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28 Best unique gifts for sewing friends in 2024
Leggi questo post in: Italiano The holiday season is upon us and I’m sure some of you sometimes find yourself wondering what to give sewing enthusiast friends, right? Well, don’t worry because I’ve come up with the 28 best unique gifts for sewing friends that …
How to make easy DIY bat wings for Halloween (free sewing pattern)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Are you looking for a homemade costume idea that’s not only spooky, but also versatile enough to be used for different Halloween or cosplay creatures? Well, look no further because I’ve got the ultimate solution for you! These easy DIY …
Best Pajama Pant Pattern for Kids: Evening Primrose PJ Pants Sewing Pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Back in 2015 I published my first sewing pattern with sizes, the Evening Primrose Pajama Pants for women. Over and over, people told me what I already knew to be true: it’s the best pajama pant pattern out there because …
How to String Chili Peppers to Dry (Sewing in the Kitchen)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Sewing is a super useful skill to have, but not only for making clothes or other fabric items. It can be used for other parts of life, for example gardening, because a very simple sewing technique can be incredibly useful …
How to Make a DIY Denim Banner from Upcycled Jeans
Leggi questo post in: Italiano After a long hiatus from publishing new tutorials, I’m back with a new sewing project that’s perfect for beginners, especially those who love repurposing! So take out all your ripped, worn out or stained jeans and make a DIY denim …
How to Make Pumpkin Pie from Fresh Pumpkin and Milk
Leggi questo post in: Italiano As an American expat living in Italy, I miss out all the specifically American holidays. I’ve been either vegetarian or nearly so for years, so missing out on Thanksgiving turkey doesn’t bother me. But pumpkin pie was another story! It’s …
Autumn Cardigan Sewing Pattern Review: Laurelhurst and Drop Pocket
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I always feel a little sad when it starts getting too chilly to wear my summery tops, so I usually continue wearing them well into the fall with cardigans over them. So I’m going to show you a couple of …
How to Make a Hooded Cape for a Child or Adult
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I am a big fan of versatile Halloween costumes that can be used for different characters. This way we can get lots of use out of each piece and be creative in using them different ways. Today I’m going to …
25+ Autumn Sewing Patterns and Projects to Stay Cozy at Home
Leggi questo post in: Italiano After the torrid summers we suffer through here in southern Italy, the arrival of autumn is always quite welcome! We look forward to snuggling down with a book, a blanket and a cup of tea, and all the other comforts …
Wool Felt Banner DIY from Upcycled Sweaters
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Today’s sewing tutorial is extra cool because this felt banner DIY combines three things that I love: repurposing felted wool sweaters, bias tape, and bunting banners. Fabric banners and paper garlands just make me happy. They’re so joyful and colorful, …
How to Decorate a Straw Hat (Modern Summer Hat Makeover)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Summer’s officially here and it’s HOT! And sunny. Which means that a big summer hat is a must. So today I’m showing you how to decorate a straw hat in a really easy, colorful way! The secret to this modern …
The 35 Best Cool Summer Sewing Projects for Beginners
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It’s June and it’s starting to get hot! Which is why today I want to share with you some of my favorite cool summer sewing projects that are easy enough for beginners, but fun and useful enough for more experienced …
How to Make a Cap Sleeve T shirt (without a pattern!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano With spring here and summer just around the corner, my family uses a LOT of T-shirts. Luckily, I came up with an incredibly simple way to make a cap sleeve T-shirt in just 10-15 minutes without even using a sewing …
How to Sew a Pillowcase with Flap Closure and Decorative Flaps
Leggi questo post in: Italiano We humans spend a lot of time in bed. We spend a third to a half of our lives sleeping, then there are those Sunday mornings we laze around in bed with a good book, or those evenings when we …
Pajama pants tutorial – How to sew PJ pants
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I have a soft spot for PJ pants because they’re so comfortable and they’re easy to sew. And, because you wear them to lounge around the house, it doesn’t matter if they’re not absolutely perfect, so it’s a fabulous first …
DIY Pajama Pants Pattern (draft your own in 10 minutes!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I always say that the best project for a beginner sewist after learning some of the basics are PJ pants. But even more advanced sewists love sewing them because they’re easy, comfortable and useful! I have a great PJ pants …
21 Handmade Christmas Gifts to Sew and Give in 2023
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Everyone knows two things: sewing is super fun and DIY gifts are always better than store-bought! So check out this awesome list of the 21 best handmade Christmas gifts to sew and give to your loved ones for Christmas 2023! …
DIY Christmas Face Mask Pattern to Sew for FREE!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Everything about 2020 has been unusual, and Christmas is no exception. But I’m determined to make this holiday season as joyous as possible, which is why I decided to create this festive DIY Christmas face mask! This project adds a …
How to Sew a Santa Hat (FREE Pattern!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano We’re now halfway through November which means that we can start getting into the holiday spirit! So let’s start off the Christmas season with an easy tutorial on how to sew a Santa hat, along with a brand new FREE …
How to Make a Fur Pom Pom – Easy Hand Sewing Tutorial
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Pompoms just make me happy. They’re so fun and colorful! But when I started seeing faux fur pompoms everywhere a few years ago, I was in love. So soft. So fluffy. I decided that I had to learn how to …
How to Insert a Bobbin in a Front-Loading or Top-Loading Sewing Machine
Leggi questo post in: Italiano A lot of people write to me to ask me technical questions about sewing and probably the most common one I get asked is, “Why is the thread tangling up under the fabric when I sew?” Most of the time …
Winding a Bobbin on a Sewing Machine
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Some people buy a sewing machine on a whim, and others after months or even years of toying with the idea, but there’s one thing that often confuses beginner sewists right from the start: winding a bobbin and then inserting …
Top 17 Felted Sweater DIY Tutorials for Sewing and Crafting
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Most people get upset when they accidentally shrink a sweater in the washing machine. I, on the other hand, celebrate! The gorgeous, thick fabric from felted wool sweaters is one of my favorite materials to sew and craft with, and …
DIY Contoured Face Mask Pattern – 3 sizes, adjustable elastic, straps, nose bridge
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Months ago, when the Coronavirus pandemic broke out here in Italy, I decided against sharing a face mask pattern because there was so much confusion and so many people were saying that reusable cloth face masks didn’t work and therefore …
Kid Embroidery Project: Sew a Backpack Tag
Leggi questo post in: Italiano During the lockdown in past months, quite a few of my friends have told me that their bored children have expressed an interest in learning to sew and have asked me for suggestions for beginner projects. Everyone knows that kids …
60 Best Easy Beginner Sewing Projects for Learning to Sew!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano These days, that we are all stuck at home for weeks and months at a time for the COVID 19 pandemic, there have been a lot of people finally dedicating themselves to things that they normally don’t have time for. …
DIY Fringe Cloth Napkins (beginner’s sewing, no mitered corners!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Anyone who reads this blog knows how much I love washable products that substitute disposables. I know that cloth menstrual pads and cloth toilet paper aren’t for everyone, but some reusable items are really simple to use and take care …
DIY Beaded Napkin Rings with Elastic Cord
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I do my best to avoid using disposable products, which is sometimes easy and sometimes complicated. One of the easiest to use, though, are cloth napkins, which I’ve used for about 12 years now. And what better way to keep …
How to Make DIY Cloth Toilet Paper – Easy and Zero Waste!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I started working on this post about ten days ago, when we started locking down here in Italy for the health emergency, and people were starting to get worried in other parts of the world. My friends in the United …
How to Blanket Stitch on Felt and Other Fabric
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Over the past few years I’ve been hand sewing much more. Machine sewing is fast and professional-looking, but these days I often prefer sewing by hand for its slow, meditative quality. It’s relaxing and also portable, meaning I can work …
20+ Easy Valentine Sewing Projects for Beginners
Leggi questo post in: Italiano What better way to celebrate the holiday of love by making some easy Valentine sewing projects?! These tutorials and free patterns are perfect for beginners, but great even for more advanced sewists who can really personalize them! The following list …
Conversation Heart Valentine’s Day Keychain Sewing Tutorial
Leggi questo post in: Italiano V-Day is coming up soon, so it’s time for all DIY projects to start featuring hearts and pink and the word “LOVE.” And, seeing as love is indeed what makes the world go round, today I have a fun Valentine’s …
How to use a seam ripper correctly (and fast!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I’ve never taken a poll, but I’m willing to bet that most sewists would choose a seam ripper as her favorite, must-have sewing tool. However a surprising number of people who sew don’t know to how to use a seam …
Perler Bead Christmas Patterns for DIY Ornaments
Leggi questo post in: Italiano If you have kids, you probably know all about hama beads. Or perler beads, melty beads, Pyssla beads, fuse beads or any of the other names for them. Those little plastic cylinders that you arrange into shapes and fuse with …
12 Easy Holiday Decorations to Sew in Under an Hour
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Every year it’s the same thing. We rush around during the holidays, wishing we had the time to make some fabulous handmade Christmas projects! But have no fear because today I’m sharing with you 12 fabulous easy holiday decorations to …
DIY Snowflake Embroidered Felt Christmas Ornaments
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Every autumn, when it starts getting cool, I dig in to my massive felted wool sweater collection and let the colors and textures inspire me. This year I was inspired to embroider snowflakes (like I already showed with my DIY …
40+ Best Stocking Stuffers for Crafty Kids who Create!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Do you hate how much junk food and junk toys your children get at every holiday? Would you rather give them something really useful that will stimulate their creativity? Of course you would! So today I’m sharing with you the …
12 DIY Christmas Stocking Sewing Tutorials
Leggi questo post in: Italiano One of the most beloved holiday traditions is the Christmas stocking. Kids love waking up early on December 25th to discover what is waiting inside their stocking, and adults often remember those moments, as well as their childhood stocking, fondly. …
DIY Felted Wool Sweater Stocking Pattern with Embroidery
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Where I live in Italy, Santa doesn’t leave gifts in a stocking on Christmas Eve, but a friendly old witch does during the night before Epiphany (January 6). So I decided to create a pattern for a general winter-themed stocking, …
60 Easy DIY Halloween Costumes for Teens and Kids in 2024
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Halloween is a lot of people’s favorite holiday because 1) it’s super fun, 2) it lets you act crazy and 3) you can go wild with your creativity, even if you aren’t a crafty person. Which is why today I’m …
How to Make a Vampire Cape with a Stand Up Collar
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I love a good cape for Halloween. They’re so fun to swing around in and they can be used for loads of different costumes. But this year we decided to go for a Dracula look, requiring a rigid collar. So …
Easy Jack O Lantern Softie Tutorial – Great for Kids!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I’m really excited to share this brand new Halloween craft for kids because this easy Jack O Lantern softie tutorial was created by a kid: my daughter, Sofia! Sofia had been sewing project after project from the Sewing School box …
Best Magnifying Floor Lamp for Sewing and Crafting – LightView XL
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Brightech, the online lighting specialists, contacted me recently to ask if they could send me one of their lamps in exchange for an honest review. I had heard that the LightView XL is absolutely the best magnifying floor lamp for …
Easy Cat Neck Pillow Pattern for Kids and Adults
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Years ago I created a cat neck pillow pattern for my children, and it was a huge success. Today I’m sharing with you my updated version of the pattern and tutorial, along with a video tutorial! This cat neck pillow …
DIY Neck Pillow Template PDF Download + Tutorial
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Guys, it’s once again Sew a Softie Month, and I’m so excited! Every year Trixi from Coloured Buttons organizes a month-long extravaganza during which sewing bloggers publish tutorials for stuffed projects that kids can sew. How amazing is that? Learning …
How to Hand Sew a Scrunchie for your Hair
