One Crafty Pup

Showing posts with label Crafts. Show all posts

DIY Ocean Theme Sensory Bag

Posted by Cecillia

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Hi, my lovely readers, i hope you are well today.

Today's post will be about making a sensory bag. I made one and it was super easy and fun. Less than 2 hours to make.

Sensory bag has similar concept to sensory bottles. It is used to expand children's sense of touch, fine motor skills, hand and eye coordination, creativity and adventure.

I don't think introducing early to your babies will bring any harm. However, keep in mind that babies tend to put everything inside their mouth. If you feel uncomfortable, you may skip and introducing later when they grow older (above 1 year old).

Please note that you must always supervise your baby during the play. Never leave them alone. And store away far and secure from your baby's reach out.

I wanted my baby to learn something new, therefore i am making one :)

If you search on the internet, you will find tons of great ideas and tutorials for making sensory bags. All are fun and creatives with different materials and elements.

I came up with ocean theme. Inside my imagination there is a dolphin, a jellyfish, a seahorses and some fish swimming around seaweeds. I think i went too overboard this time :D cause i don't think my baby will understand (yet). But, let's try to make one ;)

Let's Make Them.

You will need 1pc of freezer bag. You can find in storage section at supermarket. Most supermarkets will have stocks. I have seen at Giant, Fairprice Extra, Cold Storage, Daiso and even mini markets). As for the size, it depends on you. The one i am using is L size Daiso freezer bag size 27cm x 28cm.

For making a sensory bag, you will need rounded non sharp objects to prevent punctures to the bag. I am making my objects using glitter foam sheets. Feel free to use any rounded non sharp objects to put inside your sensory bag. It could be round beads, pom-poms, ribbons, etc.

For the sea animals (except the dolphin) and the seaweed i hand drawn then cut. As for the dolphin, i am using cookie cutter. Traced then cut.

Cut the seaweed smaller width than your freezer bag.

Hi there Mr Jellyfish.

1st Arrangement.

Googly eyes glued to each sea animals to added cuteness.

I don't want to look overcrowded, but i think need to add in something.

Pom-poms.

Hmm, how about 1 more sea animal?

Mr Seahorse and a fish.

Does it look better?

I decided to add in 1 more small fish :)

You can fill your bag with water or hair gel.

I went with clear hair gel.

My previous hair gel only left less than half tube. I went to buy new jar. I am going with blue colour.

Don't fill the bag until full as you can't move the objects.

I filled about 1/2 of bag.

Then squeezed many air as you can before slide the zipper closed.

The glitter from Mr Jellyfish came off not long after i poured the hair gel.

Use clear tape sealed around 4 edges of the bag, to prevent any leakages. I sealed 4 times.

For decorative touch, you may use patterned duct tape to cover the 4 sealed edges.

Since, i found duct tapes quite expensive in Singapore, i decided to draw my own pattern using a white colour tape.

You will need permanent markers. Preferably bold and bright colours. I am using my Sharpie markers. For the patterns or designs i am just using my patterned ruler? I do not know what this ruler called. It is a rectangle shape ruler with many sizes and shapes of circles, triangles, squares and hexagons.

Ta-da. This my final results!!!!

I drew the circles and triangles with the help of the ruler. The rest i just free hand drew them.

Wait until the ink are dry then give to your baby.

Always with adult supervision.

Stored away after play.

Hope he likes it.

Yup, his first reaction was to put it inside his mouth.

Yes, he likes it!!!!

He does not understand yet what inside the bag are. I supervised then played with him while described each animals to him.

To be honest, i enjoyed played it too :D

Fast Forward to few days later:

This was how the bag looked like.

More glitter from the sea animals came off.

The gel colour became blurry.

It looked better when taped onto the window.

All tangled cause my baby loves to crunch the bag :))

For future sensory bag prijects, i will make few amendments:

Doubled the freezer bag to prevent any leaking. I think my bag was leaking. Cause i keep smell the perfume from the hair gel.
Use non glitter foam sheets as the glitter easily came off after the hair gel been poured.
Skip making patterned tape using permanent marker cause babies tend to put everything inside their mouth. I do not want my baby tasting the ink from Sharpie.

