DIY: Girly Monster bag

Just a quick post to show you one of my Christmas crafts this year. I love making homemade gifts. My goal for this Christmas is that everyone we gift for will get at least one homemade item.  This was almost successful this year. We had a few tricky brothers to buy for but I'm already looking for ideas for this year! :) So family, if there's anything that you want let me know! I've been itching to get to crafting again but school is priority right now!

So a quick post, mostly of the pictures. You can find my original monster tote tutorial here. I received word that a little girl was borrowing her brothers bag so decided she needed a more appropriate girly bag for her own use. I had all the supplies except the eyes and bag which were found in a local shop. It's a pretty easy bag to make.

I also happened to have some left over pink camo fabric left over from another project for her so I used some glittery iron-on letters I had for her name and stitched it on the back. No stealing this bag from her brother! The bow is just a small rectangle with another small strip wrapped around and hot glued together. For this one, I used a jersey t-shirt so the edges of the bow and monster shouldn't ravel.  

My original idea for this bag came from Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! 

I'd love to see your creations! 

~Enjoy!~

 ~H~

Sew: A needle pulling thread.

I've been toying with this blog post for a while but wasn't sure I wanted to post it because I'm not an expert sewer. However, I decided that the people that read this blog don't necessarily care.

I know of lots of people that are wanting to get into sewing or become better sewers so lately while I've been working I've been thinking of my tips and tricks of the trade. And because I'm so nice, I'm going to share them with you. :)
History
 So a brief history of my sewing, I started probably late elementary school patching things for my dad because my mom loathes sewing. Home Ec in middle school probably is what peaked my interested the most. I made everything from the basic drawstring bag and shorts to a stuffed penguin. At home I'd use scraps we had to make other little bags or projects. I also was given the job of patching jeans and coveralls and putting in new zippers. When I got married the two things I wanted most were a kitchen aid mixer and a sewing machine. (side note, I got both with gift cards, thanks everyone! :-) ).

My most recent sewing projects include things for my niece and nephews (an apron, monster bag, and hooded monkey towel).
I also made a hoop skirt which you can read about Here.

I've broken a few needles in my day and continue to break them but don't plan on stopping sewing anytime soon. 

Heather's Tips and Tricks of sewing with a machine

• Don't be afraid to mess up! 

                  So many people get upset when they have to use their seam ripper or start over. Making mistakes is perfectly fine and is going to happy. It's OKAY! That's why they make seam rippers. They will become your best friend (more on that later). I've had to completely scrap projects before because they didn't turn out. One other important thing to remember is that whoever you're making whatever for will love it because you spent time to make it by hand. I was worried about this, if I was wasting my time making homemade gifts but everyone loved them. "You MADE this??" "Wow! You should open a shop!" "I thought you bought this!" Every time. :)

• The seam ripper is your best friend! 

                  Told you so. Get a good one and use it. I use mine every time I sew. Getting miscellaneous fabric stuck under the machine happens. Sewing the pocket of the jeans to the leg happens. Sewing too many layers together happens. The seam ripper is your best bet to get them apart. Take out a few stitches at a time and work the fabrics apart.
                   A seam ripper is also useful for other things. I use it when my needle becomes unthreaded so that I don't have to pull the thread all the way out, it is small enough to reach in the slot by the "thread take up" thingy. (I know about sewing but not the pieces of the machine :) this is that little silver lever that goes up and down as you sew, the part you loop through before going through the needle.
                 Any other brilliant uses you have tried?

• Get a pair of scissors devoted to sewing and fabric.

                     When I say devoted, I mean it. Fabric and thread is strictly what you use the scissors for. I bought one of these fancy boxes ~~~~~~~~> and use the scissors that came with it. They look like a regular pair of scissors you can pick up anywhere. The key is to keep them for fabric! Once you begin to use them for paper or plastic, whatever, it dulls the blades and you start to get choppy cuts.  

• Get one of these ~~~~~~~~~~~~>

         Okay, this one isn't a necessity but it's supper nice to have. I bought one with my machine so it's the singer brand but I'm sure there are other options out there. What I love about it, is you have just about any color thread you will need. Granted, some of them are smaller spools but it's helpful if you don't use specific colors very often (like pink or yellow) and start a project, you don't necessarily have to buy the thread to match. I also have found it very very helpful to have multiple colored bobbins.(see next point!) There's a bunch of other really nice things in the kit, plus it's nice to have the extra storage, especially if you don't have a room devoted for sewing.

