A little bit of Sewing

 In between my crochet and knitting, I've also been trying to straighten out my front room, which I use for sewing and paper crafts.  It had gotten pretty messy, and I need to clear some space so that I can work on the Christmas Cards for this year.  As I was cleaning, there was fabric laid out for cutting to make a bag, so I went ahead and made it! 

I had made several of these drawstring bags earlier this year, and I had it down pat, but I had to start thinking again about what sizes I needed to cut!  I cut the main portions out, and then cut two strips for the drawstring and the casing that holds the drawstring, and I ended up cutting those the wrong size, so I had to look for another scrap to do the drawstring.

All in all, I think it turned out pretty well.

A Japanese Knot Bag

So I didn't sleep so well last night. I kept waking up every couple hours, then every hour.  So around 4:30 I decided I just needed to get up.  I also decided that I should do something constructive, so I chose to make a Japanese Knot Bag!  It will also serve as a project for the HPKCHC as one of the prompts (which today is the last day) needs a non-Ravelry craft. (That means not crochet, and not knitting - but sewing fits the bill nicely!

I found my pattern here.

I lengthened and widened the body of the bag, so my dimensions are a little bit different, but the concept and sewing steps are still the same.

Wah Lah!  (btw - one bag - it's reversible.)

Another padded bag

Another bag to hold a set of essential oils.  Hope she likes it.

Essential Oil Bags - sewn this time!

 Here is the bag set I made today.  It's for a very special someone.
I think you may know who you are :)

Comments welcome.

Working on my OWL :)

These are just a few things I've finished for the HPKCHC game I'm doing on Ravelry.com.

Another I just finished is for Quidditch ....

Using this yucky yarn . . . difficult to crochet with . . but I did it and used up some stash.

A yarn bag to hold ... yarn? :)

Two More Bags

So I made two more crocheted bags.

What do you think?

Today's Sewing & Zip - It - Up Bags

I've done a little bit of hand sewing last night and today ...

I finished up decorating this zipper jean bag. Those are iron-on jewels.  They aren't sticking 100% .. but they will be pretty while they last! :)

front

back

I saw this really kewl bag over at Craft Passion.  It's a Zip-it-Up Pencil Case .. they also have a tutorial for a Zip-It-Up Coin Purse.  I decided to try my hand at it today.

My first one didn't turn out very neat, but it is very cool!  It works, it's amazing! 

Here's a quick little video of it zipping up .. you really have to see it to believe it! (Please excuse the quality of the video .. it's just a quick one I did on my most basic digital camera.

I think I may try to do some of these on the sewing machine .. get a neater sewing line on it.  I encourage you to try it for yourself!

Jean Bag & FQ Bag

Well, I haven't done much sewing lately, but I do have a couple of items to show you.

First is a jean bag lined with cotton fabric, and a couple of zip pouches that I made to go with the jean wallet I made.

I'm also working on a fabric/quilted mini tote to go with this as well .. worked a little on it last night, like 5 minutes, but I do hope to work more on it today.

Also - a couple of days ago I tried out this pattern from KellyRachel.com .....
I made mine from a 12" square of fabric, and it ended up being about as big as my hand .. say 4-5 inches square-ish.  I used some scrap ribbon for the handle and to cover up the not so pretty seam.

It's kind of hard to see but there's another pocket in front. The print blends and you can't see the edge of the pocket.

I recommend the FQ bag pattern, it's very simple but very versatile too.  I'm going to do a larger one as well.  I've seen one done from a 40" square .. I think that would be very kewl!

Duck Tape + Candy Bar = Bag ?

Found this really kewl video on one of the blogs I follow - Textiles 4 You .com .. and .. well, it's a neat way to use duct tape and candy wrappers or any type of graphic paper.

Oh My!

Okay, so I've been remis in posting to the blog.  But here's some eye-candy of what I've been up to.

This is a shawl that I made for my friend Lila .. she is a sweet sweet person and I wanted to bless her with this.  I pray that she loves it!

The above shawl, and the baby afghan below are both made with the lemonade stitch (crochet).  I love the texture in this stitch.  It's a great one for using up all the redheart yarn I have!

Below is a bag I made from some Cotton yarn which I would normally make dishcloths with.  I used two skeins of "key lime" color, and then lined the bag in a pink cotton fabric.  I haven't actually used this yet, but I love how pretty it is!  I made up the pattern as I went.

 I found this little bag pattern on the internet.  I printed out the pattern 2 pages to 1 printed page, so this bag is 1/4 the size of the fullsize pattern.  I think they are cute! :)  The pocket is probably not really very useful in this size bag, but I coudl see the full size bag being very useful!  Perhaps even as a grocery bag?  You can find the pattern at allpeoplequilt.com.  It's called "grab bag".

 This following doily is actually a washcloth pattern.  I used a hemp/cotton/modal yarn and a smaller hook, and it's quite attractive I think. The pattern is from maggie's free crochet.  There are a lot of great patterns on that website.

