Home made pillow covers and wet bags

Ellie uses the Ikea Antilop highchair and tray, with the matching Barnslig supporting cushion.  While I love that the chair and the tray themselves are all plastic and easy to clean, I find that the cushion tends to get coated with whatever she is eating.  She also has a tendency to chew on it as well, which doesn't bode well for the cushion's life span.

Antilop highchair with Barnslig cushion - naked 

As with all Ikea products, the cushion really just performs the basic task of a cushion. It doesn't have any fancy bells or whistles, so there isn't a case that I can take off and wash when required. What better reason to set up my sewing machine and take a trip to Spotlight?

Turns out, Spotlight had a whole bunch of fabrics on clearance, so I walked out of there with a bevy of goodies!  The top three fabrics are 100% wool felt, marked down to $4 a metre. The bottom fabric is a plain cotton but the little blue mice couldn't be resisted, especially at $3 a metre! I also picked up a couple of zips which were going for $0.50 each, because who doesn't need zips sometime?

Spotlight haul

The felt was very quickly turned into simple pillow cases. I know that felt is most often used for craft projects but for what I wanted it for, it was perfect. No fraying and a nice, warm cushy fabric to sit against. There are no buttons or zips to complicate things, although I did make it so the pillow can be tucked in at one end to neaten things up.  I also sewed some loops in so that the highchair seatbelt could hold the cushion in place with the cover on. Including cutting and pinning time, the cases probably took about 15 minutes each at the most.

While I was on a roll, I used one of the zips to sew another wet bag with some PUL waterproof fabric that I already had. These bags are super handy - we mainly use them to store dirty nappies in while we're out as they hold in smells and wetness, but they're also great for when we're swimming, as all the wet clothes get put in to be dealt with later.  This took me a little longer as I'm not the best seamstress, especially with slippery fabric and zips to deal with, but probably only 35 minutes all up.

Cushion covers and PUL wet bag

So, all in all, with very little work, I have three unique home made items which make my life easier and add a little colour into Ellie's day.  

Antilop highchair with Barnslig cushion - covered

Have you made anything crafty lately? How do you add colour into your day?