Kanga skirt with stretchy yoga waistband tutorial

What you will need:

A kanga – Kangas are a piece of African cloth, 150cm wide by 100cm, but any woven cotton fabric will work just the same. 

FWS Sewing Workshops – Day 1, Wrap Skirt

Last month I was lucky enough to host two more sewing workshops for the mamas from the Kesho Leo childrens village run by  Food Water Shelter (FWS) in Arusha, Tanzania. The day before the first class, I went fabric shopping to choose the fabrics we would work with. I selected three vitenge, and ended up donating an extra one as well – the chicken one.

Fabric Shopping in Arusha, Tanzania

You may have noticed since I returned from my travels that I have a lot of fabric now for sale.. well in case you were wondering, this is where it all came from. 

Upcycled jeans iPad Sleeves

These are my latest creations, five iPad sleeves made from the denim from one pair of maternity jeans and some African kitenge fabrics. The jeans weren’t worn for long, so the denim is still nice and dark but still softer than new. I loved making these, using the jeans meant I had to be a little creative

8 Simple, cheap and free ideas for making a bare outside area interesting to a toddler

I’ll begin by saying my back yard is small. Probably smaller than your living room.. it is also very plain, boring and tree-free. There is no lawn, and no garden bed.

Door Stop!

I have had a fantastic suggestion this week of making something like my rattle blocks, but as a door stop! I think it’s a great idea, and something I will definitely make for myself, so this afternoon I designed a small, cute fabric door stop with a carry handle.

Flip Out Sofa Cover – Goodbye Buzz and Woody

after

My little one was given a flip out sofa by his Nan, and he loves it. I think its great too, what I don’t love are the huge pictures of Toy Story characters all over it. After looking at it for months and thinking, I really should make a cover for that, this afternoon I decided to get around to actually doing it.

Patchwork Bookmark Tutorial

What to do with lots of little fabric scraps? Turn them into a cute patchwork bookmark! This would be a cute gift to pop inside a card for an avid reader, or just to keep for yourself. Here’s mine, which will soon be available for sale along with some others in my madeit.com.au shop, and here’s how I made it.

recycled paper & fabric alternative Christmas tree

So, I don’t have a Christmas tree. I am ok with that, my one year old would love one though just so he can pull it to pieces! Anyway, I was given some maps yesterday so I wanted to make something out of them, which led me to this tutorial by Everyday Mom Ideas for a paper tree centrepiece. I made one this afternoon after collecting some sticks on our walk, but I used black and white magazine pages instead of scrapbook paper, and I also  made some  feature leaves out of scrap fabric (which I have way too much of). I think it turned out ok, and will do for an alternative Christmas tree – no plastic, completely recycled materials, and free!

Easy project: upcycling magnets using fabric scraps

This little project was so quick and easy. I got to use some of my scrappy bits of fabric, plus make some ugly fridge magnets covered with advertising look so much better. I also recycled magnets which were stuck to the back of some calendars which had appeared in my letterbox (have since stuck a ‘no junk mail’ sign on it, so I probably won’t get any more now).


First thing I did was remove the magnets from the back of the calendars, and peeled the top layer of paper off the advertising magnets. Next, I covered the top of the magnet with PVA wood glue, attached a fabric scrap and trimmed it to fit with a pair of scissors. Then I just applied more glue to the top of the fabric, spread it around evenly then let it dry. That’s it! Used some scraps, recycled some unwanted magnets, and now my fridge looks so much brighter.