Hose wrap

This is another CPAP related craft. I wanted to make a wrap that would be easy to get on and off to keep the warm humidity from the machine to the mask without “rain out”

Iwas reading online about hose wraps that were made of fleece and sewen in a tube, but the comments I saw that they were hard to get on and off. I thought I would make a wrap of fleece to reatin the lightness, but make the attachment out of velcro. I made the fabric a little wider then to just wrap around the tube to allow for the possibility of not complete coverage.

I used a rubberband to keep each end in place.

I have used it for one night and I think it helps, also it is nice just to have something fuzzy and not so medical next to you at night.

Eye Mask

I needed an eye mask to block out he light as I slept, but one that wasn’t very rigid so I could flip it up to see out from under my CPAP mask. NOTE: if you want to make one for use without a CPAP i would add some batting inbetween the two layers to keep some rigidity while you sleep.

I made this one out of a few scrap pieces of t-shirts and elastic.

First I made a pattern on paper based on my glasses, cut it out to test the fit and modified it until I thought it would block out the light I needed.

Then I layered the two fabrics I was going to use and cut out the pattern with a ¼ inch seam allowance.

Next I sewed the elastic into the light blue fabirc which is the front fabirc so nothing would bother my face. I made the elastic long enough to keep very loose tenstion so it wouldn’t fall off my face.

Then I sewed the two pieces of the eye mask together inside out leaving the two openings unsewn so the strap would be right side out. Then I sewed those holes together and I was done.

MP3 Player/Eye Glasses Bag

I have been criticized for making a new bag for every new thing I buy, which is not far from the truth but it keeps things safe and organized, so I am ok with this criticism.

I bought an MP3 player to help me study for an exam and have found it helpful while exercising as well, but I needed a way to keep it safe and in order in my bag between uses so I made the bag as follows. This is similar to the external hard drive bag I made but the drawstring mechanism is different.

For this project I used the end of a long sleeved shirt, a piece of pre quilted fabric and a piece of ribbon.

First cut the sleeve to legnth for your item, long enough for the item to fit with a little extra room and some overlap to “trap” the ribbon.

Second cut the pre quilted fabric, as long as you want for the item and an extra ½ inch for sewing the fabirc together. NOTE: Pre quilted fabric is used for ease of use and to give some extra padding for the item.

Then you need to sew the pre quited fabric along the line of the edge of the sleeve fabric. Note likely this will not be a straight line so sew accordingly.

Next we need to do the basic assembly. Turn the sleeve fabric inside out so that in the outside is on the inside. Then turn the pre quilted fabirc inside out so that the pattern is on the inside and put the sleeve inside the pre quilted fabric.

On the skinnier side turn in the bottom edges and sew this shut.
One the skinnier side turn in the bottom edges and sew this shut.

Next you need to create the draw sting channel by folding the sleeve fabirc over quilted fabric to trap the ribbon.

This is probably eassiest done by pinning the ribbon in place underneth the sleeve fabric, so the ribbon is not sewen into fabric. Note also you need to cut along the seam of the sleeve fabric to the top of the pre quilted fabric to allow the ribbon room to come out.

Then you are done. It is also good for some big sunglasses that won’t fit into a traditional case and the sleeve fabirc is also very soft so you can clean your glasses eassily as well.

27* Dresses

This is a little video i made showcasing the outfits I made over the course of my childhood for my favorite stuffed animal, Beethoven. I recently found them while cleaning out my things from my parents house.

Grocery Bag Holder

This is a very simple project you can do in about an hour. My sister wanted me to make a grocery bag holder and dispenser, she picked out the color and I sewed it all by hand. One note the pre quilted fabric is a little difficult when it comes to stringing the ribbon.

I took about a 15 inch square folded each of what will be the open ends over ½ inch or so depending on the ribbon you want to use. Then pinned the long edges together and sewed along the pin lines. Note: do not sew over the pockets created when folding the edges over.

