Do It Gorgeously: How to Make Less Toxic, Less Expensive, and More Beautiful Products (15 page)

HOW TO

1.
Lay out your cashmere flat on a table to determine the size of your bear. If there are holes, you obviously want to negotiate your way around them, so your bear may have to be smaller. Make sure you have enough space to make your bear in a double layer of cashmere.

2.
Grab your parchment paper and, with a marker, draw the outline of the bear (see illustration).

3.
Cut it out and pin the paper to your 2 layers of cashmere. Make sure the right sides of the cashmere are facing each other. Cut the cashmere.

4.
Remove the pins and parchment paper and replace the pins around the edge of the bear.

5.
Either hand sew with a running stitch (see “Frugalista”), or use a sewing machine to sew around the bear, leaving a ½-inch seam around the edges. Leave a 2½-inch opening at the bottom of the bear for stuffing.

6.
Turn the bear right side out.

7.
Stuff the bear with the kapok or cushion stuffing and gently spoon in the dried lavender, making sure it’s evenly dispersed around the bear’s torso.

8.
When the bear is at the desired level of firmness, turn the edges of the opening under and hand sew to close.

9.
Sew on the buttons for eyes.

10.
Use a running stitch and the black yarn to create a nose and mouth.

11.
Customize your bear by putting a little ribbon around his neck. You can always make a ribbon from a strip of the remaining cashmere.

Pillowcase Laundry Bag

When my daughter was a baby, I was given a very expensive laundry bag that tied onto her crib. I didn’t love it because I was always afraid of the ties (cords and ribbons make me nervous when they’re within the reach of tiny hands). I came up with an easy and perfect solution. I had a number of really pretty odd pillowcases, so I created a laundry bag out of one of them.

HOW TO

1.
Cut a 6- to 8-inch opening down one of the long sides of the pillowcase.

2.
Tack the bottom of the opening with several stitches to make sure it’s really secure.

3.
Turn under a ¼-inch seam along the raw edges and pin. Sew them up.

4.
Fasten a large safety pin to one end of the ribbon and thread it through the casing (the top hem of pillowcase). Tie the ends together in a double knot. If the pillowcase doesn’t have a casing/hem, create one by turning the top over 1 inch and sewing it down.

5.
Find a vintage hook to put on your nursery wall in a convenient spot for you to hang your laundry bag.

Jeans Diaper Bag

Another rather costly item that everyone expects a mother to have is a diaper bag. Many of them come with a huge flap, which makes the bag really annoying to reach into when you have a screaming, dripping baby in the other arm. It’s a great idea to save your baby shower gift requests for things you cannot make (like a breast pump), and get sewing on the things you can make yourself. This diaper bag can be customized to look extremely chic.