The Nose Knows!

My quest to eliminate all paper products from my home has inspired this weeks Make it Monday projects. Today we will make tissues and handkerchiefs. These are two super quick and easy ways to cut down on your families waste of money and natural resources.

It is still cold and flu season around here soon to be replaced by allergy season. We use a lot of tissues at our house year round. Seems that someone is always blowing their nose! My hubby always has a hanky on him but the rest of us have always used disposable tissues. It doesn't seem to matter which brand you buy though, even if you use the "super soft" ones with lotion you always end up with a sore red nose. No more though! Now we are using the softest tissues you could imagine. Flannel.

Now these are made the exact same way that we made our fabric napkins before so I won't go into a huge amount of detail. Just a few quick tips.

I purchased a whole bolt of white cotton flannel when it was on sale at JoAnn Fabrics a while back. I seem to use it for everything! This is what I decided to make my tissues out of. Now, your average tissue measures approximately 8 to 8 1/2 inches square. Since I want to recycle my old empty tissue boxes, I decided to keep them about the same size.

First step is to wash and dry your fabric to pre-shrink it.

Next, I cut 9 inch wide strips (to allow for the serged edge) followed by using my quilting square to cut the strips into 9 inch squares.

Then you just need to serge around your edges and your done. I made a couple dozen to put in several old tissue boxes around the house. I love how these feel on my nose! Much better than paper!

For the handkerchiefs, the process is exactly the same except for the size, material and the finished edge. I have a king size cotton top sheet that my old washing machine ate. I was so mad! It literally ate holes in the sheet and ripped part of the top edging off. I have been holding on to it because it is really nice material and I knew that I could eventually use it for something. Now I am!

If you don't have anything around the house to repurpose, I would recommend a medium weight muslin or cotton fabric. It is inexpensive and if you have a JoAnn Fabric & Crafts near you, sign up for their mailing list, they always seem to have coupons for fabric.

 
I decided on 12 inch square for my measurements as that is about the size of the cotton hankies that I have bought my husband in the past. Cutting off the edges and working around holes, I was able to get 50 squares. We will have plenty of hankies for a long time!

For the edge I decided to use the rolled hem foot on my regular sewing machine. Now, I have never used it before so I went on YouTube and found several tutorials that helped. I advise it if you are just starting with the foot too because it is a bit tricky. After 50 hankies I am sure to get it down though. Here is what the foot looks like.

If you don't have one of these, just fold over your edges 1/8 inch, press, and fold over again straight stitching close to the edge of your fold.

After stitching around all sides you will have your own handmade handkerchief! Of course, I couldn't stop there. I wanted to add a little detail to them to make them more special. So, I used a decorative leaf stich along one side. I think they turned out really cute. So glad I made these! 

There you have it. Two super easy ways to eliminate another paper product from your home. Bravo for you! Hope you enjoyed this. Back next Monday with something a little different for you. Have a super day!

Tina :)