Cute DIY scarfs and coffee cozies

Holy Cow. Guess who's been slacking on the blog posts? Did you guess me?

As fall turned to winter and it got colder and colder, I found myself with smaller, less relevant projects. Guess who's garage is NOT heated? Did you guess me again? Man! You are on a roll!

So back to the smaller projects...

I've been hitting the sewing machine pretty hard the last few months and trying to get myself better organized. I've also been trying to fix up my personal blog. That's slow going. I managed to open an Etsy shop. Yes, I'm now a bit of a cliche. Its happens to the best of us.

Two super easy sewing projects that I've had a lot of fun working on are coffee cup cozies and revamping ties into necklaces/scarfs. These are so easy, anyone can do them. The tie necklace/scarf would be an especially great project in an elementary classroom. Hmm, my sister teachers elementary school. Perhaps I'll discuss doing a Mother's Day project with her. Anyway, back to oh-so-easy How To...

Coffee Cup Cozies 101

1. Take apart one of the cardboard sleeves that you get at Starbucks or wherever. Use it as a template and cut out a piece of paper in the shape (it has a bit of a curve) giving it an extr a1/ 4inch all the way around.

2. Find some fabric that you like and small piece of batting.

3. Using your template, cut out 2 pieces of fabric and one piece of batting. The batting should be about 1/4 inch smaller all around than the fabric.

4. Make a sandwich. No, not a ham sandwich. What I mean is place fabric, then batting, then fabric on top. Pin it together.

5. Sew down the middle lengthwise to secure the batting/fabric sandwich.

6. Sew around the edges but leave about 1/5 of an inch on all sides.

7. Use a pair of pinking shears and cut around the entire perimeter.

8. Using an old paper coffee cup, check the sizing and then sew the ends together.

Super simple!!

Tie Necklace/Scarf

1. Find old vintage tie with groovy pattern - preferably silk as it's easier to move around.

2. Using a seam ripper get rid of the seam that's up the back. Be careful not to pierce or rip the fabric.

3. Lay flat and iron the fabric.

4. Fold the tie the long way, inside out.

5. Sew up the tie lengthwise, leave 1.5 to 2 inches "tube". Turn it right side out.

6. Tie a loose knot in one end.

7. Insert beads, buttons or whatever your heart desires. Tie a knot inbetween each item. You'll see the silhouette of the item...

You can either tie the ends together so that it looks jaunty like a scarf...or sew on a small clasp for a more crisp look. I'm partial to jaunty myself.