Another way to use up scraps -- The reusable face round

One of the things I make and sell in our Etsy shop is nursing pads. Some call them breast pads. Sometimes people think they are coasters (which they totally could be). Jo likes to throw them around like frisbies. They look like this:

Last week I was visiting my good friend, Megan, in Michigan, and she had what looked like reusable face rounds. I asked her about them, and they were, in fact, reusable face rounds that she had purchased on Etsy. 

Now I use disposable cotton face rounds every day for removing make-up, applying toner, taking off nail polish...you get the point. It's kind of expensive to keep buying them only to throw them away. So I whipped up some reusable rounds for myself!

You could probably do it too! All you need is cotton flannel. Some people on Etsy use different materials like terry cloth or organic cottons, but I had regular cotton flannel lying around so I just used that.

Cut out circles in the size that you want. I made two sizes. The smaller ones are about the same size as the disposable rounds I used to buy (about 2" in diameter). This size is great for taking off eye makeup. The larger ones are closer to 4" in diameter (about the size of the nursing pads I make). I like to use this size for removing facial cleansers like Cetaphil.

Take two layers of the fabric and stitch them together. I serged mine together so the ends wouldn't fray. If you don't have a serger, you could also zig zag around the edge. That does the same thing.

Voila! Ta-da! Hooray!

You can wash these as many times as you want. Just put them in a little laundry bag before you throw them in the washer. It helps them last longer.

Fly away with a winged collar

So a while back I got a pattern from my mama for a little boy shirt with a winged color. It's vintage, if you can't tell.

Here is what the pattern looks like.

And here are the instructions that I have. That's it.

Close-up, just so you can see. The sewing guide mentioned at the bottom didn't quite make it to me.

So I had to figure it out on my own. I considered it a great challenge. With my powers of deduction (and sewing knowledge), I assumed that the pattern pieces with two larger dots meant to cut two pieces. Three dots near an edge meant to cut on the fold. So here is what it looked like. All ready to cut!

The pattern pieces have no other markings besides the holes and notches.

I started with the back pieces. Obviously, there is a yolk. Great. That's pretty basic.

Then came the really easy parts: sew together the pieces at the shoulders and the side seams.

The under collar (not sure the official name, but that's what I'm calling it) went on next. It's the under side of the collar -- aptly named, right?

Here you see it with the collar popped. Preppy bikes.

Next it's time for the facing and upper collar piece. It's all one piece and it just happens to fit nicely over the under collar and front of the shirt. Funny how that works, eh?

I was pretty proud of myself that the notches all lined up.

Here's what it looked like all put together:

Once that piece was on, all I needed to do was turn the facing piece under and stitch. Then hem the bottom and the sleeves. Oh yeah, and add buttons. Voila!

I think I'll shorten the sleeves to make it a bit more modern, but other than that I love it.

Don't mind the snot in this shot.

I think she was heading in for a hug in this one. Yay!