Sneak Peek At February!!

You guys wanna see a sneak peek at what's to come in February? Of course you do!! Well, I went to Hancock Fabrics this weekend as they were having a big Blowout Sale - up to 50% on select items!! I scored a bunch of fabric that I have plans for already, whaddya think of the colors and designs?:

 

I also got some D-rings so that I can make detachable handles/straps on the purses and clutches I want to work on for February:

Speaking of, here are some ideas of things I might work on/tweak to my liking to get things made to post in my store:

Noodlehead: Gathered Clutch Tutorial

Kitty Cats and Airplanes: Simple Envelope Clutch Tutorial

Modest Maven: Pleated Purse Tutorial

Skip To My Lou: Handmade Tissue Holder

Noodlehead: Lil Cutie Pouches

I hope you guys are excited for February! I know I am!! I can't wait to get started on getting some awesome things made with all that awesome pretty new fabric!!

Craft ya later!

My First Zippered Pouch/Wristlet

Hi everybody!! I'm pretty excited to show you what I made last night; my first zippered, strapped pouch/purse/wristlet!!

Isn't it cute?! It's my first ever zippered little pouch/wristlet/purse!!! And I did 3 new things I never have before!!

The zipper isn't technically my first, but it may as well be!! I've only done one before on a skirt for a Halloween outfit and as those are only worn once or twice, there wasn't much care on installing it. Here's my purse zipper though:

What do you guys think?? Did I get the fabric close enough to the edge of the zipper?? I tried my hardest to make it a hidden zipper but apparently I might need a zipper foot on my sewing machine to really get that good! 

The next first was putting a gather on anything!! I did have to fiddle with my sewing machine a bit (since I didn't have my instruction manual with me) to get the long stitch tension set right, but I got it!! And then when I put the middle strip on, you can hardly tell that there were 2 different stitch lines, right??:

Then there was the wrist strap I put on here. I've never really done a strap on the other 2 little purses I've done (they were both kisslock, will show y'all later! ;) ) so I think this turned out pretty good!:

The inside is a little unfinished, but I wasn't focusing so much on it as I was on the outside and getting the previously listed new things done right:

After I finished it however, I found the most awesome thing about using this little guy; my cell phone totally fits in here!!! YAY!!!

Things I will definitely need to work on next time will be making the edges on the inside (way way wayyy) more finished, putting a pocket in the inside for cards (the one I tried to put in there, I cut it too small for the seams I did so a card would NOT have fit) and in general just get my stitchlines more smooth and uniform. 

I made this little purse loosely based on the following tutorial:

Noodlehead: Tutorial for making a gathered clutch

I only had a 6" zipper in my stash so that's the size I made, 6"x4", and I really only glanced at her tutorial for making the gather and the zipper installation itself so that means I made my own template pieces and measurements myself and the whole process with me trying to figure it all out in my head took about 2 1/2 hours!! 

The next one I make however I would like to make it more to her actual tutorial and see the difference (with the exception of the amount of extra fabric for the gather as I'd like more than what I have here and what she has on hers lol) between the two. I also definitely want to try a pocket again and see about getting one (or more?) in the inside of the clutch.

Lastly, making it to her tutorial, I'd have to figure out the little pieces she used to cover the ends of the zipper at the top as opposed to mine only going to the end of the purse sides themselves.

Stay tuned!!

DIY Sewn Handwarmers - Tutorial

I, like many people right now probably, have been suffering from cold hands!! It's cold out there you guys!! Now, we may not be getting snow here in Texas, but being in the low 30s is still pretty darn cold for me, especially when I'm wearing my 4 layers on a regular basis....

Anywho, I decided I wanted to try and make my own little handwarmersjust like this fine lady over here that made handwarmers look like owls, NatashaGoes, only I wanted to make some of my own as a basic first try in squares.

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Difficulty level: Beginner + 1 (Basic sewing machine skills needed)
Time needed: ~ 30 minutes or less (based on skill/experience) 
Supplies needed: fabric - enough for 4 5"x5" squares, matching thread, sewing machine, pins, scissors, rice, funnel, measuring cup/spoon, template and/or ruler 
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I chose fleece I had in my fabric drawers in a white and lavender purple:

The yellow square is a piece of cardstock I have from a pack that measures about 4.25" x 5" that I used for a basic template:

Next, I pinned a purple and white together, right sides together:

Then under the needle we go! I used just a basic straight stitch at medium tension and length; these won't be something to wear nor fiercely handled. Note that I have not started at an edge nor in the middle, but closer to one side right past the middle. This is so once I get back around to this side on the other corner, I can stop sewing to leave a gap:

See the gap? I've stuck my seam ripper in there so you guys can see it properly:

Here we have both pairs of pieces sewn together: 

And now we flip them inside out. Through the gap you left earlier, push through a corner from the bottom and carefully pull the entire thing in on itself. Be careful not to rip the seams you made by sewing the pieces together in the first place:

The last bit of edges can be pushed out by sticking your finger in and poking in the corners. If you can't get your finger in there, use a small stick like a chopstick, pen, pencil, etc:

Once you do this to both, they should look about like this:

Next you need to gather your rice, funnel and measuring cup/spoon: 

For these small warmers, I only needed about 1/4cup of rice:

Funnel goes in the hole in your warmers, and the rice in the funnel:

You don't want to fill the whole bag to bursting at the seams, but you'll want to make sure it's mostly full:

Last step! All you have to do now is fold the edges under to match the seams you sewed previously and go under the sewing machine!!

Real quick note; make sure you put your foot down. I was so excited to get these done and distracted by the fabric being so darn thick in there, that I couldn't figure out why the heck it kept getting stuck!! Then I realized, when I reached back there to lift the foot up and get it all out to investigate.....the foot was never put down in the first place on this step!! Funny thing is, I did it right on the first one, this just happened on the second one:

Oh well, at least it's an easy fix!! Just open the door, get the bobbin out, and cut all those strings.

Well, there you have it!! you now have 2 awesomely soft handwarmers!! You can see where that external stitch shut was, but it's no biggie. This is about how professional cornhole bags look anyways:

I nuked one in the microwave for about 30 seconds and when I opened the microwave door, I could almost smell the burnt/cooked rice. Hmmm...... I took it out and it almost felt wet, like there was steam making the outside wet? Also, it didn't stay warm longer than about 20 or so minutes. 

I guess it's back to the drawing board? That is, unless I only need these guys to stay warm for about 20 minutes, which isn't that big a deal, but I want to try other fabrics as well as other sizes. I want to make one to put around your neck and see how well that works out. That and I want to try out making one cold and see how long it stays that way!

One thing's for sure, I had fun making these as they're very simple, and worst case scenario? I can make 2 more and now it's a set of cornhole bags for a kid's hands! :)