Gingham Bow Tie

Back in May, I had to make 30 bow ties for the Italian Contemporary Film Festival. Though I had made a tie before, I had to find an easy enough patter to 'mass produce' these bow ties.

The tutorial from Sew Like My Mom perfectly guides you through the steps to making one.

I finally got to make a bow tie for me. The only alteration is that I made to the pattern is that I shortened the neck length to fit my small neck (12 inches). I also watched and looked at many tutorials to figure how to tie it.

Business Card/ Points Card Holder

I have one too many of these... I should start to give them away!

 

DIY Beach CoverUp

Here is a simple tutorial on how to make a beach coverup using a scarf. I bought this light scarf at Value Village for $3.99. It is double the size you see in the photo. I cut it half and serged the ends.

I then sewed the two edges together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

At the very top, I double folded a 1/2 inch hem and then sewed it in place all around leaving a hole for the elastic. I placed an elastic band through the hole and voila!

City of Craft- Spring Edition 2015

On Saturday I had the amazing opportunity to volunteer at City of Craft- Spring Edition 2015 which was held at the Theatre Centre on Queen Street West. I had a great time and I was impressed by the products made available by the 30 vendors.  I snagged some cute fabric pieces which I can't wait to use and I also got some pretty sweet thank you goodies! Looking forward to attending the next City of Craft event in December! 

Knitting Needle Case

I finally took the time to sew a knitting needle case and sort out all the needles and hooks that were dumped into my knitting bag. For some reason, after I am done with a knitting project, I don't have the patience to put the needles back and so I leave them in the knitting bag. I hope this will help me stay more organized. 

I made my own pattern after researching some patterns. I have used a 17 inch x18 inch square with a 1/2 seam allowance. I used interfacing to stiffen the fabric and I have sewn each slot measuring 1.75 inch, 1 inch and 0.75 inch. 

Kamik Marausa Rain Boots

I was so sad to say goodbye to my red rain boots but the time had come to throw them out.

I love my new rain boots! They are so pretty and ready for spring rain! 

These pretty lilac ribbons are left overs from my sister's wedding invitations which I sewed together. I love them!

Hot Water Bottle Cozy

With this brutally cold Canadian winter, I really enjoyed coming home and cuddling up with my hot water bottle. I have seen quite expensive ones so I  bought a $3 hot water bottle and made my own sleeve. I knitted the sweater using the pattern from Ravelry. It is truly that best pattern that is very flexible regardless of the size of your hot water bottle. The challenging part of this pattern is the seamless cast on which I have never had to use but after seeing the result it gives, I am willing to use it again for future projects. Here is a helpful link to help you navigate the the seamless cast on.

PIN WIN: Felt Earphone Bunny

Wednesday afternoon I was feeling quite restless and I wanted to do something but nothing intesive so I went on Pinterest and found the felt bunny earplug carrier which I had bookmarked. The pin does not have any instructions so first I sketched a pattern and then cut it out of felt (2 pieces for the body, ears and arms). Then I put it all together with simple embroidery stitching and for the cheeks I used a red crayon.

The original pin

 Mine!

PIN WIN: Pretty ribbon wellies

I usually share something I've sewn or knitted but, this time I'm going to post about something I've made from Pinterest. For a couple of months now, I've been hooked on Pinterest so much so that now I have 66 boards and over 1100+ pins bookmarked. I've also ran into Pinstrosity, a blog that shares unsuccessful pin creations. Luckily, I've have a few successes which I'm going to share here.

Ever since Katrina called rainboots 'wellies', I've really taken a liking to this Brit word so now I started to use it! It makes me...happy!

Here is the original Pin:

Here is what I did:

I added two red bows with some leftover ribbon I had. I used silk ribbon which looks great but has the tendency to undo itself so I would suggest that you tie a double knot or sew the bow in.

PIN WIN: Knee Socks For Boots

This is one of my favourite pins. When I saw it, I knew I had to make it because I wear a lot of boots in the winter so I couldn't pass that cute look of long socks without all that extra bunchiness going on!

Here is the original pin (without pattern):

Here is what I made:

So pretty and warm!!!

