Summer Project - Design your own fabric II - Make stuff with it

My post titles are getting more original by the day... ;-)

I had a couple of hours of free time this weekend, while hubby and the kids went to the zoo. I decided to start "making stuff" with the fabrics the kids had made last week.

I turned some of Yanic's into reusable snack bags for school and a pencil case. The snack bags are lined with ripstop nylon.

And while I was at it, I made some for the girls too. All in varying sizes. The biggest is the size of a regular ziplog sandwich bag.

This is Yanic's new pencil case. I used the front of last year's and replaced the back and bottom with his fabric.

And here is one of the skirts. The second one is not quite done. So, because of that, no model shots either, yet.
I have to say, I LOVE IT? I think, it's so cute.

I did not use a pattern. But, I have seen so many skirts with boxed pleats lately, that I wanted the girls to have one too. I think, this will be perfect for the first day of school.

Pretty ribbon finish on the bottom:

 Cute piping and fun buttons in front:

And the back:

Chalkboard Pillows and Apfeltasche

Can't believe summer is almost over. 4 more weeks and the kids are back in school: Kindergarten and 5th Grade to be exact. Time flies.

Today, I want to show you a few girly birthday gifts I recently made. I have come to the realization, that many of the friends the girls have really enjoy handmade gifts over the same old store bought toys.
So, two of them got these cute chalkboard pillows. These are a standard 16x16. Finally, I have found a way to use up all that chalkboard fabric I have. I see many more of these in the future, as the recipients really enjoyed them.

 Both are decorated with my Grandma's crochet flowers and have a removable chalk holder attached to it. I thought, that was a pretty clever idea ;-)

Another gift for a little Lady was this apple bag from Farbenmix stuffed with markers, notebook, crayons, books, etc.. The free pattern can be found here.

As with the pillows, I used up lots of left over fabrics. So, in essence, these gifts cost me nothing ;-)

I will be back later with another great summer activity you can do with your kids.

Back to school! Yeah!!!

Today is the kids' first day of school. 12 long weeks of summer are over. It seems the weather knew exactly what day it was, 'cause we went from almost 100 degrees on Friday and Saturday down to barely 70 today.

Here are some back to school things I made for the kids (Caution: picture overload!).

First a new set of dresses for the girls in simple pillow-case-dress-style.

The bottom is made from several different cotton laces, hand-dyed "apple green". After I had made my orange lace skirt earlier this summer, the girls have been bugging me to have one, too. Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with the patience to sew together enough lace for two skirts, so I opted for this alternative. The girls like it nonetheless.

I little lace detail on top.

And matching hairclips made from leftover lace pieces.

Next: new pyjamas for everybody. These are the first nightgowns the girls have ever had. And they are in love with them! I used this tutorial for them. It's super easy and quick. For the fabric I chose a very light and soft jersey and left-over flannel for the bias tape.

 Even Yanic scored a pair of PJ-pants from the same fabric. Cute, to have all three of them matching, huh?! :D

A (long) while ago I bookmarked this awesome tutorial and just thought of it again last Friday when I was going through Yanic's closet. Perfect timing, since many of his shorts are just way toooo short now.

 I think this bottle holder will be perfect for soccer practice, since it will hold the water bottle and a snack and his phone.
Wanna know somethin'?! This bag was made from a pair of long pants, which turned shorts two years ago and are now a bag! What a life for some plain ol' cargo pants.... ;-)

Last thing, I want to show you today, does not score very high on the creativity scale. However, it's a slightly different approach to personalizing, so I wanted to at least post one picture of it. This is a simple, cheapo 1$ pencil case from Walmart with a picture collage on the back. I created the collage on the computer. I chose a pic of Yanic and logos of some of the teams he plays for. In the center is his name, school and grade. I printed it onto fabric and then simply sewed it to the back side of the pencil case.

Wow, that was a lot! Next post will be shorter! Promise!

Nook Pouch and Around-the-house-dress

WOW! Two months without blogging. Can you believe it?!
It doesn't mean I have not made anything to show, it just has been such a nice summer so far that I didn't feel like spending a lot of time with my computer.

Just before summer I mentioned I would make a cover for my Nook.

Well, here it is; a simple envelope sleeve. I used leftover fabric from the bags I recently made.

On the back side I added a pocket with velcro-closure. This one came in really handy at the pool when we were on vacation. It was just the right size to hold some cash and keys. On "normal" days it holds my charger.

