UFO, I'm coming for you.

Over the past three weeks, I've been working on my unfinished objects. I'm killing them off, one by one. 13 out of 41 are done (although I don't thing everything in my unfinished box is on that list--I may need to do a little revising--still it's close enough).

Some of them have turned out cute. Some of them, not as cute. But, the most important part of this process is that they are done and I can either give them away (even if it's to the thrift store) or start using them or realizing that I'm not going to use them. Such is the way of the things I make. I'm pretty sure that Aubrey does not like the dress I finished for her.

Anyway, here's the list as it looks so far.

Spray paint frames
Tree tote bag
Pettycoat skirt
Ampersand
Yellow rosette pillow
Patches on jeans
Long blue tank refashion
Box purse
Let out Citrus halter
Sew pom pom on poncho
Crochet tan bag
Blue and brown crochet hoodie
White floaty scarf
Pink shirt refashion
Wrap around vest refashion
Crochet fingerless gloves
Repair pink and grey hair flower
Hexagon quilt
Thanksgiving wall hanging
Rehang crochet butterfly in kitchen
Garden quilt
Grandkid silhouettes
Gold sweater
Yellow flower/pink flower/pink felted flower/purple headband/pink cuff
Curtains
Green knitted buckets
Painted linen skirt
Blue serving stand
Braided rug
Mom's messenger bag
Santa Claus wall hanging
Repair grey and pink hair flower
Grandma Jensen quilt--blues and purples
Crochet beaded bag
Butterfly embroidery
Wool scarf
Cross stitch Noah's Ark
Blue and Pink diamond quilt
Orange and green diamond quilt
Mom's Christmas present albums
Bag embroidery

Now to the good stuff. Pictures.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Unfinished Craft Project--Finished! 1 of One Hundred Thousand Six Hundred Three

I have organized my poor (it ends up being the junk dumping room, since we don't have a garage) craft room  so many times since we moved in a year ago.

This is what the closet looks like when it's organized (if the closet is put away, the rest of the room does ok). Which is never. Because to find anything, I have to take down all those stacked boxes. And you can guess how often then make it back up into a stack (hint: never).

And it occurs to me that Flylady is right and that you can't organize clutter (or in my case, excessive amounts of craft crap). I tried to get rid of some of it, but my brain kept thinking up uses for it. Stupid brain.

Anyway, I pulled out all my unfinished projects. Every single one. Well, not counting scrapbook pages. I'm trying to motivate myself here. Not send myself to craft place-where-there-is-fire-and-brimstone-and-unfinished-scrapbook-pages-scream-at-you-all-day-inducing-high-levels-of-guilt. I don't mind the scrapbooking I haven't done--I never intended to scrapbook every photo I ever took. It's the scrapbook pages I've started and never finished that get to me. But that's another post for another day.

Anyway, I did manage to get rid of a few projects that I no longer wish to complete, but here is the list of projects I still want to complete. These are strictly projects I've started, not projects I want to start. That list is significantly longer. Some of these are biiiiiiig projects.

Spray paint frames (I'll show you these soon)
Tree tote bag (look below for pictures)
Pettycoat skirt (also coming soon!)
Ampersand (this was my last post)
White floaty scarf
Pink shirt refashion
Wrap around vest refashion
Crochet fingerless gloves
Repair pink and grey hair flower
Hexagon quilt (Somehow, I stopped working on this one)
Thanksgiving wall hanging
Rehang crochet butterfly in kitchen (See the butterfly almost the bottom left-hand corner? My kids keep knocking off the wall and breaking the glass--need to put acrylic in it or something)
Garden quilt
Grandkid silhouettes
Gold sweater
Yellow flower/pink flower/pink felted flower/purple headband/pink cuff
Yellow rosette pillow
Curtains (They need to be a tiny bit longer)
Green knitted buckets
Painted linen skirt
Braided rug (I got sidetracked on this project too)
Patches on jeans
Mom's messenger bag
Santa Claus wall hanging
Box purse
Grandma Jensen quilt--blues and purples
Crochet beaded bag
Let out Citrus halter (Aubrey never wore this much and it has some room to let it out--she could wear it as a top now)
Sew pom pom on poncho
Butterfly embroidery
Blue and brown hoodie
Wool scarf
Cross stitch Noah's Ark
Blue and Pink diamond quilt
Orange and green diamond quilt
Mom's Christmas present albums
Bag embroidery

Hummm, maybe it just seems much bigger in my mind? Because that list is looking quite do-able right now. I'm hoping I can have most of these done by the end of the summer. Maybe?

Crossed off items are ones I've already finished!

Speaking of finished, here's one I finished yesterday!

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Trick Or Treat Bags

Posting again today!

I pulled out the kids' trick or treat bags and remembered that I never shared them last year. I was literally sewing them minutes before we were due out the door.

They came out a lot larger than I was picturing in my head. I was really worried they would be too small and it would be hard for people to get treats into the bags and I overestimated the seam allowances. So I kept adding inches. Then I got the first one sewed and realize it was huge, but I didn't want them to end up different sized and incite a riot.

