Project of the Month - February 2013

I wanted an easier project this month that my daughter could help me with.We made a trip to Michaels and did a little wandering through the store until we found something that caught our eye.

Here are the supplies that we picked up. All the supplies were on sale the day we were there. It cost us approximately $15 for everything to make both kinds of barrettes.

We used a glue gun, a pair of scissors and some small pliers to make these cool barrettes!

The pinwheel ones with the butterflies are for my daughter. We used hot glue to glue the clips to the backs and the butterflies to the center of the ribbon pinwheels.

The beaded barrettes are for me and I made a set to give as a gift. I glued the set of beads, strung on a nylon string, directly to the barrette.

They all turned out really great and my daughter and I had a wonderful time doing these quick and easy projects together.

Project of the Month - May 2012

I have a clunky old make up bag that I think has been around for 10 or more years now. It is really big and beat up and in need of an intervention I think.

Every time we go somewhere I think that I really should make myself a new one. Something pretty and not so darn heavy.

We are planning another trip and I finally made a new cosmetic bag for me a priority.

I used this very bright and cheerful Kaori Kokeshi Bright, geisha girl fabric that I bought from another shop on Etsy.

I used some heavy duty white PUL for the lining, to protect against any spills and added some fusible fleece interfacing to the back of the fabric to provide a little protection for my make up and accessories.

I LOVE how it turned out and am excited to take it with us on our next holiday!

Project of the Month - March 2012

My daughter received a LeapPad and some games for Christmas this year.

She loves to play the games and it is neat for us to watch how her spelling, reading, math and problem-solving skills are improving at the same time.

The LeapPad needed a case to store it and the games so we could keep everything together and organized, as well as keep it protected.

We checked out the options in the store and we were not really thrilled with any of them so I figured I would try to make a case myself.

I made some design sketches and changed them a few times until we got it the way we wanted it. My daughter picked out some fabric that I had in my stash and I got to work.

Here is the finished product. It works perfectly and my daughter loves it. She tells us she is going to work on her computer, finds a comfortable spot and gets right to work. She likes that everything is together where she can find it and we can take the LeapPad with us, in it's case, and we do not have to worry about it getting damaged in her bag.

Project of the Month - February 2012

This is a quick and easy project of the month for February. 

We went to visit my husbands family over the holidays and I was inspired by a project that my sister-in-law had completed during the summer.
 

She bought the pattern in a quilt shop in Saskatchewan and made both the 24” and the 18” gum drop pillows. She showed me the 18” pillow that she made in a 2 decor weight fabrics in pinks & greens, a floral print & a plaid stripe print. The pillow was gorgeous and seemed very durable as well. The kids had a lot of fun jumping on it and playing with it. The 18” pillow is the perfect size for a chair for kids or a footstool for adults.

 

I promised that I would make one for my daughter as soon as we got home. It was a very fast project - about 60 minutes from start to finish. The pattern was very clear and easy to follow. It was a great project - very fun and easy to do. I can see me making more of these as gifts for friends and family.

I used a paisley corduroy fabric that my daughter picked out. We made it a family project and my daughter help me put the stuffing in it. We used a whole bag of stuffing that we bought from Wal-Mart.

 

The info on the pattern is on Amy Butler’s website and it is available to purchase on Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Amy-Butler-Pillows-Ottoman-Cushion/dp/B001762PUY

You can also buy it at independent quilt & Etsy shops. Check Amy Butler’s site for Where to Buy information.

 

Personalized Applique Bath Towel or Beach Towel

My daughter was invited to a birthday party for a friend of hers this weekend – a little boy.

She wanted to get him a present that she knew he would love and something that was unique and “special just for him”

Something that he would love – no problem – he LOVES Thomas the Train so she picked out a train for him.

Something unique and “special just for him” was a little tougher to find so I turned to my sewing machine and made a personalized bath towel. I made several of these towels last year for my daughter and some of her other friends. I figured out how to do them based on trial and error. There were quite a few errors before I got it right!!

These personalized towels are great to take to the beach, swimming lessons and on holidays. You always know which towel is yours at a glance.

This is an especially great gift for those people with unique names.

Depending on your choice of towel and fabric these can also be a very economical gift. They do take time but supplies are not very costly and should be easy to find. Make your fabric choices based on the person the towel is for, OR use it as a stash buster project and use up what you have on hand. The small amount of fabric needed makes it pretty easy to do both.

My daughter picked out the fabric for each of the letters in this example and kept me company while I sewed it. She was very excited to give her friend a special, personalized gift and she said that he was very excited to receive something with his name on it.

Here is a quick and easy tutorial on how to make a personalized appliqué bath towel.

Supplies:

1 bath towel (We used a large bath sheet but you can use whatever size you want)

HeatnBond iron on adhesive

Assorted cotton fabric scraps for letters 

             (You can experiment with different types of fabric if you want, BUT cotton washes really well)

Scissors, pins, iron, marking pen & thread

Decide what size and type of letters you want – I photocopied some from an old craft book I had at home. You can draw some freehand or find a template on the internet to use.It is easier to sew larger block style letters than small, swirly ones!

Cut pieces of fabric slightly larger than the size of the letters you want to use. I cut my pieces in squares.

Follow the instructions on the HeatnBond to attach the fabric pieces to it.

Basically, arrange the fabric pieces, right side up on the HeatnBond. Run your iron over them to activate the adhesive on one side. 

Once the pieces are all secured to the HeatnBond – trace your letters onto the fabric and cut them out.

Lay the towel out and find the middle. Mark it with a pin so you know where it is. 

This name had 6 letters. I positioned the letters 4” from the top of the towel, with 3 letters on each side of the centre line. I put these letters all in a straight line but you can space yours out any way you want. Make them wavy, diagonal, curved, whichever way you want.