This is the cable pattern I used:

Cotton yarn

Size 4 needles

Stitches: multiples of 7 + 3

Cast 56 stitches

Row 1: *P3, K4 (repeat)

Row 2: *K4, P3 (repeat)

Row 3: *P3, K4 (repeat)

Row 4: *K4, P3 (repeat)

Row 5: *P3, cable (repeat)

Row 6: *P3, K4 (repeat)

Repeat rows 1-6 until your desired length.

Square Coin Purse

 

This is the coin pouch that I made after seeing the Circle Zip Earbud Pouch on Pinterest. The original is in a round shape pouch and seeing that I can't sew in a circle, I opted for a simple square shape. I also did not use any batting but used interfacing on the main fabric to give it stability. So happy with the overall result!!! I will definitely try to do more as it perfect to hold bus tokens, small change, usb drives, and lip balm all handy on my keys.

Flexi Frame Wristlet.

Here my new flexi frame wristlet. I love the details of the flex frame; it has a hoop detail instead of the usual flat tip. It's from a Korean brand called INAZUMA. The tutorial I used comes from UHandbag and it's not a hard pattern to develop; once you have it, putting it together comes very easily!

Flat Iron Cover

I'm excited to be travelling this summer and I needed a cover in which to put my flat iron.

So here it is, two rectangles sewn together in a 1/2 inch inseam (with lining inside). Easy peasy!

 

Zippered Coin Pouch Tutorials

Zippered coin pouch tutorial 1

Zippered coin pouch tutorial 2

Cathedral Window Quilt Tutorials

Cathedral Window Quilt Tutorial 1

Cathedral Window Quilt Tutorial 2 

25 Clever Ideas To Make Life Easier

25 Clever Ideas To Make Life Easier

More Cute Clutches

I finally started to sew again after a really, really long break and what did I want to do? More gathered clutches!! Soooo easy to make and just the right size to hold the essential stuff!

Business Card Holder

I did this business card/points card/id card/credit card holder after being inspired on pinterest. This is the original blog that offers a really easy tutorial on how to make these cute holders. I just saw another holder where the pockets are lengthwise rather than on the side. I look forward to making one of that too!!!!

Keep Calm And Pin On

At first, I didn't get what the big fuss with Pinterest was so I got an account just to check it out. After 15-20 minutes on it, I started to get the whole vision board/scrapbook idea but, it wasn't until yesterday that I spend some serious time on it and I saw all the cool pins that people posted on their boards. I started to "repin" and "love" everything! It's such a great idea bank and clipboard for all the neat things you find on the web especially if you don't know exactly what you're looking for.

2012 Craft To-Do List

* Make a pair of pjs

* Use bamboo handles for a handbag

* Make fabric flowers

* Make a wristlet

* Make a cathedral window quilt block

* Make a reversible tote

PILLOW FORM

When I made the pillow cover from the Quilt-It Kit, I did not buy a pillow form and made my own by sewing together two 15in x 15in squares using a 1/2in seam allowance. I then stuffed it with polyester fiberfill and VOILA!!

Here is a wonderful tutorial on how to make basic pillow form in different sizes!

QUILTED PILLOW

I finally managed to upload a photo of my completed quilted pillow that I made following the Quilt-It Kit I bought at the yard sale back in May!

 

HOOP ART

I finally used my embroidery hoops and made a quick and easy wall art project. It's an easy peasy project! My only difficulty: choosing the fabrics! You can find the instructions for the swatch pattern from Purl Bee.
 

DEALS AND STEALS AT THE FLEA MARKET

On Saturday, Scarborough Village hosted its annual flea market and as it has been the case in the last 4 years, I had to go to work and miss most of event. However, as usual, by the 1pm closing time, I pop in and still get few great deals on sewing/knitting/craft supplies.
This is what I got this year:

6 embroidery hoops:

3 of the large ones (10 in) were 75 cents each, 2 medium (7 in and 8 in) ones for 50 cents and 1 small one (5 in) for 25 cents. I wanted them all so I asked the lady if I could get a deal. She gave them all to me for $1!!!!!!!!!

Quit-It Kit by Denyse Schmidt: 

Priced at 24.99 US, I don't know why anyone would want to get rid of it! It's brand new with the instruction booklet, the 15 pattern cards, the pattern sheets to photocopy, the 2 fat quarter fabrics for the pillow con the cover, cotton and needle. I was baffled that it was marked $1.50!!!!!!! The lady charged me just $1!

I also got zippers for 15 cents each and left over curdroy and gingham for 50 cents and 25 cents respectively. 