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Raise your hand if you’re an 80’s child! Or an 80’s teenager or an 80’s adult! If you were alive in the 80’s you know all about fashion staples of that decade: massively oversized T-shirts, legwarmers, pegged jeans and puffy …
The Best Leggings Sewing Patterns for Girls and Women
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Guys, I can’t deny it; I’m leggings-obsessed. I love leggings so, SO much, as does my daughter and over the past few months I’ve been working my tail off to create the best leggings sewing patterns for girls and women. …
Threading Elna Lotus sewing machine – Tutorial
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I often get asked for suggestions for buying a new sewing machine. In a nutshell, my answer is to go to at least one sewing machine dealer or sewing shop to test out some machines and find out more about …
How to pull up the bobbin thread on a sewing machine
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Hooray! You have a new sewing machine! This is such an important time, and you have so much fun and creativity to look forward to! But hold your horses; before you jump into sewing, make sure you read the manual …
Clara Wrap Crop Top sewing pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I wrote the other day about the fantastic Sew Fab pattern bundle that my Hyacinth Moto Leggings pattern is part of. The bundle includes nine patterns in all, and I’ve really been looking to sewing a few of them in …
Sew Fab 2019 spring sewing pattern bundle
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I am super excited to give you some really cool news! My latest pattern, the Hyacinth Moto Leggings for women, is part of the brand new Sew Fab spring sewing pattern bundle! Eee! The Spring 2019 Sew Fab Bundle features 9 …
Tutorial: How to sew knits with a twin needle
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to another lesson in the free Cucicucicoo Learn how to Machine Sew course for beginners! I’ve already shared some essential tips and instructions for sewing knit fabrics, but I didn’t get into detail about one of the best …
Pattern alterations: How to adjust the crotch in pants
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Over the past couple of months I’ve been working on a series of leggings patterns for girls and women (you can find them in the Cucicucicoo Patterns shop!). An interesting thing about pattern testing clothing is seeing how differently a …
DIY Beaded Crochet Earrings Tutorial
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I have this thing about beads and yarn. It’s just a winning combination. You might remember years ago that I made about a gazillion beaded knit necklaces for me and pretty much every woman that I know. Which is why, …
Hand sewn plush heart pillow with pocket
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I always say that ANYONE can sew, and that goes for kids, too. This is why I love Sew a Softie, the wonderful recurring event created by Trixi from Coloured Buttons. My children and I participated in Sew a Softie last summer …
How to Sew a Fabric Valentine’s Day Banner
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Yep, you might’ve noticed that I’ve been ever-so-slightly obsessed with banners these days. I just can’t help it! Ever since I created my “Celebrate! Banner” pattern last year, I’ve been making every possible type of bunting, both for me and …
How to make a 1-minute DIY jean hem bracelet
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I love refashioning and repurposing jeans. We all have jeans and when they become unusable for one reason or another, the fabric is wonderful for using in so many ways. I love the different shades of blue and the fraying …
FREE Doll Mermaid Costume Sewing Pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Mermaids, unicorns, rainbows… these protagonists of fun fantasy are all the rage these days, especially if they have glitter and shine! So when asked for a guest post for the website Fleece Fun, I decided to share my FREE doll mermaid …
Easy no sew felt snowflake ornaments from sweaters
Leggi questo post in: Italiano What is it about snow that is so magical?! Is it the soft ting of cold as it hits your skin? Or the bright twinkle snowflakes make in the sun? The muted sounds right after snow has fallen? The sensation of …
DIY Greetings: Free Printable Holiday Cards with Cutouts
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Last year I spent many agonizing months suffering through acute anxiety disorder and recurring panic attacks. It was a really, really bad time for me, and one part of my path to healing was communicating with people more and connecting …
How to sew fabric bunting with the Celebrate! Banner pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Last week I published a tutorial showing how to sew fabric bunting banners, either with or without my newest PDF pattern, the Celebrate! Banner. I had a pretty big group of pattern testers to try the pattern out to make …
How to Sew a Pennant Banner with Letters and Words
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Everyone loves celebrating, right?! And if you love decorations to add happiness and festivity to your home, holiday or party, learn how to sew a pennant banner so that you can customize it to your personal needs! These banners are easy …
DIY Christmas Ornament Kits for Children – Great Holiday Gift!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Last year my kids and I cut up a few old felted wool sweaters in my collection to make handmade felt Christmas tree ornaments to give to our loved ones at Christmas. But partway through, I realized that an even …
Sew a mermaid tail blanket: Sea Snuggler Pattern Release
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Have you noticed all those cool mermaid tail blankets on Pinterest these days? You can buy them everywhere, or you can take your pick of loads of crochet patterns to make them. But what if you want to learn how …
How to sew with a bias binding foot – adjustable for all widths
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It’s no secret that I love bias tape: making it, hemming with it, binding edges with it, decorating with it. I love it so much that I’ve dedicated a whole series of lessons and tutorials on bias tape! And today’s …
Colette Sorbetto: a free loose tank top pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano A few months ago, my husband and I went to a fancy wedding, the type where women wear crazy sparkly dresses and heels at least 10 inches high. I, however, never wear heels (I can’t even stand in them, never …
DIY Doll Diapers – Free Pattern + Tutorial!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I started sewing regularly around the time my daughter was born, 12 years ago, and for years most of what I sewed was for her, between reusable cloth diapers and wipes, bibs, bassinet and crib bedding, toys, and so on. …
DIY Chair Felt Pads in 10 Seconds with Upcycling
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I don’t know about you, but I cannot STAND the sound of chairs scratching on the floor. I used to buy tons of those self-adhesive felt pieces to stick on the bottom of chairs, then I finally smartened up when …
Free Template! How to make a circle skirt with directional fabric
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My daughter and I LOVE circle skirts. We have a bunch between the two of us because they’re comfortable, pretty and just fun to wear. They can be casual, like most of ours, or elegant if using silk or other …
DIY Printable Travel Game Book for hours of fun!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It’s summer, which means that there’s a lot of family travel which, in turn, means that there are a lot of bored kids on long trips. When my children are bored silly on plane or train rides, or waiting for …
Kids can sew! Stuffed animal dog bone – free pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My daughter was obsessed with Clifford the Big Red Dog when she was little, so I started making a bunch of little accessories for her toy Cliffords. I made him clothes and I made him toy leashes. And finally, I …
How to make a toy dog leash and collar for stuffed animals
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My kids love accessorizing their toys. So when they were younger, they would constantly ask me for this or that thing for this or that stuffed animal. It was during this time that I figured out how to make a toy …
Quick 30-second fix for flaking headphone pads
Leggi questo post in: Italiano A few years ago my husband got sick of me always borrowing his headphones, so he gave me my own pair. Even though we were quite happy with these earphones, over the past year or so the cheap material covering …
How to get free sewing patterns from Cucicucicoo!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I have some exciting news for you! I have moved ALL of my free downloadable materials into a new exclusive members-only area of Cucicucicoo! So, if you’ve been wondering how to get free sewing patterns and a bunch of other great …
Jalie 3134: a flattering racerback swimsuit pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano A few weeks ago I wrote a review of a bikini pattern that my daughter and I used for our swimwear last summer. However we are a family of swimmers and I needed an appropriate one-piece bathing suit for my …
How to make continuous bias tape in one long strip
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I LOOOOVE bias tape. Sure, there are lots of types of bias tape that you can buy in a shop, but making your own is so cool because you can use perfectly matching fabrics with the exact width that you …
Jalie 2446 bikini pattern for women and girls in 9 styles
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Last summer I finally started sewing something that tends to terrify sewists: bathing suits. (You can check out my 10 tips on sewing swimsuit fabric perfectly here!) I purchased various fabrics and two Jalie patterns, one for a racerback one-piece …
Easy and Free DIY No-Scratch Rock Doorstop
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Spring is here, which means windows are open, letting in fresh air, flowery scents and bird songs! Oh, and it also means that the cross breezes make our doors slam shut way too often. Our doors have frosted glass centers, …
How to use bias tape: tips, tricks and projects
Leggi questo post in: Italiano In February 2017 I started “Bias Month,” in which I shared a bunch of sewing lessons on what bias is and how to use bias tape in various ways. I also included included some practical tutorials and a free sewing …
Best tomato soup recipe ever (with secret ingredients!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It’s cold and dark, rainy and snowy, stormy and windy. It’s winter, folks, which means that we all need some serious comfort food. And that means: hot soup. So today I’m sharing with you my all-time, most-loved winter comfort food …
StickerYeti custom logo stickers for any surface + DISCOUNT!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano The following is a sponsored post, however all opinions expressed are 100% my own. More than a year ago, I was contacted by StickerYeti, a company that makes custom logo stickers, to test out their products and offer an exclusive …
The One Square Tote: an easy tote bag sewing tutorial
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Oh boy, guys, I’m excited because FINALLY I’ve gotten back to the beloved Learn to Machine Sew course for beginners! I left off back in September with a lesson on how to sew French seams, which is my favorite way …
DIY embroidered sunflower blanket from a ruana poncho
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Have you noticed that embroidery has been making a huge comeback over the past few years? I have been seeing a ton of it used in all sorts of ways, from embellishing home goods, to simple hangable embroidery art, to …
How to Make DIY Vintage Tile Coasters (no scratch!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano What could possibly be more comforting and peaceful than a nice, hot cup of tea on a cold winter day? As far as I’m concerned, snuggling up under blankets with a good book and some good tea is pretty much …
DIY felt Christmas tree ornaments for kids from repurposed sweaters
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I am a strong believer that children should give gifts to others. No, I’m not saying that they have to save up their pocket money to purchase gifts, but that they should make something with love and care that can …
Make a no sew felt poinsettia from felted sweaters
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Well, Thanksgiving is over, it’s starting to get pretty dang chilly out, the days are shorter, and my family is starting to get excited for the holiday season! One of my favorite holiday crafting materials is felt because it’s just …
How to make a Christmas tree skirt from a tablecloth
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It’s the holiday season again, so today I have a brand new sewing and repurposing tutorial for you: how to make a Christmas tree skirt from a tablecloth! When I was growing up, my mother had a very festive knit …
Introducing the new Cucicucicoo sewing and craft website!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Hello all, and welcome back to the new and improved Cucicucicoo sewing and craft website! I’d been thinking about creating a new design for Cucicucicoo for a while, with the intention of making it easier for readers to find what …
How to sew French seams for perfectly finished seams
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back for a new technical lesson in the Learn to Machine Sew series! One thing that makes the difference between projects that look homemade and those that look professionally-made is how well they are finished inside. There are quite …
Easy and unique summer recipe: Zucchini Mint Pesto
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Everyone knows and loves eating fragrant basil pesto in the summer (and you can find my foolproof recipe for it here), but today I want to show you a variation on this classic recipe that my entire family LOVES eating: …
Tutorial + FREE Swim Cap Pattern for Kids & Adults
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My family is a swimming family. We swim year round in pools and swim in the summer wherever we can. I’ve recently started sewing my own one piece bathing suits and bikinis, so I decided that it was time to …
