Wristlet

Happy Sunday all!

Here's the tutorial I promised you ...

For a cute little wristlet that I made with the fabric left over from my bag

Okay first things first, here's what you will need:

two coordinating fabrics 

(I just use the scraps left over from making my bags)

but I think you will need approximately 1/2 yd of each fabric

7" zipper

ribbon (for zipper pull)

2 small rings (I got 12 mm split rings, from Joann's in the jewelry making area)

and one clasp (from the same area as the rings)

Okay, now time to cut!

I use a rotary cutter (I think it's easier for straight cuts) but whatever works for you

for the outside fabric you need:

4 pieces cut to 7.5" x 5.5"

1 piece 17" x 2"

and 1 piece 3" x 2"

for the inside fabric you will need:

2 pieces 7.5" x 9"

and 2 pieces 7.5" x 8"

(these will both be folded in half and pressed so that they measure 7.5" x 4.5" and 7.5" x 4")

And the sewing begins ...

Fold the 17" long section in half lengthwise (right sides together) and sew along the width and then down the length (leave the bottom width portion open for turning) *I used a 3/8" seam here

Flip it (right side out) and press

Next sew two of the 7.5" x 5.5" sections together (wrong sides together)

Then sew the other two together *for these I used 1/4" seam

So now you have two pretty front and back pieces (they are also pretty on the inside)

And now the inside pocket fabric ...

Fold and press (wrong sides together) the 7.5" x 9" pieces so that they measure 7.5" x 4.5"

and the 7.5" x 8" pieces so that they measure 7.5" x 4"

Lay the smaller on top of the larger

Then lay those two on top of eachother.

(So you will have large on bottom then two smalls and then another large on top)

Stitch the four pieces of fabric together *I used 1/4" seam

Zipper time!

Stitch one side of the zipper on the front (outside) piece of fabric

and the second side of the zipper to the back (outside) piece of fabric

Press the fabric away from the zipper teeth

Next, lay your pocket pieces inside ...

And fold over the like so

(so you have back outside fabric on the bottom, pocket pieces, and then front outside pieces on top)

And because I love french seams (they are just so neat and tidy) stitch that together using a 1/4" seam

Almost there ...

Let's not forget about the little 3" x 2" piece of outside fabric

fold that in half lengthwise (right sides together), 

sew across the width then down the length, flip and press (just like the longer 17" x 2" piece)

Then attach that little sucker by folding it in half placing one end on the bottom, of the side of the wristlet, and the other end on the top. 

Throw one of those split rings on so that it's in the middle of the folded tab.  Stitch in place.

Unzip the bag and flip it inside out and PRESS (I put it in caps for a reason, for real, you have to PRESS and PRESS or else it will be super bulky and hard to flip right side out)

Then stitch down the side, across the bottom, and up the other side

using a 3/8" seam

Flip it right side out and PRESS

Lookin' good!

Loop the clasp on to the second split ring (ya know like putting a key on a key ring)

Finally take that long 17" x 2" piece fold it in half, shimmy the the split right right on down one side

Stitch the ends together

Then shimmy that split ring right on down to the middle of the ends you just sewed together

Flip it so that the ends are turned in like so ...

Fold and stitch closed (can you see the yellow stitches?)

Attach the clasp to the split ring on the bag and ...

TADA! You're done!

A Wonderful Wristlet

to match a

Beautiful Bag!

Hope you could follow that.

Let me know if you have questions.

Have a Fabulous Week!

Lots of Love <3

I'm Baaaaack!

Hi all!! Sorry it's been so long ... I did a little experiment on myself to see if I could survive without the internet (really I just didn't want to pay for it) from March - July, and GOOD NEWS, I survived!  And then let's just be honest August til now I've just been a slacker (and a little busy with work and school)!  But I'm back now! YAY!!

So here's my first post back ...

I found this PRETTY pattern at Joann's (when they with $1 of course)

 Then I found this FABULOUS fabric!

 And I made this BEAUTIFUL bag! TADA!

Now, if any of you are going to go out and buy this pattern to make this adorable bag here's a tip ... the handles are a little short (at least for me) so I would lengthen them by two inches or so, other than that it's SUPER CUTE! LOVE IT!

Okay that's all ... short and sweet for my first post back.

Next post will be a matching wristlet (gotta be coordinated, of course!)

