Saturday, June 20, 2009

Americana Slouch Bag Raggy Style


I tried this pattern in a couple of different fabrics a few weeks ago, then I hit on the idea of trying it raggy.

It went together pretty nicely and I think it is fun.

It is really, really long! 36" tall from the top of the strap to the bottom of the bag.









I am going to have to issue an organizing challenge to get my studio straightened out before I am allowed do any more fun projects. It is out of control I say!
I will post "before" pics later today. Then get to work on it.
Challenge # 2: Make at least 10 items from my stash before I am allowed to buy anything new!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

I have to show you this pincushion



Here is my very special, gorgeous personalized pincushion that I got from Stephanie in the RQQ pincushion swap I organized.

I just love it! The decorative stitching and the button are awesome, and it has my name on it in SILVER! How cool is that? I am going to have to check out those Benartex B&W fabrics, love them with the red.

Drink Pink Happy Hour Wristlet Bag


My newest creation was not really planned and didn't go very well for me. I am calling it the "Drink Pink" happy hour bag set.

I just decided to fool around with the makeup bag pattern that I made up for K and did it in this cool decorator print I picked up at Denver Fabric's a while back. I put a magnetic snap in the envelope flap on the bag, that worked out pretty well and I like it better than the velcro. I really hate velcro! But then it took me a while to figure out the cellphone pouch and I decided to make a little credit card wallet to match. Big problems with that, I kept doing everything wrong and had to rip it up a few times to get it right. That pattern is definitely going back to the drawing board! But overall I think the set is cute and may list it tomorrow if I have time.


Here is the Boho Blossom set I sent for Irene. I did a matching cellphone pouch and a little ribbon embellished bag for "personal" items to match. Hope she loves it.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Envelope Style Makeup Bag Tutorial: Boho Blossom

Quick and easy make-up bag for K with tutorial.

Finished one flip flop beach bag today. Only 19 to go!
K emailed me today and wanted a quick pattern for a make-up bag she can make in one evening.
I found quite a few tutorials and freebies online, but they all had zippers. I thought I would try to come up with one that doesn't have a zipper, since I doubt she has one on hand.
My first one was cute, but way too small. Will have to try it again later.
This one came out very cute and didn't take too long. Here is a quick tutorial. I didn't take many pics but it was pretty easy and I will try to give good instructions.
For this make-up bag you will need 2 FQ's: one outside fabric and 1 lining
Paper to draw your pattern
Stiff fusible interfacing or fusible fleece
Small piece of velcro
One button
Ruler
I happened to have a template for the envelope top of the bag, but you can draw this, it should be 10" wide at the bottom.

Draw another pattern for the bag body. It will measure 10" across at the top and taper out 1" on each side to make 12" across the bottom.

Cut two of the bag body from each fabric. Cut one of the envelope top from each fabric. Cut 2 of the bag body pieces from the interfacing or fleece and one of the envelope top. Trim these to approx. 1/2" smaller all the way around. Fuse the interfacing to the outside bag pieces.
With right sides together stitch around the curved edge of the envelope top, leave bottom open. Clip curves, turn and press. Topstitch around the finished edge.
Press under 1/2" along top edge of the bag body. Open pressed edge and stitch sides and bottom edge taking a 1/2" seam. Press seams open and turn under the pressed edge.

Open the corner out to form a triangle, make sure that side and bottom seams are lined up. Use a pencil or marker to mark a 2" line across the triangle one each side of bag.
Stitch on line and trim excess triangle away.
Turn and press well.


Make the lining the same way as you did the outside bag. Do not turn. Place the lining inside the bag and line up side seams to match.

I love these fabrics! The outside is Michael Miller Boho Blossom in Orchid and I got the FQ of Michael Miller Fairy Frost from a RQQ swap.
Insert the unfinished edge of the envelope top into the back top edge of bag between the layers. Pin securely. Stitch very close to edge (about 1/8") all the way around.


Position a 1" piece of velcro to match and stitch or glue it in place. I use a heavy duty fabric glue because I am not fond of stitching velcro, but stitching it would be good too.

If you want you can stitch a decorative button on the front, just to add to the cuteness.

I have a ton of ideas for embellishing these little bags with ribbon or rick rack and maybe adding a little hanging loop and bow to the side too. I didn't want to waste any of the Fairy Frost FQ so I made another little bag with ribbon trim and a velcro closed top, I even sewed the velcro in. And I had one 4 1/2" strip left so I made a little cell phone pouch too.

enjoy!






Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Stylish Hat Pincushion: a Tutorial

I hosted a pincushion swap and found so many cute pincushions online and quite a few nice tutorials. I didn't see anything like this one so I thought I would share mine with you.




This was the original, it was Mr. Rainbow Creek's Grandma Bs' pincushion. I adopted it after she passed away and I found it in her sewing box.

Here is one that I made, it doesn't have quite the same character as the original but it turned out pretty cute, and I added a few of my own embellishments.


