Sunday, July 8, 2012

Penny Pinching Sunday

A Mummy and Daddy Tip

Today I have a little tip for all the Mummy and Daddy readers.

Children can be expensive. I find alot of the expenses a little unnecessary and avoidable but there are a few things that are rather handy.

Today’s Penny Pinching post is about one of those handy baby things, handmade baby food storage containers. You know the ones. The tiny little containers that cost around $12 for a set of 12. And if you are feeding your little one only homemade baby food then you will be making purees every couple of days. Or paying a fortune for a tonne of little containers that you have to find somewhere to store when they are not in use. 

I found these mini cupcake silicone trays in K-Mart for only $5 each, Bargin!


I spend an afternoon once a fortnight making up purees then freeze them in these. Once they are frozen they are really easy to get out because they are silicone and then I place the little blocks of frozen purees in labelled zip lock bags. When its meal time I just grab out a few blocks and zap them in the microwave. So easy!
And zip locked bags are much easier to store in your freezer then a tonne of little containers.
I got a small white plastic basket, also from K-Mart, for $2 and I stand them all up in the basket. It’s great to be able to just grab out the basket and also stops the zip lock bags from wandering around the deep freezer and becoming lost forever.

 I hope that this tip saves you money and time as well  :-)

Tiffany

Monday, July 2, 2012

Handmade Pram Liner

 Pram Liner - Tutorial



I am very excited about this post, it is my first tutorial post *YAY*

This sewing project was a first for me and I am very happy with the end product and how easy it was.  The project would not have happened if it wasn’t for a wonderful friend of mine, so I huge shout out to the gorgeous certain someone that lent me her pram for the holiday.

So as I said my friend lent us her lay back stroller for our holiday and I didn’t want to risk it getting dirty. So I thought I would make her a pram liner to say thank you.  Although I had no idea what I was doing so I just gave it a stab and it turned out great. So I will give you a step by step on how to make yourself a pram liner.

                                       
First off get yourself off to your closest fabric store ( I love Spotlight) and grab yourself some fabric. It is going to have to be a hardy material so that it doesn’t fade or weaken quickly, I used upholstery fabric and that works great.  Depending on the width of the fabric you will probably only need 1 metre. You will also need to get yourself some quilting padding to make it a little bit more padded. Instead of buying the padding I used a cot quilt that I had forgotten I had.  With this liner I used bias tape around the edges so you can grab yourself some of that to. Although it was the first time I have used bias tape and found it a little fiddly. When I make another liner for my pram I will just sew it inside out then turn it right side round and sew around the edges.

Take the seat material off of your pram and measure the width and length. Next, use those measurements to draw a pattern on a piece of paper. Get a cup and place it over the corners of the pattern so that you get a nice even curve when you trace around it. This is not necessary but I think it gives it a nice neat finish.  Place the pattern over the seat cover and mark down where the buckle holes will need to be and where the back of the liner will meet the seat of it.
  Then trace around the pattern on your chosen material and padding and cut them out.

How cute is the giraffe material!
 Once they are all cut out place the padding in between the fabric and pin the hell out of them.
Now get your pattern again and cut little slits were you have drawn the buckle placement. Put it on top of your liner and mark the placement down on your liner.
You will need to sew on button holes with your sewing machine over those marks. It sounds scary but it’s not that hard. If this is your first time sewing button holes (like me) then I highly recommended practicing on a scrap piece of material first.   This is my practice piece. Took me over an hour to get it right... HAHA!



Once you have mastered the button hole you need to sew a long line right across your liner where the seat and the back meet. This will help it from sliding when you have it in your pram.
   Then comes the fiddley part. Grab your bias tapes and start pinning it around the edges. Take your time with this if it is your first time. Like I said before I found out that it is not as easy as it looks and next time I’ll just be sewing it inside out then turning it right way round and sewing around the edges. I found the corners the hardest.



Once it’s all pinned on it’s as simple as sewing around the edges. Then the last thing you need to do is use a stitch unpicker thingy (it does have a name but for the life of my I can’t remember it) and use it to slice in between the button holes being very careful not to unpick your stitches.
    And voila! You have yourself a handmade pram liner.




I am very happy with the end product given that it was my first attempt.

Happy sewing.

Tiffany