How to sew bathing suit fabric – 10 best tips & tricks
Leggi questo post in: Italiano There are a few things that tend to terrify sewists. When they start out, sewing stretchy fabrics seems outright impossible. (If this is your case, make sure you read my post on how to sew knits and other stretch fabrics …
Crochet Reusable Water Balloons – Summer Fun with No Mess!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Earlier this year, I saw the coolest thing on Pinterest. I wanted so badly to try it out. I was so curious and I knew my kids would love it. Because who in the world wouldn’t want to try their …
Homemade wild fennel liqueur recipe (finocchietto digestif)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano As my readers know, I was born and raised in the United States, but moved to Italy years ago and married into a Neapolitan family. Which means that I’ve learned a lot of my husband’s family’s culinary recipes and secrets, …
Tutorial: Handmade felt cactus party favor with cards & box
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Whenever there is a special event in your life, it’s natural to want to celebrate it with the people who matter the most to you. And this is why we have party favors, to thank the people who celebrated with …
Five DIY cactus party favors: free templates and printables!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano There are so many reasons to celebrate life’s milestones with the people that we love the most. And this is why party favors are so important, to help remember those important moments spent with important people. Today I’m sharing a …
Foolproof Basil Pesto Recipe and 15 Ways to Use it!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I live in southern Italy, aka the capital of Basil-land. Nearly every home has at least one basil plant and those plants can easily grow into thick masses of fragrant green leaves. I am no exception to the rule. Every …
Refashion shorts into a DIY skirt with godets
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I love skirts so much! They are fun to mix and match with different tops, I feel free to move around without any leg restriction, and even very casual skirts look nicer than jeans. They are SO FAST to sew …
Refashioning for kids: turn old pants into shorts
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Kids grow so quickly. Sometimes it feels like I’ve just sewn or otherwise procured a garment for my kids and it is already small for them. Or stained. Or ripped. That’s why I love quick refashioning sewing hacks to make …
DIY books and notepads: Reuse leftover notebook paper
Leggi questo post in: Italiano What is it that’s so appealing about a nice, new and never-before-touched blank book or notebook? I suppose it’s the anticipation and excitement about all the things that it can become. You can write a book in it. Draw pictures. …
Tutorial: Refashion a sweater into a cardigan in 10 minutes!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I love knitting, but I am a really slow at it. So I love it when I can create with sweater fabrics without having to actually do the knitting myself! So today I’ll show you my super easy tutorial to refashion …
How to grow basil year after year (without spending!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I live in Italy, and everyone knows how much Italians love their basil. Even in the families with the worse black thumb imaginable, there is at least one pot of basil sitting on a balcony or windowsill. It gets thrown …
What is a free arm on a sewing machine (and how to use it!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Nearly three years ago, I published my first lesson in the Learn to Machine Sew course for beginners here on Cucicucicoo, which was about the anatomy of a sewing machine. In this lesson I mentioned the free arm, though I …
Ruby women’s wrap skirt pattern by Daydream Patterns (review)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I am a total skirt junkie. I LOVE wearing skirts! I’ve never been a girly girl, but skirts are femmine without necessarily overdoing it. Even if you’re wearing a simple and casual outfit, a skirt makes it look more put …
Use up Leftover Easter Chocolate: Chocolate Banana Bread
Leggi questo post in: Italiano As you know, Easter was this past weekend. And, if you have kids (or perhaps even if you don’t), you probably have ridiculous amounts of chocolate sitting around in your kitchen. And dining room. And living room. Hopefully not in …
Growing Up Handmade – sewing clothes for tweens
Leggi questo post in: Italiano There’s no denying it. Mothers who sew clothes just LOVE sewing clothes for their little girls. It takes considerably less fabric to sew a child’s garment. It’s an awesome feeling when your kid is happy to wear something you made. …
Super Bib Pattern Pack – testers’ versions!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Last week I released my latest sewing pattern, the Super Bib Pack, which has all sorts of styles, sizes, variations and sewing options, meaning that there are dozens of ways to personalize your bibs and burp cloths! Just to give …
Newborn and toddler bib pattern with pocket and other variations
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Do you have a young child? Sick of him or her making a mess everywhere? Sick of going out just to realize that your shirt is all dirty? Yeah, I hear your pain. I went through that, too. Or perhaps …
Free bib and burp cloth pattern (with/without bias tape)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to the bias tape series here on Cucicucicoo! Today I have a tutorial to practice binding with bias tape with a free bib and burp cloth pattern! (You can find my lesson on how to bind edges with …
How to print on freezer paper with a laser or inkjet printer
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Are you freezer paper addicted? Yeah, I am too. I use freezer paper ALL the time to stencil on clothing, costumes and all other fabric items. It’s a really simple way to paint designs onto fabric, even if you are …
How to print on Heat N Bond for fast and easy appliqué!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I love embellishing clothing and other fabric items. And one of the ways I love the most is with appliqué. I’ve written a lot about how to machine appliqué, including a trick to appliqué perfectly on stretchy fabric. I sometimes …
How to make a 30 second infinity scarf and headband!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I am a total infinity scarf junkie. I am also a junkie of upcycling old T-shirts. And, even if I know perfectly well how to sew, I also love super quick projects that require no sewing. Last year I published …
The easy way to hem a circle skirt in 15 min. with bias tape!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano How many circle skirts do you have in your wardrobe? If you have only one or- gasp!- none, it’s time to start sewing them! Especially after today, when I show you the easy way to hem a circle skirt! As …
How to hem with bias tape – Easy and fast!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I don’t know about you, but my least favorite part of a sewing project is usually hemming. I’m not sure why, because it’s really not difficult (and I even shared a great trick for sewing perfect hems here). But I …
New pattern! Field of Flowers costume for kids & adults
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I’m super excited to announce that my first costume pattern is ready for the world! Come meet the Field of Flowers costume for both kids AND adults! Back in 2008, when my daughter was two years old, my husband had …
How to sew bias tape on curves or straight edges
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to Bias Month here on Cucicucicoo! This month I’m writing a bunch of lessons and tutorials on how to use bias for better sewing. Here is the full list of the Bias Month technical lessons and practical tutorials …
How to make bias tape with a bias tape maker
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to Bias Month here on Cucicucicoo! This month I’m writing a bunch of lessons and tutorials on how to use bias for better sewing. Last time I showed you what bias is and how to make short bias strips …
What is bias? Fabric bias vs. grain
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome to February 2017, which I am unofficially dubbing “Bias Month”! I was inspired by my newest sewing pattern to create a whole series of lessons and tutorials all about fabric bias for my Learn to Machine Sew course. For a …
How to grow an avocado plant from a pit
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My kids and I love growing plants from seeds we’ve collected and cuttings. And every so often we try to grown some plant or other from our vegetables. But alas, this usually fails. My pineapple plant rotted away before it …
Free Pattern! Valentine’s Day bag tutorial
Leggi questo post in: Italiano The day that some people absolutely love and others absolutely despise is coming up. Yep. I’m talking about Valentine’s Day! I’ve always fallen into the second category because I am ideologically against the consumerism of this day and I don’t …
Gigantic Stuffed Dinosaur Pattern – Pintastic!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Last week I unveiled my latest project, “Pintastic!” In this series I test out cool-looking tutorials found on Pinterest and give a Pass or Fail verdict. The first project that I just had to try out was this fantastic, yet …
Pintastic! Tested Pinterest tutorials for no-fail DIY
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I love Pinterest. I think most anyone could spend hours and hours on it every day. So many amazing ideas, techniques, inspiration and help for DIY and life in general. But sometimes there is a slight problem with Pinterest: your …
Rotten Banana: a fun early reading game
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My little boy just turned six and is in first grade this year, which means that he’s learning to read and write. While my daughter had no problems learning written Italian in school and didn’t really need any outside help …
Lessons from a hat: 5 reasons why making mistakes is ok
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Imagine this: you’re poking around Pinterest, Ravely or an online forum somewhere and you find a DIY project that you fall in love with immediately. You procure the materials and get to work. Except at some point you realize that …
Pancake mix in a jar with free labels (last minute gift)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Christmas is really close at hand, but let’s face it: most of us need last minute gifts throughout the year. So today I’m going to show you one of my absolute favorites which everyone loves getting: homemade pancake mix in …
The best sewing tools for happy sewing (part 2)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano This is part two of the Best Sewing Tools post in the Cucicucicoo Recommends series. To read why I created this series and all about measuring, marking, cutting and pinning tools, please read the first part here. Please note that …
The best sewing tools for happy sewing (part 1)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My readers frequently ask me for recommendations about the best sewing tools, sewing machines, fabric, and so on. I could talk on and on, day after day, about my favorite products, but alas, that’s not very practical. So instead I’ve …
Refashion Tutorial: Make a T-shirt Infinity Scarf
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Some people are obsessed with clothes and have overflowing closets. Other people obsessively buy shoes and have dozens and dozens of them. I, myself, have a thing for neckwear. Except for the hottest, most humid summer months, when I can’t …
17 Non-Electronic Games for Young Children
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Nearly all parents I know these days complain about trying to limit their kids’ screen time. They’re always on their tablet, or gaming device, or smartphone. If not, they’re using the computer or zoning out in front of a TV. …
10 tips for sewing knits perfectly
Leggi questo post in: Italiano When a person learns to sew, the first projects are always with woven fabric. When you go to a fabric shop, you’ll notice that most fabrics are woven. And when you browse sewing projects on Pinterest, nearly all of them …
Make homemade pick up sticks (with carry bag)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Toys are too complicated these days. I sometimes hear parents saying that their kids get bored if their toys don’t make sounds or light up, or aren’t animated or interactive games. And of course all these electronic toys and games …
10 Reasons to make your own costume
Leggi questo post in: Italiano The one question that I get asked in every interview I’ve ever had is what or who my creative inspirations are. I usually give a different answer every time because I am inspired by so many people, places and things. …
Refashion tutorial: make pants from sleeves
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It’s fall again and I’m having the same problem I have every. Single. Year. My kids have no pants that fit them correctly. Both of my children are average height, but are very thin. This doesn’t create many problems in …
Attach elastic to a waistband – no casing or twisting!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Can you imagine what it must’ve been like to wear clothes long ago, before there was any elastic? Sure, there were buttons and laces to tie up, but my favorite garment fasteners, elastic and zippers, are relatively new inventions. I …
DIY woven paper baskets from cereal boxes
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Oh, how I love cereal boxes. I love their stability, yet ease of cutting. I love their bright colors. I love their cost… nothing! I rarely throw cereal boxes into the recycling. I use them to back small pattern pieces …
Pencil shaped pencil case tutorial and FREE pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Well, it’s fall again. Back to work. Back to the gazillion activities each family member has. Back to school. Which means that it’s time for a brand new back to school project, but one that you’ll want even if you’re …
Sewing concave and convex curves together
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Summer’s over and it’s back to school time, which means it’s also back to sewing school time! (Did you know that I have a FREE beginner’s sewing course?) Last week I mentioned that I have a new free pattern for …
