Und allem Weh zu Trotze bleib ich
Verliebt in die verrückte Welt.
H.Hesse

Thursday, February 11, 2010

retrofit scrubby tutorial

I entered a contest in my German crafting group! We all made dishcloths in various techniques. From knitting to felting, crochet, or weaving. Everything was a go...
Since I am really into sewing, it was the obvious choice for me.

I even won 5th place with it (which I shared with two other wonderful people from the group)
Here is how I made my dishcloth/scrubby:

You need:
- a little net, the kind tomatoes or lemons come in some times...(I try not to buy them in the little nets, but sometimes you don't have a choice and so I thought: why not make something useful out of it? Got Lemons? Make a scrubby!!
- a bit of leftover fabric
- a sewing machine (you can do it by hand if you like, it is not tooooo much to sew around)
- scissors

Here is what you do:
When you bring the netting home, make sure you open it carefully on one end only. Don't rip it open!
When the contents are emptied out of the net, take you scissors and cut off the other end to make a tube like so:Now cut a square out of some leftover fabric you have (I used some sort-of-corduroy I had left over. Heavy cotton would work... if you only have T-shirt type fabric, use two layers maybe....)Insert the fabric in the netting tube.Set a zig zag stitch on your sewing machine and zig zag all the way around. Cut the tubes' ends to fit with the dimensions of the fabric.Presto! Done! :)The netting has a bit of a scour to it without actually scratching your non-stick surface, or your glass cook top. It also is more environmentally friendly then most of the scrubbing powders out there. Do not put it in the dryer though. If you do the netting might shrink a bit.. you could Iron it on the lowest setting and stretch it out again...but try that on a bit of netting before you go all out and it mucks up your iron!Have at it! Make some retrofit scrubbies and go bonkers cleaning your kitchen! :D

12 comments:

Sue said...

I often see those net bags on oranges and think there must be a good use for them!

Melissa said...

Very clever, thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

What a great idea. I save the bags to collect shells at the sea shore but now I think I will try your idea and make new scrubbies for the kitchen.
Thanks!

Me said...

brilliant!! As I don't crochet or knit I've always been jealous of those who do and get to make these...

Jessica said...

Such an awesome! Thanks for sharing and congrats on winning fifth place!

Anonymous said...

Great idea! I buy Asian pears a lot & always hate throwing out the little nets they are sometimes nestled in to protect them. Now I know what I'll do with them--thanks!

amberjoy said...

Hooray! My beloved scrub sponges are one of the last disposable items I have been unable to find a suitable alternative for (my crochet dishcloths not being "scrubby" enough). Meanwhile, I have several of those net things I just knew there had to be a use for. THANK YOU!

The Sewing Dork said...

What a great recycling idea. I need some of these, so I'm off to the store to buy some lemons...

spinndiva said...

Thanks guys! It was so quick and easy to make and works great !:D

Jennifer said...

I cam over from Wardrobe Refashions.

This is an awesome idea. Our onions come in net bags, and I know what I'm going to spend my weekend working up!

Great job!

Malea M and J Designs said...

What a fantastic refashion! I've always wondered what I could do with those nets and never had any good ideas. This one is great!!!!

boatx2 said...

Omagash, this is SO wonderful!
Buying those scrubbies can get can so ridiculous and since it's my job to clean the kitchen, I always loathe going to buy them.

But if I can just make them with what I already have, what a relief.

you go, Bridgett