Last weekend I hit up a few local thrift shops to try to find some sheets that I could repurpose. The buttons above are actually from a trip a few weeks ago to a flea market in Brooklyn when we were up visiting friends... but they are super cute so I wanted to share them with you too. I decided that I will collect buttons so it was totally justified to buy them with no particular project in mind, right?
Anyways, back to the sheets. I am really excited to be participating in Craft Hope's project to make safe birthing kits for Haiti - where you provide practical supplies to assist in the birth, like hand sanitizer and a plastic sheet, but also a receiving blanket, tote bag, and small stuffed animal. I wanted to make sure that I had enough materials to make a good number (hopefully 7 or 8 kits), and I figured sheets or pillowcases would give good material to reuse in making the receiving blankets in particular.
The sheet selection at both places I went wasn't that great, but I found some really good pillowcases (and very affordable, too)! I am figuring that I can use two pillowcases cut open to make a good sized receiving blanket. I was hoping to find some flannel ones to make one side nice and snuggly, but no luck, so I may make some blankets with just the pillowcases and others using other fabrics and see what works best. I don't want them to be too insubstantial but also not so heavy, so you could still swaddle a baby in it.
The one large sheet that I liked that I did find was this fun ocean print. It is actually a pretty heavy weight and kind of stiff so I am thinking I will use that to make the tote bags for this project. The tablecloth on the left I just picked up because I thought it was cute, and it is for me to keep not for this project (at least for now)... I will probably just use it as a tablecloth but may use it as fabric at some time in the future.
What projects are you up to? Have you ever done a charity craft project? This is my first and I am very excited!
What a neat idea! I have made a couple of blankets for Project Linus (http://www.projectlinus.org/about.html) - I should do another one this year - and some handmade soft toys for another charity whose name escapes me (this was years ago). I love stuff like this because it's both useful and really comforting.
ReplyDeleteThose buttons are too too cute. My mother has a friend (in DC, actually) who is an amazing quilter, and she has a wall of framed vintage buttons and it makes really cool art. A lot of the cards have handwritten notes, and you could easily spend all day looking at all of the different designs.
ReplyDeleteAs for charity sewing... well, I have to make a simple but impressive looking project for my daughter's school auction. Not exactly a birthing kit for Haitian women. That looks like a really great organization. Thanks for the link.