• Make multiple bobbins of 'neutral'/'normal' colors. 

           This would be colors like blue(navy), black, white maybe grey or tan. You have to decide what colors you use most frequently. With having a bobbin ready you just saved your self a few minutes.  Also, if you have a couple of the same colors made already, if you get halfway through a project and your bobbin runs out you can just throw a new one in, rather than taking the time to make one and start over.

I keep coming up with new points but I will add just one more for this post. 

• Shut the door and walk away. 

         I won't lie, sewing can be stressful. You have to be able to leave the project and go do something else. We have my machine in our office where we keep the door closed most of the time unless we're working in there. But it has been the best thing ever. I can get partway through, get frustrated, shut the door and walk away before I get too frustrated.  At my parents, this wasn't the case. The machine was in the main room we used to watch tv or sit at night, I had to have the stuff cleaned up and put away at night.  Which was fine, but it's so nice to leave something where you are.

Alright folks. I have a few more points. I'll add them and maybe get enough free time to write about them later. :)

• A lint roller is fabulous for cleaning up those short/loose threads. 
• The inside of a project might not show, so it doesn't matter what it looks like
• Sometimes it's the bobbin side that shows, if this is the case match your bobbin thread but it might not always matter 
• You made it with love, that's what matters. :)

~Enjoy!~  and let me know if you have questions or comments!

DIY: Monster bag

I am a huge fan of homemade gifts, I also try to avoid giving only toys to the nieces and nephews. So when I found this cute monster bag on pinterest I thought it would be a perfect gift for my nephew Kyle. I used the basic concept from Marigold's blog Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! But modified it a little because I had the fabric laying around and used a pre-made bag instead of making the bag also.  It cut down on some time and maybe cost. 

You can check out the link above to get actual numbers for the pattern she used but I just winged it. 

I found a plain canvas bag at a local crafty type store. I had contemplated using one from the Dollar store that had something printed on it because it would be covered up anyway but wasn't sure how well the material would work. Not sure how to describe it but it had that 'plastic-y, waxy' type on the inside, which might have been nice for cleaning but I was afraid it wouldn't work well to sew on.  

These Crayons from Walmart

Anywho, on to the project. Like I said I had the green fabric laying around. I think I bought it as a small piece from Wal*mart. It was less than a yard that I had.    I used a piece of paper to get somewhat of an idea of how big I wanted the monster to be.  Because my Crayola Twist-up crayons were the long ones, I had to make it bigger than what the original was. So I laid the crayons on and marked where I wanted the "teeth" to stick out. I almost wish I would have made it so less sticks out but I think this will make them easier to get out and put back in. 

Once I had both the bottom pocket and the monster cut out, I sewed around the edges to make a nice hem. (This would be one benefit of using felt, you could omit this step.) Then I worked on sewing the crayon pockets.  Marigold had a great idea to use a piece of tape to measure how big the pocket would be. 

I had a 8 pack of crayons so I laid them out towards the middle to see how much room I would need and then made sure there was about the same amount on both sides. Then I stuck down my tape. Sewing as close to the tape as I could get I sewed on both sides of it. I worked from the outsides in because I had an even number of crayons. If you have an odd number it would probably be best to start from the center and work outwards so that it's centered. Once you sew on both sides of the tape, move it over to the other side of the seam you just finished and repeat the process till you are finished, making sure you have enough spots for all your crayons.  I ended up having wider pockets on the edges, but I thought these would be nice to stick in pencils or markers or something. 

When I had the pockets done, I sewed on the nose. For mine, I just used an oval I cut from an old green t-shirt.  I used a zig-zag stitch on it to give it some more character.   The hard part was sewing it on the pre-made bag, making sure I didn't accidentally sew it to the other side of the bag too. My sewing isn't perfectly straight but I thought that gave it more character too. I was okay with the bottom seam not being straight because it made the teeth different lengths. 

 I just used hot glue to attach the googly eyes I'm hoping they stay. But I wasn't sure what else to use. 

I think he's adorable. I'm hoping Kyle likes it and they'll actually use it. That's my biggest worry with making homemade gifts, that they won't get used but I have fun making them. I tell people I spoil other people's kids because I don't have any. :) 

Make sure you check out Hideous! Dreadful! Stinky! She has a lot of really great other projects.

