Sunday, April 23, 2006

Clean or Dirty

Are the dishes in the dishwasher clean or dirty?
*** Update: now with pattern ***
*** Update 2: Kick Ass! I was a winner in Whiplash Week 2 ***



whipupEveryday when my husband and I start making dinner, he asks, "Are the dishes in here clean?" I don't know why, but it drives me nuts every time. It's been known to make me surly, even. I've been thinking about making a cheeky dirty/clean indicator just for him. When this week's Whiplash was announced, I knew *now* was the time.

I took the basic idea of a sign (like a woman's bathroom sign or the walkie-man on street lights) and added a little interactive dress action. It's made out of felt, backed with a 3x5 card and magnets. The dress is two pieces embroidered with the words and then the two pieces are sewn together. I loosely sewed the dress onto the body so it will flip up and down. There is a magnet in the dress to help hold it up.

How could he not notice a half naked girl? Well, I guess we'll find out. His only comment, "The boobs should have been bigger." Now *that* made me laugh.

Feel free to use this pattern for your personal use, but please do not sell anything made from this pattern. The full sized pattern pieces are in the image below. Cut out the square around the words and then cut out the words with an exacto knife. Line up the bottom of the square with the bottom of the dress, trace the words with a disappearing ink pen (I use the purple kind), then embroider.

I'd love to see your version of clean/dirty - leave a comment with a link!

41 Comments leave a comment


mellissa said ...
9/29/2006 7:46 PM
this is a winner--so funny and so perfect. I get surly over the same issue!

April 23, 2006 7:35 PM


creative kismet said ...
9/29/2006 7:47 PM
ha ha ha ha! This is perfect! Love it!!

April 23, 2006 7:42 PM


marcisenders said ...
9/29/2006 7:48 PM
This is hysterical!

April 23, 2006 7:53 PM


Green Kitchen said ...
9/29/2006 7:49 PM
I love it. Reminds me of the Land O' Lakes naughty card you can make from the packaging from the butter. Oh so many posting ideas. Good job. I hope you win a book.

April 23, 2006 8:14 PM


Funky Finds said ...
9/29/2006 7:50 PM
This is hilarious! Nice job.

April 23, 2006 8:38 PM


Rebecca said ...
9/29/2006 7:50 PM
oh! freakin' fabulous!!!

April 23, 2006 9:50 PM


crystal said ...
9/29/2006 7:51 PM
Ohmyga...this is the most creative thing I've seen in a long time. It's awesome!

April 24, 2006 12:45 AM


Kuky said ...
9/29/2006 7:52 PM
What a good idea, very original and creative! I like how your mind works. :) We have the same problem in our house. My very boring noncreative solution was to put dishwashing detergent into the little door and close it so we know it's dirty. Your solution is a lot more fun!

April 24, 2006 2:13 AM


Ali said ...
9/29/2006 7:52 PM
Very very funny - and I need one too! All together now JUST LOOK AT THE DISHES!!!

April 24, 2006 6:28 AM


Ayelet said ...
9/29/2006 7:53 PM
I am soooo making one.. or two - one for the dishwasher, one for the washing machine..

April 24, 2006 10:02 AM


meegan said ...
9/29/2006 7:53 PM
Delightful!

April 24, 2006 10:36 AM


Tangerine Dreams said ...
9/29/2006 7:55 PM
So wicked! Makes me want a dishwasher!

April 24, 2006 10:38 AM


P said ...
9/29/2006 7:56 PM
tee hee, that is great (and so beautifully executed :))

April 24, 2006 11:47 AM


knitchka said ...
9/29/2006 7:56 PM
Brilliant! I love it too.

April 24, 2006 12:28 PM


Jessica said ...
9/29/2006 7:56 PM
Very clever. :)

April 24, 2006 12:53 PM


HildeC said ...
9/29/2006 7:57 PM
This really made me laugh, it's so clever and creative!

April 27, 2006 5:58 AM


tuscanycastlegirl said ...
9/29/2006 7:58 PM
too funny :)
very smart!

by the way..... what is the thing you can do with a Land o' Lakes butter carton? (green kitchen mentioned it.) Just curious.

April 29, 2006 8:57 AM


Miss Dot said ...
9/29/2006 7:58 PM
brilliant! the Spam Man and I use those magnetic letters from the fridge but his would be FAR more fun!

April 29, 2006 11:01 AM


futuregirl said ...
9/29/2006 8:00 PM
... for tuscanycastlegirl ...

