Key Chain Wristlet

My pile of scraps have been growing. So I decided to do something about it and I've been doing a few different scrap busting projects. One of them is making a keychain wristlet. They are easy to make and they look great. They are also really durable. When the strap on my clutch wallet broke, I replace it with a wristlet, and its been working out quite nicely.

Here is how you can make your own: 

Materials & Tools: 

• Scrap fabric 
• Snap hook 
• Sewing machine & notions 
• loop puller 
• Iron

Instructions 

1. You will need two pieces of scrap fabric that measure, 2" by 11" (FYI be careful of the fabric you use, you want something nice a durable, but not took thick because you will run into problems later) 
2. Place the right sides of fabric together, pin and sew along the long edges. Leave a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Congrats, you made a tube!
3. Use your loop puller and pull your 'tube' inside out. Use your iron to press the 'tube' so it is nice a crisp
4. Top stitch along the long edges
5. Insert 'tube' through the snap hook and fold it so that the two short edges are together. Pin and sew along the short edge 
6. Flip the strap around, so that the other side is exposed. Move the sewn short edge over to the snap hook. 
7. Pin and top stitch above where the snap hook is. This way you can cover up the raw edge and give your wristlet a nice finished touch.
8. Put some keys on it and you are good to go! 

Make one yourself! I've been having a lot of fun making all different kinds of wristlets! 

Iron Craft Challenge # 5 - Something 'Green'

Its another Iron Craft reveal day. This time we are up to challenge # 5. Since St. Patrick's Day is almost upon us the challenge was to craft something that was green or 'green'. Crafters could take this in two different ways, either make something with the color green or do something that is going green, like repurposing something or using recycled materials. Green is my absolute favorite color and I have a lot of green stuff, however I am trying to do different things for Iron Craft, so I went for the ladder, something 'green'.

I have been sewing since I was in high school and I have always collected my scraps. Fabric can be pretty pricy so I keep every last bit because you never know when you will be able to use it for a future project. So after sewing on and off for about 10 years I have racked up quite the collection of scraps. Its starting to get out of hand. Since all of the pieces are really tiny to make big project, I decided to sew them together for a patchwork effect. So I had my materials but still at a loss for a project, what could I make out of all these scraps?! 

A while back I enrolled in a bunch of Craftsy classes. A series of free classes were recently released. Some are hosted by Kristen Link (from one of my favorite sewing blogs, Sew Mama Sew). In the classes Bag Making Basics, one of the projects is making a bucket bag. Since it didn't require too much fabric I decide to give it a try.  

Here is the finished product! Its not the most beautiful thing because I had made some odd fabric choices when I started sewing. At one point I used the checkerboard stuff to make myself pillows, I was really into Ska back then. The bucket bag was perfect for all of my knitting stuff. I especially love that the pockets hole the needles and other notions! 

Drawstring Bag - tutorial

This is one style of bag that I have wanted to learn how to make for a while. Drawstring bags can be versatile. Small pouches are great scrap busters, especially if you have long pieces that can be used for the drawstring! You can also make them to fit a wine bottle (which adds a nice touch to a gift). You can even apply this technique to make a big bag for something like laundry.

Tools:

• Sewing machine
• Ruler
• Rotary cutter/Scissors
• Safety pin

Step 1:

• Measure and cut the bag
• (this bag can fit any size big or small, just make sure it is a rectangular shape with the skinny side being the opening)
•  For this example the bag is : 8 inches length x 10 inches width
• Add a 1/2 inch seam allowance, and a 2 inch seam allowance for the top.

• Measure and cut the Drawstring
• The strap must be at least twice as long as the width of your bag 
• The width is determined by how you want the finished drawstring to be, the multiply it by 4. 
• Example bag drawstring is: 12 length x 2 inches width

Step 2:

• Make the Drawstring 

• Fold the drawstring in half then press
• Open up, then fold each edge toward the fold, then press
• Fold up again, then press 
• Pin and sew
• (But Sarina what about the raw edges! I know let me get to it!) 
• Fold over the ends and do a zig-zag stitch on the ends 
• You may want to use a think needle for this step because you are sewing through a lot of layers. 

Step 3: Drawstring hole

• Take one piece for the body of the bag. 
• Measure where the hole will be. This should be at least 1 inch from the top

• This should be at least 1 inch from the top raw edge
• Make sure the hole will be big enough to fit your drawstring.
• Use the button hole attachment on your machine (or you can triangle stitch along your measurements)

• Use a seam ripper to create your hole

Step 4: Assemble the bag

•  Law two body pieces on top of each other, right sides facing. 
• Pin along the edge then sew
• Leave the top edge (with the button hole) open. Do not sew this together. 

