I said to myself I would work through the stash of fabric I have, but then I found some cute stuff online and well, you know how it goes. A few clicks and an order (possibly two) was placed. Yeah, I need help. But behold the pretty colours and prints.
Most of it is Khristian A Howell’s The Woodlands collection. There’s an Etsy search so you can see all the prettiness. I ordered mine from Fabricworm.
This was my Saturday, 9 zippered pouches. I used all sorts of random scraps and snuck in a lot of my cute Japanese fabrics. These sold really well at my last craft show, they sold out in fact, so I decided to build a bit of a stock. I’ve been making them since the Create Along on them, plus I love all Keyka Lou’s stuff.
The insides are just as fun.
I tried buttons, nothing and even got adventurous and tried my nemesis The Snap again.
During the last Sew Mama Sew giveaway day I managed to win some charm packs, all solid colours, and I’ve been using those for bits and pieces on these pouches. If you do a bit of an assembly line and go nuts cutting one day you can sit and sew a whole pile of them in one day. Probably something like 9 of them.
Way back I made an eye pillow. It’s all full of flax seed and some nice smelly lavender. I thought I might use it here and there on my eyes, that’s what people do right? Savour the smell, relax and have some quiet thoughts.
What do I actually use it for?
I put my iPhone on it at night so that when it vibrates with email or a text or an early morning phone call it doesn’t sound like a jackhammer on my night stand.
Now what I intended it to be but hey, at least it’s getting used on a daily basis!
Alright I actually did my homework quickly this time. I had plans to make this Saturday with a friend and it got me in the mood for it and even when she had to cancel I forged ahead and finished it.
For my 7 scalloped pieces I used vintage linen fat quarters I’ve been collecting for a bit. Most of them I got from this shop and some are from this one. I had plans for a quilt or something but it won’t hurt that I’ve cut into them a bit.
I made the rest of the bag with just plain black cotton, I liked how it looked with the flowery patterns. I also got fancy and added some interfacing and an inside pocket panel that I stitched to the lining to make with 3 sections. Sewing the scallops involved lost of needle in turning while sewing and when I turned my scalloped pieces right side out I had a lot of puckering, even after ironing. But I just strategically hid them with the other pieces and I picked the neatest one for the top row of scallops. I used some denim for the inside pocket and with the black inside a photo of this part wasn’t working so well.
Actually a photo at all wasn’t working so well. Home alone with 2 little ones it was tricky to get a great shot. As seen by these outtakes. Timer setting failed.
Mirror shot wasn’t working so well. So then I switched to an arty attempt, which is sort of silly.
I used the bag the next day when I took the kids to a birthday party and it got some attention. Thanks again to Kate for sharing such a fun tutorial. Be sure to check out the linky party to see all the great totes everyone made. Add your own of course.
Next on my list . . . a tablerunner!
I’ve admired these doily table runners for quite some time. I think with snowy weather coming for some of us it will make a great festive decoration. There’s a great tutorial here, but it’s pretty straightforward – collect a ton of doilies and stitch them together in a neat way. Oh and come back and share!
Posted in createalong, fun finds, repurposing, sewing, vintage
Until this book comes out?
And also this one, I want this one baaaaaaaad
Can’t wait!
Posted in crafty books, fun finds, sewing
Tagged fabric by fabric, one yard wonders, Rashida Coleman-Hale, zakka style
Well I was doing some poking around and realized that while I shared this post on Wild Olive ages ago I never actually posted it here. So I thought I’d share.
Sometimes we all need a little nap and this sleep mask will help you have a restful slumber. All while looking pretty stinking cute!
My husband and I take turns having a ‘sleep in day’ on the weekends. I have to tell you I count down to that day every week. I started to use a sleep mask to maximize my sleeping in experience. It was just a silly freebie one from one of our airplane trips and I’ve already had to repair it a few times so I decided to just make a much lovelier one.
Here’s what you’ll need for this DIY project:
– batting or fleece
– fabric for the backing (something you won’t mind against your skin while sleeping)
– fabric scraps at least 4 inches in height
– 16 inch piece of elastic
– usual sewing items, thread, machine, scissors
– embroidery floss and needle (optional)
I manged to find some Goldilocks and Three Bears fabric in my stash so I was a bit fussy with the placement of the pattern.
We’re going to use quilting techniques to piece the scraps together. Think about how you’ll want your pieces positioned if you have a particular pattern you want to highlight and place the next print at the edge of the first print with right sides together. Sew down the edge, seam allowance isn’t really that important just make sure you have a straight stitch. My Goldilocks print was uneven so I lined up the brown swirly print to create a straight edge.
Add the next fabric print just like you did before. Right sides together and sew down in a straight line. Continue attaching pieces of fabric until you have a piece that measures at least 8 x 5. My last piece is lower because I was lining up the print in a certain way. Plus this way I’ll still have some usable scraps left over!
Now take your printed template and trace the mask outline onto your little quilted bits.
Cut along the outline. Lay your cutout right side up on top of your batting. It’s not important to trim it down just yet, we’ll do that in a few steps. Add some stitches just to the right and left of your seams. This is a fun little decorative detail and will help hold the inner batting in place. I stuck with my cream coloured thread but you could use matching thread, or something crazy and contrasting.
