shopping bag from Cut Out & Keep, which is made from a t-shirt sewn into the shape of a plastic grocery bag.

(Found via a five-page list of t-shirt mods at HideYourArms. Go read all of them.)

Tonight's Project

I have a new craft project I'm going to be starting/documenting tonight, but in the meantime, if you're looking for something to do today or a gift to give, why not make one of these microwaveable heat packs from blogger Homebody Holly?

If I need a heat pack in a hurry (at least, back when I still had a microwave), it was easiest just to dump a few cups of rice into a pillowcase, tie the open end, and nuke it for a few minutes. The moisture in the grain (barley and wheat berries work well too) heats up quickly and stays warm for a long time--it's great. Anyway, I would never have spent money to buy myself a microwaveable heat pack when I could just throw one together as needed from household objects, but I would have been thrilled to get one as a gift so I didn't have to have rice-scented pillowcases.

Plaid Scarf Tutorial

Remember how I mentioned the other day in my Christmas Gift post that scarves are extremely very the best thing ever? Well, blogger Cluck Cluck Sew saw a cute frayed plaid scarf at the Gap the other day and decided to make her own. I actually like her version even better than the one at the Gap, and not just because it only cost $3.

You can go here for the full tutorial. All it takes is a little fabric and a washing machine to fray the edges, and, if you want to get really fancy, a sewing machine (but that's optional).

Via CraftGossip.