• Use the triangle stitch to sew up the raw edges

• Fold the top edge inward, sew along the raw edge
•  this will create the tube in which your drawstring will go through

• Fold bag inside out

Step 5: Insert drawstring

• Use attach a safety pin to your drawstring

• Work it through the hole and along the top edge

DONE!

Ipod case

Last week I had a Ipod accident that ended in tragedy. Allow me to explain, this past September I received a new Ipod from my lovely husband Tim. Its a nano and comes with this cool clip that allows you to wear it as a watch. (which I do and it's really cool I must say) Well now for the tragedy, while heading out of the house it fell out of my bag and ca-smash hit the ground shattering the screen. :(
I was able replace it and learned a valuable lesson. No matter how cautious you think you are with your electronics, they are very sensitive! So it was around this time that I can across this tutorial from the blog Dog Under My Desk for a earbud case. Although it is intended for headphones, it is big enough to fit my ipod nano as well. So it is now clipped onto my keys and I am careful to put my ipod back in there after use.

Sunglasses Case Tutorial

In my quest to rid my crafting world of this evil box of scraps I started making these neat little holders for sunglasses. It is very simple and quick to make.

First things first though.. you need some of this stuff:

Tools

• Sewing Machine
• Scissors or Rotary cutter
• Needle
• Iron

Materials needed, see dimensions below.

Materials

• Exterior fabric 
• 2 peices measuring 4 inches wide by 7 1/2 inches high 

• Lining 
• 2 pieces of felt material measuring 4 inches wide by 7 1/2 inches high

• Loop
• 1 piece of fabric 6 inches wide by 1 inch high 
• Button 

Step 1

Take one of your exterior pieces and measure where to put the button. I place mine 2 inches from the edge and 1 inch from the top edge. Sew and attach the button.

Mark where the button will go

Step 2
Take your two exterior begin to pin them 1/4 inch from the raw edge. The right sides of the fabric should be together. Pin along three sides and leave the top part open. Sew up along the pinned edges. Then turn inside out.
Repeat this same step with the lining (felt) pieces except only pin along the 7 1/2 inch sides and do not turn inside out.

The loop is pictured here but you will learn how to make it in the next step!

Step 3
Take your loop piece and follow these instructions

Fold strip in half, then press

Open, then fold into 1/4s and press again.

Fold, press then sew

Fold the strip in half to make a loop. 

Step 4
Now it is time to assemble the case.Get all of your pieces together

 

Sew the loop to the inside of the exterior piece. Make sure it is on the opposite side of the button. Also sew from inside of the case. (Look a few steps down to get what I am talking about)

Insert the exterior piece into the lining

Pin all of the pieces together from the inside.

This is what I mean when I say sewing from the inside. Its really tricky but go slow and WATCH OUT FOR THOSE NEEDLES! (if you forget one it can damage your machine and give you sad face)

Then turn your case inside out.

Stitch up that cap in your lining. Then push the lining into the exterior.

TA DA! Now you a lovely and stylish place to put your glasses!

 Tips:

• You can alter the dimensions and apply the same technique to make cases for stuff like phones, Ipads...the sky is the limit! 
• When sewing everything together I recommend using a quilt needed or a denim needle (something that can handle sewing threw multiple layers)

Operation Scraps

Its been a while. A lot has been going on. Halloween happened and had a party for tims birthday. I was also sick for what felt like the entire month of October :( !! Thankfully it is over!

And I am back to making stuff. I have a new project I am working on. I am calling it operation scraps! I am always looking for new fun projects but I usually end up with a lot of scrap fabric and it just sits in my scrap box taking up space. So I have vowed (and promised my husband) that I would not buy any new fabric until this big mess was used up! (or at least mostly gone)

I have made a few of these babies. They are small bags and can be used as a Make up or pencil case. I like the quilted look of them and they are easy to make. I am also going to apply the same quilted technique to a bag and possibly some pillow covers.

I have scoured the inter-webs to look for suggestions as well. There are some really great ones here on Burda Style. And am still looking for more tutorials. 
Another thing I have done recently is I made things for myself! I made this neato bag from a pattern that was in Stitch Magazine. It looks really floppy but its not that bad. I was supposed to use a more durable fabric or use interfacing (but was impatient and did it anyway) But I like having a gigantic bag.

Also in stitch I found a pattern for a pin cushion. Since my little tomato wasn't cutting it anymore I made this cute little hedgehog guy. Ain't he adorable? It was another quick easy project and introduced me to the concept of sewing three dimensional stuffed things! There may be more exploration with this technique in the future!

whose that sour-faced dork in the background?!

I have also been doodling a lot more like I used to. Here is a cool picture I made of Thom Yorke doing is mad dancey dance. (sorry its sideways)