At least they will last until the kids are too old for trick or treating. No pillow cases for my kids. Well, pillow cases are cool, so maybe they will abandon them at some point.

When we got them out today, Griffin was ticked that his was candy corn. He wanted something hard core like spider webs or skulls. Candy corn is sooooo baby. Tough cookies, darling. I have no (working) sewing machine, no fabric and no time to sew him a new one, so he could be happy about candy corn or have no bag (by the way, he picked out the fabric last year). He seems to have made peace with it, as he was just pretending to be the "Candy Corn Power Ranger" a minute ago.

The names I printed out--the font is Century Gothic (funny considering my video I posted today--really, I love that font), and then I traced it onto the fabric and embroidered it by hand, adding the little x's for the dots on the i's.

David picked out the zebra fabric. I'm telling you, the mad has an obsession with zebra print. You can see how I used the leftovers in this skirt here.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Library Lined Tote Bag Tutorial

This is showing up again on Friday as part of project progress, because I've been meaning to do this forever!

We have a lot of bags. I have a thing for bags. However, most of our bags are either A. ugly B. boring or C. in use. Whenever I go to the library, I wish I had a bigger tote or a tote just for the library. I don't read so much as devour books--my mom used to ground me from books as a child, as that was the most painful thing to loose and no chance of it turning me against reading. I can easily read a book a day if I don't control myself. I hate running out of books, so that means we need a lot of room in a library tote.

Ok, first off, a list of what you need:--About 1 1/4 yd of fabric for exterior and lining. Can be same or different, but about 1 1/4 yards total.
--Scraps to decorate front
--Ribbon to match
--Thread
--Fusible interfacing if you have a lightweight fabric (same yardage as fabric)
--Fusible webbing if you're doing appliques like I did

Step 1:
Cut out four panels the same size. I did mine 19.5x19.5". Mark centers on each side to help with alignment later. Cut out two strips of fabric, about 4x25". Apply fusible interfacing to back of all pieces if you're using it. Fuse webbing to back of scraps. Iron front exterior in half from top to bottom for next step.
Step 2:
Lay out appliques. Remember to keep about three inches from the sides and same from the bottom. I used ribbon and fabric circles to make flowers on mine, plus letters I cut out by hand. Once you have a design you like, start with the bottom layer and fuse and sew. I sewed about 1/8" inside the appliques so the ends will start to fray.
Step 3:
Finish sewing on appliques and trim all the threads.
Step 4:
Make handles. Fold your strip in half and iron, then fold outside edges to meet the center fold. Iron, then fold in half and topstitch about 1/8" from edges. I used black thread for added interest.
Step 5:
Baste your handles on top of front and back exterior panels. Measure from the outside. I did my handles at about 5 1/2" from the outside. Make sure your handles don't twist. Should look like so:
Step 6:
Put right sides of exterior together and sew around edges as shown, matching centers, with 1/2" seam allowance. Do the same for lining, except be sure to leave a gap (5-6") in the bottom for turning.
Step 7:
Iron seams open. Pull sides so that the side seam and the bottom seam meet. They should form a right angle. Press.
Step 8:
Draw a line at a right angle to the seam 4" long. Mark, then sew. Repeat for each corner, two on exterior and two on the lining.
Step 9:
With right sides together, put lining into exterior. Match up seams and centers. Pin. Make sure the handles are out of the way and between the layers.
Step 10:
Sew around top.
Step 11:
Pull out lining. It will look like this:
Step 12:
Put your hand through the gap to the bottom of the exterior of the bag. Pull it out through the hole, turning the bag. It's going to look like this:
Step 13: Iron gap so that it lies flat. Sew up gap.
Step 13:
Last step! Put lining down into bag and topstitch around top of bag.

My finished bag:

A close-up of the appliques:
I'm so pleased with how it turned out. It's the perfect size and I'm not going to be tempted to use it for something other than library books.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.

Toiletry / Make Up Bag Tutorial

A few weeks ago, before we went out to California to see David's parents, I sewed myself a toiletry bag. I thought I was making a huge bag, big enough for everything, like shampoo and facial cleanser and maybe even a bottle of Tums, but it shrank while I was sewing it and I got a cute bag about the size of an average make-up bag.

When we got home, I was determined to sew a bag that was the right size. We still have a few trips coming up and I wanted something that was the right dimensions for all those things I think I'm going to need. I've tried to pack light. I'm incapable. My brain must be prepared for every last contingency. Who knows? I could have an attack of bad BO and use up a trial size body wash! Everyone else at the family reunion could not remember their toothpaste, and I could find myself providing toothpaste for 60! I could suddenly develop heartburn the size of Texas or be out of treats in the car! Then, I will resourcefully and triumphantly pull out my full-sized bottle of Tums and keep us all sane by feeding Tums to the animals (errrr, children) riding in car seats in the back until we reach the next gas station and can buy treats like caramels or gum, something that will stick their teeth together, thereby allowing David and I to successfully conquer the deserts of Nevada in a mini van, keeping heartburn and insanity at bay. I will never be caught without enough deodorant, Tums, shampoo, a spare set of contacts. etc and so forth. This is my only superpower, and I have to do it well.

