More Pillows

I found some cute placemats to match my sister's colors (mainly brown and orange) after hitting several stores today, namely Big Lots (scored most of them here!), Pier 1 and Kohls. They turned out so cute.. I made all 4 of them this evening:

The solid brown and solid orange are actually the same pillow.. it is a reversible placemat. It has the neat bead detail on the side (Pier 1 has these in several color options).

I'll be selling some of the things I make at a craft fair in October... do you think these would sell?  I'd love to hear your thoughts! 

Easiest Pillow Project Ever!

I saw this last night on one of the blogs I follow and had to make one today. It literally took maybe 10 minutes and is the easiest thing you will ever make, hands down. Plus it is a cheap alternative to going out and buying new pillows. What is the secret, you ask?  You're not going to believe it....

The secret is .....

Placemats! That's right, I said placemats! Of course I had some on hand since I have been making my placemat purses, but you know I'm going to go out today and look for more that will make great pillows. Here is my finished pillow:

Is this not the smartest idea anyone has ever come up with??? I had one of those "why didn't I think of that???" moments when I saw this! I found out how to make mine here, but I'm sure there are probably more out there in blogland. All you need is a placemat and some fiberfill... that's it!!

Here is what the back of the pillow looks like:

My sister has been wanting me to make her some pillows, so I'm heading out to the stores to try to find some placemats that match her decor.... oh, and to pick up some more fiberfill... you will use quite a bit for one pillow.

If you make one of these, please let me know, I'd love to see how yours turn out!

Sewing Class

I went to my first sewing class today at Jo-Ann, Sewing 101. There were 5 of us in the class, which was good, because their classroom was really small! All of us except one brought our own machines with us. The instructor went over all of the things you need when you sew (good pair of scissors, thread, pins etc.) and talked about the different kinds/types available. We went over all the parts of the sewing machine and how to thread the upper and lower thread. We did some real basic sewing and learned about some of the stitches on our machines. It was pretty straightforward, but I did learn a couple of things that I didn't know, so it was worth the time and money.

While we were in our class, another instructor was doing a make-up class for someone who had missed out on a class.. and this student could not have been more than 7 or 8 years old! She was the cutest little girl, and in 2 hours she had a shirt for herself almost finished.  We were all so impressed and figured hey, if she can do it, so can we!  I bought the jacket pattern that I will need for my Sewing 201 class. I'll purchase the material this weekend when my sister can go with me, since I will be making the jacket for her.

I think I will start working on the tote bag that I need to make for the winner of my giveaway on my other blog. I'll post pictures once it's finished.

Tag/Ribbon Blanket

I've seen these tag/ribbon blankets all over the internet and decided I wanted to make one. I bought a really cute kit for one at a quilt shop this weekend that has some beautiful minky fabric in it. I wanted to make one with some scrap fabric and ribbon first so that I didn't mess up the beautiful one I purchased! Here is how my trial one turned out:

Here is a photo of the back:

And up-close:

My new little kittens have adopted this blanket....

I made sure I sewed the ribbons on real good so they can't tear them off. This was a very easy, quick project that would be good for a last-minute baby shower gift.

If you Google "tag blanket" you will get all kinds of results, but I found a great tutorial here with lots of pictures and good directions.

I plan on making the kit I bought for our newest family member, our great-nephew Kael. I'll show you pictures once it's finished.

Enjoy your day! 

More Zipper Stuff

I am officially enjoying sewing with zippers.... boy, never thought I'd hear myself say that!  I have made a few more and am learning more each time I make one. Here are the others I've made so far:

Hare are a few hints I wanted to pass along:

1. 
   
   Add some fusible fleece when you make these zippered pouches - it really helps to give it some stability and weight. I'd suggest using Pellon 987F.
2. 
   
   Did you know you can change the length of a zipper? All you have to do is whipstitch with double thread 8-10 times where you want the zipper to stop, then cut off the remaining zipper about 1/2 inch from there.. that's it! I did that for the skull one, since my sister wanted to use it as a small change purse. I started out with an 8 inch zipper and now it is about a 5 inch zipper.
3. 
   
   When I am making my "zipper sandwich" if you will, I also add pins to the part of the zipper I am not going to be sewing. This helps keep your zipper straight and it won't move on you as you sew. (If this doesn't make any sense, let me know and I will post a picture of what I mean next time I sew one!)

Trust me when I say that if I can sew a zipper, anyone can! I was so afraid of trying it, but once I did it, I found out it was not nearly as hard as I had built it up in my mind to be.  I've still got a long way to go.. these little pouches are far from perfect... but I am definitely enjoying the challenge.

I am taking my first sewing class tomorrow afternoon at Jo-Anns. I have signed up for both Sewing 101 and 201. This first class, Sewing 101, will cover all the basics and then the Sewing 201 class we will be making a jacket. I'm so excited, I can't wait. I don't know if I'm quite ready to sew a garment yet, but what the heck... I might as well just go for it!  I'll do a post tomorrow night and let you know how the first class went!

I Conquered the Zipper!

I did it!! I actually made something with a zipper today! I'm so proud of myself. I honestly wasn't sure if I could do it, but I did. It is just a simple zippered pouch and I made it using this tutorial.

I'm definitely making more of these, in lots of different colors and sizes!