And below is inspired by a very special blogger. :)    I finally made my first Capri-Sun pouch bag! :)  What do you think?  The handles are some old hem binding that I had laying around.  Recycling and Using UP ! :)

I can't find the website right now for sure, but I think it's myrecycledbags.com .  Although I can't find her capri sun posts right now and that website looks different then I remember.   *pause while I do some searching*

I found it!  http://textiles4you.blogspot.com/   This is the place I found the capri bags and lots of other great recyling projects.  I love all of her ideas.  So, check out both links! :)

This little guy has been tweeting outside (just outside.. as in a few inches !)  of my dining room window.  I believe he is calling for his wife :).  She's come to check out the birdhouse we have mounted on our window.  Last year a house sparrow made the nest, and we didn't clean it out, and this guy (could be the same one?) came and they've been checking it out.  I am hoping they will move in and have eggs for us to watch.  That would be really something if we could watch some eggs hatching.

The thing that's been keeping me busy is that my dh got a job in Mequon, WI (just north of Milwaukee) and so we are goign to be moving from Iowa to Wisconsin (probably Belgium area) in the next few months.  I am hoping sooner rather than later as he is there working already and I'm here with the boys so that ds2 can finish school and I can get the house and yard cleaned up for sale.  We could use prayers if you care to offer them for us, as this is very stressful on all sides and ... well .. just s... yes.. anyway .. .

Hopefully I'll be able to post more. 

Tara's Favorite Bag - Zipper Part 2 :)

Okay, so, we have the zipper attached to the zipper fabric, and there's excess zipper at both ends :)

Now, while the zipper is still easily manueverable, you will want to trim the "open" end of the zipper to about 1 inch from the end of the fabric.  Fold back this zipper at a slight angle, and stitch/tack it in place securely.  This picture should help explain what I mean.

The picture shows the zipper attached, but that's only because I didn't take a picture before attaching it.

The next step is to pin your zipper piece to the bag.  Look at this picture while I explain.

You want to center this zipper fabric in the center of your bag.  You will have your bag inside out, and the zipper fabric will be on the "right" side of the bag as you see here.  The "inside" of the bag is the greenish/tan.. an the "outside" is the purple.  You will have about 1 1/2 inches from the end of the zipper fabric to the seam on both ends.  Pin this well.

The above picture shows a close up of the "bottom" end of the zipper.  This end will be a little tight to stitch around, but if you take your time it should be fine.  We are not stitch quite yet however.  We need to pin the binding to the top as well.

So we are going to take our binding strips (2 1/4" x 40") and pin it on top of the zipper fabric.  Still working with the bag inside out.  I leave a few inches of the binding fabric beginning and end unpinned so that I can cut them to fit perfectly in a bit.  First we will stitch the binding and zipper fabric to the top of the bag.  Looking at the picture above, we will start to the right of the open binding ends, stitch around the top of the bag and end to the left of the loose binding ends.  There will be about 4 inches that isn't stitched yet.

Above is a picture of the zipper and binding at my machine.  I'm ready to stitch.  (Remove the pins before you get to them.)

I take the piece out of the machine.  Then I lay the bag flat, and smooth out the loose binding ends.  I want to cut them so that they overlap 1/2 of an inch.  I usually estimate, but you can measure exactly if you'd like to.

I then pin the ends together, and pulling / folding them out from the bag, I take it to the machine and stitch the binding closed.  See picture below for what it will look like when flattened out again.

Then take it back to the machine and complete the binding stitching.  The binding and zipper fabric should now be securely fastened to the bag.  Our bag is still inside out!

Next we want to fold the binding all the way to the inside of the bag (which in this current position is the "outside" of the bag) .. You can see in the above picture that I smooth it out so that the seam will be pressed over as well as the binding.  The line between the tan binding in this picture and the green zipper fabric is actually the seam line as well.  Fold over and pin all the way around the bag.

When you get to the "bottom" end of the zipper, pin the ends of the zipper on top of the binding.  This will secure this end and make opening and closing the zipper easier.

We will then do our top finish-stitching.  First, stitch a generous 1/4 inch from the seam line.  This will place the stitching just on the edge of the bulk of the seam which was turned over. (This first stitching is shown in the picture above.) 
In the picture below, you see the 2nd line of stitching, which is right on the edge of the fold of the binding. This should be 1/4 " away from your first line of stitching.

Turn your bag right side out.  Are you ready?  There is your finished bag! :)  Isn't it magnificant! :)



Tara's Favorite Bag - more on Handles

It's come to my attention that maybe my directions on laying out the handles made more sense to me then it did to you *grin* so ...  I will show you a slightly different way to lay out your handles.

First lay your purse base flat (on the floor, on the table - anywhere you have a little room to work).

