30 minute Christmas coaters

Need a quick Christmas gift? Head over to Jamie Sews to check out a tutorial I did for 30 minute Christmas coasters!

Pattern Parcel 7 inspiration tour

Are you familiar with Pattern Parcel?  It's an awesome program that allows you to buy some of the best patterns by indie designers while also giving back in the way of donating part of your payment towards charity. 
How Pattern Parcel Works: Here at Perfect Pattern Parcel, we believe in supporting independent pattern designers. It’s our opinion that indie patterns are just, well, better than big box patterns, and we’re pretty sure our customers think so too. So, we allow customers to show their support in naming their own price for each Parcel.  We also encourage customers to allocate part of their Parcel price to the charity Donorschoose.org in order to help classrooms in need. Pattern Parcel donates all profits after expenses from Parcel sales to the charity as well. Its our goal to raise over $20,000 for Donors Choose this year. You pick your payment, and when you choose a price of $32 or greater for Parcel #7 and you will automatically also be sent the Bonus Pattern! That's just over $5 a pattern. The Bonus Pattern for this Parcel is the brand new Daphne Bag pattern from Clover & Violet. The Daphne is a slouchy satchel that can be worn cross body or as a shoulder bag. The zip top keeps your gear secure and the internal pockets keep your accessories where you need them. This is a brand new, never been seen before pattern and is an exclusive opportunity for Parcel #7 customers!
  This is the last Parcel for the year and includes the following patterns: Barcelona Bag and Wallet by Pat Bravo Butterfly Sling Purse by Emmaline Patterns Evelyn Hangbag by ChrisW Designs Midtown Messenger Bag by Betz White Betty Bowler by Swoon Sewing Patterns

      I'm so excited to be a part of the inspiration tour for Parcel 7. I was honored when Janelle of Emmaline Bags asked if I would like to participate in the tour, she is one of my favorite designers and I had been wanting to make the Butterfly Sling Purse since it came out originally as a pattern in the Bag of the Month club.  I knew it was a pattern worthy of cutting into some Cotton and Steel that I scored at Quilt Market last month, as Janelle's patterns are always so easy to follow and give such a great results. This pattern was no exception!    

The Butterfly Sling Purse is a deceptive little bag. It looks like its a tiny little purse, but on the inside there are lots of surprises. I love the twist lock on the front, it one of my favorite pieces of bag hardware. If you are intimidated by them (they are really easy, I promise) or can't get your hands on one, you can easily substitute a magnetic snap instead.

The bag itself unfolds to an ID pocket, a slip pocket and a roomy zippered pocket. the inside is kept secure by not only the professional looking twist lock it calls for, but also by two magnetic snaps. 

The bag also features TWO exterior zip pockets that open up WIDE to show a set of card pockets in each pocket. 

This would be the perfect bag to tote around on busy family outings, where you need to have your hands free but space to pack your essentials. There's no need to bring your wallet along, this doubles as your wallet. It's also great for those ladies that hate to carry around an oversized purse but NEED space to cart their items around. This can easily fit keys, make up, the contents of your wallet, your phone and more!

You will not be disappointed with this bag and would make some excellent holiday gifts...just sayin :)  It's got so many features and Janelle will walk you through step by step that it will come together like a dream. You'll be so impressed with the final result! 

Please check out the other talented bloggers on the Inspiration Tour!

 
Parcel #4 Inspiration Tour Schedule:

Friday, November 7 Stitched || Sew Exhausted

Saturday, November 8 Made by Sara ||Oliver's Fancy || Strawberry Patch Ramblings

Sunday, November 9 from a box || Mia's Creations || MOMENTS

Monday, November 10 owen's olivia || While she was sleeping

Tuesday, November 11 Nutta || Radiant Home Studio || La Pantigana

Wednesday, November 12 Sew Fishsticks || Stacy Sews || Stitching Insane || GnomeAngel

Thursday, November 13 Needle and Ted || Patchouli Moon Studio || Sprouting JubeJube || The Crazy Tailor

Friday, November 14 Casa Crafty || A Jennuine Life || 'So, Zo... What do you know?'

Saturday, November 15 Stitches by Laura || Rebekah Sews || Serger Pepper

Sunday, November 16 Blogs Like A Mother || Vicky Myers creations || Blossom Heart Quilts

Monday, November 17 Shanni Loves || So Sew Easy || GYCT Designs || Tiger In A Tornado

Tuesday, November 18 The Nosy Pepper || Keep Calm and Carrion || There & Back || Sewing Sober

Wednesday, November 19 Sew Like My Mom || Knot Sew Normal || Stacy Sews || sewVery

Thursday, November 20 Mimi's Mom || Our Family Four || shades of BOLD || Modern Handcraft

Friday, November 21 Shawnta Sews || Lulu & Celeste || Amanda Rose || Robin's Fabric Nest || House of Pinheiro

Crimson and Clover Train Case

I was lucky enough to test the latest pattern by Sew Sweetness: The Crimson and Clover Train case. You guys, this pattern is so, so awesome. There are 3 sizes available: small (6" long x 4" tall x 5" deep), medium (8" long x 5" tall x 6" deep) and large (10" long x 6" tall x 8" deep). I tested the medium version of this bag, and I think it's the perfect size for holding your cosmetics (or toiletries for the guys) for an overnight trip, or just to sit on your desk to hold some of your notions.

