carseat toy hanger chain

materials:

scrap wool (I'm using worsted weight in this but I've used a little lighter weight too and it turned out just as well.)
size tiny hook




chain 30, join, ch 2 (somehow, for the example I only did 20. it turned out ok, just smaller than I like.)





DC in each ch, join, ch 2.

*only dc in one loop from the chain though. so you hook through one and leave 2, we will need them later.





dc in each st, join.





now, fold the tube in half and use a sl st to join. sl st through both st from the dc's and both from the beginning ch.





Here is the top...





and the bottom.





To do the next loop in the chain, join the beginning chain through the first one you made, then continue with the instructions as though the others weren't even there. (I put it through that one and some I already had done.)





6 of them all joined together.

(I wouldn't join any more then this together to prevent strangulation. That would be bad.)

Fleece diaper cover

Choose 2 colors of fleece (or one, your choice). The tie dye one is going to be the outside and the blue, the inside.



















Using a diaper you already have, measure and trace onto your outside color. Add about an inch or so around all the sides. If you are using a disposable diaper to measure, add about 2 inches.


















Make sure you stretch out the cover you are tracing from side to side and front to back.





















After you have the outside cut out, lay it on top of the inside color. Cut it out, adding about an inch or so around all the sides.

















Using a long straight stitch, sew the outside to the inside as close to the edge as you can. You can pin it first but the fleece tends to want to stick together for me and I haven't had to.



















Then, roll the outside forward and medium zigzag down.



















This is what it should look like.




















A close up of the corner. You don't have to do it like I do, as long as it gets stitched down.














Velcro:
The hook part should always be on the front. zigzag down with a medium stitch.

small cover:
the front is 8" long. the sides are 3" each.

big cover:
the fronts are 4" each. the sides are also 4" each





















Elastic:

Clip holes here-ish

















To measure how long you need it, stretch the elastic from one hole to the other. Cut it about half an inch longer.

















Use a safety pin and guide the elastic through the casing until just a little bit it peeking out.























Use a tiny zigzag and stitch it down. Go over 4 times or so.






















Finish guiding the elastic through and hold it down with 2 fingers.





















Zigzag down with a tiny stitch. Watch your fingers! Clip the safety pin off.



















Repeat for the other 2 sides.














All done!


Matching covers for Nicky and New Baby!

dying yarn with food coloring!

I started with regular Lion Brand Winter White Wool Yarn. You can use any natural fiber for this project. You can even do tie-dyed t-shirts this way. As long as the fibers come from a plant or animal, you can do it this way.


To start, you need to unwind the yarn ball. Wrap it around something big. I used Oscar the Curious Ostrich.

After you wind it, tie a slip knot in the front to hold it all together.



Put 3 tall drinking glasses worth of water in the bottom of a big pot.

Then, in the sink, (I don't have pics of this) WASH your yarn. It's super easy.
1.) Fill the sink with about 2" of room temp water. Room temp is very important.
2.) Squeeze in about 1 tsp of baby shampoo.
3.) Put the yarn in and slosh it around.
4.) SQUEEZE the water out. Don't wring!
5.) Let out the soapy water.
6.) Rinse with room temp water until it's not soapy anymore.
7.) Squeeze the rinse water out.

Okay, now that we have squeaky clean yarn, comes the fun part. Put the wet yarn in a METAL colander. Put the colander in the pot.

Make your dyes:
1.) Get enough small cups for all your colors. (I recommend 2 or 3 so the colors don't get muddy.)
2.) Put a little water in each cup (I used a double shot glass to measure.)
3.) Drop the food coloring in. More drops for light colors like yellow and less for dark colors like red.


I used neon food coloring: 5 drops of blue, 5 drops of purple and 10 drops of yellow (that ended up being green). I used a big spoon and ladled it the dye on. You can use an eyedropper or whatever else you have handy. As long as the dye gets on the yarn.



The purple turned out pinker than I liked so I made a second cup of blue.

Now, put a lid on top of the colander in the pot. Steam on med high for 20 minutes. (Make sure you do this on the back burner, especially if you have little curious hands around the house.)

After it steams, move it to another burner and let it sit in the pot for at least an hour. It needs to cool. It doesn't need to be room temp, just cool enough to handle.

After it cools, you have to rinse. Get your faucet running and try to match up the temp of the water with the temp of the yarn as closely as you can. To rinse, kind of fill up the yarn with water and squeeze it out over and over. Make sure the yarn stays horizontal the whole time. If you hold the yarn by one end and let the water run down, the dye will get places you don't want it.

You can stop here if you want but I always loop it around the back of 2 chairs set apart. It takes about an hour to dry like this. Leaving it the other way will take a couple days.

When it's dry, ball it up and have fun!

I will post a pic of what I make with it when it's done. :)

prefold to fitted

This was my first tutorial posted on another site. No one really saw it
so I moved it to here. Enjoy!

Newborn homecoming hat!

This hat is modeled after the one Nicholas came home in.




















First, I unfolded the bottom to see how long it was. 6"x6"




















Cut out 2 squares of fleece that are 6"x6 1/2". Make sure the stretch goes side to side.



















Round off the top corners.



















Stitch around the top. Start an stop between an 1 1/2" to 2" from the bottom. You don't have to be exact. I used extra big stitches with a contrasting thread so you can see it more easily. You will use small stitches with a matching thread, obviously.

















Turn it inside out.



















Sew up the bottom. For the first and last stitch go over it 3 or 4 times because there will be a lot of stress on those points and they need to be strong.


















Fold up the bottom and embellish.