Sticker Kid personalized name labels – 10% discount!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Two years ago I was contacted by Sticker Kid* to try out their personalized name labels for kids. I was initially skeptical but, upon trying out their products, I immediately realized that these were very special labels. Not only are …
Just Peachy summer mesh crochet top pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I really love all those feminine lace summer tops that are so in style these days. The problems is that a lot of the crochet patterns I see for them are for crop tops and/or tops with little stringies holding …
Evening Breath: free summer shawl crochet pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I’ve always loved to make things by hand, ever since I was a little girl. And as the years go by, I’ve added new techniques to my repertoire. One of the handmade techniques that I’ve learned most recently is crochet, …
Healthy Sugar-Free Lemonade Recipe
Leggi questo post in: Italiano There’s no denying it: summer is suddenly here! Our family is doing everything we can to stay cool. The kids have started using the bathtub as a swimming pool, our ice cream machine* is back in business, we’ve been making …
Health update and how the menstrual cup helped
Leggi questo post in: Italiano This was the view outside the balcony where I spent four nights a couple of weeks ago. Pretty, right? The bay of Naples, Mount Vesuvius, the classic Mediterranean pine tree. Except I didn’t really get to enjoy it very much …
Easy no-sew T-shirt bracelets tutorial
Leggi questo post in: Italiano In the years that I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve collaborated with lots of other blogs and websites. And today I’m so pleased to announce that I’m starting a new collaboration with the Italian handmade learning website Make It Land! …
Basico: a knitting pattern for summer sweater
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Last summer I knit my very first sweater. I know that summer is generally not the preferred season for knitting, but I had the opportunity to take a course last June by my friend Maria, a designer and expert knitter …
Wine bottle crafts: 2 upcycled vases with materials you already have
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Mother’s Day is creeping up and will be here before you know it. Have you started preparing gifts for the most important women in your life? Most mothers (at least the ones I know) are happiest to receive something small, …
DIY Scrap Fabric Butterfly FREE Pattern + Tutorial
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Spring is here! My favorite season of all, the advent of Spring makes me so happy. I love blooming trees, the scent of flowers and cut grass, the birds singing outside my windows, the warm sun…. So today I’m showing …
Make a bag from a T shirt: No-Sew Tutorial!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My name’s Lisa and I’m a T-shirt hoarder. Seriously, I have a problem. Come to my home, and you’ll find numerous containers full of t-shirts. I love them because they’re so easy to embellish or repurpose into other clothing and …
Saturn Sweater: crochet sweater pattern review
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It was love at first sight. I love bright colors, but sometimes I don’t want to be dressed too brightly. That’s why the Saturn Sweater, a pattern by Linda Permann, with its charcoal grey body with colorful accents, immediately caught …
The best sewing machine for beginners – 10 things to know
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Have you decided to learn to sew? Congratulations! Sewing is an amazingly versatile art that can be used in loads of different ways! Unless you plan on exclusively sewing by hand, you will probably be asking yourself: what’s the best …
How to sew a circle skirt – free pattern!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to the Learn to Machine Sew series on Cucicucicoo! I promised a cool practical tutorial to go along with my last lesson on how to sew an exposed elastic waistband, and boy, is it cool! Today we’re learning …
Why fabric drape is so important in your sewing
Leggi questo post in: Italiano One of the most visited artistic tourist attractions in Naples, my adopted city, is the Veiled Christ in the Sansevero Chapel. This statue represented a life-sized Jesus after his death, covered in a death shroud, and is celebrated for its …
Repairing holes in sweaters: darning and crochet
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Have you ever noticed that, when you’re a crafty person, people seem to think that you’re capable of doing and fixing anything with your hands? A couple of months ago a friend of mine gave me a bag with a …
How to Sew an Exposed Elastic Waistband in 5 steps
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Sure, you may know how to sew an elastic casing or how to install a zipper, but do you WANT to? Sometimes you just want to do things the fastest and easiest way. And sometimes you just don’t have enough …
Perfectly Imperfect: a fabric doll pattern review
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Finally I’m ready to show off my Perfectly Imperfect cloth dolls. I’d been working on these dolls and posting in-progress pictures on Instagram for months. My original plan was to make a bunch for Christmas presents and the kids’ various …
How to make homemade garlic powder
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I’m not always a big fan of cooking, at least not the regular day-to-day cooking necessary for survival. I like to cook special things when I actually want to, not just because my stomach’s growling. And when I do cook, …
Lemon salt recipe from salt preserved lemons
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I’ve been experimenting with the radiators and food processors in my kitchen again these days. Yes, because once again, it’s lemon season in southern Italy. This means that I’ve been making my beloved salt-preserved lemons again. We love using these …
Tepore knit wrist warmers
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My friend Maria of Maria Modeo Handmade in Italy is an amazing knitter, designer and teacher. She’s helped me numerous times with my knitting issues and is incredibly knowledgeable about all things yarn-related. I already posted last year about her …
How to Sew an Infinity Scarf in one or two fabrics
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I get sort of obsessive every so often with certain projects of mine, and just can’t stop making them. And this is definitely one of those situations, because ever since May 30, 2015, when I made three springtime infinity scarves …
Three DIY flower brooches – no sew!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Have you gotten stung by the homemade flower brooch bug? I certainly have! I love making fabric flowers because a) they’re easy and usually fast to make, and b) they’re so versatile! You can sew them directly to clothing as …
How to ladder stitch (invisible stitch)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Today’s sewing lesson for the Cucicucicoo Learn to Machine Sew series a little exception because it’s actually hand sewing, not machine sewing. I wasn’t sure whether or not to include it in the course, but in the end decided to …
Birkin Flares jeans pattern by Baste + Gather
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Sewing your own clothing is always amazing, but there are a few garments that many home sewists are afraid of attempting. Like bathing suits (which I hope to do soon with this pattern by Jalie that I bought this past …
DIY Paper Poinsettias from Upcycled Egg Cartons
Leggi questo post in: Italiano When my daughter’s teacher invited me to come into the class to make crafts with the kids that could be sold at the school’s charity Christmas market (a couple of years ago I did the same thing with these yarn …
Skip Skirt #22101: Girl Skirt Pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I recently tested the Skip Skirt pattern for girls by Sew By Pattern Pieces. I was drawn to the adorable knee-length skirts in seven different styles, with matching leggings. My daughter would live in leggings if she could, and she …
Tutorial: Crochet Carry Bags from Fruit Nets
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It all started with this. My son found some fruit nets in my collection of recycling-for-crafting and decided to use one to hang up his toys. Total genius right? And so, I came up with these: Oh yes! I took …
DIY Necklace Hanger from Driftwood or a Giant Cane Root
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My family just loves the beach and we always pick up some sort of natural treasure when we go. I am always drawn to driftwood, but usually don’t know how to use it. But when I found one particularly large giant …
Glove animal tutorial: Upcycled Glovosaurs
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Today I’m so happy to back with my Cucicucicoo’s Eco Crafters and Sewing series with the one and only Allison from Sweater Doll! Allison is a US expat, like me, living in Australia and creates the best fabric dolls and …
Evening Primrose Pajama Pants Pattern (for women)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I am thrilled to present to you my very first multi-size clothing sewing pattern: the Evening Primrose Pajama Pants pattern for women! Yah! I really love this pattern! (update 05/02/16: this pattern was originally called “Oenothera Biennis Pajama Pants,” which …
How to cut mirrored pattern pieces
Leggi questo post in: Italiano When cutting pattern pieces out, it’s very important to read the instructions to find out how many of each to cut out of what fabric and in what way. And in some cases pattern instructions tell you to cut mirrored …
How to reuse existing hems with a pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Everyone knows that I’m an eco-friendly geek and that I love taking previously used items and giving them a new lease on life. And being a sewing geek as well means that I refashion and in general repurpose sewn items …
How to lengthen or shorten a sewing pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano One of the many reasons I love sewing my family’s clothing is that, when you know how to lengthen or shorten a sewing pattern, you can get a perfect custom fit for your body shape. Sure, when buying ready-to-wear clothing, …
Kreativ and Eppela supporters
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Thank you everyone for your moral and financial support in getting Sandra and me to the Kreativ fair in Bozano this past weekend! It was a really interesting experience, although I unfortunately ended up getting some sort of stomach bug …
Refashion tutorial: Turn a dress into a skirt
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Earlier this week, as part of the Learn to Machine Sew series, I taught how to sew a casing for an elastic waistband, and also how to calculate the seam allowance for the casing and the elastic length. So for …
How to sew an elastic waistband casing
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It’s been a long eventful and vacation-ful summer for me, so I didn’t post as frequently as usual and also didn’t publish much in the way of sewing tutorials. But I’m really excited because I have a whole bunch of …
How to make striped popsicles (and fruit popsicles)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Last week, as part of the Beat the summer heat series, I started talking about one of our favorite – and most delicious – ways to cool off during the summer: making homemade popsicles! The wonderful thing is that you …
DIY Flower pots from tin cans
Leggi questo post in: Italiano A wonderful thing about summer is being able to spend time gardening gorgeous flowers, delicious veggies and flavorful herbs. Well, at least you can if you have a garden! For those of us who live in an apartment, a few …
How to make homemade iced tea (sun-brewed or boiled!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Today, for the first post in the Beating the Summer Heat series, I want to share one of my absolute favorite things to drink when it’s hot out: iced tea! Have you ever had real iced tea? I mean the …
Support Sustainable Sewing!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Good morning, everyone! As you’ve probably already noticed if you’ve followed me at all, I truly love sewing and teaching others how to in my tutorials and my free Learn to Machine Sew beginner’s course. I know that my lessons …
How to sew a refashioned DIY lace t-shirt top
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to the newest tutorial in the Cucicucicoo’s Eco Crafters and Sewers series! If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen my notice that, due to the transfer of my website’s hosting and domain to a better, …
How to Sew a Felted Wool Pillow with Leaf Appliqué
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Today’s sewing project combines four of my favorite things: felted wool sweaters, DIY pillows, applique and free sewing patterns! Yes, get ready to sew your own felted wool pillow with a free pattern for leaf appliqué! This sewing tutorial and …
How to shorten a zipper in less than 1 minute
Leggi questo post in: Italiano After a bit of a break, welcome back to the Learn to Machine Sew series for beginners! Bet you thought I forgot about publishing the tutorial paired with the lesson on how to felt wool sweaters, huh?! No chance of …
How to sew a clutch bag from repurposed jeans
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Today’s guest for the Cucicucicoo’s Eco Crafters and Sewers series is the lovely Laura from Le Pecionate! I love the tireless spirit and sense of humor with with she approaches her projects, which, as the name in Roman dialect (from …
Suzuran no-waste kimono jacket pattern review
Leggi questo post in: Italiano You may have noticed in my Me-Made-May 2015 documentation last week that there was one day that I was dressed considerably more fancy than usual, and that the me-made item had still not been blogged about. It was a special …
Tutorial: upcycle egg cartons into Flower Fairies
Leggi questo post in: Italiano For our third guest post in the Cucicucicoo’s Eco Crafters and Sewers series, I’m thrilled to have Silvia from Mammabook! I’ve known this Italian mom living in Germany for years now, and it’s amazing how close you can feel to …
How to felt wool sweaters in the washing machine
