Hannah's Busy Bag

Hey Everyone!!

I wanted to share a quick project that I made this weekend for my Diva. She is always asking to bring toys of some sort with her when we go out to dinner, and I never had a small bag to hold everything. Needless to say, my purse had become a bottomless pit of toys and I was bound and determined to put a stop to it.

Cue Pinterest and a tutorial for a cute patchwork bag. It seemed like the perfect size for Hannah's goodies, so I thought I'd give it a try. (We named it the “BusyBag” since it was designed to hold stuff that would keep her “busy” when we go out!)

Here is the link to the tutorial...it is AWESOME!!

Since the tutorial is so wonderfully written, I won't comment too much on the actual construction of the bag, just a few things I found out along the way. First,for the squares...I had some jelly roll strips kicking around in the perfect Diva color, so I started there. They were already 2.5-inches wide, so I cut them into a bunch of squares. So simple!!

Next, I had Hannah help me lay the squares out into the pattern that she liked. I did this for a few reasons. One, if she was "part" of the project, she would busy herself long enough to see it finished. Second, it's her bag; it should be how she likes it, right??

I had some coordinating liner fabric (be sure to pick a good fabric...the bag is reversible!!) , so she picked the one she liked best and went off to play Barbies for a bit.

Sewing all of the squares too abit of time since I’m a beginner sewer, but the tutorial walked me through every step, including which direction to press seams, etc. 

All in all, the bag was quite easy to make.  When it came time to turn it right-side out through the hole I left, I decided to machine stitch across the bottom edge, rather than hand stitch it. I knew that Hannah would be stuffing it to the gills so I wanted it to be sturdy.  Also, the drawstring cording has started to fray, so I might be changing that out soon. 

The whole project took less than two hours and has already gotten a lot of use. The best part is that it can be easily sized up or down depending on your needs. 

I see myself making many more of these in the future!!  I bought some fabric with sheep knitting on it the other day, and I can see lots of knitting project bags being made with it!!

Happy Sewing!!

Sharon

P.S. Sorry for the poor quality photos from my phone.  I forgot to bust out my good one while I was making the bag.

Cuz Everybody Needs a Pillow...Case

Hey Everyone!!

Well, I think I'm about belly deep in the sewing pool.  Tonight I made Hannah a pillow case for her body pillow.  It isn't anything fancy, but she loves it!!!  I bought two meters of Tiana fabric for 70% off at FabricLand yesterday (it ended up being $4ish per meter), and I knew exactly what I wanted to make with it.  Hannah has had a body pillow on her bed for a while now, but we were having an awful time finding a case for it.  Some stores sell pillow cases, but they are blah colors or you have to buy a bedding set to get a fun print one.  I had been hesitant to let her use the pillow too much until I had an easy way to wash it, so a cover was a must!

To make the case, it was pretty simple.  I measured the pillow at 20x48-inches.  Thankfully when my fabric was folded in half, it was 22-inches, so I only had to cut the length.  I cut the fabric at 55-inches to make sure that I had plenty for seams, etc. 

Next, I picked which end would be the open end, and I folded it over an inch or so, and then over again, about an inch or so.  This not only squared up the end, but it would also hide the raw edge after I sewed it. 

Once the folds were done (you could iron it if you wanted to), I sewed a fancy seam to seal in the edge and finish it off nicely.  Yes, I know the thread doesn't match the fabric the way it should, but Hannah liked that it matched Tiana's hair, and since the black was already loaded in my machine, who was I to argue??

Next, I matched up the long edge of the fabric and sewed it using a simple straight stitch.  I gave it about a 1/2-inch allowance (actually, I used the printed edge as a guide).  Finally, I matched up the bottom edges and sewed them closed.  I found that the fabric had been cut very crooked at the store, so I had to make sure that I made the stitches far enough in to square off the finished product.

As you can see, Hannah is a very happy customer!!  I have a bit of fabric left, so I might mix it with some other stuff I have an make Hannah a regular pillowcase to match.  We shall see...

Happy Sewing!

Cheers!
Sharon

I'm working on it!!!

Hello All!


Well, now that we have a bit more time before the Diva’s surgery, I have decided to make her a keepsake to take to the hospital with her. She loves family photos, and she loves talking about her family even more. So, I decided to make her a fabric family photo book. It is still in the works, bit moving along quite nicely. Unfortunately, my sewing machine shares a wall with the Diva’s bedroom, so I can’t work on the book unless she’s awake.

I am about a third of the way done, and much of the rest is cut and just waiting to be sewn together. I’m taking lots of photos, and I am hoping to finally be able to post an original project, complete with tutorial. Mind you, I am not a quilter, nor do I claim to be one, so you might look at my work and think that it could have been done 10 times faster and better a different way…oh well. Life goes on!!

I’m hoping to have some photos and instructions to post soon!!

Cheers!

Sharon