How to Dye Fabric Shoes and Sandals

I needed a pair of sandals. After a fair bit of shopping I found a pair of wedges that fit (this is harder to do since I have to shop in the kid’s department) but are the wrong color. However the price was cheap enough that I thought I’d try my hand at dying a pair of the white shoes black and other pair brown – the colors I wanted.

I’ve dyed 100% cotton fabric shoes. I’ve also dyed suede shoes using this exact suede dye with great success. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.) Dying these sandals will be a bit more challenging because they are a cotton and synthetic fabric blend and all of the fabric dyes I’ve used up until now require 100% natural fiber fabric.

 Can you dye polyester fabric and synthetic fibers? Yes you can! Here’s how.

 

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How to Dye Cotton Blend Shoes

Easy Embroidered Coaster and Friday Favorites Linky Party Week 564

It seems like I am always cleaning little drips of soap or water that collect under and around the soap dispenser. 

I whipped up a couple of quick cloth coasters to catch the soap dispenser drips so I can swap them out when I need to toss the dirty one into the wash. I also took the opportunity to try out the embroidery features on my new sewing machine.

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The construction is very simple. After embroidering my design on the top piece of fabric, I traced a round object onto the top, middle terry cloth layer, and bottom fabrics and cut them out. Next, I made a top, middle layer, and bottom fabric sandwich and sewed it together with bias tape. 

I showed you my project, now you show me yours!

Quick and Easy DIY Sleep Mask Gift Idea and Friday Favorites Linky Party 553

The time change is this weekend. No matter how well I think I close my bedroom curtains, the early morning sunlight shoots through the curtains like a laser bean and directly into my eyes waking me up hours before my alarm is set to go off.  I fight back by wearing a cute handmade sleep mask at night to thwart Mother Nature's attempts at shortening a good night's sleep.

I make sleep masks out of super soft flannel which is nice on the eyes. I've also made sleep masks from scrap cotton fabric that are comfortable to wear during the summer because they aren't hot like the unbreathable silky masks sold in stores. Sometimes I embellish them with embroidery. Most often I leave them plain to show off the fabric. 

If you are looking for quick and easy handmade holiday gift ideas, follow my simple how to make a sleep mask tutorial here and make them for yourself or someone you love!

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8 Reusable Cloth Face Mask Tutorials

When I visited Japan it wasn’t uncommon to see people wearing a simple face mask when out and about because in Japan (and other Asian cultures) when you are sick with the cold or flu. In Japan it is polite to wear a mask when you are sick and  out in public so you don’t accidentally pass it on to anyone else around you. That is something I wish we had in American culture (how many times has someone given you their cold because they weren’t wearing a simple face mask?)  but I really hate that we have to go through a deadly global pandemic to adopt it.

As of April 7, 2020 the United State Centers for Disease Control (and well as the Governor of Ohio) recommends that everyone wear a cloth face covering when out in public. The idea behind wearing a face mask in public is not what a someone yelled at me for falling for “pandemic panic” or a “false sense of security.” My reply was just as less than kind because I'm battling an allergy related sinus infection that never seems to end and don't want to pass this misery to anyone else (unlikely but I get horror looks when I sneeze with and without the mask.)

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The idea is that by wearing  even a simple, non medical grade cloth face mask when you are in public is so you may be less likely to unknowingly pass a virus to someone else when you aren’t showing symptoms and don’t know that you are sick. This precaution leaves the medical grade and N95 filtering face masks and respirators to our front line COVID 19 heroes who need to be protected from known viruses in the air around them in a front line setting. 

How to Sew a Reusable Cloth Face Mask

How to Make Reusable Zero Waste Makeup Remover Pads

I have a very bad habit of by passing the wash cloth by the bathroom sink at night and not washing the makeup off my face before I go to bed.

Why? Laziness I guess.

The only time I remember to do it at night is when I have leftover disposable face wipes I use when I travel for the convenience.  I try to limit the amount of one time use disposables I use on a regular basis and let’s face it, wash cloths are reusable and paper face wipes are not.

 

How to Sew Super Soft Flannel Cloth Makeup Remover Pads

How to Make a Folding Cloth Fan

We are in the sweltering hot Dog Days of Summer. Ohio likes to add a little extra misery to the mix with humidity. Hazy, Hot, and Humid is a phrase all Ohioans face with sweaty dread and air conditioning.

Until you have to go outside – yuck.

Fortunately, there is an easy, eco friendly, and cute solution – use a hand fan to keep cool!

 Pin this tutorial for later!

DIY Flannel Handkerchiefs and Friday Favorites Linky Party Week 353

My poor wee little nose just can't take it any more. I blew through a 100 +count box of tissues (literally) in three days and my Plague is now just barely showing signs of stopping. If it weren't for my neti pot (affiliate link for your convenience) I  wouldn't be able to breathe since I'm all stuffed up with a cold AND a sinus infection. Never do anything half way I always say! 

Fortunately, as I felt this ick coming on early, I made a stack of quick and easy flannel handkerchiefs to use in addition to disposable tissues to keep my nose from getting chapped and feeling raw. By bouncing back and forth between the two types of tissues I don't have a chapped nose for the first time in forever! Not to mention, the flannel hankies don't disintegrate after using a neti pot like the paper tissues do. (Ew.)

Flannel tissues are super simple to make!

 Pin this tutorial for cold and flu season!

1. Cut a piece of flannel cloth in the size of your choosing.

How to Make a Quick and Easy Christmas Pennant Garland

I excavated my craft room and found some cute red and green fabric scraps I’ve been moving from storage place to storage place in my sewing room.  That put me in a sewing mood. I decided then and there to use those quirky fabric scraps to sew a cloth pennant Christmas garland.

Pin this tutorial for later!

This is a quick and easy Christmas decoration project that takes practically no time to make. I streamed a couple of movies on Amazon Prime Video and before I knew it the project was done!

Christmas Garland Décor Tutorial

DIY Drop Cloth Grill Cover

If it doesn’t move, grill it. That’s my summer cooking mantra. Vegetables, fruit, meat, and fish are all fair game when it comes to grilling.

Learn how I stenciled this grill cover with help from my friends at Plaid Crafts.

A few Christmases ago, we got a gas grill upgrade and a cover to protect it from Ohio winters.

Two years later the grill looks great.

The grill cover does not. 

Mother Nature is the reason we do not have nice things.