Easy Peasy Tissue Cover Tutorial

My hubby and I went to Target last night to pick up a few things and I grabbed some of the travel sized packs of Kleenex for this project.

My hubby says "Who are those for?"
Me -  "These are for the Moms at church on Sunday"
Him-  "I know we don't have much money, but can't we do better than that?"
I just laughed and said "Trust me".


These are so quick and easy to do. You can whip them up in no time.

1. Cut 4 rectangles 5 1/4" by 3 3/4".

2. Take 2 of the pieces and fold them in half lengthwise with wrong sides together and press.

3. Take remaining 2 rectangles and match them wrong sides together. Place the 2 pressed pieces on top with the folded edges toward the center.

4. Using a small stitch setting (I set my machine to 2), stitch around all 4 sides (1/4" seam allowance). I backstitch where the 2 folded edges meet. This is a stress point so it's good to have a bit of strength there.

5. Zig Zag around all 4 sides to keep the fabric from fraying and again, it adds a bit of strength.

6. Turn to the outside and gently push out the corners. You can press the tissue cover at this point if you want to. Insert a package of Kleenex and you're done!

And that's it! Easy Peasy!

You gotta love free stuff!

So the other day while I was at the beach with my little pirates, this cute little Octopus followed me home....... OK, maybe not, but doesn't she look realistic with the photo of Crystal Cove in the background? I mean you can hardly see the monitor frame right?

Oh well...

 I found this free download to make this adorable Octopus online and you can find it here. It's designed by Melly & Me. I used the basic pattern and changed the face and added the ribbon to the top of her head. I thought it would be a fun texture for little Sofia to touch. This was really FTS (fun to sew)! I did make 2 changes to the way the pattern is written. It's not that I am so much better at doing any of these things than the designers of these patterns, I'm just sharing what worked easier for me. First off, it easier for me to do the face details before you assemble and stuff the toy. The pattern has you adding the eyes after it's stuffed and I prefer to do that first. Also the pattern has you leave an opening in the side of the
Octopus' head for turning and you stitch it closed
 by hand after stuffing. I chose to leave an opening
at the bottom of the toy. There is less stress on that
 seam and it looks neater. I'm planning to make a
few more of these in different colors. I used
 chocolate brown flannel with pink polka dots for
 my Sofia. Who doesn't love an Octopus?
 I mean seriously?