Reusable Kitchen Towel

A couple of weeks back I accidentally came across a blog about reusable kitchen towel on my Pinterest. We've been making the move to all things reusable (as much as possible and as much as I convince the husband) over the past few months, and I just think this is a brilliant idea! If you're like me, kitchen towel is pretty much just for mopping up children's spillages, and we seem to spend an absolute fortune on the stuff, just for it to go in the bin!

It took me a while to think of a material that was suitable for this and that I could buy in my local shops. In the end I found some lovely polka dot materials in my local fabric store for around £2-3 a metre and some of the wilkos value hand towels for £1 in my local Wilkinson's store which are perfect! The hand towels cut into 6 equal squares, and then I just cut out the same size square from my patterned fabric. You could just use 2 layers of towel but I wanted them to match my kitchen and to stand out from the other face towels I have for the kids (they're incredibly messy eaters!). The kitchen towels that I've made look like this...

I have found a few different tutorials which give lots of information and pictures showing how to make these. The one below is pretty much exactly what I did for mine, I've just not got around to adding the snaps!

http://thatshortgirlsblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/reusable-paper-towel-tutorial.html

This tutorial is also brilliant as she has also added a tube with snaps for the inside, which is a such a good idea, because rolling these up neatly is difficult!

http://cateyedkp.tumblr.com/post/28130255598/unpaper-towel-tutorial

And for those without a sewing machine here is tutorial for hand sewn ones! This is packed full with information, so even if you're no good with a plain needle and thread (like me!), its full of tips to make these easy peasy to make!

http://www.mommypotamus.com/diy-unpaper-towels-without-a-sewing-machine/

These really are great and they're so much better for the environment! We're using these around 50% of the time at the minute, as we're just finishing up our final (and last!) rolls of kitchen towel. They are perfect for spillages and so much more absorbent! So far we are definitely a fan of these. We currently have two rolls but I have purchased the material to make another two rolls, which is sitting on my sewing desk currently waiting, alongside a couple of other projects.

I would imagine you would need to remake a fresh set or two every 6-12 months, depending on how much you use them or how well they're looked after but when you compare this with how much you'd spend on disposable kitchen roll, you'd still make a substantial saving... plus they're prettier!

I hope you've found this helpful! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of these and please subscribe to this blog :) x

DIY Vest Extenders Using Old Vests

A couple of months ago I was sorting out my little girls old vests, wondering what I could do with them as it seemed such a shame to get rid of them. Then it occurred to me.. I could make some vest extenders with them! I had been looking for some to buy but they just seemed so expensive (especially when I included postage) for something which just extends a vest..

These vest extenders are relatively easy to make and if you cut carefully you still have a lot of the vest fabric left so I've also cut a lot out ready to make bunting for her room (although I've yet to get around to making it). Also you get prettier vest extenders from using old vests instead of boring white ones everyone tends to stock!

This is also really quick and only takes around 10-15 minutes for each vest extender.
I'm not a brilliant machinist by any stretch of the imagination but I found these quite easy. The picture below is my first attempt... so please excuse the slightly wonky seams and sewing! They are pretty self explanatory but I've added pictures of each stage to make it even easier to do.

 

What you will need:

1 old vest for every vest extender you want to make

Matching thread

Scissors

Pins

 

I start by cutting the three pieces I need, out of the vest and laying them flat on the table. You then need to figure out which way you need to sew the two bits of fabric with the snaps. I used another vest to help me with this, as it's really important that it all attaches to the right bits to work. For me it worked out to have the top snaps in the photo facing upwards and the outer snaps below, facing downwards.

 

 

Once I had figured this out, I pinned them together and started to sew a straight line down the them, sewing them together, which should look like this when done...

 

 

 

I have seen some vest extenders left like this but I didn't think it looked as neat so to hide seams and rough edges, I then stitched a 'back piece' onto the snaps pieces like this, along the black lines I have added... (I've cut this a bigger than needed, just so I could show this properly)

 

 

 

Trim any excess fabric off to create neater seams and then turn this inside out and tuck in the tops of the fabric, leaving the snaps exposed, and sew down

 

 

 

And you're done!

 

I apologise for the un-neat stitching in these photos! I was too busy focusing on getting the right pictures!

 

I've made a number of these in various sizes for different nappies, so longer ones for night nappies and shorter ones for when she goes up a size in vest and when she's wearing slimmer nappies. I love making these as they cost next to nothing and it's a brilliant way to reuse old vests that you no longer need. Also if you're like me and buy the same brand all the time, they are almost guaranteed to fit!

 

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