After Christmas

So I've been really busy with family and the holidays. I decided to go all out and give only handmade gifts this year, but, I started on everything way too late! I made it through though, and I really hope everyone liked their gifts.

Here is my baby boy excited about his new owl :)

 This guy is made from fabrics from the Riley Blake collection called 'Alphabet Soup'. I made his eyeballs smaller and I think I may prefer it over the larger eyes I'd been doing. I think I will be doing more of this one to add to my shop.

 Above is a 'Kindle' type ereader sleave that I made for my dad. The outer fabric design is made from printable fabric that you design with your printer and print. I used quotes and images from the book and I think it came out pretty neat! Of course I wouldn't sell something like this because of copyright laws ;)

I may be adding these to my shop soon, not made with the printable fabric sheets but pretty designer fabrics.

I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!

Check out this beautiful treasury list on Etsy :)

Busy, busy!

It's the last minute sprint to finish preparing for the holidays! I'm busy getting all of my handmade gifts for family and friends completed. I'll post some pics after Christmas so I don't spoil any surprises ;) In the meantime check out my shop to pick up your last minute gifts. Make sure you read my shop announcement on the main page before you purchase to make sure your getting the type of shipping you need. I'll be keeping an extra close eye on things this week to make sure I can answer questions quickly and ship items out quickly.

Here is another Mini Wallet listed in my shop, these ship for free with the purchase of another item!

Cheers!

Mini Wallet Snap Pouch Tutorial!!

Okay, here we go, my very first tutorial. I think I'm ready. This little wallet pouch is the perfect size for carrying around your business cards, or it's also perfect for your ID, credit cards and some cash. This project is great for a beginner or occasional sewer. If you've never installed a snap I suggest you practice on some scraps first, using the same materials you will use for your project. If you don't have heavy fusible interfacing, you can use non fusible, or even quilt batting works just fine. Just remember if you use quilt batting that if it's polyester it will melt a little when pressed on the cotton setting, so do not press with the quilt batting until you've sewn and turned your project right side out- you don't want to fuse quilt batting to your iron or your ironing board! If you don't have a cutting mat and rotary cutter, thats also okay but you may find it easier to make a pattern to pin to you fabric in order to cut your pieces with sissors.

Supplies-

Outer fabric- 9 x 5.25 inches

lining fabric- 9 x 5.25 inches

fusible interfacing (heavy)- 9 x 5.25 inches

snap ( & tools to install)

scissors, rotary cutter, cutting mat, ruler

disapearing marker

coodinating thread

Okay, lets get this started!

First select your fabrics.

 Cut outer fabric, lining, and interfacing into 9 x 5.25 inch rectangles

If you want your wallet flap to have a curved edge, sandwich all three peices and fold in half long-ways, then cut a curved corner with your sissors on the end that will be your flap.

Fuse your interfacing to the wrong side of your lining fabric.

Now to pin your layers together. Pin right side of outer fabric to the right side of the lining fabric with the interfacing on the bottom. Pin across the bottom to mark an opening, you'll want to leave an opening for turning it right-side out after you stitch it together. If you curved your corners for the flap, mark/pin your opening on the other end of the fabrics.

 Start stitching at the end of your pin you placed for the opening, finish on the other end of the pin, using a 1/4th inch seam allowance.

 Here is how it looks when your done.

 Trim your corners, then I like to trim along the sides to about 1/8th of an inch. Don't trim where you left your opening.

 Now your ready to turn it right side out!

 Make sure your corners are pushed out nice and neat, a pointy chop-stick is handy for this.

 Now you need to press it and make sure everything is smooth. Press your opening nice and neat and even, you'll top stitch it closed. I do my top stitching about 1/8th of an inch from the edge and set my stitch length longer so the stitching looks nicer. Stitch all the way around.

 Now fold the bottom up about 3 inches and pin in place. Stitch right over the lines where you just top-stitched to secure the bottom of your pouch.

 Now it's time to install the snap. If you've never installed a snap before I suggest you practice first so you don't damage your project.

 Use your ruler to find the center and using your disapearing marker, place a dot where you want the snap to go on the outer flap.

 Now mark under the flap.

 You can purchase snaps with this nifty tool to help you install them, though the heads don't work well with it. There is also a pliar type tool that I may cave and purchase one of these days. Once you get the hang of it installing them is pretty easy, but I still ruin heads on occasion.