One More Tote... and a Great Find

I finished one more of the kids totes last night

I am so loving the groovy fabric, reminds me of the 70's... yes I'm that old.. ha ha!

I have to tell you about this great website that I found. It is called One Pretty Thing and you can find it here.  Talk about a wealth of information... she gathers projects from the internet, blogs etc. and puts it all in one place for you... there are categories for sewing, crochet, printables, kids crafts, embroidery patterns.. you name it, it's on there.  This is a definite must-see!

Kids Tote Bags

I'm still working on making the tote bags for the foster kids. Here are a few more that I've finished:

I found all this great kid fabric at Jo-Anns. I've got several more to go, but just wanted to share my progress with you.

If you look closely on the lower left hand side of each bag you will see my very own sew-in label that I made this weekend.

I've been wanting some of these for awhile and finally found some info out in blogland about how to make your own. I'll post more about them later in the week.

If you are not a follower of my other blog, Sunflowerz Crochet, you might want to go check it out, as I am currently doing a giveaway to celebrate my 100th post.

Cute Tote Bag

I made this cute tote bag today for my sister-in-law Becky. I bought a black canvas bag at Michael's and embellished it:

I cut the fabric for the "B" out of a quilted placemat that I was going to use to make one of my placemat purses ..... I like it for this purpose much better.

It gives it a frayed, shabby chic look that I hope she will like. I know she admired this one over at The Autocrat, so I hope mine is pretty close. I was going to give it to her for her birthday next month, but I just couldn't wait!

Fun & Easy Project

I made myself something today from this pattern:

It is the sewing machine catch-all that is sitting underneath the machine in the picture. Here's how mine turned out:

All you need are 3 fat quarters and some interfacing. I frequently use my small clipper scissors (that's what I call them anyway, the ones that clip threads so nicely) so this will be great to keep them close by when I'm sewing.

I am always on the lookout for patterns for fat quarters... I just love them! They are usually on sale at Jo-Anns or Hancocks (the only 2 sewing stores in my area) and it is so much fun to mix and match the patterns. It's also nice that they don't take up near as much space as yards of material.

Next project will be back to making those tote bags... I found some really neat material on sale at Jo-Anns that I can't wait to show you! Have a great day.

More Craft Room Organization

I recently organized our den/craft room and was so pleased with the results.

Yesterday I decided to take it one step further and label all of my assorted bins and boxes. I don't have a label maker, and didn't want to buy one just for one project.  I found some stick-on letters in the scrapbooking section at Jo-Ann's and used those instead:

They didn't stick so well on the plastic bins, so I put a piece of double-stick tape on it first, then put the letters on the tape... worked like a charm. The added bonus is that if I ever change the contents of the bin, it will be easy to re-do the label.

It's so nice knowing I can easily find what I need at a glance.  Now if only the rest of my house could be this organized!  Oh well, that's a project for another day...... today I must sew!!!!

I Sold Some Purses!!

Yay!! I'm so excited, my neighbor sold 4 of my placemat purses for me. I feel like Sally Field..... "you like me, you really like me!"  LOL

I've been thinking about selling some of my stuff at a craft fair, but just haven't been sure if anything I make would sell. This gives me a little more confidence!

I've got a couple new sewing projects in the works, so stay tuned.

The Bag Lady Strikes Again

I made another placemat purse yesterday. It's hard to see from the picture, but this one is using a quilted placemat and I really like how it came out.

Today I made this reversible tote bag from a pattern I got here:

The inside is solid blue:

The only change I made to the pattern was adding some Pellon interfacing to the bag just to give it a little more stability.

I actually purchased the handles before I bought the material. Last week I decided to try to find options for handles on the cheap, since I've been making so many purses and totes. I went to Savers and found these:

Check out the price... 99 cents each! I wasn't sure what they were, but figured they would make great handles for tote bags. When I took them up to the register to pay, the girl said "what are you going to use all these karate belts for?"  I had to laugh, since I had no idea they were karate belts! I told her my intended purpose and she thought it was a good idea. I found the material that had all these colors in it at the next store I went to, so it worked out perfectly.

I'm going to make several more of these and donate them to charity. My sister told me about an organization in Phoenix that makes bags and pillowcases for foster children, so they don't have to carry their belongings in black trash bags.  I think I'll go through my fabric stash and see what other material I have that might match these belts, as I can get 2 sets of handles out of one belt. I'm off to fabric hunt!

Placemat Purses

These purses have become quite an obsession with me lately. They are quick and easy to make, which is probably why I like them!

You can see some of the ones I've made over at my other blog, Sunflowerz Crochet. I made a couple more this weekend:

The red one is my favorite, and I was going to keep it for myself. Then my neighbor came over and decided she had to have it, so I sold it to her instead. She took several others with her and is going to try to sell them for me at her work, so keep your fingers crossed that they sell! 

Welcome to my Sewing Blog!

I have been blogging for awhile now over at Sunflowerz Crochet. I recently discovered sewing, and it seems to have taken over (for the moment anyway!) as my craft-of-the-moment.

I decided to start this blog as a place to share my sewing endeavors. I'll still be updating both blogs, but decided that for now I want to keep the crochet and sewing stuff seperate.

So welcome... I hope you enjoy it and get some sewing inspiration.