To make this pincushion you will need: Craft glue and/or hot glue gun. 1 tuna can, 1 fat quarter of fabric, 1 8"X8" square fusible fleece, polyfill stuffing, 8"X8" muslin square, 1 piece of corrugated cardboard at least 8"X8". Optional embellishments: coordinating baby rick rack, 4"X24" strip of tulle, 3/4" wide ribbon for hat band, 1/4" wide ribbon for hanging loop, ribbon roses.
Trace an 8" diameter circle onto cardboard, score along the marked circle with rotary cutter or utility knife and then cut out circle with scissors.


Cut a 10"X10" square from the fabric.


Now you will want to cut the fabric square into an approx 10" circle. Fold the square into a triangle and then fold in half several times to make a cone shape.


Cut off the top triangle part of the cone and open the fabric up. Voila! You should have a 10" circle.














Using this same method make 1 8" circle for the hat top and one 8" circle from the muslin square.

Don't worry if you missed and somehow end up with a flat side like I did, it will work out fine.

Now you will want to make a big Yo Yo from the circle.

If you happen to have a sewing machine handy you can make this a lot easier by quickly running a gathering stitch around the outside edge of the circle using a long stitch length.


If you want to do it by hand run a basting stitch all the way around and leave the ends long enough to pull to gather.

Insert the cardboard circle into the yo-yo and gently pull the threads to tightly cover the cardboard. Put a bead of glue along the edge of fabric and press it tightly to hold.

Take a big handful of polyfill stuffing and make a tight ball. Wrap the ball of fiberfill with the muslin circle.

Use craft glue or hot glue gun to secure the ball of stuffing in tuna can, keeping the top as smooth as possible.









If you are using rick rack embellishment glue it to the outside edge of the hat brim.










Cut a circle of fusible fleece to fit the 8" circle and fuse it to wrong side of fabric.
Gather the circle by hand or machine basting stitch.
Cover the tuna can with the circle and pull it as tight as possible without breaking your thread. Work the gathers around the can so they lay evenly. Glue into place on bottom of can.

Glue the hat top to the cardboard circle with hot glue gun or craft glue. Push down hard to make a good tight seam.

Embellish with tulle and ribbon hat band.
Take a gathering stitch through center of the tulle strip and pull it tight around the bottom edge of the hat, tie a knot to hold in place.
Glue ribbon hat band in place, leaving enough loose ribbon on each end to tie a knot and leave a streamer. Glue ribbon roses in place.













Make a hanging loop from the 1/4 inch wide ribbon and glue into place on bottom of hat.








I tied a ribbon to a pair of thread snipper scissors and glued a piece of velcro to the hat and the bow to attach the scissors.










Here is my adorable Summer Strawberry hat pincushion. Cute enough to hang on the wall of your sewing room or use everyday to hold you pins and needles close by!






Are you going to try making this pincushion? Please comment and leave me a link for your pics if you do! I would love to see how yours turns out and how you choose to embellish it!
And of course, if you have any questions feel free to ask.

enjoy!

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

A Stylish Little Pincushion

I hosted a fun pincushion swap in my RQQ (Rag Queen Quilters) group this month! We drew names and each made a special pincushion to send to our swap buddy. Actually I drew the names and emailed them to everybody. I ended up screwing up when I started emailing people and had to redo my list to make it work out. Then when I started working on designing my pincushion I realized that I had forgotten to assign myself a buddy to send to. I finally figured out that my swap buddy was Barbara and went to work on something that I hoped she would like.
Here is my inspiration piece. It is a very old and very cute ladies hat pincushion that I retrieved from Mr. Rainbow Creek's Grandma's sewing box after she passed away. I use this all the time and have been planning on making some of them for quite a while.
So in preparation for making this pincushion I have been washing and saving my tuna cans.
Here is the one I made for Barbara. I used a Debbie Mumm summertime Strawberry print.

One time last year Barbara posted that she had lost her scissors and had been searching for them for several days to no avail. A few days later she recieved an email from a customer to let her know that she had found a pair of scissors in the package Barbara shipped to her with her quilt! So I added a little pair of thread snipper scissors to the hat, they have a bow that attaches with velcro.

I will get a tutorial posted for this pincushion tomorrow night. Can you think of a better way to upcycle your tuna cans?

Thursday, June 4, 2009

My Newest Slouch Bag

This bag is big and roomy enough to haul your stuff to the beach or around town on a day long shopping trip. It seems just right for summer casual activities.

I was actually kind of impressed with myself that the pattern worked, this was my first try with this design and I think I will add more big pockets and a button or snap closure. I am doing these in batiks and have picked up some cool flip flop and happy hour prints to try too.



I have a tutorial coming soon! I have gotten a bug to make pincushions since I am hosting a pincushion swap with my Rag Queen Quilter group. I came up with a really cute little cube made from charm square leftovers and can't wait to share it with you!


RQQ has a blog and I was their featured member last week. Check it out here.
 
Template: Blog Designs by Sheila