Zippered Pouch for Pens

I made my darling DIL this bag for her artist's colouring pens.  She picked the fabric...

Then I reorganized the zipper by which I mean, I cut off the stops so the slider came off then I pulled apart the two sides (with teeth).  I discarded one of the sides and made the remaining side into a loop and put the slider back on.  I love how the zipper finishes when its like this.

Pen case for my Drawing Pens

I love to draw and fill my spare time with sketching and doodling.  I love the Micron Pens I have but keeping them with me is a bit tricky.  If you look in the first picture you will see the red biscuit box that I keep coloured pens in.  I love it.  And its easy to stash in a bag for travel in my house or car.

I used the 'quilt as you go' technique to quilt a 14 by 9 piece of fabric to work with. The end of the red container is 2 1/4" in diameter so I drew that size circle and added a generous 1/4" seam allowance...

Lots of thick seams later I added some silk lace I have been saving and sewed it all together.

From curtains to...grocery bag

My dear friend Marilyn gifted me her dining room curtains when it was time to redo the room.  Wow, they were 100% linen in a lovely light carmel colour.



I confess I have a thing about mismatched fabric grocery bags and so I cut apart our local Co-op's plastic bag and used it for the pattern.



I was pretty pleased with the result.  How about you...

Small Clicky Purses

We were driving around Inglewood, recently, and my DH stopped in front of the yarn store called Stash, heehee.  (He remembered it being a coffee shop - wow when was that??)  He patiently waited while I perused the place.  I don't actually need any yarn but they had a lovely set of bamboo needles that I had to take home and these small purse clasps.  Sooo, cute.

I hand sewed the fabric bag to the metal through the holes provided.  Then I decided that my stitching didn't look very neat so I inserted a piece of coordinating ribbon to cover the messy bit. (with Aleene's glue) it worked like a charm.

Ridiculous!! All I'm going to say.

Pencil Case for my drawing pens

Pencil cases used to be something that we got new at the beginning of the school year.  Not whole wardrobes, just a pencil case...

I have been stepping up the amount of drawing I have been doing lately as well as observing the cool pencil cases I see on the internet.  I think I need one of those now.  So after a little pattern drawing, away I went.

You can see that I prequilted the sides and ends.  The side piece has stripey fabric put on to both ends like binding on a quilt.

Zipper in and ends trimmed.  I left the seams raw with zigzag overedge stitching to keep them from fraying.

Wheelchair Bag

This was a secret project so I didn't post about it sooner.  But the recipient is now in possession so here goes.

 First I chose some rainbow coloured fabric.  She loves rainbows...

Then I stitched up the bag in a simple messenger style.

As you can see the straps are loops only.  They fit over the chair pushers and keep her stuff handy.  Oh, yes and a small peek inside...

Oops apparently I made the straps a bit short.  Hopefully we will be in the same city soon and I can fix the issure...

Pink Shoe Bag

We have been travelling, and my favourite slipper to take along is actually a bit between a slipper and a slipon shoe.  They are getting a bit old and sometimes pick up some dirt while traveling as I wear them outside if my feet are tired of my runners.  So I made this little fold over bag.  I just cut a strip of fabric about 7 inches wide. Finished the short ends.

Then it was turned inside out for the two side seams... I found it to be the trickiest part but you just need to think it through...

Now I am set for the next trip.

More Plate Pockets

Carrying on, I made some more plate pockets, well actually some are for bowls but plate pockets sounds cuter...

And I tried them out with the dishes.  They worked great.  No more dusty dishes coming out of the shelves in the basement...  Yeah!

Small Duffle bag Christmas Project

My DD asked me to make three of her kids small travel duffels for Christmas.  She wanted them to be similar to ones I made for her and her siblings in the 90's.  I am posting this now that she has them.

I made the carcass using regular quilting fabric with a heavy iron-on interfacing and a lining fabric.  Then I stitched and serged the three layers together.  The pieces could be handled more easily.  She requested a double zipper on each side of a long tongue.

The bag has side pieces that are cut 22" by 13".  The Tongue is cut 3" by 44" then interfaced the whole length and doubled over stitching the zippers on either side.

I traced the end ovals and then topstitched all layers together.

Finally, the end product...

New Shopping Bag

So I have this problem with the shopping bags you buy for a $1 or so or maybe the ones that are given to me - they are just too big.  If I let the grocery store carry out people fill them they are often too heavy for me later.  Plus, I seem to have crushed stuff when I get home...so I looked at the grocery bag made of flimsy plastic

and thought they are designed this size and shape because they work....so....

I made a simple pattern by cutting the bag open....

After that I finished the edges, first with the serger and then by turning under a smidge and topstitching .

Voila, it's a wonderful thing.  In case you wonder the bottom was double stitched on the outside and then serged also on the outside as befits such a utilitarian item.

I made two like this and my DH promptly expropriated them for his lunch (all those round glass dishes) and his gym things.

Patchwork Box Pouch Part 3 Finish

Just turned them right side out and what a lovely pair.  I can't wait to fill them with my toothbrush and other essentials.

Pretty

Thank you Ayumi

Patchwork Please!

posing with my project...

Patchwork Box Pouch Part 2

Still working on the Cosmetic Pouch as I am longing to get it done so I can use it on my next trip.  I am really loving the colours and Ayumi really knows how to get the directions clear.

 As I said before I put the lining on the back of the outside so I wouldn't have to line the finished bag.  Laziness I guess but it's working well.  I'm making two at the same time which also complicates.  So I'm looking at the seams on the inside and I'm not too happy so I carefully zigzagged and trimmed the edges.

Not so bad.  I like.  I took a couple of extra steps when I placed the zipper between the outside and lining and sewed with one go.  Then I quilted as I went...

My Amy Butler Weekender

I acquired the pattern for this Amy Butler wonder shortly after it came out a few years ago.  I went straight on and made this bag.  I love it.

I am seeing it in lots of other people's blogs and I thought I should show off my early efforts.

The instructions were so well done that I didn't make one mis-step.  It's a very useful size for real travel.  I only wish I could figure out a way to make the bag itself lighter - without sacrificing stiffness...

Watch for my next blog to see what I used to stuff the bag with for shape holding purposes...

Camera Cozy

Today I made a couple of camera cozies for my son and I.  I used that super heavy double sided iron on interfacing so I got a very stiff product.  I used this interfacing for my reader cozy and I liked it a lot.  It gives quite a bit of heft and I hope protection of the electronic item.  The green one is pretty simple with exposed zigzag stitching.  I'm not sure about the velcro just from the sound factor.  Often I am trying to get my camera out of my purse quietly at some function so maybe a button would have been better,  hmmm..

This red plaid one is more secure because of the zipper but it was a wrestling exercise to get it turned right side out after using that super heavy interfacing I got from Fabricland.  As you can see I topstitched along the zipper after I installed it as it just wouldn't lay flat with the stiffness of the interfacing.  I like this one too though.  We'll see which one my son chooses...

Cute little shopping bag

Guess what this is...haha, a new smallish shopping bag to carry in my purse so I will always have a bag for my personal stuff at Shoppers, and I won't have to pay their stupid $.03 any more.  Yeah, me.  Want to see what it looks like unzipped ?

I love it!  It came from Sew Mama Sew It is their featured tutorial.  Very clever.