My own version of a pillow pet! - another mid-week upcycle.

Do your kids have Pillow Pets?

My girls got some for their birthdays this year from friends. My eldest got two, but my youngest only got one.

My youngest had asked me to make her one, and this week I finally got a round tuit! It didn't cost me anything - as it was another upcycle using what I already had!

We had this lion 'rug' that was bought years ago when my husband and I went to a fancy dress party. This was part of my husbands costume (he went as a caveman!). Since then, the lion has been a rug when our girls were babies, and then has just been tucked in with the pile of teddies and cuddly toys ever since!

So - this lion rug - together with an old pillow is what I used to make my daughter her new pillow pet!

I used her current unicorn pillow pet as a guide as to how to make it!

I cut...

And pinned..

Thet put the old pillow inside and stitched it all together to make...

He's definitely the old man of the pack now..

A little older and less 'puffy' !

But I'm sure he'll be a wonderful pillow..

And very well loved!

Case for hard drive

We have a small hard drive which we keep next to our computer to back up important things.

Until now it has just sat on the edge of the desk - and does tend to get quite dusty.

So I decided to make a little case for it!

I followed my own tutorial for making a case for a tablet - which I did earlier this year:

So now our hard drive is protected from dust!

A nice simple and quick project that used up some of my scraps too!

There are heaps more tutorials for making useful little things on 

my tutorials page 

 so do go and take a look!

Just do it week 4

This week I had intended to sort out my sewing desk, but instead decided to sort the rest of the house and leave that till last!

So this week I sorted out my messy laundry!

Now our laundry is a very small space beside the kitchen - and one day we intend to get a concertina door to block it off so you can't see it! But until then, I can at least try to make it a bit more presentable - and user friendly!

I made some simple covers for the shelves, which are getting a bit old and the plastic is flaking off!

I think they look much neater now!

I also made a small hanging basket for all the swimming googles, caps, bags and paddles that get hung all over the place!

Now everything has a place so we should all be able to keep this part of the house tidy now too!

Not much left to go now - just a couple of drawers - the spare room bed - (where I've dumped all the excess stuff from every other room in the house), and then my sewing desk - which I'm most looking forward to - but also provides my biggest challenge!  How to organise all of this ??

Now I challenged myself to get my house tidy, sorted and in order in 10 weeks - but I think I'm going to finish it in half the time!   Once I got started and could see the changes and the differences, it has just kept me motivated to keep it up!

Once it's all finished - I just know I'm going to get so much more done and achieved without constantly seeing mess that needs sorting and clearing!

A tidy house means a tidy mind...and more time for sewing and blogging!! Yippee!!

Nearly there!! Thanks for bearing with me through this! And well done to all those who've commented that they're tackling their organisation too! Keep it up - it's worth the effort in the end!

Peg Bag Tutorial

I've had a peg bag like this for several years now. It belonged to my granny and my mum brought it out from England years ago.  

Now those years of hanging on the line in the tropics have taken their toll on this peg bag..

Faded and torn, sadly I think it's better replaced than repaired.

But sentimental as I am, I wanted the same kind of peg bag to continue to remind me of my granny!

So - I made a new version!

Here's how...

I took out the coat hanger from the old peg bag.  It's just a wooden hanger wrapped in a little padding and fabric and stitched:

And I used some thin denim for the main bag, some scraps from old clothes for the applique on the front and a piece of cord for the washing line:

I measured the width of the hanger to determine how wide to make the bag - the previous one was larger than the hanger, but I wanted this one to fit more snugly.

So my hanger was 29 cm wide (11.5")

So I cut my fabric like this:

For the back: 30 cm wide by 40 cm long (11.75 x 15.75") 

For the front top: 30 x 13 cm (11.75 x 5")

For the front bottom: 30 x 29 cm (11.75 x 11.5")

For the clothes on the washing line - scraps cut into shapes of trousers, shirts etc:

First I stitched the washing line into place on the main front piece:

Then using the applique setting on my machine (or you could just use a tight zig zag) - I stitched the posts for the line:

So now the line was ready to 'peg' the clothes on!

For this I simply placed the small cut clothes items just under the line, and again used the applique setting to stitch around them.

Then changing back to a straight stitch, I stitched the pegs in:

Now all that remained was to put the bag together.

For the two parts where the opening was to be in the front of the bag I overlocked the edges and stitched a small hem in place.

(If you don't have an overlocker or serger, you could just do a double hem to hide the raw edge)

So this means the top of the front part you just put the applique on, and the bottom part of the other front piece.

Now with right sides together, I laid the front pieces on top of the back and pinned all the way around. I laid the coat hanger at the top and using a white pencil drew the curve around the top. I stitched along this curve, so the bag would sit nicely on the hanger when finished!

I also left a small gap at the top for the coat hanger to fit through - just 1cm (0.5")

Where the seams of the front two pieces met, I stitched over this part backwards and forwards several times for extra strength!

Then I stitched all the way around the edges, and overlocked (serged) the raw edges - or you could just add a tight zig zag!

Then it was ready to add the coathanger!

I pushed the coathanger through the hole at the top..

 then turned the bag right sides out over it..

So there you have my own version of Granny's peg bag:

Already filled up with pegs and being used!

For the downloadable PDF version of this tutorial, click here.

If you liked this tutorial - there are over 100 free sewing tutorials on

my tutorials page.

Why not take a look?

Just do it - week 3 update.

This was my big project this week:

A lot of sorting, chucking out and endless pencil sharpening - and my girls now have a very tidy and organised work space!

Now it just has to stay that way!

I've also managed to sort through my linen cupboard, all our camping stuff and the pantry.

The pile of extra things in the spare room is growing - as I clear out things I don't want in other spaces, but don't yet know where to put them or even if I'll keep them!

The last job will be to clear the spare room - and that will be a biggie!

Next week I want to tackle - amongst other things - my sewing desk..

Crammed too full - and things aren't easy to get at without everything else falling out at the same time!

And look at that mess up on the top! Deary me!!

I'm really looking forward to getting MY space cleared!

Has anyone else managed to do any good organising or clearing this week?