Lavender Pouches

A while ago (and by a while ago, I mean, years and years ago) my sweet mother gave me a lavender scented pouch to put in my underwear/sock drawer.  Using scented pouches in clothing drawers had been a family tradition for her.  Her grandmother and mother put sashes (the technical term for what I am calling "pouches") in their drawers all the time while my mom was growing up and my mom just liked the idea of carrying this onto her girls.  I mean, it makes sense, right?  Who wouldn't want the sweet light scent of lavender to float of your drawers when opening them up?  For me, the idea of scented pouches is just wonderful.  It is calming, a form of self-care (my therapist side is coming out right now), and a memory-maker.  I am so glad my mom shared this family tradition with us.

So with my mother's tradition in mind, I set out to make some lavender pouches as small thank-you gifts.  I have documented below the process of making these simple gifts.  I literally made six pouches (two per gift) in almost exactly one hour.  Once you have the supplies on hand, this is a simple and fast project.

I kind of guessed at what size of pouches I wanted.  I decided the size of a CD case would probably be good for what I was trying to make.  I traced and cut out twelve squares.

After cutting out all of my squares, I ironed them and placed the right-sides together.  I then sewed along three of the sides of my square.  I left approximately 1/4 inch of fabric on each side. I made sure to leave one side open so that I could still flip the material inside out with ease.

This is what the material looked like once I flipped it inside out.  I ironed the open side of the pouch so that it would be nice and flat.

I then started filling my pouches with the lavender.  Each pouch held about 2/3-3/4 cup.

After they were all filled, I pined down the open side.  I wanted to have a guideline for sewing the pouches closed.

This was the finished product.  I just loved how they turned out!

I hope you enjoy this picture collage of my lavender pouch project.  Seriously, these pouches were super easy to make.  If you are looking for a small, fun project to try, definitely give this one a chance.  Your senses will be thanking you every time you open your clothing drawers!

Cloth Napkins: not just for fancy dinners

My project is complete!

About a week ago, I got to thinking.  Every night Matt and I use one of our ugly paper towels with our dinner as a "napkin."  While a paper towel is practical because you can just throw it away later, it is not 1) very festive and pretty, 2) good for the environment, and 3) soft in any sort of way.  So to combat all of these issues, I decided to make the Slye household some cloth napkins.  

I started the project on Sunday but was only able to complete the first step of cutting out the squares.  I had been planning on taking today off from work so it lent me the perfect opportunity to finish my project.  Below are all the steps I took along my cloth napkin making journey.  I ended up with 42 cloth napkins in all which took about 5-10 hours to make from start to finish.  I wasn't really keeping time so that is a very rough estimate (as you can tell).   I love them all and look forward to featuring them with coming dishes!  

First, I picked out some fabric from my large fabric stash. 

I created a pattern by cutting an 11x11 square out of a cereal box side.

And then I got to cutting.

After all the squares were cut out, I ironed down all the sides about 1/4-1/2 inch.

These are all the squares with all the sides ironed down.

Next I pulled out my very handy sewing machine and began
sewing along all the ironed edges of the squares.

First cloth napkin completed!

All 42 cloth napkins completed!

The completed project.