Lay your handle strip on top of it so it looks like this:

If you are using this layout to test the length of your handle, then just determine how much loop you want on each end (this will be the part that you hold onto or put over your shoulder), and cut it to the length you desire. Then continue with the stitching)

If you already have your handle to length and have stitched down the entire length of it, then you can mark the "middle" by making the "circle" of the handle flat, and then putting a pin at each end.  These can be your "middles".  You will then lay your handle on your purse, and put these "middles" in the middle of the purse between the pockets as seen here: (it's kind of hard to see the pins - :(  )

You want to put your stitching right on top of the stitching you did to secure the pockets .. I've folded back part of the handle so you can see how you should line the stitching up.  Your second line of stitching will be "outside" the pockets. 

So, better?  A little more visual atleast.

Green Grocery Bag Challenge

I'm a huge fan of using fabric or re-usable grocery bags EVERY time I shop.  I don't use them just for groceries either.  I grab one when I go into JoAnn's, or Hobby Lobby, Best Buy or WalMart, Bed Bath & Beyond or Bath & Body Works.  Wherever you would normally get a plastic or paper bag, bring your own and do your part to decrease the amount of trash that's created!

Here are a few links to help you on your exploration of this concept :) (sounds important doesn't it?) *grin*

Stash Books Blog  has a great article on this very thing .. which prompted me to write this post, btw.

They even have a great post about re-usable lunch bags.

There's a formal Green Grocery Bag Challenge on facebook.

Here's a link that shows you how to make a fabric bag that looks very much like the ones you get at WalMart, Target, and HyVee.  However, this one is just a single fabric thickness, and if you are using basic quilting cotton or even cotton/poly blend, you may want to double up the fabric to make it stronger. 

I have one bag that I used a regular plastic bag as my template, cut out a liner and an outside, and then stitched them together using these instructions.
This is my favorite fabric bag.  (using the standard plastic bag as a template.)

My favorite takes a little bit of time, but this one is very quick and easy ... It's from Lazy Girl Designs.  They have a lot of great bag designs...numerous and inventive.  I love just browsing through their site for ideas.

Well, that's about all I have to say on that .. other then I would LOVE to see some of you bags that you make, from any of these patterns, or from your own!

I LOVE BAGS !!!

Crafting & Recycling

Well, I've gotten a few projects done this last week or so. I thought I would share them with you.

First, I finally finished some mystery knit fingerless mitts that I had started in November 2009. I did finished the original mystery KAL, as you can see on my ravelry page, but I had a much larger gauge then what was "supposed to be" and so I turned that first one into a neck scarf/muffler, and adjusted my gauge to make matching fingerless mitts, which I just finished this past week. What do you think?


Also last week, I finally got out my crochet thread and made a soap sliver holder. I actually made two little bags, as you can see here:

The one on the left is made from a white crochet thread, and the one on the right is made from Louet Euroflax Wet Spun Linen yarn which I bought from Knitted Together in West Des Moines, IA a while ago. You can see the first project I made from this yarn on one of my ravelry pages as well. It was a water bottle tote.

One thing that I am really kind of proud of is this bottle.



I saw one like it on a blog yesterday morning. This blog Textiles4You is a kewl blog with all sorts of different projects and ideas. I thought it was very neat to use the bottom of a plastic bottle to make a cute bag. I used mine yesterday at homeschool group to carry a bunch of scissors that I needed for a project and the plastic kept the scissors from poking into the rest of the items in the bag. I am going to save my next larger juice bottle to make another one. It only took me a hour or two to complete the first one using a 32oz powerade bottle, so they don't take much time.

What other uses can you think of for these types of bags? One thing I know for sure, I'm not going to be using a carpet needle for the holes next time, I will be trying out a power drill! lol. It can be done with a sturdy needle, but it's hard on the hands. I think a drill and the right size bit will work much better, and shorten the amount of time that they take!

Woven Bag

So I'm thinking of getting into weaving .. As I am doing some research, I came across this blog.

Donis Delis blog

Look interesting, even if you don't weave your own fabric.

I've finished two sewing items! :)

I've been back on a sewing kick lately. Since I haven't sewn (really) in a few years, atleast not more then general mending ... I am slower then I used to be. I'm trying to concentrate on finishing a project that's been hanging around, and doing a few new smaller projects in between.

Here's a project I just finished. I've been meaning to make this for a year or more, had the fabric, but just hadn't started. Seth wanted/needed a new bag for carrying his multitude of books and I figured a messenger bag would be a good style.

Here is him showing off his bag. I think he's happy with it.



And a close up of inside the bag. There is a short zippered pocket on the inside - big enough for some pens/pencils, etc... Ended up a little lower then I anticipated, but then again, I made the bag deeper and the flap shorter at the last couple of steps.

And lastly, an Easter bag that I've had started for atleast a year ! ... lol ..

I finally attached the handles, and used the scraps to make a small wallet. The snaps on the wallet gave me fits, It took me three times to attach the pearl side of the button. But persistance paid off and I have it finished and ready to go into the gifty pile.



I happy with this progress. My next project is to try to finsih a quilt top that I got from my good friend Kasey. I think I will be able to make a larger baby quilt, and a table runner with the blocks in this set. I'll post pics when I'm done :)

Also - Joel has asked for a messenger bag of his own! :) I'll have to work on that as well this week.