Okay, that it, we are finish :)

I will see you again on my next post.

Let's Make Them.

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DIY Baby Rattle Toy - A Quick, Easy and Inexpensive Project

Posted by Cecillia

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0 comments

Hi my lovely readers,

WHOA!!! It's new year already and today is 02 Feb 2016. Time really flies. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

Lots happened in 2015 in my life, both happiness and tragedy. Hopefully in year 2016 my life would be splendid (hehe, must keep positive thinking).

Okay, i don't have much time. My baby is taking morning nap. He usually naps around 10am and lasted 1-2 hour. So, let's get started.

For today's tutorial or DIY project, i wanted to share DIY Baby Rattle Toy. I have been wanting to make this toy ever since Matthew was born. And i have been eyeballing for unique shapes of plastic bottles, but i didn't find any, so when my hubby brought home empty pepsi bottle, i quickly washed it and dried it (can't wait any longer to make this toy).

I guarantee it's super quick, easy and inexpensive. I mean it, really quick, max 10 minutes ;)

let's Make Them.

Gather all the supplies:

Plastic bottle - I use pepsi plastic bottle. Cleaned and dried overnight. You can use any size or shapes of plastic bottle. I don't recommend glass bottle as you baby will play with it by sliding it, rolling it and even dropping it to the floor.
Beads - Lots of colours, sizes and shapes. I use round shape beads.
Colour lacing braid - You can skip them if you don't have. I can't remember for what purpose or project i bought them for.
Metal bells - Again any sizes and colours.
Glue gun - Or any strong glue to prevent your baby from opening the cap.

Take a closer look of the colour lacing braid.

Metal Bells.

Beads, beads, and beads.

Choose bold colours. According to baby experts, baby more attracted to bold and bright colours.

Add little bit of darker colours of beads and lighter colours and even gold colours to add varieties.

Filled the bottle but not too many. Max: half the bottle.

Mine is only quarter.

Don't forget the bells.

Let's twist some cords.

Grab 1 cord the twisted to your index finger.

You can try to twisted to your other fingers to create different sizes.

Let's make smaller twisted cords.

Twisted it to your little finger aka your pinky.

I left few cords untwisted for variations.

You may add more beads, bells, cords if you like.

Lastly: sealed the cap with hot glue gun and let it dry. It shouldn't be long.

YAY!!! It is DONE.

Tester Time: Baby Matthew just woke up from his nap. His eyes locked to his new toy.

Observing...

YES!!! I can tell he likes his toy already.

Smile my baby boy!!!

"This is mine. Go and make your own toy." He said.

Thank you for visiting and reading my tutorial. Hope you enjoy it.

Feel free to share the tutorial and pin it.

Let's Make Them.

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Turned Old T-Shirt Into Pocket Cloth Diaper Tutorial

Posted by Cecillia

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Hi my lovely readers,

Before we start, i wanted to say:

"Happy Hari Raya Idul Fitri

Minal Aidin Wal Fahidzin"

Happy Holiday!!

To those who celebrate.

I am back to share my latest tutorial on making a pocket cloth diaper using an old t-shirt.

I have been practicing on making cloth diapers. Been searching so many free pattern available from the internet to try out. My favourites so far are:

Rita rump's pocket diaper (which i already share to you on how i made my first cloth diaper using Rita's free pattern).
Arfy's free downloaded pattern, here is the link and tutorials: http://prefold2fitted.blogspot.sg/2012/10/online-free-downloads.html

I love Arfy's free cloth diapers patterns. You will find lots of free patterns with varies sizes, types of cloth diapers (pocket, AIO, AI2, diaper covers, many more). Her patterns and tutorials are easy to follow. Even for beginners like me. So don't hesitate to check her blog ;)

For this week's tutorial, i will using 1 of the Arfy's free pattern called OS Squaretab AI2 Template. I tried to copy the link of the patterns, but does not seems to find it anymore. However, no worries, you can search from many free patterns available on her blog. It's Free!!!