 All finished and looks pretty cute! I think I like a curved flap better though. Notice how you can see my dot through the snap head? It will fade away in a couple days, and if you use a solid colored snap you don't have to worry about it.

Pretty easy right? The green one below I curved the corners a bit on the flap. The great thing about this project is that you can play around with the dimentions. If you want a bigger pouch, just increase the size of your rectangles. So there you have it, if you try out this tutorial please leave a comment and/or post a pic and let me know what you think. Let me know if you have any questions.

*Thanks for checking out my tutorial! Don't forget to follow me :D

Psst... there is a tutorial coming... I'm a little nervous, it's my first. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, check out my new bag :)

This pretty purse features a 'mod' looking dots print from the 'So Sophie' collection from Riley Blake.

Oh, and below is what I'm doing for the tutorial, so excited!

I call it a 'Mini Wallet Snap Pouch'. Super easy and I think it's a great project even for beginners and novices. Can't wait to finish getting it put together!

Recent treasury lists curated by me :)

Now offering bags in my shop!

I'm so excited to now be offering handmade purses in my shop!

The main part of this beauty is made from a fat quarter from the 'Love Birds' collection from Riley Blake designer fabrics. The botanical pattern is in a soft shade of pink on a rich red background. Paired with the black I think it almost has an asian feel to it. Love it.

Love the magnetic snaps, they are so user friendly and functional. Love that I can install them before sewing everything together and they serve as a guide to keep everything centered.

I'm crazy about these funky floral birds in this black and white fabric. This bag is also made from a fat quarter, though I'm not sure of the designer, just something I had in my stash that I've been dying to find a purpose for. Kinda think that shooting the pics on a white background was probably not the best choice, may need to re-shoot this one on a colored background so it pops!

I tried to carry out the black and white theme throughout this bag down to using white top-stitching on the black fabrics.

Recent Treasury List on Etsy

Here is a recent treasury list featuring my pillow cover! Oh, and I love that typewriter, thanks to Chantal for featuring my item and check out her shop on Etsy- I'm thinking I need one of her little birds and the hedgehogs :) ... and as you can see from the format of this post, I DO NOT know how to edit HTML... www.purpleplatypus.etsy.com

Squee!

New bag is complete!

I decided to use high loft quilt batting to interface this with, since I have none of the heavyweight interfacing I used to use making bags and I can no longer purchase it locally so I thought I'd give it a shot. I actually really love the quilt batting, actually prefer it over using the interfacing. The bag has some weight and body to it. I always disliked that the bags I made were so light and thin, so quilt batting is definately prefered. I think the regular interfacing would probably be better for smaller pouches and wallets though, when you really need to keep things compact.

Is that a purse?

Why yes, it is a purse.

This fabric was destined to become a lovely bag ;)

The best part is the green fabric on both sides is one fat quarter and the bag is a great size, plenty roomy but not a giant. I have a feeling I may be making lots of these!

New stuff :)

This was my first attempt at making bunting. It was a special request from an old friend to use in a photography backdrop. Very pleased with it and decided to put up a made to order listing in my shop. Featuring lovely 'So Sophie' fabrics.

 Felt the need to do an aplique tree. I love the pop of black and white.

This sweater is dwindling, makes me a little sad, but how sweet is this little owl? I love the little felt flower :)

Attempting to get my son to model my tweaked toddler bib... This was the two seconds that he was somewhat still. I'm pretty sure his thinking at that moment was, "WOW, I can't believe she actually gave me the cheerio can...".

'So Sophie' quilt complete!

'So Sophie' quilt is finally finished and already listed in my shop! I'm so in love with these fabrics and I'm pretty pleased with how this came together.

 I used a light weight muslin for the backing, soft and cozy.

 Also made a quilted front patchwork throw pillow to match, how sweet is this?

Getting ready to mail off one, and whipped up another. I only have enough of this sweater left to do some smaller ones, maybe some ornaments?

 Making the 'quilt sandwich'~ can't wait to see this beauty all finished!

'So Sophie' has arrived! I'm so excited to use these fabrics, my first project is well on its way. Check out my quilt top :)

 Did I mention I love these fabrics?

I'm thinking about binding this in one of the browns, and making some throw pillows to match. I think this would be perfect for a mod-baby nursery, or even on the back of the sofa as a lap quilt.