The "Land o' Lakes butter carton trick" that greenkitchen mentions is something is something that is passed down from generation to generation in my family.

Basically, you cut out the girl on the front of the carton, the one on her knees holding the butter and you fold the paper so her knees become her boobies.

A quick google search uncovered this gem: http://www.zooass.com/whatever/pocahooters/
replete with animated gifs of the folding process. Wicked fun.

April 29, 2006 12:30 PM


Anonymous said ...
9/29/2006 8:00 PM
What about those of us that the dishwasher front is not metal? Wahhh!

May 01, 2006 12:36 AM


Green Kitchen said ...
9/29/2006 8:00 PM
Congratulations! I thought your win was well deserved. :)

May 01, 2006 12:46 AM


Andrea said ...
9/29/2006 8:01 PM
It's genius. :D

May 01, 2006 8:31 AM


Lycanthrope said ...
9/29/2006 8:01 PM
Wonderful.... Now I just need to find someone here who does embroidery.

The "BoingBoing" site has found you:
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/04/30/are_the_dishes_in_th.html

May 01, 2006 11:31 AM


Atims said ...
9/29/2006 8:02 PM
You should market this! It's quirky and clever.

May 01, 2006 11:32 AM


Erin-erin-bo-berin said ...
9/29/2006 8:02 PM
Were you in my kitchen about 8AM this morning?! I've gotten so paranoid since we took down the ancient vertical blinds, leaving the windows naked. DH and I had this discussion (read: arguement)this very morning. I've tried everything I've thought of or heard of...until now. I'm making a clean/dirty girl for my dishwasher! Right now!!

May 01, 2006 4:40 PM


Babs said ...
9/29/2006 8:03 PM
This is great - I love the dirty girl imagery...way to get your point across in a cheeky way! :)

May 01, 2006 11:26 PM


Anonymous said ...
9/29/2006 8:03 PM
Very interesting...I work for Whirlpool and a friend sent this along to me. Don't worry, I am by no means going to use your idea - I just thought it was cute myself.

May 02, 2006 3:41 PM


Erin-erin-bo-berin said ...
9/29/2006 8:03 PM
I'm not a seamstress, so I used fabric glue and permanent marker. My problem with my hubs is SOLVED! Thank you again.

May 04, 2006 1:12 PM


Jenbo said ...
9/29/2006 8:04 PM
After I accidentally put rinsed (but not clean) dishes away, I realized we needed a clean/dirty magnet. I did a google search on "clean dirty dishwasher" but didn't like the products. I thought this was great and was about to make one when I got my own creative idea. My boyfriend and I love movies, so I created two miniature movie posters (business card size). One is "The Dishes" with a G rating for general audiences (clean) and the other is for "The Dishes" with a NC-17 rating (dirty).
http://www.geocities.com/jmelion/dishwasher.pdf

June 29, 2006 11:12 AM


Shashi said ...
11/27/2006 7:51 AM
What a wonderful idea and so funny LOL!!


Anonymous said ...
2/8/2007 12:44 PM
This is exactly the creative answer I was looking for. Great idea!


joshua said ...
8/16/2007 7:39 AM
definitely not as nice as yours... but my GF and I did it in an hour or two (or 3)... with what we had on hand.

thanks for the idea!



BIC GIRLS said ...
11/21/2007 10:22 AM
very good idea.your blog is fantastic, you are fantastic....
bye bye from italy


Zee said ...
11/26/2007 12:24 PM
My husband does the same!!! Great idea!!!


The Davis Family said ...
11/29/2007 3:07 PM
I've been working on this for weeks and finally finished it.Yippee! Thanks so much for the pattern and inspiration. It makes me laugh every time I look at it.
http://daisyeyes.blogspot.com/


mklee said ...
3/28/2008 12:00 AM
thanks for this fabulous idea! i made one based on this concept for a holiday gift:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shes-crafty/2179141731/in/photostream/


Moxie said ...
3/28/2008 12:00 AM
well, it's official... I think I love you.
In a clean way.
:) This is great!


Donna C said ...
3/28/2008 6:30 PM
By far and away the most clever, cute and creative dishwasher magnet EVER! I just LOVE this! For those who cant use a magnet - you can use velcro or a suction cup.


Betsy said ...
4/21/2008 11:47 PM
You should be selling these on etsy.com!!


Chad M said ...
6/4/2008 2:25 PM
You should sell these!

 
Joanna said ...
7/3/2008 10:50 PM
this is so cute. too bad i can't sew to save my life....:(


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