Thursday, September 17, 2009

Creatively Frugal





Today was a day for combining creativity and frugality. I really don't enjoy sewing, so I've been letting a couple of projects pile up. Today was a really slow work day for me, so I thought I would take the opportunity to work on that pile.

My son is quickly outgrowing his cloth diapers. We make our own pocket diapers. I had already cut them out and sent them off to my mom for piecing together -- she has so much more time and sewing ability than I do and loves helping out even when she's six hours away. I really needed some diaper covers for the new diapers. I prefer to use wool wraps during the daytime. After looking at them online and realizing it was going to cost a small fortune for us to stock up, I began looking for other ideas.

I went to the thrift stores earlier in the week and picked up some nice wool sweaters. All of the thrift stores here have their winter clothes at 50% off, so I ended up paying $1.50 - $2.00 per sweater. I had washed and felted them, so I was all ready to go with the sewing today. I ended up making three wraps, and one pull on for $4 total. This saved me over $50! I am not great at sewing, so it did take me a few hours, some seam ripping, reworking, and a little frustration......but I am thrilled that I saved $50.



I've been needing a bag for our clothespins. We just put up a new clothesline (using free steel posts that we received off of freecycle). Since I had all of my sewing supplies out, I decided to dig through the rag bag and find something to create a bag with.

I found some great canvas-type material with a pretty floral print (leftover from place mats that I made a couple of years ago). I cut out a design and pieced it together. At this point, I passed it on to my husband to scrounge up the piece of wood and hook from the shed. I can never find anything in that shed!

In less than 20 minutes, I had a brand new clothespin bag swinging in the breeze. It was so easy to make, used scraps that we had on hand, and saved me from having to buy one. Not to mention that I get the satisfaction of looking out the kitchen window and seeing my own creation hanging in the yard.


Hoping this inspires you to find creative uses for supplies you already have on hand!

For more great Frugal Friday tips, hop on over to Life as Mom.

4 comments:

  1. great work! :) i love sewing. but i have to wait till hubs finished his project (refinishing my $20 sewing table) before i can start mine (cloth napkins for the formal dining room)

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  2. Wow! you go girl! I can't sew at all!!
    Awesome job!

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  3. I love the diaper wraps...do you have a pattern/tutorial? What a great idea!

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