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Archive for tote bag

Travel Handmade gets out of hand

By Liz · Comments (10) · September 30th, 2012

Honestly, two weeks ago, I did not have plans to make anything at all for Sewing Summit. But then all of my sewing friends on Twitter and Instagram started posting one great project after another, and suddenly I need to sew all of the things.  It’s like I’m on some kind of crafting bender. So, here’s what I’ve been up to since last week.

jewelry roll

There’s the jewelry roll, made using a great tutorial from Fiberosity. I used some much-beloved and hoarded Heather Ross fabrics (because I get to keep it for myself, haha), and it was the first time I’d ever done bias binding, which only makes me love striped bindings even more. I varied ever so slightly from the tutorial – I put some lightweight interfacing on the single-layered pockets because I worried about earrings poking through that gorgeous fabric, and I did the topstitching lines to create the pockets without the back fabric attached, because I didn’t want to see those sewing lines on the exterior.

jewelry roll

I think I know what I’m making all of my female relatives for the holidays this year.

jewelry roll

Up next, I saw this easy-peasy skirt tutorial from Whipstitch. I really do like skirts, and I liked the idea that this one was somewhat fitted. Unfortunately, my first attempt (at 4:00 in the morning because I had gone to bed too early and was wide awake in the middle of the night) was a little TOO fitted. As in, wouldn’t actually pull up over my butt. Oops. Too bad, I really liked that print. Anyone in maybe a size 10-12 range want a mostly-finished skirt? I’ll even hem it for you.

too-small skirt

Later in the afternoon, I made it again but enlarged the pattern by several inches. What can I say, I’m not a small girl. Anyways, this one fit perfectly and I love the way it looks. I’ll definitely wear it in Salt Lake.

skirt

Late last night, I decided I absolutely needed a circle zip earbud pouch. Like, NEEDED. As I said, crafting bender. It got a little crazy.

earbud pouches

OK, I made one for my husband, too. Good thing each one only takes 10-15 minutes.

earbud pouches

And then, this afternoon, I finished a big honking quilted tote bag to carry all of my projects and shopping spoils when I’m in Salt Lake City.  I started with a quilt block I had, lingering in a stack from a long-forgotten bee. I quilted it with batting but no backing fabric for the outer portion of the bag. It’s lined in a solid aqua, and even has a zippered pocket on the inside so I don’t lose my phone in the bottom of this cavernous bag.

big tote

Best of all, 100% of this stuff was fabric and materials I already had on hand. For the last month or so, I’ve been trying very hard not to buy any fabric. I know it’s going to be a free-for-all at the fabric shop hop in Utah, so I’m trying to save my money and my fabric-buying karma until then.

I leave for Sewing Summit in 10 days. I’d like to say I’m going to be all done with the crazy sewing projects. But who knows when I might find the need for another little zippered bag…

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Comments (10)
Categories : Crafts, Finished Objects
Tags : earbud case, jewelry roll, Sewing Summit, skirt, tote bag, zippered pouch

Ready for Trick or Treating

By Liz · Comments (6) · October 28th, 2011

Crafty mom confession time: I still have never made my kids’ Halloween costumes. I might, someday, but it’s just not my thing. The kids are too fickle, and I’m simply not a garment sewer.

Last year was a real low, though. Not only did I not make costumes, but they went trick or treating with… sigh… those hideous plastic buckets from McDonalds.  I know. I hung my head in crafty shame.

I swore up and down that I would make them new trick-or-treat bags this year, since the ones I made two years ago were cute but absurdly small.  My smart-ass daughter tried to say she actually wanted to use those awful McDonalds things from last year, but I was NOT having it.  Thankfully, she was swayed by some pretty purple fabric.

I used Allison’s tutorial again, just like the Olivia bag.  I decided to do a little applique on the front, and asked the kids what shapes they wanted.  Daniel, ever the traditionalist, requested the pumpkin.  Rebecca, ever the 4-year-old girly girl, requested a heart.

New Trick or Treat bags

New Trick or Treat bags

Would you like to try and tell a 4-year-old girl that a heart is not exactly a Halloween shape? Yeah, I didn’t think so.

New Trick or Treat bags

I did line both bags with this cute ghost print, maybe so I wouldn’t forget that these really are for Halloween.  All of the prints are from this year’s Riley Blake Halloween line, Trick or Treat. The outer black is canvas, much stiffer than the one I got for my Detour bag, so no interfacing was necessary.

New Trick or Treat bags

Let the sugar high begin.

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Categories : Crafts, Finished Objects
Tags : halloween, tote bag, trick or treat

The Olivia Bag

By Liz · Comments (6) · April 18th, 2011

Last night, right as I was making dinner, my daughter ran into the kitchen and asked me to make her a bag.  Completely out of the blue, but she was insistent. I put her off saying I’d do it in the morning, and I don’t think she was awake longer than 20 minutes today before she asked me if I was ready to make her bag yet.

While she originally asked for a pink bag (naturally), I looked through my stash and found two half-yards of Olivia prints that I bought on a whim last year but had no particular use for. Thankfully my daughter loves the stories enough that she was sold and didn’t push for the pink.  She was, however, quite clear about wanting to help. Thanks to the stitch speed regulator on my machine, I let her work the foot pedal.

Becca's Olivia Bag

For those not familiar with the Olivia books, they’re a real treat.  The writing is quite funny, and the art is lots of black & white drawings with little pops of color – always bits of red, and sometimes a touch of another color.  Same with these prints.  The outside is the cream-colored base with drawings of Olivia straight from the books, and the lining is big block letters with her name.  For the straps, I went straight for my beloved Full Moon Dots in Cherry.

Becca's Olivia Bag

I’ve made lined bags before, so I knew roughly what I was doing, but looked up a simple tutorial just to have some measurements to work with.  I ended up using this one from Cluck Cluck Sew, and it was easy as could possibly be.  I used some lightweight fusible interfacing on the outside print to give it just a touch of structure, and it worked out well. I think my straps were an inch or two longer than specified, simply because that was the width of the fabric I was cutting from, and it seemed silly to trim them down. I like the length.  Will definitely make more of these for Halloween this year.

Becca's Olivia Bag

It’s quite a fashion statement, don’t you think?

Becca's Olivia Bag

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Categories : Crafts, Finished Objects
Tags : preschooler, tote bag
     

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Ideas swirling around in my head that haven't gotten going yet...
  • Modified Bento tutorial from Film in the Fridge
  • Aqua and off-white (and green?)... something
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