Another Art Tote

I love this Art Tote pattern! I wrote a review of it in a previous post!


I ended up keeping the first one that I made. I keep my sewing stuff in it! Scissors fit great in the side pockets, and my patterns fit nicely inside. Seam rippers, small scissors, and seam gauges don't get lost when they are in the small outside pockets.

I made a second one for my mom! She teaches 3rd grade and aways has a ton of pens and highlighters on her desk. So I thought maybe this would help keep her desk more organized.

She says she loves it because it is so sturdy and that now she knows where to find all of her stuff. She keeps glue sticks and scissors on the inside so that her students can just come up and know where to find the stuff!

I bought this pattern from an ETSY shop but I am pretty sure they don't sell it there anymore. It is now on You Can Make This Dot com! The awesome thing about this pattern is that it is only $6 and you can make them and sell them!

http://youcanmakethis.com/info/handbags/The-Art-Caddy-.htm

Bridesmaids Gifts

I have been working on custom orders! I have a family member getting married in a couple of months and his bride-to-be wanted handmade gifts!

She wanted their wedding colors to be involved. Lime green, black, and purple are really hard to find all in one print. I personally think purple is hard to find period. Alice Kennedy has a great line of Black and Lime green prints! I bought 6 half-yards and cute 2 1/2 inch strips and sewed them together used those for the tops of the bag and then used IKEA solids for the bottom!

They came together very quick and I think they are adorable! The bags went out in the mail today and I hope that when the bridesmaids receive them they love them just as much as I do!

Jewelry Rolls!

I just finished making 4 Jewelry rolls and I love each and everyone of them! The pattern I use is my own and I really want to write a tutorial for it! I don't know when I will ever find time to do that though!

I seem to always forget to take pictures during the sewing process! I also would have to type out directions and I am not sure if they would make sence to anyone but me!

These are for bridesmaids gifts! This is the second set of jewerly rolls that I have made for bridesmaids! I hope everyone loves them!

Acu Custom Orders!

These are pictures of the 2 most recent custom orders I have finished!

I have made several ACU purses in the past and I always love the turn out! I like using solid lining! It seems to give the most contrast to the ACU print!

Christmas Pin Wheel Table Runner

This is the first time I have ever done pin wheels and even though not all of the points match up I think it is very cute!

I used some Moda Figgy Pudding Fabric for the pin wheels and a cheap white on white print that I got from wal-mart for the front. The backing fabric is from Hobby Lobby. It is a super cute brown and blue Christmas print. I got it half off because I bought it so close to Christmas time!

I got the idea from the blog Pleasant Home and also used their tutorial for Prairie points. I love the points. They are very easy and so cute!

Cold Feet!

Well, yesterday at 5:30 am the snow started. It didn't stop until about 8 this morning. Twenty Four inches of the white stuff fell over one day. So, Yes I do have cold feet but that is just because we went out and shoveled for quite awhile this morning. We are supposed to be on our way to Florida right now but Mother Nature had other plans for us.
Here is a tutorial on how to cure those cold feet issues!
http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2009/02/tutorialrice-bag-feet-warmer.html
This tutorial is so easy and so warm! I how ever made one small change to the first one that I made. I use feed corn in mine instead of the rice. I have been told that it retains the heat better. I warm mine in the microwave for 3 minutes on high and out come a bag that is nice and toasty!
I have also made these in a few other sizes. They come out great no matte what!

Art Tote

Over the last 3 days I have been working on a new sewing pattern that I bought about a month ago! It is an art tote pattern!
When I first saw the pattern, I knew I had to have it! It was just so adorable!
http://youcanmakethis.com/info/whats-new/The-Art-Caddy-.htm#cxaProductReviewsForm
It is a PDF pattern and it was emailed to me within 24 hours! It was only $6! That part made me very happy!
First off, let me say I was extremely happy with the final turn out of the bag! It is super cute and it is very sturdy! The pockets look great and using the 3 different fabrics makes it even prettier!
The pattern however at times is confusing! Make sure you read through it first! I read through it and still made a few mistakes in cutting the pieces! You have to print the patterns from your computer and tape them together before cutting your fabric. Make sure that when you cut your pocket pieces you cut 2 of patterns pieces D, E, and F. The are labeled when you print them out and they say cut 1. I was very frustrated when I was finally to the steps of sewing and realized I had to go back to cutting.
This bag is made of several different layers of stabilizer. It has the outer and inner fabrics but it also has a layer of interfacing, a layer of batting, and a layer of heavy weight fusible interfacing. At two different points during the sewing process you are told to clip your seams to a 1/4 of an inch. This is very difficult because you are cutting through 2 layers of batting, 2 layers of interfacing and the layers of fabric. My hands were sore after that!

I was excited to work with the heavy weight fusible interfacing. Both of its sides are fusible! One side is rough with the glue and the other side has a peel off plastic covering. It was easy to work with. It comes with its own instructions and the pattern also gives instructions on using this. With this tote you add this stabilizer after the outer portion of the bag is constructed.

Overall, I am super happy with the tote. The little problems with the pattern are easy to overlook after you see your finished product! And they even let you sell your finished product.