Easiest Pin Cushion Ever

I just got my first personal sewing machine the other day (YAY) and of course that means I NEEDED to get all new stuff for it, right? Well I was super tired of my tomato pin cushion from the 6th grade--you know the one. Instead of blowing all my cash on new sewing supplies, I decided to make a pin cushion for myself.

This one requires no sewing (confusing, I know), and cost me $0! My mom accidentally bought me 10 mason jar lids instead of the actual jar, so now I need to use them. Perfect solution to many issues!

Difficulty: Ridiculously easy
Cost: Free! Or less than $5 if you need a few things.

You'll Need:
A mason jar lid
A scrap of woven fabric (knits will get giant holes)
A little bit of polyfill stuffing

Step 1: (easier explained through photos)

Step 2:
Fold the corners in toward the center of the circle. Glue in place...it's easier that way.

Step 3:
Put the "ring part" of the jar lid around your little circle of batting and fabric. It should almost click into place.

 Finished Product:

You can put it on the actual jar, or set it next to your machine, and I've even seen some hanging on the wall. Way cute and super easy. It took me 5 minutes.

Then I got REALLY fancy... I made a stencil using freezer paper (tutorial coming soon), painted the Pinterest Logo, and made myself a "Pin It!" Pin cushion. It's a little sloppy, but it was my first try! Love it.

No-Sew Ruffle Tree Skirt

Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love decorating so much that I think I actually scared my husband yesterday with my enthusiasm.... Anyway, this year's Christmas theme at my place is Harry Potter-so think the Weasley's house meets Hogwarts at Christmas. I've seen this tree skirt around the blogs lately and I had to make it!


what you'll need: Fabric for skirt base and ruffles. (this takes a little math and will be different depending on the size of your tree.) My skirt base is 17" long so I used about a yard of muslin fabric for that, plus about 2 1/2 yards of muslin for the ruffles. You will also need fabric glue, scissors, and a measuring tape. 
*fabric note: this would also work well with felt!


cost: less than $10


difficulty level: easy


First, I took my 2 1/2 yards of unbleached muslin and ripped it into strips that are 5-6" wide and 2 1/2 yards long. I like the unfinished edges, but if you really want to get crazy you can finish your ruffle edges with ribbon or a roll hem, but do it before you attach them to the skirt base.


Next, I made a circle skirt for my base. Measure the from the tree trunk out passed the branches or as long as you want your skirt to go. Remember there will be a 5" ruffle added to the base. Mine skirt was 17".


Your fabric should already be folded in half when you buy it (Hot dog style) so then you need to fold it in half one more time (hamburger style). 

From the top corner-where all edges are folded- use your measuring tape to mark a quarter circle 1" from the corner. Then another quarter circle 17" (or desired length of skirt) from the corner. Cut along both curves and you will get this:

Then cut a slit like the picture below-this will be the back of the skirt.

Now for the fun part!

I laid down a piece of cardboard first because the fabric glue gets messy.

Line up one ruffle with the slit of the skirt base about 1/2" from the outside edge and start gluing. 

Pleat and glue the fabric around the whole outside edge. If you run out of one ruffle before you reach the end, just overlap another ruffle and continue.

Move a few inches up and glue the next row.

Continue until you reach the center-closest to the trunk. By now, your pleats will need to be small an closer together than the outside row.

Let it dry for a few hours and then wrap your new tree skirt around the tree and admire your handy work! 

P.S. I wanted to do something no-sew for people who don't have machines, but sewing would probably have been faster and longer lasting than the glue.

T-Shirt Scarf

This is just one of many ways to make a t-shirt scarf. I'll post other ways soon, but I'm sure you can come up with a few yourself.  

what you need: old t-shirts, (or if you're me... a few of the extra yards of jersey fabric you have) and scissors. 

cost: free!!

difficulty level: easy!!!

step one: cut strips of your jersey or t-shirt. I used about 2 yards of fabric so you may need more than one t shirt.

step two: gently pull the strips so they stretch and roll.

make a lot of them :)

step three: Lay your spaghetti out lengthwise, and tie the ends of on side together. then you will tie the other ends together making big loops out of 2 spaghetti. I loosely braided/twisted mine loops together as I tied them.

step four: wrap one spaghetti around all the loops to keep them together. This part is totally optional, but I like the way it looks.

All done! You can wear it a bunch of different ways... and since I have so much left over fabric I think I'll try this again soon with a few differences.

Stay tuned!