I decided to get even more creative and stitched ‘Shh!’ onto my mask. If you’d like to add any embroidery stitches to your mask do it now. Draw on the design with a water soluble or disappearing fabric marker. Stitch through the 2 layers.
Now trace the template onto your backing fabric. Cut it out. Place your quilted fabric with the batting side on your work surface. Next put the elastic piece down with about 1/2 inch sticking out over the edge of the mask cutouts. Place the backing piece on top right side down. The elastic will be sandwiched between the 2 pieces of fabric. Pin the elastic ends in place. Make sure the pin is going through all the layers.
With the wrong side of the backing facing you sew around the entire mask outline with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Backstitch over the elastic bits for some extra stability. Leave an opening about 1 inch in length for turning. Trim the excess batting away. I usually make sure to leave a little bit at the opening just to make sure it will close when topstitching. You should be left with something like this. Make sure the elastic wasn’t caught up in any of the stitching.
Turn the mask right side out. Use something pokey to make sure it’s pushed out all along the edges, I use a chopstick.
Once it’s all turned out you can give it a quick press to get the edges all nice and flat. Then topstitch all around the entire mask fairyly close to the edge with an even border. Again, make sure you aren’t catching the elastic while stitching.
And you’re done! Enjoy the many extra hours of sleep protected from the sun’s evil “I’m here to wake you up!” rays.
It’s really hard to take a picture of yourself pretend sleeping, but that’s authentic bedhead and sleepiness. Sadly, the sleep mask won’t stop your children from jumping on you and waking you up.
Posted in gifts, scraps, sewing, tutorial-ish
Tagged goldilocks, quilting, scraps, sleep mask
Taking photos of my kids is challenging. They *never* stop moving. Well one might, but good luck getting them both still! Here’s some shots of Wesley’s costume, complete with sequin covered ‘hose’ and Nate’s Old Navy knock off costume.
I made Nate’s entire costume out of things on hand. A fact that is both impressive and kinda hoarder-like. It was ridiculously simple. I just cut a big rectangle, took a hole out of it, cut 2 hoodie pieces, assembled them and then stitched them to the hole. It was like a big poncho type things. Then I decorated the belly and added the elastic to gather up the bottom. I’m pretty impressed with myself (you’d figure I’d be over that shocking “Wow I’m pretty craft!” phase by now)
Hope you had a great Halloween!
Finished my camera strap, once again my sew-a-long project was finished on a Thursday night. Photos taken today, yeah I live on the edge. I’m also a bit of a dork since I put the strap on my camera and it was all pretty then realized it was going to be tricky to take the photos. Yeah, I’m rocking the brain power lately folks.
If you’ve created along with me lbg also has a Flickr group for sharing things made from her tutorials and patterns. I promise her convertible tote will be in this feature some day soon.
I used my new dying of cuteness fabric, had a hard time cutting into it but hey what else is it for? I paired it with some scraps I have kicking around.
I didn’t have fusible fleece so I just used some scrap fleece i had lying around instead. It feels pretty puffy but I’m not sure that’s the way it should be.
Next challenge a boxy pouch! Perhaps you’ve made one of these, perhaps not. I haven’t and I’ve wanted to for a while. Now that I’ve got zippers and flat pouch making down I’m ready for this twist.
I found 2 tutorials that seem like they’ll work, these first two are lined and the first one will be seamless and the other will have seams on the inside (which means no tricky turning), this one isn’t lined at all and might be good for a thicker fabric. So choose your weapon and come play along!
I guess with that title I could use this spot to show off my new kitten. Instead I’ll talk about the fabric that arrived the other day. You may be thinking to yourself, “Sheesh Tara can’t possibly make a ton of money selling on Etsy since she spends so much buying on Etsy”. You would be correct.
But look closely at this cloud fabric, honestly, are you dying of cuteness yet?!
I also got this fun little bonus.
Gotta love generous Etsy sellers! In other new I think it’s time I start a support group and seek out others like me who are addicted to Japanese fabrics.
Well I’ve been totally exhausted lately. Lots of things due at work, not to mention the day to day planning and then 2 craft shows this month. I stayed up really late every night last week sewing, I worked a 14 hour day and then I had to get up early Saturday to get to the craft sale.
I spent the day sitting in Two Big Guys coffee shop in Toronto. It was a tight fit for all the crafters but it was a lovely day. Got to sit beside my friend Joanna and I crafted away while chatting to new people. Sold some clutches, magnets and of course cozies and even left some in the shop to be sold. Stupidly, I didn’t take any pictures. It’s like I have a blog and use pics all the time, oh and I was sitting beside a photographer. Silly me.
I met SewPetrina who makes new clothes from thrifted or previously loved clothing. She has some really lovely skirts made form thrifted sweaters. It’s such a neat idea and something I thought you would need a serger for but Petrina just sews squares and patches of things together to create new garments. Like I need another mission when I go to the thrift store, now I can’t pass anything over, it may have potential.
Sorry for the tiny pic, I stole it from her site.
Last night I crashed hard, I was ordered to go to bed at 8. But I asked the hubby, “Can I read until 8:30?” and he said “Yes, but I’m coming to take away all your iDevices at 8:30!” He did, well I hid my iPad so after he left I read until about 9 and then crashed out, I remember seeing 9:13 on the clock. I woke up shortly after 7.
Posted in sewing