Let's gather our materials:

An old t-shirt, preferable size: XL, the bigger the better. But since i don't have and mine was a S size t-shirt, so let's try it out then :)
The template from Arfy's website. Print, cut and join as per instruction.
Any wicking fabric. I am using my fleece.
Water resistant fabric. It is very hard to find PUL type of fabrics here in Singapore. Mostly you need to order from oversees and quite costly due to the shipping cost. I was happy enough to find a water resistant fabric from a shop in people's park complex, Lye Nai Shiong. It cost about $3/yard and it is imported from Japan. The material feels like the one they use to make umbrellas. We tested the fabric by pouring a glass of water and amazing, it retains the water from dripping.
Sewing supplies: scissor, non-permanent marker, taylor's chalk, pins, matching thread.
Velcro or plastic snaps.
Elastic.
Fabric glue (optional).

The tutorial is quite long as i try to take as many as i can for the step by step pictures. I also did some modification on the pattern.

Bear with me and let's get started ;)

This is my old t-shirt that i am going to turn into a cloth diaper.

I bought at Kota Kinabalu many moons ago during vacation.

It's size S (now, hardly fit me).

You can see why i can't wear this t-shirt anymore. Got lots of stains. I tried to remove the stains using bleach, but failed. Although i only wear it once :(

Trace the pattern onto the t-shirt. Make sure the orang utan pattern is going to the right direction where you wanted it to be seen. Mine was at the back.

Once, you are happy then cut.

Oups, sorry you can see my baby bump ;)

This how the t-shirt look like after cutting.

I fold it to make sure the orang utan pattern is in the right direction: At the back.

Attach soft side of the velcro. You can use any colours you like or matching with the colours of the t-shirt. The length was up to you. Then sew slowly. The t-shirt fabric tends to stretch while you sew.

I decided to use plastic snaps for the diaper's rise, because the pattern is for universal size, so i want the cloth to be fitted for newborn to toddler.

I made my own snaps placement. But, most Arfy's patterns already included the snaps placement.

I use the scrap water resistant fabric to cover the snaps. And attach the fabric using little bit of fabric glue.

Sorry, i have not included tutorial on how to attach the snaps. However, you can search from the internet or youtube. It's not that hard.

Okay, continue on making overlap flap pocket for the inside a.k.a the poop catcher ;))

Cut the wicking fabric for the shorter flap. This is where i modify the pattern. Actually, Arfy also have a pattern, which have overlap flap style cloth diaper for the inside. But, i find this pattern is more simple and easy to follow.

I extended the height of the height about 1.5-2 cm for easy folding. You can see my marking on the picture.

Extending 1.5-2cm.

You will need to do the same with the other flap.

Extending 1.5-2 cm.

I wanted the shorter flap to be lined with water resistant fabric.

I only extend the height about 1cm.

I prefer using less pins to the water resistant fabric, therefore a fabric glue will comes in handy.

I only apply tiny dots in few areas only.

Fold 2x from the extra 1.5-2cm of the fleece and use clips to hold them in place.

I use 3 steps zig zag stitch. This is the setting i often use. You can use normal zig zag stitch and even straight stitch.

I use the left side of my foot as the guide line. Then sew slowly.

Try not to pull or stretch when sewing the fleece, otherwise it will stretch like crazy. Just slowly guide and feed the fabric to the foot then stitch.

Do the same with the other flap.

Ta-da!!! Both flaps are finish.

Let's overlap them. The water resistant will be on the inside.

We need to stitch the overlap part together, so they will not shift or stretch like crazy.

Short stitches will do.

Okay, all fabrics are done and ready to be sew together.

Stack them: pocket fleece right side up - t-shirt wrong side up - water resistant (does not matter which side) Then pin or clip together.

I use mini pins at the edge of the seams to hold the water resistant fabric attached to the t-shirt. Because it can be quite slippery when sew. Remember to leave minimum 10cm opening. I leave an opening at the front of the diaper. Because we will sew the elastic at the waist part later on.

