hoodies

I gave the young ladies in our family (girlfriends and wife)
hoodie sweatshirts but wanted to fancy them up a bit.



So . . . I bought a complimentary fabric to line the hoods.



Here is a view from the front





and the back



I just traced the hood on paper and then used it as a pattern to cut the fabric.



Finally I put a "scrappy looking" name label in the back.



Hmmm . . . I think I'll make one for myself.

market bags

Sewing market bags for friends, family and gifts is one of my passions.
I have been missing sewing these lately.
It is good to be at it again.
They come in pairs.

Peek-a-Blue

Batik Turtles

Celebration ~ I Do
Like Clockwork

Spots in Spots

Early to Bed


These bags are large enough to hold five boxes of cereal!

Enough funky fabric for thirty more bags . . .


I am always surprised which bags people choose.
Would you choose pretty or funky?

View All the Market Bags

laundry soap

I have recently read about homemade laundry soap on several blogs that I visit and became interested in trying it out. I then searched the internet for more information and have actually combined a couple of different recipes. I was lucky enough to find all the ingredients at Wegman's and have included the prices. The entire recipe cost $11.24 which translates to less than 4 cents per load.


Laundry Detergent Recipe

Makes about 22 cups dry powder
3 Bars Fels Naptha Soap Grated ($3.27)
1 box Borax 4lbs 12ozs ($3.39)
1 box Arm & Hammer Washing Soda 3lbs 7ozs ($2.19)
1 box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda 4 lbs ($2.39)

Grate and chop the soap with a food processor, one bar at a time.

Mix all ingredients together.

Store in a airtight container.

Lightly soiled clothes use 1 Tbls
Heavily soiled clothes 2-3 Tbls

Notes:

Fels Naptha is found in the laundry section of the store.

After grating the soap it was not quite as fine as I wanted it so I then chopped it in the food processor until it was the consistency of coarse cornmeal.

When pouring and mixing ingredients there was a fair amount of soap powder in the air so you may want to do it outside.

The soap does not become sudsy in your washer.

Some bloggers say they add 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the rinse cycle to soften fabric and brighten whites. The vinegar clears the last bit of soap remaining on your clothes and there really was no vinegar smell left on the clothes. I still used a dryer sheet to eliminate static cling.

I shared samples of the soap with my Wine-on-Wednesday friends so will be awaiting their "market research" comments.