Here is my warning to all: always check your test squares when printing out PDF patterns. I forgot to do this and AFTER I cut my exterior I realized I had not checked my test square and when I did so, it was off by a quarter of an inch, which meant my cut pieces were completely unusable :(
Luckily, I used the medium size, so I should be able to still use these pieces for the smaller train case.

It all worked out, because I cut into some Ghastlies instead and I think I am happier with this than I would have been with the floral print I had originally picked.

Isn't she just awesome?!

The ladies on the bottom.

The interior has a slip pocket around the entire lining, that you can customize and decide how many pockets you want and what size you would like your pockets. You can make more narrow pockets to hold items like brushes, eye liners and lipsticks, or larger ones to accommodate bigger items. The zip pocket on the lid is perfect for stashing compacts, or toiletry items.

This pattern came together quickly, in just a few hours of sewing and there aren't a whole lot of pieces to cut, which makes this a pretty satisfying little project. The only part that was a bit frustrating was the last few steps, in which you basically have to squish a bunch of layers through the machine, not a complicated step though, and I'll bet if you have a nicer machine than I do, you'll have a much easier go. For the last few steps, I opted to actually baste my pieces on before sewing the seam accurately, as even my wonder clips were failing me in holding it together. I don't think this would have been as challenging in the bigger bag sizes. These bags would make PERFECT Christmas presents, head over and get your copy!

Purse Palooza 2014

I'm excited to be a part of Purse Palooza this year over at Sew Sweetness! Pop on over to check out my review of the Betty Bowler by Swoon Patterns!

Pirates Treasure Wallet Blog Tour

Today, I'm super excited to be a part of the Pirate's Treasure Wallet Blog Tour for FABulous Home Sewn. I had the pleasure of sewing up this fun little wallet for my five year old.

My son picked out this cute Japanese train and car print I've had in my stash for forever and this other gray fabric that I cut off the selvedge too long ago to remember what it is. 

This is THE perfect little boy's wallet, with 4 card slots, a see through ID pocket as well as a zippered pocket for change, 

 

The wallet is secured closed by velcro and it's got LOTS of places for little boys to store all their treasures.

As soon as I finished trimming the threads my little guy snatched it from me and started to stuff it with his "credit cards" pictures and money. I had to bribe him to let me take some pictures!

This was such a fun wallet to make, and it's a quick afternoon or evening project that could be completed by a beginner. It requires so little fabric, it's a great scrap buster and would be a great gift for any little guys in your life! Heck, I think with few adjustments it would be great for ANY guy in your life. You can head over to Crafty and get your copy here.

Thanks for stopping by and make sure to check out the other awesome bloggers on the tour as well as entering in the giveaway!  




Check out the other awesome bloggers on the tour:

September 29

From a Box

Gracious Threads

September 30

Project Destash

October 1

Filles a Maman

October 2

Sew Very

October 3

Friends Stitched Together

Secretly Stitching

October 4

Lulu and Celeste

Made By Sara

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Coming Spring 2014

Things have been quiet around here lately, sorry about that! I just haven't been feeling up to a lot lately, because of this: 

I don't remember the first trimester being this rough last time. I guess it's really true that each one is different. Hopefully in the next month I'll get my energy back snd can make up for lost time. In the meantime I'll be spending a lot of evenings curled up on the couch pinning and doing some hand stitching.

Happy Sewing :)

Rockstar Bag

Sorry things have been so quiet around here lately! There's been a lot brewing and I will share soon, but for now, I am sharing my latest bag which is the Rockstar Bag by Sew Sweetness. I had the opportunity to test her newest pattern and like all of Sara's patterns, it's totally fab!

This bag is a medium sized handbag with plenty of room for all your essentials. On the exterior there is a zippered pocket and a snap pocket, and you have your choice of a shoulder strap or handles. It has a top zip to keep the contents secure and two interior zip pockets. 

The pattern has a LOT of pieces and it seems a bit daunting when you are cutting what seems like endless pieces (or maybe that's just me because I hate cutting fabric lol) but it was a relatively quick sew considering all the pieces. I used a print from Pat Bravo's Rock and Romance line, because it seemed appropriate. I'm planning to add some bling to that front pocket but didn't get around to it yet. I am thinking of adding some iron on nickel skulls to the flap but maybe that would be too much?

This was my first time attempting to use rivets and I can tell you, rivets and I are NOT friends. I tried and tried and could not get them, so what you see on my handle tabs are actually eyelets that covered the mistakes I made with the rivets. I got over confident after the 20th attempt in my practice fabric and thought I could do it and I was very upset thinking that I had just ruined this bag, but I don't think the eyelets look bad. We will just pretend they are rivets. I've since learned that the problem was not me but using a much too long post on the rivets so hopefully if I get brave enough to do them again we will get along much better. 

Head over to Sara's shop and pick up a copy of this pattern, you will not be disappointed!