I have one other homemade gift up my sleeve for my other nephew. I'm excited about it too. You can bet that I'll post it when I'm finished with it!

~Enjoy!~

 

Southern Belle wanna be : Hoop Skirt

So as I've said before we do Civil War reenacting. You can read about it here: Travel back in time. Well as part of this hobby I've wanted to start doing the female part some more than the soldier role, especially if we have reenactments where they're aren't that many other guys there, so that they get a shot at firing the gun. Also, most reenactments have balls to go to, one reason to dress up pretty! :)

My mother-in-law asked me if I wanted a gown and I said 'sure'. So she dug out her patterns and gave me what I wanted and some left over fabric she had for it. I was thinking she was going to make one but I know she's way busy and  I'm totally up for a challenge. Plus, I love sewing. My sewing machine was one thing we HAD to get with our gift cards from our wedding.

So about 3 weeks (give or take) I started the process of making my hoop skirt for under the dress. The hoop is probably one of the most important pieces of the dress, because it gives it it's shape and can help with length.

The pattern of my dress is Unique Patterns of Historical Fashion #863, the style is 1860's Crinoline Ballgown. This pattern contains both the dress pattern and the hoop pattern. The copyright of it is 1989 so I'm not sure where you can find it anymore but I'm sure a quick google search will point you in the right direction, you can pretty much find anything on ebay too. Reenactments are a great place too (obviously) for finding patterns and fabric.


The quick specs for this patterns hoop are: 9 yard of 45" wide fabric, 16 yards 1" wide flat lace, 4 packages of 2" twill tape (I ordered 12 of 1 1/2" Cotton Twill Tape and I'm pretty sure I had enough). You also need "strap steel" for the hoop parts. One roll was enough at 12 feet a roll.
I ordered my lace off ebay and twill tape off of amazon. The hoop bones and fabric I got from onlinefabricstore.com. 

This pattern was pretty easy to follow and understand. The hardest part is towards the end when you are sewing in the twill tape to make the casing for the hoop steel. It's difficult to keep the other layers out of the way to make sure you only sew to the one you need and not catch any of the ruffles in it.  It was also a little difficult to get the ruffles/flounces ruffled enough but not too much to fit with the layer. I know I have a few places I had to make it work by folding other pieces.

Looking underneath the hoop, you can see the casings for the hoops.

This has been my latest DIY project. I've been putting off starting the dress because I know it's going to be a huge project but maybe this will give me motivation to do it! I've been busy with getting things ready for school as well. I start Nursing school September 4 and am SOOO excited and ready to be back in school. This year off has been great and busy but I love school. :)

DIY: Bag for Reenacting.

What is this another post already!? I've been starting to get bored around the house during the day so I've been doing LOTS of research on outfits/bags/ ect for Civil War reenacting that R & I do.  He's been doing it for a long time and when we were engaged I started tagging along. I enjoy hanging out with the guys and camping, not so much the wearing wool in the summer. We are with a unit out of the quad cities so most of our battles are in Illinois and eastern Iowa. We were lucky enough to go to Shiloh TN, for the 150th battle. I actually got hives from something and was pretty miserable by the end of the week but it was still a good time.

I dress both parts, wearing dresses and as a soldier, depending on my mood and the weather and what the unit is doing. I don't have a musket yet so that limits me a little. We're an artillery unit though so most of our reenactments we shoot a cannon. I'll post another blog later about the details of a reenactment so this isn't super long. On to what this post is about!

I have been needing something to carry my "farby" (modern day) stuff and other clothes for the weekend so I did a little research but mostly used what I had seen someone else carry to make a bag that's more period correct than my backpack I have been using. Mine is not totally period correct but good enough for me. I'm not a "thread counter" or a hard core reenactor by any means. I don't know if I'll ever be there! This is the style of bag I was going for.

Image from http://www.thecarpetbagger.com/category/Knitting-6

It's a pretty simple design. I also used that site for the size. 18in. tall x 22in. wide x 8in. thick. It's made out of upholstery style fabric, why it's called a carpet bag.

I found some really cute fabric perfect for this project and got some muslin for other projects and to use as the liner. I started by drawing out my pattern and making a quick prototype.