Leggi questo post in: Italiano With summer just around the corner, it’s time to pack away all those warm woolies and bring out light hot-weather clothing. So what do you do with those sweaters with little moth holes or stains, or with the ones that …
18 Mother’s Day DIY gift ideas with upcycling
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Mother’s Day is right around the corner and, if you’re anything like I am, you want to make something for your mother, grandmother, mother-in-law, best friend who is also a mother, etc, but you haven’t even started yet and you …
DIY Chain necklaces for spring
Leggi questo post in: Italiano There are a lot of really cool ideas floating around the web for jewelry made with chains. Last year I made two necklaces with nice bright spring colors both made of chains, but in completely different ways. With Mother’s Day …
Making Good: Creative patches for jeans
Leggi questo post in: Italiano In January I participated in Green Issues by Agy’s blog train “I didn’t throw it away,” which was all about why you keep certain items for decades. It was really interesting to read what was important to the participants and …
Me Made May 2015: my pledge
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It’s that time of the year again… Me Made May! For the past I-don’t-know-how-many years, Zoe from So Zo has hosted this awesome challenge to actually wear your self-made clothing. It’s meant to push yourself to appreciate and use your …
Upcycle yogurt cups: Primrose flowers
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Here we are for the second guest post for my Cucicucicoo’s Eco Crafters and Sewers series! Last time we had a refashion, and this time an upcycle with my friend Silvia Brentegani from Tocco di Lìllà! I’ve known Silvia in …
Practice tutorial: How to sew a zippered pouch
Leggi questo post in: Italiano A few days ago I published the latest lesson for the Learn to Machine Sew series on how to sew a simple exposed zipper. A lot of people are afraid of sewing zippers, but they’re actually really easy to insert …
How to applique a t shirt to cover logos
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My last lesson for the Learn to Sew series was about how to machine appliqué. Normally I publish a practical tutorial for each technique in the series a few days after the lesson, but life got in the way and …
Tutorial: Make Easy Recycled Crowns for Kids
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Happy Easter Monday! Hope you had a lovely day yesterday! And if you have children, I’m sure you now have insane amounts of candy and chocolate in your home. Here in Italy there’s no Easter Bunny, but kids get these …
A Flowy and Flowery T-Shirt Dress Refashion
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I’m super excited because today is the first guest post for my Cucicucicoo’s Eco Crafters and Sewers series! And who better to start off with, than my blogging BFF Irene, from Serger Pepper with a super cute refashion! Irene and …
Cucicucicoo’s Eco Crafters and Sewers!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I’m super excited to announce my new series, Cucicucicoo’s Eco Crafters and Sewers! Every other week, I will host a crafty blogger who takes environmental issues to heart, and will take us through a brand spanking new tutorial on creative …
Ball & Chain: a free crochet necklace pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Last fall I posted this picture on Instagram. What was it? My very first crochet pattern, which I’m now ready to share with you! Here it is: the Ball & Chain crochet necklace pattern! (Suggested musical accompaniment: They Might Be …
Grown Up Thumbs Up pattern by OUSM
Leggi questo post in: Italiano If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you might remember this picture. I was so excited while sewing these cuffs with thumbholes, that I couldn’t resist taking a hand-selfie. This amazing bit of sewing origami made no sense at …
Crochet T Shirt Yarn Baskets: Four Styles
Leggi questo post in: Italiano So, what do you do when you’ve accumulated way too many old, ugly, worn-out, stained or otherwise ruined t-shirts and other jersey clothing items? Easy! You cut them up into strips and wind up your lovely new balls of t …
Knit capelet and bandana neckwarmer
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Well, another edition of the biggest Italian handmade arts fair, Abilmente, has come and gone. Alas, I was unable to make it to Vicenza, in northern Italy, for this edition but I figured that perhaps it was about time to …
Baby Changing Mat Tutorial (PUL or Oilcloth)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Earlier this week I published a nice, long post for my Learn to Machine Sew series all about PUL fabric: how to prepare it and tips for sewing it without going totally bonkers! So now that you know everything there …
How to sew PUL fabric (for waterproof layers)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano This week on the Learn to Machine Sew series, I’ll be focusing one of the very few specialty fabrics that I use: PUL. PUL (which I always pronounce “pull” even though it’s actually pronounced as the acronym that it is: …
Sweater refashion tutorial: cardigan slim down
Leggi questo post in: Italiano When I was last in Bologna, a bit over a year ago, I couldn’t resist stopping by a higher-end used clothing stand in an open air market. And I grabbed up a gorgeous wool maxi-cardigan… …that was WAY too big …
Learn to Sew: How to use a walking foot
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to the Learn to Sew series! At this point I’ve covered most of the absolute basics of sewing, so I’m going to start jumping around with various techniques and tools. What I’m showing you today is not something …
Pattern review: One Cardigan by Serger Pepper
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My friend Irene from Serger Pepper is at it again with a wonderful versatile and upcycling-friendly pattern: the One Cardigan for girls*! Just look at how adorable this cardigan is! I love how easy it is to personalize Irene’s patterns! …
Free Pattern: Carry Everywhere Shopping Bag
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Big news, guys! My pattern shop, Cucicucicoo Patterns, is just about ready to officially open! I’m just waiting on a few tax-related bureaucratic things before I can put items up for sale, but my first three PDF sewing patterns are …
How to cut fabric from a pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano More times than not when sewing, you’ll have to cut your fabric out using a pattern. Whether your pattern is from a downloadable PDF pattern (this post describes how to print and assemble a PDF pattern) or a traditional large …
How to Print PDF Patterns and Assemble Them
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Well, it’s been a while since first announcing that I would open up an online PDF pattern shop (and started accepting pattern testers), and I’ve discovered that it takes a lot longer to draft, write, illustrate, photograph, layout, send through …
Learn to Sew: How to Zig Zag Stitch
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to our Learn to Machine Sew series for beginner sewers! So far we’ve only worked on the straight stitch (and backstitch) and I think it’s way past time we start branching out into the other important stitch: the …
“I didn’t throw it away” blog train
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Do you know Agy, the wonderful eco-conscious creator behind Green Issues by Agy? I love the twist she puts on her sewing and other crafty projects. This December and January she has been trying to get behind the reasons why …
Three DIY street toys for kids who love cars!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Both of my kids love playing with cars, but my little guy in particular goes nuts with his toy cars. Seriously, there is really something in some boys’ DNA that draws them to cars because I am sure that none …
Ayer’s Rock and other crochet hats
Leggi questo post in: Italiano How is your holiday season going? I, myself, am feeling pretty burnt out with all the Christmas and other craziness that for some reason always seems to get piled up at Christmas, even if it has nothing to do with …
Easy DIY Gift Bags with boxed corners
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Remember when I said that we would use our practice pieces from the boxed corners lesson earlier this week for something useful for Christmas? I guess it wasn’t particularly difficult to figure out what I was getting at: DIY gift …
How to sew an envelope pillow cover (tutorial)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano G’day, folks! In my Learn to Machine Sew series for beginners, I pair up a practical tutorial with every techinical lesson. Earlier this week we covered hemming, so today I’ll show you how to sew an envelope pillow cover! These …
Learn to Sew: How to Sew a Perfect Hem
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to our Learn to Machine Sew course for beginners! In our last lesson we talked about how to turn and topstitch, which is a technique in which we sew two pieces of fabric together with a clean finish …
How to sew a Waterproof Picnic Blanket from upcycled umbrellas
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Ever since getting Betz White’s fantastic book Sewing Green* a few years ago, I’ve been on the lookout for a vinyl tablecloth to upcycle into a waterproof picnic blanket as she did. Betz claims that you can find these tableclothes …
Easy Pot Holder Pattern (Turn and Topstitch)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to the Learn to Machine Sew series here on Cucicucicoo! As promised, today we have the practice tutorial for last week’s lesson on how to turn and topstitch. If you need to brush up on that technique or …
Turning and Topstitching (clipping & notching)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to the Learn to Machine Sew course for beginners, in which I teach the basics of machine sewing, with a technical lesson and a useful tutorial for each technique. It’s been a few months since our last lesson, …
Finger Pocket Fish: a toy fish pattern review
Leggi questo post in: Italiano As much as I love sewing, I really don’t have a ton of experience sewing softie toys, otherwise known as stuffed animals. I sewed a little boy doll a few years back as a remembrance to a miscarried baby and …
Serger Pepper’s Everyday Tank Top + giveaway
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I recently had the fun time of participating in a sew-along of my friend Irene’s (from Serger Pepper) newest pattern, the Everyday Tank Top and Dress*. This pattern (which you can now get at with a 40% discount or even …
Pattern news and Verona Tessile competition
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Yes, I’ve been missing more than usual from this dear-to-me blog but, as I’ve already briefly explained on Facebook, it’s because I’ve been working on some pretty cool things. And what will be the most interesting to you is that …
How to make Homemade Bread Crumbs
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Don’t you just hate it when your bread gets stale long before you’ve had time to finish the loaf? Luckily there are ways to use stale bread, such as making meatballs or meatloaf, or the classic Tuscan bread salad panzanella. …
How to embellish with slashed t-shirt reverse applique
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Working with t-shirts is so much fun. They don’t ravel and, depending on the fabric content, the edges roll up, which can be interesting for your projects. In the summer you can see loads ladies walking around with slashed t-shirts, …
How to cover up logos on clothes with applique stripes
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It’s that time of the year again. You know, when your Facebook feed is full of first day of school pictures? Yes, back to school! Where we live, kids up through 5th grade have to wear these hideous smocks, but …
How to keep playing at the beach… away from the beach
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Well, we’re now in September, it keeps raining, everything around is about back to school. The summer’s officially over. This is always one of the most depressing times of the year for me. But even if you can’t stay on …
How to peel prickly pears (cactus fruit without pain!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Something I love about living in a different country, language and culture is knowing a food or animal in my second language, years later finally looking it up in the dictionary to find out what to call it in my …
Tutorial: How to make easy letter magnets with kids
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My kids, like pretty much every other kid I know, just love drawing and coloring. We just got back the other day from a fantastic visit with family and friends in the United States. Before we left, a friend of …
Girlify a men’s t-shirt: making t-shirts more femminine
Leggi questo post in: Italiano We all know how fantastic refashioning is, right? But in my book, the best refashioning is making minimal changes to an unloved garment so that it once again becomes loved. So how awesome is it when you can take a …
DIY Mesh Drawstring Bags for the beach from old shirts
Leggi questo post in: Italiano One thing I love about upcycling and refashioning is the challenge of figuring out what to do with, well… trash. I mean, just look at this horrifyingly ugly mesh shirt I found in a pile of used clothing at a …
Tutorial: Sew your own Beach Umbrella Carry Bag
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I just love the beach. I grew up about a block away from the Atlantic Ocean but I started really loving long days at the beach after moving to Naples. I’m now totally spoiled, living near the Amalfi and Sorrentine …
Become a Cucicucicoo Pattern Tester!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano If you love the sewing projects on Cucicucicoo: Eco Sewing & Crafting, you’ll love the sewing patterns at Cucicucicoo Patterns even more! And now you can become part of the pattern design process by becoming a Cucicucicoo pattern tester! How …
Learn to Machine Sew: Sewing with Seam Allowance + Pins
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to Lesson #5 of the How to Machine Sew series for beginner sewers! I asked on Facebook if you’d prefer another week of sewing lessons or some beach-related tutorials, and I got a unanimous “BEACH!!” Except I didn’t …
Backstitch Practice Tutorial: How to Darn Jeans
