OK, so I’ve already shown you how to make a big, roomy bag. And, naturally, we put pockets in for phones and such. But sometimes you need a separate pouch for your phone or MP3 player. Here’s a lightly padded, velcro-closure gadget case with a cute little strap that you can open and close, in case you want to hook it around something, like a belt loop or purse strap.
Fancy, flirty aprons are all the rage, and they sell for good money at a lot of stores. But if you can sew, you can make your own, and I’ll show you how. Seem a little too frilly? Use it any old time, but especially when you have guests. People get a kick out of them! And don’t be afraid to use it; it’s just fabric, and you can wash it. This pattern is for a fully reversible, gathered, scalloped apron with pockets. Have fun with the fabrics and mix them up to make it more interesting. This apron uses…
Making your own fabric bags means you’ll always have unique accessories. I have lots of them, and I get compliments all the time. They really stand out. This bag is pleated and nice and roomy as a purse. I have made this style in both a smaller and larger size, but neither ever seemed just right. This one I made somewhere in between. It holds all of my day-to-day purse stuff, with room to throw in a book or bottle of water, to boot. I took this out today and somebody complimented me on it and wanted one. See? That’s…
Last week, I did a post on a funky green jacket. This week, we’re going to look at the inside of the jacket. What you see from the inside is the lining. What you don’t see is the interlining, or the batting I added for extra warmth. The jacket pattern (McCalls 5060) included lining but not interlining, and so I wanted to discuss how to add that, and also what the difference is between interlining and lining. It’s very easy! This week, I also have a post on making your own covered buttons, related to this jacket.
When I first saw this fabric, I immediately thought that I would like to make a jacket from it. I’m not sure where the idea came from, and I know it’s sort of a bold fabric for a long jacket, but I really liked the idea. I’m really pleased with the results, even if my husband did point out that it, well, “really stands out.” With men, you’re just not really sure what that means. I think it will make a perfect spring jacket, but I don’t mind wearing it even now. It was a time-consuming project, that’s for sure,…
Or, how I fought the piping, and the piping won. You know when you have those sewing days when you know you should just give up and try again later? Well, this post didn’t go exactly as planned. I initially planned to use the piping from the piping tutorial I did last weekend. But, you know, sometimes things just don’t work out. I broke three needles and knocked over my box of carefully organized quilting blocks, so they all got mixed up. That knocked out my power strip and turned off my lights and sewing machine. I knocked my thread/scrap…