Lots of Love <3

So Simple Small Sweater Solution

HA! HA! Not gonna lie it took me a little bit to come up with that title! Whew!  Anywho ... I LOVE LOVE LOVE this! I have a TON of too small sweaters (well ... let me rephrase that ... i USED to have a TON (I donated a bunch before I moved out to AZ and now I am kicking myself for it because it does, actually, get cold here and I could have made a million super cute cardigans with them! UGH!).  Anyway! This is SUPER easy and I will post a tutorial soon using this blue sweater (I just have to get matching fabric for it (apparently I don't sew a lot with blue fabric))

SO here's the BEFORE ...

And the AFTER ...

SO stinkin cute! Right?!?!

Who buttons their cardigans anyway! But if you do I will show you in the tutorial how to put in cute little toggle buttons at the top :)

Temple (garment) Bag Tutorial

Hi All! Here's another fabulous tutoral for you ... 

For all you lovely LDS ladies it's a Temple Bag ... for all the non-LDS ladies it's a Garment Bag :) And it's pretty fabulous if I do say so myself.  I got the idea from Pinterest, of course, it was in the diy section but of course didn't have a diy so I "pinned it" seven weeks ago and said I would figure out how to make it and how to post the instructions ... 

well it took me a while but here you go ...

Materials needed:

2 yds of fabric (this will be your main fabric)

1 1/2 yds of contrast fabric (for pockets and ruffles)

30" Zipper

5 Buttons

Matching Thread

Step One: Wash, Dry, and Iron fabric (I always prewash my fabric! Sometimes the fabric gets distorted in the wash and you want that to happen BEFORE you sew it all together rather than messing up your beautiful finished product)

Next you are going to cut out all your pieces.  

Fold your MAIN fabric in half lengthwise (so it's still 2 yds. long, now it's only 21" wide)

For the top and bottom pieces (front and back) cut 4 pieces  16" x 21"

(so only cut 2 pieces 16" x 21" while the fabric is folded then cut on the fold of the fabric so that you have 4 pieces total)

For the middle piece (front and back) cut 2 pieces 32" x 21"

(again only cut 1 piece 32" x 21" while the fabric is folded then cut on the fold of the fabric so that you have 2 pieces total)

After you've cut those 6 pieces you should be left with a piece of fabric that is approximately 8" x 21" (folded in half - unfolded it will be 42" wide).  Unfold the fabric.  For the handles cut 2 pieces 3" x 30" 

For the tab (to button the bag closed) cut  2 pieces 3" x 7"

Now for the contrast fabric ...

For the ruffles cut 5 pieces 4" x 50"

For the pockets cut 2 pieces 15" x 21"

Phew! That is always my least favorite part of sewing (cutting out all the pieces).  Now we're ready for the fun stuff ... We will start with the pockets.  Fold over the 21" edge 1/2" and press.  Then fold it over again (so the unfinished edge is inside the second fold) 3/4" and press.

Top stitch in place (do the same thing for the other pocket piece)

Now for the button holes (I have no clue how to make them with your sewing machine) on my machine it's stitch #26 (I also changed my presser foot to my button hole foot)

My buttons are 7/8" buttons so my button holes are 1" long.  I put my button hole about 1/2" from the top of the pocket (you can place yours where ever your little heart desires).  For the front pocket I placed one button in the center, and then the other two half way between that button and each end.

For the inside pocket I placed one button 4" from the left side and another button 7" from the right side 

(the smaller pocket on the left for you slippers/shoes, and the larger on the right for your packet)

For the inside pocket I also straight stitch down the pocket 7 1/2" from the left side (can you see the white line I marked with chalk?) This just separates the two pockets ... if you only want one pocket you don't have to do this OR if you want the pockets to be the same size just stitch down the center of the pocket and place the buttons in the center (the options are endless!)

Now stitch the contrast pocket piece to the main fabric.  For the inside pocket you will use a bottom main fabric piece (one of the 16" x 21" pieces)

Attach the two buttons and voila! You have yourself two inside pockets :) YAY!!

So sticking with the inside (leave the second pocket for now ... we'll get back to it later) take one of the 32" x 21" pieces and cut it in half lengthwise (so it's 32" x 10 1/2").  Place the two pieces right sides together and baste them together (we are inserting the zipper).