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Ok, are you guys ready for a life-changing event? I know you have a favorite pair of jeans. And I know the pain when they eventually rip open at the knees, butt, crotch or wherever else. But do not fear, …
Learn to Machine Sew: How to Backstitch (or Staystich)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I took a week off from the Beginner’s Sewing Course here on Cucicucicoo because I wanted to share some other things, too. Our last lesson was about how to use the straight stitch (and we then used it to some …
Big Girl Briefs: sew underwear from t-shirts!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I sometimes feel like I talk about underwear a lot! At first I just used underwear to make things, like my stain-covering ruffle shirt and quick lavender sachets. Then I moved on to making underwear from old t-shirts, first with …
Balcony Foraging – How to eat your weeds!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano On Sunday a friend took us on a quick trip to her family’s olive grove to go foraging for St. John’s Wort. (You might have seen the picture on Instagram.) She dries this wild flower for making herbal infusions to …
Sticker Kid custom name tags – Exclusive discount code!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I was recently contacted by Sticker Kid, a Swiss-based company working in countries all over the world, about their personalized custom name tags. They are extremely high quality adhesive stickers available in various formats as well as iron-on labels for …
Straight Stitch Practice Tutorial: Simple Quilting
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome to our first practice tutorial as part of Cucicucicoo’s Learn to Machine Sew series! On Monday we practiced the straight stitch and how to adjust stitch length and tension, as well as tacking down the beginning and end of …
How to Straight Stitch – Learn to Machine Sew
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Last week we did a lot of theory and discussion about materials, but I know you want to start *using* your machine, so let’s get sewing! Today we’ll start with the most basic, but most important, stitch and learn how …
All about fabric: types of fabric and how to use them
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome to lesson # 2 of our Learn to Machine Sew series! On Monday I took you through the anatomy of the sewing machine, your most important sewing tool, and today I will talk about the next most important component: …
The Anatomy of the Sewing Machine: Learn to Sew
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I’m thrilled at all the positive messages I’ve received upon announcing this Learn to Machine Sew course! It sounds like my intuition was right on, and that a lot of people out there really want step-by-step instructions on how to …
Learn to Machine Sew: free sewing course for beginners
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome to the Learn to Machine Sew course for beginners! I created this free sewing course in 2014 after receiving loads of comments from readers saying that they love my projects, but that they don’t feel proficient enough with their …
Me-Made-May 2014: What I wore May 24 – 31
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I did it! Today is the last day of week four, and therefore the entire month, of Me-Made-May 2014 and I successfully followed through with my pledge to at least one garment that I’ve made, refashioned or embellished each day …
Sew pajamas from T-shirts: Creative Recycling for Kids
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I’m really excited to be participating in Silvia from Mammabook’s Creative Recycling for Kids initiative again this year! Being one of the few Italian refashioning bloggers, Silvia asked me to participate with a refashioning for children project. Last year I …
Me-Made-May 2014: What I wore May 17-23
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Week three of Me-Made-May 2014 is now over and I’m thrilled to report that the weather is now finally acting like May in southern Italy! As per my pledge, I am wearing at least one garment that I’ve made, refashioned …
Hands free asymmetrical bag: a Serger Pepper pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I was really excited to be one of the testers of my friend Irene from Serger Pepper‘s latest pattern, the hands-free asymmetrical bag.* I’ve been using this Colombian mochila for nearly five years and it’s starting to fall apart. Plus …
Easy knit rainbow beaded necklaces (beginner knitting)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Is your part of the world suffering from un-May-like dreary weather? Clouds, rain, wind? What we all need is a nice cheery rainbow of colors to perk us all up! The other day, inspired by the crummy weather, I posted …
Me-Made-May 2014: What I wore May 10-16
Leggi questo post in: Italiano And here we are at the end of the second week of Me-Made-Me 2014, halfway through. As per my pledge, I am wearing at least one garment that I’ve made, refashioned or embellished each day of this month. You can …
Layered reverse applique t-shirts: covering stains
Leggi questo post in: Italiano A while back I saw this awesome layered t-shirt. I really like layering a long-sleeved t-shirt under a short-sleeved one, but what I really loved about this project is how it covered up little holes in the short-sleeved t-shirt with …
Me-Made-May 2014: What I wore May 1-9
Leggi questo post in: Italiano And here we are with the first installment of what I wore as part of my Me-Made-May 2014 pledge. To remind you, I challenged myself to wear at least one me-made (sewn, refashioned, embellished, knit, crocheted) garment per day. Last …
Butterfly sleeve flower girl dress: McCall’s M6690
Leggi questo post in: Italiano On Monday a good friend of ours got married and we were honored to participate as a family in the civil ceremony. Italian weddings don’t have the same traditional roles for other people to participate in. My husband and I …
The Perfect Shrug free pattern with easy fabric flowers
Leggi questo post in: Italiano In preparation for Me Made May 2014, I’m going to try to catch up on some older projects which I never got around to posting, but that I will most probably be wearing over the month (hopefully with less crazy …
The Homemade Play Doh Competition (a.k.a. Easter 2014)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Yes, I am a bit late, but let me tell you about our Easter this year. We of course had our usual Easter egg hunt (my daughter had been talking about it for weeks before). Besides little odds and ends …
One-minute tutorial: How to make an upcycled yarn holder
Leggi questo post in: Italiano When I joined Pinterest a couple of years ago, one of my first pins was this ArtBin Yarn Drum yarn holder. Not because I had any intention of buying it, but because I had a freebie bag that I knew …
Make your own Natural Homemade Tooth Powder: 3 recipes
Leggi questo post in: Italiano A couple of years ago I started getting really interested in making my own body products so as to avoid chemicals, reduce packaging and save money. I stopped posting on my experiments because I honestly got a little stuck on …
Voyages Beanie and Simple and Sweet Beret: hat patterns
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I mentioned in my pom pom yarn scarf post a couple of months ago that I was participating in a Facebook knit along/crochet along to create two hats. The event was created by Italians to better learn how to read …
Tutorial: How to refashion a short scarf into a shrug
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Are you an expert refashioner or just starting to get interesting in it? If you’re interested in hearing my thoughts about refashioning, how I got started and some of my past messups, take a look at my interview as part …
How to make Lemon Rosemary flavored salt: an easy recipe
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I know we here in the northern hemisphere are thrilled that winter is on its way out, but before it’s completely gone, let’s use the last of this season’s lemons. Last month I wrote about how to make salt-preserved lemons, …
Green Cat, eco-friendly cat litter that works: a review
Leggi questo post in: Italiano The following is a sponsored post, but all opinions expressed are fully mine. I’ve always had at least one cat at a time since I was little, but most of the time they were outside and didn’t really use much …
Jar of Hearts for special Daddies: DIY Father’s Day gift
Leggi questo post in: Italiano This year we nearly missed Father’s Day (March 19th in Italy) completely. It had sort of slipped my mind to make something with the kids for my husband until that very morning, so I quickly racked my brain for a …
Testers, affiliate links and other news at Cucicucicoo
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Hello there! I’ve been a bit less active on the blog these days but actually more active behind the scenes. I wanted to give you guys a little heads up about some new things going on here at Cucicucicoo. First …
Serger Pepper’s Basic Leggings: Pattern Review
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Any of you who know me in real life and have seen me any time since high school will know that I just love tights. The more colorful, the better. I love wearing them under skirts, matching colors and designs …
Carnevale 2014: Despicable Me 2 Carnival costumes
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Here we are on the day of Carnival, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras… and it’s raining. Doh! So now celebrating in the streets with the wonderful festivities planned in many towns in the area for us. Some of the celebrations have …
Despicable Me costumes: Lucy Wilde’s scarf and coat
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Back to our Carnival costumes! To recap, my kids are dressing up as Despicable Me characters and I’ve already written about the wig and accessories of Agent Lucy Wilde. But the costume is just not complete without her scarf and, …
Despicable Me costumes: Lucy Wilde’s wig and accessories
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Oh yes, my kids just love Despicable Me. (Evidence of this can be seen here, here and here.) And yes, this year my kids are dressing up as Despicable Me characters for Carnival. And yes, I’m making the costumes. Sofia …
How to make super simple sticker magnets
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It all started with this Minion sticker. My daughter has a Despicable Me album with stickers that you collect and trade, then she plays with any extras that she has. Her little brother stuck this Stuart sticker onto a cabinet. …
How to make a crinkle taggie baby toy with recycling
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It’s become a bit of a tradition that when one of my friends has a first baby, I make a couple of these crinkly taggie baby toys. It’s a known fact that babies frequently prefer playing with non-playthings, so you’ll …
Eat lemons all year: How to make salt preserved lemons
Leggi questo post in: Italiano It’s citrus season for those of us living in southern Italy. While it’s great to get loads of organic lemons, oranges, mandarin oranges, clementines, grapefruit and citron from our tree-owning friends, we tend to get so many that we don’t …
How to make a hat and scarf set from a hooded towel
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Kids just love hooded towels, especially when they’re shaped like some fun animal or creature. So my mother thought that a couple of adorable hooded towels would make a great gift for my kids. But I had a little surprise …
Tutorial: How to make your own Play Doh picture mats
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Remember how my kids had the chicken pox last October, one right after another? Having them home for such a long time without being able to go out got old pretty quickly. Thank goodness for homemade Play Doh! To pizzazz …
Picture Frame Earring Display with a Repurposed Burlap Bag
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I love earrings and I’ve got 9 earring holes so I have a pretty vast collection. A collection that was kept in a mess inside a jewelry box. It took a while to find matching earrings. The little ones slipped …
Tutorial: Super easy no-sew t shirt sleeve necklace
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Now that Christmas is over and I’m done (for now) with my ecological gift wrapping guide, let’s get back to regular refashioning business with a super quick project. I’d actually planned on publishing this tutorial as a last-minute gift idea, …
Happy Holidays from Cucicucicoo (and the Minions!!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano My kids and their cousin are totally obsessed with Minions. We let our kids (and guests) draw on the walls. The natural result? Lots of pictures of Minions on our walls. (Some of which resemble my little guy when he’s …
Tutorial: How to make gift bags from cereal boxes
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Panic time! If you’re anything like me, you have a last few gifts hanging around waiting to be wrapped (or perhaps all of them), so today I want to show you the last idea for this season of my eco-friendly …
Cereal Box Gift Boxes with Produce Net Bag Bows
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I just love cereal boxes. We always have loads of them and I use them for everything. I glue small pattern pieces onto them for stability. I use them as a backing for product tags. I’ve started making shipping envelopes …
Pine Cone Christmas Trees: a tutorial for kids
Leggi questo post in: Italiano A couple of weeks ago I published a tutorial for a children’s activity, making woven Hopi Eye Christmas ornaments, for the advent calendar countdown at the blog Creare per r’ESISTERE (in Italian, while the English version can be found here …
Tutorial: Reusable fabric gift bags from freebie bags
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome back to my eco gift wrapping guide! Today’s tutorial requires a tiny bit more effort to make than the other projects in this series (though being far from difficult) but is probably the easiest one to use afterwards, and …
Furoshiki: Japanese reusable fabric gift wrap
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Today’s project is my absolute favorite one that is part of my Ecological Gift Wrapping series: furoshiki. This Japanese technique is a super simple form of reusable fabric gift wrap, although it’s also used to carry bundles in Japan. I’ve …
Tutorial: Make recycled gift tags from old cards