Then string some ribbon through the pockets you created. This is not always an easy task, you can try a needle to guide the ribbon, a chopstick to push the ribbon, or what I ended up using was a long bit of wire folded in half to give you something that is sturdy enough to push, yet still bendable to make it around the corners. The ribbon will be short on one side to tie the ribbon in a bow and the other long to be able to hang it on the wall.

External Hard Drive Bag

External Hard drive bag

I was running out of space on my flash drive and decided to go big and get a 160 GB hard drive. Then I came upon the realization I didn’t have a way to keep it safe. I decided to make a little pouch to ameliorate the situation.

I used the sleeves from two of the leftover shirts of my t-shirt quilt along with some spare batting and ribbon. When cutting the sleeves make sure to leave some excess above the make crease for the drawstring portion of the bag.

I then pined and sewed the bottom of the bag and batting together, making sure the batting didn’t show outside of the bottom seam.

Next sew the black fabric down over the batting and pin the ribbon just above the main seam on the outside fabric. You will have to cut a slit in the outer fabric to let the ribbon out.

Now sew the outer fabric over ribbon.

Next sew these two layers together and be careful not to sew the ribbon into these layers.


Tada you are done!

Newspaper Bow

Bow Instructions

I do not like to buy wrapping paper so most often I will wrap packages in newspaper, but I do not like to give boring looking packages so I dress them up with bows and “ribbon” around the package. I started doing this in 2001 and at the time I had access to the local newspaper [white gray in color] and the financial times [pink/salmon in color]. I liked to use these two to give contrast in my wrapping, now since I do not have access to the financial times I try to use a very colorful section of the news paper for the bow or I might use the add inserts to get the same color variation effect.

The steps are fairly straightforward but it takes some practice and possibly some finesse to get the bows just right.

NOTE: when wrapping with newsprint the ink might rub off on the item. In some cases this does not matter but if the item is cloth then it is best to cover the item in a plastic grocery bag of two to protect it.


1.Gather the materials you will need, newspaper, clear scotch tape , scissors, and a stapler.

2. Select the paper, you wish to use for you bow and cut into stripes as wide as you want, typically I cut them about an inch wide. They do not need to be perfectly even across the length of the strip. I usually cut a couple of sheets of paper thick with each cut and the paper is bound to wiggle as you cut, which helps to give you these odd widths. You only need a few stripes of full length newspaper for each bow. I typically use about 3 stripes for a 3 inch or so bow.

3. Take these three stripes and tape them together. Tape is only necessary on one side. You can always add more strips as you go along but I have found three finishes most bows.

4. Make your first loop with the strip and keep the layers folded between your thumb and index finger. The loop almost looks like an awareness ribbon.

5. Make two more loops in the same manor. This is beginning to almost look like a Celtic knot.

6. Staple these three loops in place.

7. Continue in the same manor adding three loops at a time. It is best to angle the loops to fit in the in-between spaces of the previous set of loops, to create a full appearance. I find doing more than 3 loops at a time gets too much to hold and I wind up having to start from the beginning when I try to do more than 3 at a time.

8. Continue adding three more loops.

9. Last two loops. Just judge as you are making it what size the loops need to be, they will be bigger at the beginning and smaller at the end.

10. Now we are almost done with the three strips we started with, so if you need more length you can add another strip or part of one if needed. To make the final loop I add a looped piece of tape to the bottom of the strip and fold it over in place to create a more polished look if you don’t want to see the staples. Though this step is not necessary and you could finish the bow in step 9 by making 3 loops and stapling them into place. THE BOW IS DONE.

11. Now it is time to make the embellishments. My goal is to make the “ribbon” around the outside look as much like real ribbon as it can be. To make the “Ribbon” around the edges tape three or so stripes together to wrap around in the traditional pattern with one part of the strip on each side of the package.[not pictured] After this is done there should be about 5 inches or so of the strip that is left over [though it can be done with more or less, the less excess length the less of the curl will show]. What I like to do with this is curl the ribbon. To do this first cut each strip into three smaller stripes, again these do not need to be even.

12. Take these smaller stripes and roll them around the end of the scissors

13. Pinch the newsprint to keep it in this new bent shape.

14. Voila! Curled ribbon!

15. The finished package