DIY Reusable Cosmetic Pads, Sewing Edition

Some of you may remember the Reusable Cotton Wool Pads I crocheted back this January. I used them only for a very short time as I needed about twice the amount of lotion compared to store-bought, single-use cotton wool pads. Furthermore, the cleansing effect of the crocheted surface was pretty low on my skin.

However, I did not want to give up on the idea of finding a sustainable solution. My next approach are sewn cosmetic pads with one woven cotton and one terry side. And this is what I did:

First, I have cut a cardboard circle of 8cm in diameter.

This was my stencil to cut circles from woven cotton scraps, which then were pinned on the terry fabric (an old towel would also serve well) to cut the terry in shape.

Next, I sowed both circles together leaving a seam opening just large enough to turn them inside out.

As I was too lazy for an elegant finishing, I have sewn the last seam visibly from the top. I know this leaves room for improvement, but I first wanted to make sure the terry pads are worth the effort. Fingers crossed it will work out this time.

A Scrap Yarn Sweater, Luxury Edition

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First, I have to admit I finished this one about a year ago, wore it all winter and forgot to blog about it. Today, I have started to wear it again so I better tell you about it right now.

I decided to knit this sweater as an experiment on how to use up several black sock yarn leftovers from different brands at once. Of course, there were some differences in colour and texture, so I held them together with a neon blue Kidsilk yarn from my stash which I never would have used on its own. The result just looks stunning with the marled effect of the two yarn types together. As a plus, you only feel the softness of the Kidsilk yarn on your skin, there is no itchyness of the sock yarn involved.

The pattern used is Top-Down Top by Anna & Heidi Pickles, a cleverly constructed, batwing sleeved sweater. It is super easy to follow and quick to knit on 5.5 mm needles. It is knit top-down in one piece with minimal finishing. The batwing sleeves end around the elbows and the waistline, respectively, followed by tight ribbing to make it a long-sleeved, hip-length sweater. This makes it very comfortable to wear as you can still fit into a regular coat. Perfect!

The blue yarn, by the way, is Kid Seta by Madil Yarns. In my opinion, the quality of this yarn is outstanding with long fibre lengths and extreme softness. It is a pleasure to knit and wear. I am really sad this yarn is discontinued.

However, this sweater already has become a winter wardrobe favourite. It is lightweight, yet warm and can be styled in a million ways from casual to glamorous. Maybe I should mix up leftover and unloved yarns more often.

Reusable Cotton Wool Pads

I actually had planned to abandon store-bought, single-use cotton pads for a while, but I just could not find the motivation to finally start making my own washable ones from cotton leftovers. However, sorting my stash recently made me aware of the huge amount of cotton leftovers waiting to be made into something. You can find quite a few (free) patterns for this crocheted version on Ravelry which are actually pretty similar. I chose one from 2013, DIY: Reusable Cotton Wool Pads by Lyndsey Haskell. The pattern is easy to follow and the pads are fast and fun to make. My first bunch comprises 15 ones which used up 58g of DK weight cotton yarn in sum. I have not tested them yet as I need about 50 of them to start the using/washing cycle in a relaxed way. So, there will be more of them, soon.

A linen stitch scarf

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Once again, my huge yarn stash was driving me crazy, when a friend asked me to knit him a scarf. I found three balls of dark grey, DK weight alpaca yarn and some colourful DK weight merino scraps. To add some extra spice, I decided to knit the scarf in linen stitch. I loosely followed the Cerus Scarf pattern, but I cast on 445 stitches and added one colour row after two grey ones. The idea of adding fringe was partly due to omitting sewing in a gazillion of lose ends, partly due to achieving softer edges. The result is 2.10 m long (without the fringe) and 15 cm wide after 37 rows.

Summer Fling Bag

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The next destash project this year is a linen bag. The pattern is Summer Fling, an easy to follow pattern intended for fingering weight yarn. I have used 136g leftovers of DK weight linen yarns from La Droguerie and Yllet. I did not make any changes, nonetheless​ the bag is pretty small. However, I like the result although it does not qualify as an everyday handbag. It is just too small.

Scrappy Mittens

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The destashing continues, this time with a pair of mittens for a dear friend. I have chosen the Kinos pattern as I liked the idea of showcasing a short row construction with stripes.

The pattern is well written and great fun to knit. I have used 65g of DK weight Merino scraps for a medium men’s size. You definitely should give this pattern a try!