Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Sew worth it !!

Batman bags -- fabric flowers --  ruffle totes - -
Oh My !!

Easter was so much fun !!

Emily loved her fabric flower pillow (it matches the quilt she made) and Lucas could not stop smiling about his Batman bag.  You can fit a lot of Easter Eggs in that bag gramma !!  

Jenna and Angelina loved their ruffle totes too !!

It was a special day.   Always nice to see those smiles !

Hope you had a special day too !!

Thanks for stopping by,

Karen

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Easter Projects - Work in Progress Wednesday

Oh the joys of having 8 little grand-babies to bring Joy to our Hearts !!
and
the special little gifts you can prepare by venturing out in Blogland !!

Check out these cute little
"No Sew Ruffle Totes"
tutorial by Scattered Thoughts of A Crafty Mom !! They are so fast and simple -- and are perfect for the little girls on your list !!

In addition to the totes I whipped up this cute little outfit for Angelina's Doll Collection -- I purchased this pattern online for pennies -- it works up quickly (even after being away from clothes sewing for YEARS !!)

Next on the Agenda is a "Batman Bag" -- Lucas (5 yr old DGS) requested a Batman Bag when we gave Angie her Ballerina Bag for Valentine's Day.   

Out to blogland to find Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorials.

I think I'll use a combination of these....

The Silly Pearls Tutorial

The Creative Place Tutorial

And Sew Chic and Unique lists several lined drawstring bag tutorials !!  Take you pick !

Fun Fun --

Have a good day all and thanks for stopping by.

Linking up to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday and Esther's WIP Wednesday !!

Hugs,
Karen

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Sewin on Sunday ! No Foolin !

Can you believe Easter is 1 week away !  Oh I have soo many cute things that I would like to make for our grandchildren.   One is this adorable little "No Sew Ruffle Tote" from Jamie over at Scattered Thoughts of a Crafty Mom !  She does wonderful tutorials and shares adorable patterns for your little ones.  If you're not already a follower -- you should check out the wonderful things there !

Above is my "mini" version of the No Sew Ruffle Tote.  I actually made two this evening - One for Angelina and one for Jenna (and I'm still considering making one for Emily too)...    Jamie's tutorial is just perfect -- check it out !  
My finished bag was considerably smaller than the bag that Jamie made.  I bought the canvas bags for 1/2 price at our Local Christmas Tree Shoppe -- the small bags were only $1 -- what a bargain !!   I chose the girls favorite colors and choose fabric from my stash for the ruffles. I used the OLFA Pinking Rotary Blade (pricey but worth it).   I followed the Ruffle Tutorial from "Ruffles And Stuff" blog - except I only stitched one line of straight stitch with my machine (instead of two).   

Believe it or not, I used the Hot Glue Gun to create the bag (rather than sewing).  Some of the seams on the canvas bag I bought were much to thick to stitch through -- I had fun playing with my Glue Gun -- that hadn't seen the light of day in years !!

Also, instead of using ribbon to trim the top of the bag, I made a finish piece from the fabric stash.  I cut a 3 inch wide strip of fabric, ironed in half wrong sides together, then opened up the fabric and ironed each 1/2 side toward the center.  I used my machine to top stitch the trim (and don't forget to put your tension back to normal before you attempt this -- I forgot once... oh well, the tension on that top stitching is a little crazy. 
Here is a picture of both of the bags I made this evening!  I just love them.  



Oh, before I go, I was out yesterday with my daughter-in-law/friend and our youngest DGS Ethan -- we tried on some funny bunny ears at the store -- isn't he just the cutiest little boy ?  He is 15 months now and such a joy to be around! 

Have a great week everyone -- and thanks for stopping by !

Hugs,

Karen