Sew slowly and try not to pull the fabric so often. I use the edge of my presser foot as the guide. Pay attention on the curve. It can be bulky on the overlap pocket, so sewing slowly is the best solution.

This is how it looks like. The fleece fabric will stretch a bit, even when you did not pull the fabric while sewing.

Try to flip all inside out to check everything are in order.

The overlap pocket.

Poop catcher ;)

Alright, everything look okay. Now, time to attach the elastics to both legs and waist.

Arfy's pattern already have the elastic placement markings. I marked them with non permanent marker.

Mark 2 Xs at the elastic. I usually leave few mm extra.

Fold the elastic matching the 2 Xs.

Mark the X. You will need to start stitch from the first X to the new X (the middle).

Do the same for the other leg and the waist.

At the end you will have 3 pieces of elastics: 2 for both legs and 1 for waist.

I use normal zig zag stitch.

You may want to try the setting first with fabric scraps. The width and length of the zig zag stitch must fits the elastic. can't be too wide or to long.

Important: You will have to stitch inside the seams. Therefore the width of the elastics your will be using can't be wider than your seams.

Do the back stitches few time to tack the elastic.

Now, you are going to need to use both of your hands (i asked hubby for taking pictures). Use your left hand hold the fabric behind presser foot, while your right hand must pull taut the elastic. You must do this until your reach the end of the X marking on the fabric. If you don't pull the elastic and holding the fabric, the needle will snap/break.

Sew slowly, take your time.

Let's start!! Just slowly.

The fabric will start to puckered. This is how we want ;) keep holding the fabric and pull the elastic taut.

Once you have reached the end of the X marking, do few back and fort stitch to secured the elastic. Cut any excess elastic.

Do the same to the other leg and the waist. Once done, you will have something look like this.

Snips all corners and trim away any bulks. Then flip all inside out. Time to do top stitching.

Before we start the top stitching, let us mark where the elastic start and end. Find the starter and the end with your finger, then mark. This is to create casings for the elastic. You will make 3 casings: 2 for both legs and 1 for waist.

I marked them with non permanent marker. Do the same with the 2 legs. Mark the start and the end.

Alright, do the top stitching. Close up the 10cm opening made earlier. Now, once you reach where the elastic start. Mine is the right leg part, put your needle down, lift up your presser foot...

Pivot down...

Bring down your presser foot then stitch about 1-1.5cm downward, depending how wide your elastic (the casing must be wider than your elastic ya). For example my elastic is about 0.7cm, so my top stitching will measure 1.2cm. You can draw straight line with non permanent marker before stitching. Or if not just eye ball it using your stitch guide.

This step also important. When sewing the elastic casing, you will have to pull the fabric straight. Otherwise the ruffled/gathered/puckered will not happening.

As usual, just sew slowly.

Now, we have reach the end of the elastic's mark. Do the same again by bring your needle down, lift up the presser foot then pivot up. Stitch upward 1-1.5cm. Then continue to top stitching closer to the edge. Do the same steps once you reach the start and end of the other elastics.

Almost done!!!! Do not worry if the stitching a bit messy. This is for diapering anyway ;)

Back view.

I tested the front snaps.
Now, time to attach the velcro to the both wings.
I just eyeball them for the position. I prefer to attached the velcro at the last step of sewing, because fabric tends to moved or shifted while sewing.

Prepare 2 pieces 4cm rough side and 2 pieces 4cm soft side of the velcro.

I rounded the corners, but this is optional.

After you positioned the rough side (must match with the front soft side of the velcro with sewed earlier)...

Place the soft side velcro, give it space 3mm. That is for the laundry tab.

Then sew.

Done, done done!!!!

What is the use of laundry tab for this diaper?
It's to prevent the rough side of the velcro get snatch with other clothes while washing in washing machine.
Before you put dirty cloth diaper, you need to fold the wings. Therefore, your other clothes inside washing machine will be safe from the rough side velcro (and you don't want that to happen. It will ruin your clothes).