repurposing

I know, I know, another entry that has to do with sewing. I promise, I'll back off a bit after this. OK, maybe I shouldn't make that kind of promise. It's not that I'm bragging or showing off(maybe a little)but I'm just so darn proud of myself and excited that I can finally do something useful, maybe? Maybe it is just that I haven't used my creative side for so long that it is just bursting at the seams to get out.

I've been searching through other people's blogs and have come across, through mention of my sister, repurposing. I've already done that sort of thing before, but this opened my eyes up to much more possibilities for the not very useful things around my house. I even went through my give-away pile again as a result of my new found knowledge.

We have an upcoming train trip. I'm trying to think of ways to make the trip a little easier as we will be on the train for several hours. My first project turned out to be a blanket. Trains can get cold at night (I guess people like it cool). The problem with blankets is that they are bulky and they are kind of hard to carry around with everything else you have to carry around too. Soooo, I made a planket. A pillow blanket. I didn't pay a cent for it either, so I'm extra proud.

I painstakingly took out all the seams to some very short curtains that came with Abby's bed set. These were curtains I was never going to use so why not for this?

I also took an old flannel top sheet (I used the fitted sheet years ago for a baby blanket for Maxwell) and that became the bottom of the blanket for extra comfort and warmth.



The pillow appears upside down here, but you get the idea. The pillow is also removable.

Fold it up.



Tuck it in and you are ready to go. It's even got its own handle.



I had a little help with the sewing. The sewing machine is in Maxwell's room. I did most of the sewing when he'd be in his room playing before bed. He likes to watch the sewing machine go so he came over last night, sat on my lap, and put his hands on my hands. He was ready to go. He got impatient when I had to fill the bobbin again. He learned quick how to get the foot up and down. I guess he figured that if he put the foot down the sewing would resume. Well, he is partly right.