Press open the seam you just created

Lay the zipper down aligning the zipper teeth (where the zipper opens/unzips) with the basted seam (which we will undo once the zipper is sewn in place).  Pin the zipper in place.

Using your zipper foot stitch the zipper in place

Then I like to go back and stitch along the edge of the outside

Down ...

Across the end of the zipper ...

And back up the other side.

This, I think, helps hide the zipper and makes it look prettier.

Next attach the bottom piece (with the pocket) to the middle zipper piece you just created (I did french seams (so wrong sides together then right sides together) but you can just do a regular, right sides together, seam ...

Next attach the top piece using another 16" x 21" piece of main fabric.  And there you have it! Your inside is completely done!

NOW ... moving on to the outside ...

Create your tab (closure) place the 2 - 3" x 7" pieces right sides together and stitch around three of the four edges (leave one of the 3" edges open so we can flip it right side out)

Flip and Press!

Stitch a button hole in the center 1/2" or so from the finished edge (the edge that you left open will be sewn to the bottom outside piece)

Now the handles.  Fold each 3" x 30" strip in half lengthwise (right sides together).  Then stitch along one short edge and one long edge (leave one edge open for flipping).  The handles are a bit longer and thus harder to flip so I use this handy dandy flipper that I got at Joann's in the notions isle (you can just use a pen or anything thin and long that will help you flip the fabric right side out)

I just put the finished edge of my fabric on the tip of the flipper tool and scrunch the fabric down down down until I get to the open end.  Then just grab the right side the the fabric poking the corners out with the flipper tool and PULL until you've flipped it right side out

Press, making sure the seams are aligned with the edge of the handles

(Repeat for handle dos (2 for those who don't speak espanol)

AND NOW! My favorite part of this WHOLE bag! RUFFLES!!!!!

We are going to attach them to the outside pocket (you've already made the pocket piece with three button holes at the top ... or however many you want).  Oh! And if you're not a girly girl or you just want to be boring (jk) you don't HAVE to put on ruffles (just skip the next few steps)

So to finish the edges I just cut them with my pinking shears (see the zigzag edges) you can do that or you can finish them by folding over the edges and sewing them down (whatever you want)

So finish the edges (however you want) of all 5 - 4" x 50" pieces of contrast fabric

Then you are going to gather the fabric of each 4" x 50" strip of fabric

To do this simply stitch with the LONGEST stitch length your sewing machine will allow (mine is 6.0) and as you stitch keep your finger against the back of the sewing machine causing the fabric to gather

If it's not gathered enough when you come to the end of the fabric leave a LONG tale of thread, while holding the bottom thread scrunch the fabric down the thread until it's gathered enough to fit on the front of the pocket 

Attach the ruffles to the pocket

Attach the pocket to the 32" x 21" main fabric piece aligning the bottom of the pocket with the middle of the 32" piece (so the bottom of the pocket will be 16" from the top/bottom of the 32" x 21" piece of main fabric)

Stitch along the bottom (the bottom of the pocket NOT THE RUFFLE ... the bottom ruffle should hide the bottom of the pocket) once you've stitched the bottom in place stitch the sides together (just to hold them in place)

Now with the two last 16" x 21" pieces of main fabric you are going to attach the handles (and on one the tab)  Simply place the tab in the center and stitch across the top to hold in place.  Then place the handles 3 1/2" away from the edge of  the fabric and stitch in place.  Do the same thing on the other 16" x 21" piece (but only with the handle this time)

Stitch the piece with the handle and tab to the bottom of the 32" piece 

And the other piece (with just the handle) to the top of the 32" piece

Now you have both inside and outside completely done ... Now you just have to sew them together (again I did french seams but you can just put right sides together and stitch if you want a regular seam)

*Note I left a little opening in the top of the bag so that I could put a hanger inside the bag (if you would like a hole for a hanger simply start stitching the two pieces (inside and outside) together 1/4" or away from the center of the top.  Stitch all the way around but stop on the top when you get 1/4" or so away from the center on the opposite side - this will leave a 1/2" opening ... plenty of room for a hanger)

Once you've stitched all the way around open the zipper and flip the bag so the right side is out

And there you have it!

The Front/Outside ...

And the Back/Inside ...

And when you fold it up ...

TADA! LOVE IT!!! <3

The End!

Hope you all loved it

As always if you have any questions let me know

Lots of Love <3