Nap Time Sewing: Cat Bed.

Emily here! I’ve been in a mood with sewing and knitting lately. Today I was inspired to make my cat, Nacho, a new bed. I currently have a pillow and blanket under our dining table bench for him. He enjoys it as it has a small look out window for him and he is semi hidden from the rowdy boys but he deserves something a bit nicer.

Nacho testing it out before I start sewing.

I had some leftover mattress from and some old fabric for the project. I started by cutting out 2 pieces of fabric the size of my foam and added about 1/4in to all sides. I then cut a strip of fabric that was 2.5 inches. This piece will wrap around the edge of the foam so that was the length I made it (I did a rough guess).

I attached the strip of fabric to one of the large pieces using a 1/4 seam allowance.

I then attached the other large piece to the other side of the strip leaving one of the smaller sides open.

I turned the fabric and stuffed the foam in. Then I pinned my opening and hand sewed the side closed.

All done! Start to finish it took me about an hour and a half! I think it looks so much nice than the other “bed” and Nacho is very pleased. It was also a great project and I felt a great sense of accomplishment with it.

Easy and Fast Toddler Pillow

Emily here! I have been trying to buy a toddler pillow for the last few months. I found one that I really liked from Ikea but they won’t ship to my area (small town problems). So I found the same pillow on Amazon and SHOCKER it never arrived. (I got a refund don’t you worry). While stewing in my annoyance for online ordering yesterday I finally figured I could just make my own!

Supplies:
Very Flat Pillow
Pillow Case
Sewing Machine
Thread

Time: 45min with a toddler running around. 15min if no toddler around.

Cost: Mine was “free” since I had all the supplies on hand. But the pillow was $2 from Target many years ago and pillow case was maybe $5?

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Directions:
-Measure! Figure out how large you want the pillow. I am using a standard pillow and took off about 3-4 inches.
-Next I cut the outside of the pillow (see picture) then I cut the innards.
-Using a zigzag stitch I sewed up the open side. Easy! Pillow is done.
-Next I made a custom pillow case!
-I laid the pillow case on the ground. Put the pillow on top and left about 1/2inch on each side.
-Then cut the pillow case. Turned the pillow case inside out and sewed it shut using a straight seam. If you wanted to be really fancy you could serge or zigzag seam the raw edge. I wasn’t feeling fancy at the time.

Pillow is done! Sew Simple right?

Astrid Cardigan in Peony

Emily here! Welcome back to me. Thank you. Today I have a post on a cardigan that I finished like two years ago. Jk. But not really. I can’t remember when I finished this if I’m being honest. I think I was pregnant when I finished it soooo sometime before March 2020. Anyway let’s talk about it. I didn’t like the finished product! Isn’t that just the worst when you spend months on something and you are so sure it will be awesome and then it’s just not? Let’s break it down.

The Yarn.
I purchase this yarn online. Since this purchase I have vowed to never buy yarn I can’t feel again. The color wasn’t really what I wanted. I wanted something very light pink. And oh my lord was this so scratchy. I literally *can’t stand* wearing this yarn. Also is sheds like a mother.

The Fit.
Here is the pattern I used. Like I said I finished this mid pregnancy and well my body has changed quite a bit after carrying a 10 pound baby (and don’t you forget it!). So I initially thought this would be a cute cut on me but now makes me look boxy and well…shapeless. This pattern also has drop shoulders which I have learned isn’t a good look for me period.

The Closure.
I will say that the construction on this cardigan is much better than my first sweater. I worked really hard to fix my mistakes and to be very precise. So for that I loved making this cardigan. It’s just not practical for me to wear. But I’m getting better at knitting and to me that is what is important with this project. I held onto this sweater for a while because I felt bad getting rid of it (and I wanted to post it). But I plan to take it to goodwill this weekend for it to find a new home.

My next knitting project you ask? Another Sewrella sweater in this cotton yarn in the color Grey Fade. Hopefully that I can finish before summer and hopefully it works out better than this one.

Simple Knit Football Sweater

I have been knitting for only about 5 months. I have tried knitting off and on for year and it just never really stuck with me. It wasn’t until my husband told what how great knitting can be for stress relief (which is really is!) that I really decided to buckle down and try it. I went to my local knitting shop Fancywork Yarn Shop to attend one of their free beginner Learn to Knit Classes. I bought a pair of needles and one skein of yarn for the class. After the class I was able to practice a bit and then I started searching for an easy sweater pattern. I really didn’t want to try and make another scarf, which seems to be the beginning project for everyone. I found Sewrella’s Simple Knit Sweater. I was able to recognize the stitches and what I most loved about this pattern is that she provides and step-by-step video on Youtube. This helped me knit the sweater and understand how to read a knitting pattern.

I call this my Simple Knit Football Sweater because while my husband watched football this fall I sat next to him and made this sweater! That is one thing I really love about knitting. My husband and I can still be hanging out and spending time together and I still feel creative and productive (even if we are just watching TV). I have been sewing for 14 years and recently I haven’t been into it. It’s a really solo activity since I’m in a different room when I sew. I also love that when I knit I can just pick up the project and knit a bit and then put it down and I didn’t make a huge mess (like I do with sewing). With sewing there always seems to be some prep work that needs to be done before I can actually do anything. So I am really enjoying knitting more these days!

Pattern: Sewrella Simple Knit Sweater
Yarn: Hometown USA Yarn in color Montplier Peacock

Here are a few things that I changed and learned with this sweater:

1.I struggled with the ribbing initially. I finally learned that I had an uneven number when I cast on, which greatly affects how the ribbing lines up.

2. I didn’t get enough skeins of yarn initially. I made it in a size small and that called for 5 skeins and I needed 6. The sweater would have been finished much faster but I didn’t want to order just 1 skein of yarn and pay like $5 for shipping and handling so I waited until I picked out my next project then bought the last skein.

3. I made a few pattern adjustments. I took out 4 rows on the sleeves because I just know my arms a too short to fit most normal patterns. I also added another row of ribbing at the collar just so it was more defined.

4. Youtube was a huge help! I was able to search for videos on how to join yarn, changing a knit stitch to a purl stitch, weaving in my ends, and how to knit faster.

Next Project: Astrid Cardigan with this yarn in the color Peony.