So, this is the bag I came up with! It's big enough! It's cute! It was made from stuff I had lying around the house! Triumph.
The cute zipper pull I made with a wrapped loop and some beads.The jean lining peeking through.
If you want to make your own giant-sized lined toiletry bag, I've provided instructions below. If you want to make a simpler bag, Heart of Mary has a super-cool, super awesome, super easy tutorial here.

Ok, first of all, you need three different fabrics for this particular design.

Cut out these (seam allowance is INCLUDED):
2—3.5x12” floral (for across the top)
4—4.5x13” jean (for sides)
2—4.25x13” green (for down center)
1—4x12” jean (for handle)
2—1.5x45” yellow (piping)
2—12x14.2” jean (for lining)
2—12.5x15” approx. fusible fleece interfacing (you can use regular interfacing, but it won’t be as stiff and I would suggest interfacing the lining if you go this route)
Other supplies:
Cording (about two yards)
Thread to match
Zipper (at least 12”)
Charm for zipper pull
Your pieces for the front will look like this once they are cut out.

You can see I use a quilting ruler, mat and rotary cutter. If you are going to be doing a lot of sewing (particularly bags or quilts), I highly recommend getting yourself some of these babies! They are awesome!

Next, sew the cording between the yellow fabric. There’s a great tutorial on how to make your own piping here. It’s super simple and really adds a lot to your project. It should look something like this after you are done.

Ok, next is sewing the middle green to the jean sides. First, lay your jean right side up. Then layer the piping with the rough edge against the edge of your jean (the distance between the stitches and the edge should be your seam allowance, about ½”. If it’s not, trim it down so you don’t have to mess with uneven edges. Then put the green right side down on top of your piping and jean. Your piping should stick out a little past your fabric. Should look like this (except your edges should match up better than mine):
Sew. It will look like this opened up. If you didn’t get your stitching close enough to the piping, sew over it again, closer to the piping (but don't get too close. It needs room to breath.

Repeat with other side and the along the top with floral fabric. Your finished outside should look something like this:
Repeat with the other outside piece.
Next, fuse the fleece to the back side of your outside pieces. Trim up any corners or fleece that overlaps the edges. If you are a bit off in your measurements, it’s not going to matter much as long as you are square and both sides are the same.

Make sure your lining is the same size as your outside.
Now, here comes the zipper. I loath zippers, but this isn’t too bad to put in, especially because I left mine exposed as part of the design.
First, line up your zipper on the edge of your fabric, right sides together. Both ends of the zipper should hang off the fabric a little. Make sure the pull is off the end so you don’t have to mess with it while sewing.
Sew, with about ¼” seam allowance. You don’t even have to use your zipper foot if you don’t want to.
Ok, do the same for the other side.Once you open it up, it will look like this:
I really wish I had a picture of this next part, but I think I can explain it. You are going to flip down one of the sides of the front, so the edge that you have sewn to the zipper is exposed and the whole piece lies flat. Flip so one edge of the zipper is on top and ignore the other side you've already sewn to the zipper. Put lining piece along edge, right side down. Sew along the seam you already made. This is the trickiest part, but you can do it! Here's a diagram:
Turn to other side and repeat. You will end with with the lining looking just like the front:
Press flat. Keeping fabric in this configuration, topstitch along zipper, about 1/8" away from edge of fabric. Phew! That was the hardest part.
The handle. This is super simple after that whole zipper thing. First, fold your fabric in half, hot-dog style, then press. Then, turn in the edges of the fabric to the center fold and press (see photo). Then fold along first press and press again.
Topstitch along the edges (do the open side first) and you have your strap.
Baste your strap in place as shown. Only sew through the top layer and not the lining.
Open your zipper at least half way. Now you are ready to sew this bag into a bag. First, put right sides of the outside together and the right sides of the lining together. Sew around the outside, leaving an opening in the bottom of the lining for turning. Sewing the lining slightly smaller than the outside. My red lines on the photos below show were your sewing lines should be. Sew over the zipper (it should be folded in half). Go really slowly and hand-crank if necessary.
This is the last step before turning! You're almost done. Now, stand your bag upright and match the side seam to the bottom seam. You may need to clip the corners. It should form a right angle. Press.
Next, draw a line to make an triangle. Your line should be square with both your seams. Your line should be about four inches long.
Sew along your line and repeat with other three corners. Trim off the excess, leaving a 1/2" seam allowance. Turn your bag out through the hole in the lining. Press all the seams you can reach, then sew up the hole in your bag. I just realized I got so excited to finish my bag that I forgot to get a picture of this part. Gotta go take a picture now. . . Ok, back with it.
Hold the opening closed and sew across it. Trim your strings. You will probably do a better job than I did trimming yours. I was in a hurry. I get this kind of nervous excitement when I'm about to finish a project and I don't always pay attention to the finishing details. Since there happened to be a pair of scissors on my computer desk, I'm trimming them right now.
Tada! The finished bag, perfect for my trips.

I've started a new blog: Come follow my crafting adventures on my new blog. Find me at: creativeirony.com.