 I can't wait to use them all!

The upholstered ottoman- foot stool

My craft journey this year began with signing up for the upholstered cube class at the workroom. I've been looking forward to taking this class for about a year but, with university and work, I was never able to take the class whenever it was offered...til now! Being very crafty and handy, I always wanted to do some carpentry work but, not signup for a carpentry class at a community college, so when I knew that the workroom was offering a class that merged carpentry and sewing, I was elated!

The first Sunday class, was all about constructing the cube. Erin provided us with 5 planks of wood and nails and spent nearly half of the class time gluing and hammering away. My main concern during this first part was making sure that the nails went straight in without sticking out or splitting the wood. At some points I hammered nails into knots which Erin told me was ok if I hammered really, really hard.

After hammering, came the cutting of the foam. Erin brought an electric carving knife which did the job superbly. Then I used a staplegun to keep the foam in place. Using a staplegun for the first time was...something. I was supernervous, especially about having my finger in the trigger. It reminded me of those movie scenes where the guy who has never held a gun is shaking their hand and randomly pulls the trigger. I was scared I was going to accidently pull the trigger and hurt someone with the nails. The sound of the staples coming out also made my heart jump quite a few times.

Then it was time for the polyester batting. This was a quick sew but it was tricky to put on because the batting had to be stretched without being teared.

Soon after the lining and the cover came together fairly quickly. Careful cutting, marking, pinning made the sewing a snap. The most important thing I learned is definitely how to round and sew corners. 

The final step was cutting a dust cover to cover up all the fabric and the staples.

The next most exciting thing about the ottoman was getting the legs which I found at Lee Valley on King and Bathurst. I have to say that I saw very nice legs at Home Depot but for price reasons I ended up getting these adjustable legs.

Ta-da! My finished ottoman! I'm so happy with it! I want to make so many of them but it's going to be an expensive hobby- at least for now!

SCRAPPY STRING QUILT

Here is my first hand at a scrappy string quilt!!!! After trying the Nine Patch block, I wanted to try something different! I began doing the scrappy blocks in December during my university break. Then in July, I sewed the blocks together [6 inch squares] to make 12 inch blocks and added the brown sashing. Today I finally finished it!!! It measures 34x34, has no batting in between so I can use it to dress a table. I'm quite happy that it turned out well even though I cut everything by hand with scissors! The one mistake I soon learned from [after the first block] was not to take the paper out of the back after you assemble the 4 squares together to make one block. Sew everything with the paper and only after the sashing is on, take out the paper. It's quite a bit of a pain but it makes sewing easier and it's completely worth it.

Here are some helpful links to those who are looking to start making their own scrappy quilt:

Scrappy String Quilt Instructions

String Quilting Primer!

String Quilt Tutorial from Sewtakeahike

THE CUTEST CLUTCH

I love this zippered gathered pleats clutch!!!!!! It's a brown tweed with a cotton band in the middle. I can't wait to make more and in different sizes!

PLEATED CLUTCH WITH ZIPPER

After this project, I think my new favourite thing to sew will be pleated clutches! If you made a pleated handbag, you are well on your way to sewing a pleated clutch. I have been a little picky with the design because I really wanted to insert a zipper and the tutorials I found, did not have any instructions for that so i was left to figuring it out on my own It was not an easy task but I certainly learned quite a bit for my next project.

Here are some links to get you started or inspired!

1) Classy pleated iridescent clutch from Craftster

2) Make a pleated pouch bag from Threads Magazine

3) Fat quarter pleated handbag from Sew Mama Sew

PLEATED HANDBAG

This bag was supposed to be just a simple pleated handbag, instead it turned out into a HUGE beach-size tote!!! I made the mistake of adding a couple of inches thinking that the bag would turn out to be too small for my liking!

Things to learn from this project:
-Make larger pleats
-Don't use interfacing, or if you do, apply it after pleating the fabric
-Make slimmer handles or use braided handles
-Don't add a border
-Think of adding a magnetic snap or zipper closure
-Think of adding a zipper pocket inside
-Use heavier fabrics [canvas, linen]


For more information/tutorials on the pleated handbag check out the following links:

1) Green wool + brown plaid handbag "how-to" from sewtakeahike
2) Butterflies and Fruit Pleated Tote from Cut Out + Keep
3) Good posting on Craftster