Also, I have this favorite racer-back jersey "dress" I wear a lot around the house. It's totally unstylish and very old and baggy now. But, since it is so comfortable I wanted to try and make a copy of it. I used the bottom of a yellow T-shirt my husband never wore (Why?! ;-)) and some other left over orange jersey.

I simply traced the shape of the old dress onto the fabric, added some seam allowance and sewed it together. I had to piece together the top a bit, but it worked out great, and it fits.

I will be back soon with some back-to-school outfits, a special project Yanic made and some really cute (!) dresses I drew up and made.

Car Seat Organizers

Our annual road trip is coming up and the girls are now big enough to be in booster seats and therefore able to move and reach far enough to use a seat back organizer.

As I did with Yanic's a couple of years ago, I used home dec fabric again. I love this print, I found at Joann's. It so happy and bright.
BTW, have you noticed that fabric prices have increased at Joann's ????!!!! At least in our area. Instead of 9.99$, their 45" home dec fabric is now 10.99$. How dare they... :(
Anyway, I bought 1.5 yards with my 50% off coupon and I used every single piece of it. So, roughly 4.35$ per organizer: still a good deal.

I cut the pocket pieces as I went along, making sure I have two of everything and utilizing the remnant pieces as best as possible.
The only differences to Yanic's are the elastic pockets and an added 6 inch wide piece of super heavy duty interfacing. I added this piece in the top portion for stiffness, in order for the edges not to "slump" over.

Alright, now we have even more areas to store junk in... ;-)

The Royal-pain-in-the-rear-Blossom Bag

...yep, that's exactly what it was, while I was wrestling with it. WRESTLING! Literally. The pattern and directions are not exceptionally difficult. It's the layers upon layers of fabric, interfacing and super stiff peltex. I broke two machine needles, bent endless pins and drew blood twice while trying to tack the dividers into place by hand.

Before I started sewing the Amy Butler Blossom Bag, I read this review. I second it 360% and then some.

Okay, here my two cents.
I tried to take a short cut and used fusible extra-stiff Peltex instead of extra-stiff Peltex + fusible interfacing. At first that idea seemed to work just fine, until I had to turn the bag right side out: the fabric started to become wavy and puckered. I am not sure if I measured incorrectly, but the snap did not line up at first and I had to patch up the holes and cut a set of new ones.

To sew the flap onto the bag was painful. Since the bag is so stiff it was difficult to sew a straight line. I tried several times and in the end gave up. The result is that the lining is shifted in the back.

I wonder what the bag would feel and look like if it was made with fusible fleece instead of stiff Peltex. But, I guess, I will never know. Because, I am NOT going to make another one.
Please let me know if you made one. I'd love to hear what you think.

For Pleat's sake tote

Yes, I am still here!
Just a little bit of sewing going on around here, and even less to show for. I do have a handful of WIPs, though.

Last Saturday I had my dear friend Angie over for a night of sewing fun. And fun it was. We chatted and sewed for close to five hours. We both decided to make a new bag. Angie conquered the Fatquarter Tote from Cicada Daydream and I worked on this pretty bag from U-handbag.

It's a very straight forward pattern and comes together quickly. I used the Calliope print from Braemore. I have been wanting to make a bag from this fabric for close to two years now and finally broke down to buy the fabric. I have plenty left over to make this purse by Amy Butler and work out a pattern for a cover for my new Nook.

The only changes I made to the original pattern for this tote are the handles, a shabby flower on the front and a big pocket on the inside. The bag is big enough to hold my laptop and wallet, etc. So, it's my new take-to-work-bag.

I am also working on a couple of "patriotic" dresses for the girls and have to finish a taggy blanket for a Baby shower I am going to this weekend.
Hope to be back soon to show some finished work.

Messenger Bags

Hello there!
Is the long weekend really over already?! We had four days of mid to upper 70-degree weather, a lot of sunshine, forsythias and cherry trees were starting to bloom, the grass is green now. And all that came a whopping four weeks earlier than usual. Awesome. I am loving it. But, I am sure we will get one more April Snow Shower sooner or later.
And, of course, the kids had fun hunting for easter eggs and little presents. They are now slowly coming down from their 3-day-sugar-rush.

Many Birthdays are happening around here right now. For some of them I decided to make messenger bags this year.