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Welcome to the first installment of my Eco Gift Wrapping Guide! In my introduction to this series I mentioned my thrifty mother and how she would get the most out of any wrapping paper or materials that came her way. …
Ecological Gift Wrapping Guide: reusable gift wrap ideas
Leggi questo post in: Italiano When I was a little girl, I loved getting gifts on Christmas, my birthday, or any other occasion. But I hated how my thrifty mother would insist I be careful not to wrip the wrapping paper so that she could …
Woven Hopi Eye Yarn Christmas Ornaments – for kids!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Did you see the project I did with my daughter’s 2nd grade class the other day? They just loved weaving these Hopi Eye yarn Christmas ornaments, even when they didn’t come out exactly as planned. But who cares? They were …
Coming soon on Cucicucicoo…
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Just look at these. Seriously, just look at them. A class of 7-year-olds made those Hopi Eye Christmas ornaments. And pretty much by themselves. Sure, I needed to help the kids making knots and showing them how to wind the …
Tutorial: Turn little kid pants into big kid pants
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I recently wrote a post on the upcycled t-shirt underwear I sewed for my little boy when he was potty trained. One of the nice things about children wearing underwear (besides the obvious plus of not having to deal with …
What to do with old records: bowls and jewelry
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I love that records are coming back into style. Besides the fact that their sound is just so full and amazing and the cover and insert art is often so elaborate (and the larger format makes it much easier to …
Turn Old T Shirts into Boys’ Underwear
Leggi questo post in: Italiano In Italy young children can start public preschool if they will have turned three by the following May. Which means that some kids start when they are only 2 1/2, like my little Nicky did (toting along with his special …
All Natural Chicken Pox Itching Relief
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I have not had much of a chance to write much the past few weeks for various reasons, such as my mother visiting and repairmen in and out for various broken appliances and whatnot. But also the fact that we’ve …
Tutorial: Applique to cover rips in clothes
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Last July the daughter of a good friend of ours was getting ready to head to the Galapagos (lucky thing, her!). While her mother was ironing her things for the trip she accidentally melted a bit of her versatile polyester …
Make DIY Minions from Upcycled Materials: Tutorial
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Today the movie Despicable Me 2 is coming out in the theaters in Italy. (Yes, considerably later than in the States.) My daughter and her cousin are besides themselves with joy. They’ve been waiting and waiting to see the Minions …
How to make pants from a shorts pattern
Leggi questo post in: Italiano And here we have the third and last post about the MADE kid shorts pattern. (If you haven’t yet, read about making shorts from duvet cover scraps and making shorts from a thrifted t shirt, reusing the original hem.) This …
Upcycled T Shirt Shorts: how to reuse the original hem
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Here’s the second part of the series on shorts and pants made with the MADE pattern. (Did you read the first part about my shorts made from scraps of a duvet cover?) I’m really happy with how these shorts came …
Make shorts from bed sheet scraps
Leggi questo post in: Italiano One of my favorite blogs is MADE. Dana makes beautiful and professional-looking clothes and other things. Her photographs are gorgeous and her tutorials and very detailed and easy to follow. I’ve already written about how to make your own leggings …
Add a name tag to a backpack (or other bag)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Yesterday my little 2 year, 8 month old boy had his first day of public nursery school. And two days before that, I suddenly remembered that he needed a little backpack for school. I didn’t want to buy another because …
Super quick DIY zipper earrings + two freebies!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Last year, when my little girl was getting ready to start 1st grade, I realized that her pen/pencil/marker case from kindergarten just was too massacred to use again. I couldn’t throw it away, though, with those three cheerful bright red …
Cicciluzz’, Haircut, Birthday, Instagram
Leggi questo post in: Italiano We made a new friend on June 1st. We found him on the street near our home. Knowing it wouldn’t have survived long there, we picked it up and brought it home, asking my father-in-law for help, seeing as he’s …
Me-Made-May ’13: what I wore May 27 – 31
Leggi questo post in: Italiano The last week of my Me-Made-May ’13 challenge! I managed to wear, as I’d pledged, at least one of my own handmade (whether from scratch or refashioning somehow) articles of clothing or accessories each day. I must say that I’m …
Me-Made-May ’13: what I wore May 20 – 26
Leggi questo post in: Italiano The fourth week of my challenge! (Here are weeks number one, two and three.) The weather has gotten very chilly again and I had to take out some warmer clothing from the winter stuff I’d already packed away. May 20: …
Me-Made-May ’13: what I wore May 13 – 19
Leggi questo post in: Italiano And here’s the continuation of my Me-Made-May challenge. (And here are the first week and the second week.) This week was the first to present some difficulties, which I’ll write about below. May 13: A day spent at home doing …
Me-Made-May ’13: what I wore May 8 – 12
Leggi questo post in: Italiano And here’s the continuation of my challenge to wear at least one garment and/or accessory that I’ve made/refashioned per day of May. (Click here to see the first week.) There are a few projects here which I haven’t been able …
Me-Made-May ’13: what I wore May 1-7
Leggi questo post in: Italiano ok, i didn’t have any issues this first week of my challenge to wear at least one garment/accessory made/refashioned by yours truly every day. my official photographer is my daughter, which explains both the viewpoint and quality of the photos, …
how to draft a leggings pattern (tutorial)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano to start off me-made-may 2013 nicely, i’m preparing a series of three posts on how to sew comfy and versatile leggings perfectly your size at home. it’s really easy, so don’t get scared off by the many pictures here! …
Me-Made-May 2013: my pledge
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i’m in! i’ve pledged in So, Zo…‘s challenge for the first time. it’s called Me-Made-May and it takes place each year. every participant pledges to wear homemade (sewn, refashioned, knitted, crocheted, etc.) clothing as often as possible throughout the month, …
personalized pool accessories: the footmat
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i’ve already written about my first personalized pool accessory. now the second. most women in the locker room have a sort of synthetic mat they stand on as they get dried off and dressed. (edit: some readers asked me what …
accessori personalizzati in piscina: l’accappatoio – personalized pool accessories: the bathrobe
Leggi questo post in: Italiano my daughter and i have been going to the pool since october. this is what happened: she was afraid of the water and i was afraid that she’d never learn to swim enough to be safe near it. in order …
how to dress a monkey
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i’m sure that all mothers who know how to sew get requests every so often for clothes and/or accessories for toys. at least that’s how it is for me. (some examples: dog bones and collars/leashes and mermaid costumes for dolls) …
living in 5 with 5 euros per day
Leggi questo post in: Italiano no, i’m not talking about myself, but the book by stefania rossini, aka stefy of naturalmente stefy. i had the pleasure of meeting her virtually a couple of months ago and i was immediately drawn to her book, which is …
powders in the kitchen
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i’ve kidnapped my father-in-law’s mini food processor and i’ve been using it a ton in the kitchen! let me start by telling you about something i’ve already been doing for a few years (learned from my father-in-law): powdered chili pepper. …
Last minute befana solution
Leggi questo post in: Italiano in campania, the region of italy where we live, a witch called la befana comes the night before epiphany and leaves candy and gifts for kids. these days everyone just buys those prepackaged stockings in the supermarket. within our own …
Wooly accessories from scraps
Leggi questo post in: Italiano remember those eco-sponges that i made from wool clothes that i’d inadvertently felted? i wrote about how i’d done something with the remainders of those clothes, but then three months went by without my writing the post. but, you know …
advent calendar countdown: dec 20 -24
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i already wrote last time that it’s been exhausting doing some sort of interesting activity every day with my daughter, take pictures and blog it. so these last few days were considerably more lazy! except december 20th, when my little …
advent calendar countdown: december 17-19 (play!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i’ll admit it… it’s really tiring doing a new activity every day (and blogging them all). even my little girl sometimes would rather just play on her own or watch tv instead of putting in the energy after school and …
advent calendar countdown: dec 11, 13, 14 (be artists!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano my daughter loves being an artist, so we frequently do projects to stimulate her artistic creativity. her advent calendar activity on december 11th was to make little books out of a single sheet of white paper. it’s really easy to …
advent calendar countdown: dec 6, 15, 16 (eat it again!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano bet that caught your attention, huh? this is the dessert that we were going to do december 6th for the advent calendar, but we weren’t able to do it. you can find the recipe here. below is before i let …
advent calendar countdown: dec. 9 – 10 (decorate it!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i’m not crazy about christmas decorations, but in our home there are four types of them, two of which you’ve already seen (the advent calendar and the christmas tree). my daughter loves putting these decorations up, so all four became …
advent calendar countdown: december 12 (tree it!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano before starting: i am still speechless over what happened yesterday in Newtown. it brought tears to my eyes and a great pain to my heart. if you are concerned about just how easy it is to obtain a gun, consider …
advent calendar countdown: december 6 – 8 (eat it!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i proposed yummy activities for these three days of activities. on december 6, i proposed making these chocolate, peanut butter and marshmallow cookies that you don’t bake. except it was a pretty busy day and in the end we didn’t …
advent countdown: december 4-5 (lamination!)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano …??? this is what my daughter found in her advent calendar yesterday morning. do you have any idea what it means? you’ll have to keep on reading to find out. but first, i have something to tell you: my sister …
advent countdown: december 1-3
Leggi questo post in: Italiano and here we are with the countdown! if you follow me on facebook, you might have already seen the first days of my advent calendar countdown with activities to do with kids. unfortunately i just can’t manage to post here …
confessions of a refashionista + t(ie)-shirt cardigan
Leggi questo post in: Italiano alternate title: “good things come to those who wait.” that’s how it went with the book “confessions of a refashionista: life on the zig zag.” i’d wanted to read it since discovering sheri from awesomesauce & asshattery, but she was …
“new” crayons from old ones
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i’d seen the idea of recuperating all those little broken pieces of crayons, melting them in molds, making new crayons with all different colors in them. what fun! then i found another version of this project, but putting the molds …
Ecological Creativity from Elisa Nicoli
Leggi questo post in: Italiano when elisa nicoli let me know that one of her books could be of interest to me, i immediately went looking for it and found that there are also two other of her books (published by altreconomia) that also look …
How to Sew a Witch Cape with a Rectangle of Fabric in 1 Hour
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Years ago, my daughter was invited to a Halloween party, but didn’t have a costume that fit her. She had outgrown her Field of Flowers costume. All she had was a witch hat. All I had was one afternoon. (Hello, …
Upcycled bottle cap dog tags
Leggi questo post in: Italiano remember these metal bottle caps (left over from our glass water bottles) and t-shirt sleeves (left over from various projects, such as my bathroom rug)? i also posted a photo of a bunch of cardboard boxes. this stuff was all …
How to Sew DIY Bilingual Placemats for Multi-Cultural Families
Leggi questo post in: Italiano In our home we use placemats, not a tablecloth. I find them a lot easier to take care of and wash as necessary. And, as I live on another continent from my family and old friends, I’ve found that handmade …
A tale of two t-skirts
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i’m thrilled! i’ve been accepted to contribute to Refashion Co-op! i just love this blog with 100 contributors around the world who write about their projects upcycling and refashioning clothes to create reborn, unique, marvelous things to wear. i read …
Other ways to use plastic bottles
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i try not to use much plastic, but unfortunately it’s generally hard not to buy food in plastic containers. you can recycle plastic, but it’s not as easily recyclable as glass and paper, and it’s always better to reuse materials …
DIY Moon Sand and Bubble Bath Paint
Leggi questo post in: Italiano even if i still haven’t written as much as i’d like about this, i’ve decided to stop buying most commercial body care products and instead to make my own homemade ones. up til now i’ve only written about toothpaste and …