Once you have the spacing figured out, peel the back off the letters. Recheck your spacing to make sure that it is just the way you want it.

Iron the letters to the towel. Make sure that they stick well so that it will be easier for you to sew. If you don't secure them well here they will move when you begin sewing around them.

Once all the letters are ironed down your towel should look something like this.

The next step is to stitch around each letter to seal the raw edges and make the letters stand out a bit. 

It is best to go slowly to make sure that the stitches are even and neat.

This is the time consuming part, especially if the name is a longer one. 

I use a basic zigzag stitch with a stitch length of 2.5, and stitch spacing of 1.0. On my machine it makes a very nice satin stitch. I recommend you try a few test runs to get the setting right BEFORE you start stitching on the towel. 

Stitch slowly around each letter, covering up all the exposed edges.  

Once all the letters are stitched around, clip any loose threads and VOILA!!!

Here is the finished towel. 

Fabric Dollhouses

Finally, my work on my bachelor's degree is done and now I can concentrate on some fun things. I have a whole list of great blog posts to write and I hope that some of them are useful and fun for others as well.

Every year I make my daughter something special for Christmas. This gift is something just from me and it has become a cherished tradition in our house. As soon as Christmas is over for the year I start dreaming and looking for next year’s gift. 

I saw this tutorial from UK lass in US sometime during the summer and thought that a fabric dollhouse would make a great Christmas gift for my little girl.

I got the first one about half done and thought that if my little girl would love it, so would her friends. I figured out how many of her girl friends we would need birthday gifts for this year and cut out 4 more – one for each of them and 1 spare just in case I needed it. They are all different and have their own personalities, just like her friends!

It was a little tough, at first, to figure out how all the pieces were supposed to go together but once I got the first one done the other 4 came together quickly.  I used felt to make the details like windowsills, a fireplace, complete with a toasty fire, and the door. I cut little pieces of fabric and positioned the pattern so that someone was looking in or out each window.

The first dollhouse I sewed the felt details onto and that took a very long time! The other 4 houses I used fabric glue instead. It worked great and was much faster too. I used some rick rack and sequins to fancy up the doors as well. I also bought some little dolls to go with each dollhouse.

My daughter loved her little house and plays with it nearly every day. It has gone on car trips, trips to the grandparents and even the grocery store, though we only brought one doll along on that trip so there was less for me to keep track of.

Check out the tutorial yourself here and make one for yourself!

http://uklassinus.blogspot.com/2008/08/fabric-dollhouse-tutorial.html

Thanks so much for the tutorial! I had a great time making it and my daughter loves it!

Reusable Shopping Bags

I had a request to make some reusable shopping bags with longer handles that a person could carry over their shoulder.

They still needed to be folded up small enough to fit in a little pouch in the person's purse so they were easy to carry & store.

After some trial and error This is what I came up with.

Right now they will be available in my shop by special request.

At long last ......

At long last the much anticipated purse for my friend is DONE!!!!

I am so happy with the way it turned out!!!

It is bigger than I anticipated but now she will have lots of room to carry all of her most important things with her.

I am delivering it in September when we got out to visit her in Victoria, BC.

I am really looking forward to seeing her :)

Here is a sneak peek at it's total fabulous-ness!!

INTRODUCING - my brand new Auto Bag!!!!

A stylish and durable bag for your vehicle.

Use it for a trash bag, on it's own, or lined with a small plastic bag.

Use it to keep toys, snacks, maps and all your other goodies organized and easy to find.

8.5"H x 8.5"W x 4"D with a 24" strap

100% cotton outer fabric, middle layer of heavy duty interfacing and lined with laminated, water-resistant canvas.

These will be available at my table at the Bentley Farmer's Market, this Saturday, June 26. I will be listing them in my shop next week if there are any left.

Click on the title to be sent to the Facebook album with all finished ones to choose from.

My little assistant made the fabric choices and I think that she did a wonderful job!

If you see one you cannot live without, send me a message and we'll work out the details.

The Project continues

POCKETS, POCKETS, POCKETS!!

I took a little break from my friend's purse to make some things for my daughter and some more things for my shop. I still have lots more projects in the works but really wanted to get to work on this purse again. I am still totally in love with the fabric and really want to see the finished results.

I added pockets to the inside and outside of the purse today. The outside pocket has a flap that closes with a magnetic snap to keep everything safe inside. It is big enough for a cell phone, a set of keys, chewing gum, CD's, a small notepad, or whatever else a person needs close and easy to access.

There were only supposed to be a few small pockets inside but I really like lots of places to stash things when I need to, so I added extra big pockets to the inside and then split them up in a few places. The result is lots of places to keep all kinds of great things.


I got the rest of the lining finished too and am hoping to put together the rest of the outside over the next week.

I bought some leather handles, which will look really sharp. They arrived a couple weeks ago and I have been getting anxious to put them on the purse and see the final effect.

New project in the Works

Here is the first picture of a new project I am working on:

I am working on a new project for my very good friend.

She picked my absolute favorite fabric and asked me to make her a handbag with it.

She picked the style and I started cutting out pieces this week.

I just have the outside fabric left to cut - a striking Black & Red Batik.

I confess I am a little bit nervous about cutting it because if I mess it up there's no going back. There is no more of the fabric at the shop where I bought it in Salmon Arm, BC.

I am thinking of posting some updates here as I work on her bag - then she can see how it looks as I work on it.

I will post some more once I get some sewing done

Insulated Grocery Cooler Bags

Need a stylish, lightweight cooler for a picnic or road trip?

How about to take your groceries home from the store?

This bag is perfect!!

Folds flat when empty, so you can tuck it away until you need it next time.

Available by custom order at Nana Brown's - pick your favorite fabric and I will custom make a cooler just for you!!!