Hannah Montana and Fancy Nancy for two of my nieces.

And Lizard-Camo for Yanic.

Yanic's bag is a bid wider than the other two and has an added zipper pocket on the back.

All bags have a magnetic snap closure and inside pockets as well. The printed fabric is regular cotton and the solid colors are Duckcloth to make the bags extra sturdy (hopefully). For the two basic ones I used this easy to follow tutorial at Fishsticksandfries and modified the pattern for Yanic's bag.

Have a great week. I will be back soon with another project I worked on last week. It's pretty cool. Just wait 'til you see it.

Multi Tasker Tote

I hope all of you had a very merry Christmas. Ours was great, but went by so quickly again. The kids are in heaven with all the new toys they received. And I am happy, because everybody loves the handmade gifts I made. Well worth the long hours and late nights.

So, now that all the Christmas sewing is done it was time to make something just for ME!
You may remember that I scored this awesome fabric a few months ago. I decided to use some of it for a new bag. I chose the Anna Maria Horner Multi Tasker Tote.

Although, I just finished mine last night and haven't had a chance to really use it yet, I can already tell you that I LOVE IT! It's just the right size for me and has a lot of pockets (There are FOUR on the outside!).

The pattern itself is a bit complicated and the directions require more than one read through. So, I would say it's probably not the ideal project for a beginning sewer's first project.

I also made a few modifications which I would really recommend if you decide to make this bag for yourself:
- add a second inner pocket
- use a front and back piece for each pocket (pattern asks for one piece and seam allowances to be folded inward = very flimsy)
- add magnetic snap
- add fusible fleece to the lining (without the bag will be very floppy)
- fold the tunnel that holds the straps on the side inward instead of outward (A must if you chose different fabrics for lining and straps and don't want the lining fabric to show on the outside.)

If I had to chose between the Multi Tasker Tote and Amy Butler's Birdie Sling bag (which I made last year around this time), I would definetly prefer the Multi Tasker Tote. Both are similar in size, but the MTT is not as deep, which makes finding things easier and the top opens wider: also better for locating things. I also love those four outside pockets. Great for cell phone, keys, snacks, cups....
Both bags take about the same amount of time to make. Probably a solid 6 hours, including cutting and fusing interfacings.

That's all for now. Have to get my brain working on figuring out a New Year's Eve food display fit for four adults and six (6 !!!) children...

Phoebe Bag - by Artsy Crafty Babe

If you are not yet subscribing to Artsy Crafty Babe's feed, you really should. She has some very nice projects to show off and a few free patterns and tutorials as well.
I tried her Phoebe bag the other day. It comes together very quick and easily. The only change I made, I used fusible fleece instead of interfacing, 'cause I like my bags puffy and stiff. I also used a bit of fusible fleece where the magnetic snap is inserted. Just so it is a bit sturdier.

The size of the bag is about the same as the 120%-Buttercup bag by Made by Rae. So, perfect handbag size for somebody who does not have to lug around diapers, snacks and zippy cups.

You can find the pattern for the Phoebe bag right here.

Pretty Pleated Purse

Recently, Jenn from Tenth Muse Studios was giving away the pattern of her Pretty Pleated Purse to some of her readers. I was one of the lucky ones to receive one.

And let me tell you: I love the design of this purse. It's not too big, not too small and looks cute yet sophisticated.

As the name indicates the outside of the purse is pleated, it has a rectangular bottom, is fully lined with inside pockets and has two handles. The hardest part for me was adding the bottom to the outside purse and the lining. Main reason is, that I simply stink at mitering corners. Probably, the biggest reason why I don't do quilts...

I used a medium weight printed linen I bought at fabric.com awhile back for the outside and regular quilting cotton for the lining. The main fabric I used is quite stiff. That's probably the reason why you can't really make out the pleats in the pictures. But, I think, once the bag is filled up the pleats will be more visible.

To better fit my needs I made a couple minor modifications to the pattern: I only added pockets to one side of the lining (pattern asks for two), added a magnetic snap to the top band (you can't tell from the pic since it's black on black) and widened the straps a little bit (finished width about 1.25 in vs. pattern 0.75 in).

Here is Yanic, being sick and annoyed with me posing with the bag (Blue couldn't help but stick her butt into the pic as well...).

Thanks Jenn, for letting me test your pattern.

Katha, let me know if you like it. If Yes, this will be your Birthday present.