Yet more zero cost summer clothes
Leggi questo post in: Italiano geez, how time flies. i’d wanted to write this post shortly after the last one about how to obtain summer clothes quickly and easily, but i was on vacation and just couldn’t. we took a nice road trip around northern …
Laundry bags from pillowcases
Leggi questo post in: Italiano perfect line drying weather has officially arrived (gads, how hot and how sunny it is!), so i decided to finally post this project. a while back i saw this tutorial by in color order to make drawstring laundry bags from …
Orange-lemon marmalade
Leggi questo post in: Italiano and here’s the third installation of orange-themed posts. i’ve already written about my orange toothpaste and orange-lemon liquor. that liquor sure is yummy, but you only use the outermost peels for it, so what do you do with the rest …
Toothpaste: orange update
Leggi questo post in: Italiano remember the fabulous homemade toothpaste i wrote about a couple of months ago? (as part of my ongoing obsession for truly natural products) when i wrote that post, i was the only one in our household to use those toothpastes. …
Natural skin moisturizing
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i’ve finally come back to my recipes for homemade body products! after the toothpaste, i hadn’t written anymore partially because i was still doing some experimentation, but mostly because it takes more time and energy to write a post like …
More upcycled pots
Leggi questo post in: Italiano isn’t this a nice picture? (it’s among my photo-enigmas on my facebook page.) it’s hard to imagine that not even 3 months ago it looked like this: here’s the story. mid-january, while taking a walk along miseno beach, near naples, …
interview at “il caffè delle mamme”
Leggi questo post in: Italiano the very sweet francesca from il caffè delle mamme proposed me to do an interview for her column “progetti di mamme” (mothers’ projects) and published it yeterday afternoon! go take a look! i’m really happy with it! it is in …
Upcycled bathroom rugs, part II
Leggi questo post in: Italiano crap… remember these bath rugs? i made them from an old sheet and old towels. i said that, even leaving the edges unfinished, without zigzagging them, they didn’t fray. well, um…let’s just say that that wasn’t really true. perhaps i’d …
Homemade toothpaste: two recipes
Leggi questo post in: Italiano and here is the first episode of homemade body product recipes. i’m starting with toothpaste because i was so happy with more than one recipe right from the start. but first…why not use regular store-bought toothpaste? first off, if you …
Meeting up with Ork’Idea and Arteteca
Leggi questo post in: Italiano the first week of 2012 has a nice surprise for me…i had the opportunity to meet cristina from ork’idea atelier and rachele from arteteca, two italian bloggers that i just love for their creative use of recuperated materials. what can …
It’s that time of the year again!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i’m still without a camera, can you believe it?! i’d love to give the store that’s making all these problems a bunch of negative publicity, but i’ll refrain… so let’s talk about christmas gifts! in my opinion, the best choice …
Works in progress…or rather, abandoned
Leggi questo post in: Italiano our digital camera broke a couple of weeks ago. we brought it to get fixed and when it finally was ready, we discovered that whoever fixed the lens apparently broke another part while doing it. i brought it back to …
Foam puzzle rugs, part III
Leggi questo post in: Italiano a while back, i wrote about how i transformed a little foam alphabet puzzle into stamps and a bulletin board. the reason was that apparently that type of plastic contains substances which are hazardous to your health. i don’t know …
Diary of the first year
Leggi questo post in: Italiano my mother has always cut out magazine and newspaper articles that she thinks i would find interesting. once she thought of me reading an article about the actress jenna fiscer in oprah winfrey’s magazine, “O,” from may 2007. she circled …
Placemats for weddings 1 and 2
Leggi questo post in: Italiano last summer two of my friends got married and i decided to make each of them placemats, cloth napkins and chalkcloth coasters. i started with chiara’s. except…it was really damn hat and humid, i was pregnant and was having issues …
A wonderful Christmas gift!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i know that i’ve been completely absent from my and everyone else’s blogs, but i have a good excuse… our christmas present arrived on december 22! i’d been very busy what with preparing for his arrival and christmas (and very …
Handmade Bookmark with Portrait (Gifts by Kids)
Leggi questo post in: Italiano One of the first craft books that I bought and that I’ve loved very much is Handmade Home by Amanda Blake Soule*. This book was the inspiration for my repurposed towel and bedsheet bathroom rugs. But it also inspired me …
Super lucky! Winner at Ork’Idea Atelier!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i couldn’t not participate in the giveaway that cristina from ork’idea atelier organized and yesterday i got the good news…i’m one of the winners! i won a copy of her cd “nuova vita al pet” (new life for pet) which …
December 1st…break out those advent calendars!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano yesterday i took the advent calendar that i made last year out from storage and my daughter put all the gift-holding ornaments on it. we made these ornaments mostly from the plastic containers inside kinder eggs. she was thrilled to …
100% recycled containers from old sheets
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i had some very used and loved bedsheets (we’re talking decades of continuous use by my siblings and me) with peanuts vignettes on them which i have always loved. except that the fitted bottom sheet was very worn out in …
Bananas become cloth pads with SHE
Leggi questo post in: Italiano a friend of mine sent me a link to a very interesting bit of news: one of the winnders of the Curry Stone Design Prize 2010 was a certain Elizabeth Scharpf and her SHE (Sustainable Health Enterprises). why, what did …
Inserts for cloth pocket diapers
Leggi questo post in: Italiano these days i make two types of cloth diapers: all-in-ones (AIO) and pocket diapers. AIOs are the easiest to use because they’re the closest thing to disposables in terms of structure and use. pocket diapers, on the other hand, are …
Christmas already?!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano yep, i’m already thinking about christmas. i generally start thinking about gifts around december 20th, but not this year! seeing as my munchkin should in theory make his debut december 30th, i’d rather get everything taken care of earlier for …
Charity: giving back those “lost” days
Leggi questo post in: Italiano last april i became part of a very interesting initiative, that is the donation of cloth menstrual pads to girls and women in developing countries. without any access to such products, women in these areas are forced to use tree …
Vinegar and baking soda
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i’ve been reading recently about ways to clean the house and do lots of other things without using cleaning products from the supermarket, full of chemical ingredients with names i can’t pronounce. my mother has always remedied a blocked sink …
Summer recipe: zucchini ribbons with tomato and olives
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Our family really loves eating zucchini in the summer, so I’m always looking for interesting new ways to make it. My mother made this dish for me one time that I was visiting her, so I asked her for the …
How to make baskets from recycled paper
Leggi questo post in: Italiano **TUTORIAL UPDATE** I’ve created a new version of the woven cereal box basket, giving more detailed instructions and including more pictures to better explain each step. You can find the new tutorial here! ——————————————— a year ago i saw this …
How to sew corners on a bed sheet: Tutorial
Leggi questo post in: Italiano we were quite lucky because we’re full of bed sheets that were barely used by my husband’s family. the annoying thing? they’re all flat sheets, and not one fitted one. i really can’t stand having to fold the edges of …
Cucicucicoo goes to Rome!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano this weekend i’ll be participating in a national demonstration of “genuino clandestino” in rome. groups of farmers and artisans from all over italy will get together to renounce the laws favoring large industries and making it impossible for small producers …
How to make homemade foam stamps from old puzzles
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Our family is stamp-addicted. We have a really insane collection of stamps that we take out from time to time to create crazy scenes with people, speech bubbles, animals, aliens and any and every other thing you could possibly imagine. …
Transfer drawings to t shirts with freezer paper
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I just can’t handle a plain garment. And I REALLY can’t handle a plain T-shirt. And this is one of the reasons why I do freezer paper stenciling so often. What’s another reason? It’s SO EASY. It’s SO FUN. It’s …
Ragnatela self-production: march 2010
Leggi questo post in: Italiano and here we go again for another round of ragnatela (spiderweb), the market of self-production! sunday 7 march 2010 from 10 am til sundown at the social center “la salette,” via romolo e remo 45, soccavo (naples). besides the market …
Blog candy participants
Leggi questo post in: Italiano wow! i’m pretty psyched to see how many nice people have commented and entered my first giveaway! i’ve decided to start figuring out who the participants are and figuring out how many times each entered. it’s possible to enter up …
Cucicucicoo turns 1! Let’s celebrate!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano it feels like just yesterday but at the same time years ago that i started this blog adventure. but it was actually exactly one year ago today! happy birthday, cucicucicoo! during this year i’ve celebrated other blogs with their blog …
Ecological Internet surfing: Ecosia
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i’d never thought about polluting with internet or search engines. then i saw one of my facebook friends had posted a link to ecosia. every search made on this search engine saves about 2 square meters of rainforest. how does …
Seitan with jerusalem artichokes and bulgur: recipe
Leggi questo post in: Italiano i realize that recently i’ve only been writing about my work things and my products for sale. i’ve been quite busy, but i’d like to quickly write about something absolutely marvelous that i discovered at the market last week: jerusalem …
All about cloth diapers
Leggi questo post in: Italiano For those who don’t use cloth diapers, the idea of being in close contact with your child’s p & p (pee and poo) isn’t that pleasant; however it’s… totally natural. Disposable diapers are a relatively new invention which became the …
All about cloth nursing pads
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Why use cloth nursing pads? Breastfeeding is the best thing you can do to give your child a head start in life. Nobody denies that nursing is the healthiest thing for your newborn, is cheaper and more ecological than formula, …
November 8: market!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano on november 8 i will participate in the ragnatela*autoproduzioni market at giardino dell’orco on lake avernus, pozzuoli (NA). this market sells organic food and other products, all of which are auto-produced, and is held every month. however this month is …
Blog action day: hanging out the laundry
Leggi questo post in: Italiano quite often i catch myself complaining about this or that in everyday Italian life. why is it so hard to get things done?! why is everyone so closed to new and “different” ideas?! etc etc. but then every so often …
Free Pattern! Sew girl underwear from a t shirt
Leggi questo post in: Italiano **Update October 15, 2016** Given the popularity of this tutorial, I digitized this pattern and made a few simple changes to the post. I’ve seen a lot of blogs and websites write recently about making underwear out of old …
What to do with broken flip flops? DIY stamps!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I HATE it when my flip flops break. Especially when they break while you’re walking on the boiling hot sand of a beach in the summer. And that’s what happened with these ones. The hole for one of the straps …
It’s spring! Elderflower syrup drink
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Oh how I love spring! The sun, the heat (without that horrid summer stickiness), everyone’s happy, all the kids can play outside! And it’s the end of the year for all the kids and teachers (like me) out there! I …
Kitties on potties: CitiKitty review
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Today we finally started organizing our “box,” our storage area on the ground floor of our building, where we’d dumped so much stuff that we couldn’t even walk in it anymore. And we found lots of fun stuff we’d forgotten …
Eco-washing: a review of Ecoballs and Magnoball
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Let’s talk about washing detergent. I’m always excited to find any sort of ecological alternative. I use hardly any disposable products and our cabinets and drawers are full of lovely washable cloth stuff: napkins, hankies, menstrual pads, diapers, wipes, shopping …
All about washable and reusable cloth menstrual pads
Leggi questo post in: Italiano Find all the sewing patterns for Cucicucicoo products in the Cucicucicoo Patterns shop! When I talk to people about my cloth pads, they’re generally shocked. Pads…that you wash?! Of course! Disposable pads are a pretty recent invention. In the past …
All about washable and reusable wet bags
Leggi questo post in: Italiano What is a wet bag? A wet bag is a washable waterproof pouch in which you can put wet or dirty clothes or objects, such as diapers, wipes, and menstrual pads, but also dirty clothes, bathing suits, and travel toiletries. …
How to sew a Clifford hat – easy beginner project!
Leggi questo post in: Italiano I used to love Clifford the Big Red Dog when I was little, but nothing else comes close to Sofia’s passion for the miniscule runt of a litter of puppies which grew to the size of a house, thanks to …
