Another Fun Napkin

I actually started these napkins a long time ago.

My crafting ADD got the better of me and they ended up in the bottom of the "To be finished" project bin.

Yes, I know you have one too!

Don't pretend you don't...

I made these a little differently using a tutorial from Prudent Baby on mitered corner napkins.

 
See the pretty mitered corners :)

Now i'll admit, I got completely lost with all the markings in the tute and sort of eye balled it...I ended up with a couple wonky ones (however that was not related to the lack of marking), but if you can decipher the marking shpeel...more power to you!

Make some napkins...save money on useless paper towels...and save a tree!

Cloth Napkins and Braided Rings

I'm not a crazy, tree-hugger or anything (no offense to tree-huggers), but I loathe buying paper products, I really do. I've been meaning to make some cloth napkins for a while. I actually started some, then got bored and put them away. I have the attention span of an ant apparently.


A spotted some fat quarters at Walmart for .50 that weren't totally horrid. I came across a really simple napkin tutorial that of COURSE I cannot find now...

 It's just 2 fat quarters, cut to 18x18 (so you only have to cut one side), sew together like you would a pillow, turn right side out and topstitch around.

I topstitched with a zig zag stitch on a couple and that turned out really cute.

 These could make a cute hostess gift too :)

I decided to make some matching rings with the leftover strips.

I also got a little too creative with my tutorials. Bear with me...

You will only need about 6 strips, you can choose the combination. You get two rings from one strip, so 3 per strip of any color combo.

Cut your strips to the desired length. I wanted mine 4.5 inches around.

After the fact, I wish I had chosen just solid white, but these are still cute and I can't wait to do this with some fabric I really love :)

Napkin love...

Back to School - Pencil Pouch

Maybe you aren't going to back to school this fall, but I bet your kids are :)

I actually made this pencil pouch for myself. I have a full and possible life-threatening semester ahead of me, so what better to take your mind off the impending doom than a cute pencil pouch.

I wanted one to put in my binder that was a decent size, so here we go.

This is a lined pouch and I wanted it to be a little sturdy so I used some medium weight fusible interfacing.

Measurements for pieces are:

2 Outer pieces - 7.5 inches x 10 inches

2 lining pieces - same

Binder piece (small rectangles) - 2x10 inches

You will need some:

*Grommets too that will fit loosely on the rings of your binder

*A 12 inch zipper cut to 10 inches (unless you can find a 10 inch zipper)

*a zipper foot for your sewing machine

 Add the interfacing to either the outside fabric or the lining (I choose the lining) and the two small pieces.

Notice my smaller pieces magically change at the end...cutting error, haha!

 Place the smaller pieces right sides facing and sew on three sides leaving one long side open. Use a 1/4 inch seam allowance on everything.

 Clip the corners (watch out for your stitches) turn right side out, press, and set aside.

 Don't get confused on this part.

Lay Outer piece right side up.

Place zipper right side down and zipper to the left on top

Place lining piece right side down.

Make sure all edges are even and pin in place

Sew in place

You are going to repeat the same thing with your other two pieces, except now your zipper has fabric attached to it.

Zipper goes face down and to the right this time. Make sure the outer fabric is face down and the lining face up.

 Place the other lining piece face down and pin together with edges nice and even. Nope, mine isn't nice and even in this photo.

 After you have sewn in place, take the lining pieces and put together right sides facing and the outer pieces together right sides facing so it looks like so.

 It's easier if you pin in place. While you are pinning, take the binder piece and put between the outer pieces with the open seam out. It's a little tricky sewing the sides without catching the binder piece, so tuck the corners of the short sides in (make sense?)

You are going to sew all the way around, except for leaving a 3-4 inch opening in the lining. 

Turn right side out so both the lining and outer part look like this

 Press the whole pouch, using a pointy object to press out the corners.

Press the little opening under as well and do a quick line of stitches to close. Tuck the lining inside.

 All you have to do now is attach your grommets and voila!

Don't you love? :) Plenty of room for a thousand pens, pencils, calculators and highlighters.

I am admittedly the dorkiest college student/mommy ever :) 

There are lots of fun ways to make going back to school more pretty :)

Lunch Bag Tutorials
Reusable Snack Bags
You can make a fabric covered binder like mine in the photos above, tons of tutes online for those :)

Tutorial - Bias Tape Kitchen Towels

So my pretty curtains left me with some leftover fabric cut in perfect strips so what else can you do but make matching kitchen towels!

I had some towels leftover from a burp cloth project. Ross is a great place to get towels for crafting projects. I got a nice Martex towel for $4. I made several burp cloths and now some kitchen towels so definitely got my money's worth.

If your towel is new, make sure you wash it first...unlike me...little fuzzies everywhere!

 Find a kitchen towel to use as a template. It helps if its the ugliest one in the house ;)

 My leftover bands were 1/4 yard and 1/8 of a yard, I just laid them on top to determine the length I needed.

 I added a contrasting band. You don't have to. Just sew right sides facing to one long side. 

 Press open nicely and if you want to add some top stitching, do that now. I didn't want to so moving on.

 Pin right side down to your towel. Make sure that it is even when folded down. I laid mine down the right way and tucked under 1/4 for my seam allowance to determine how far up to place and then placed right side down. Better to have a little extra than be sort. Might have to mess with it a bit. Also try to match your thread to your towel...I have a pretty line of red stitches on back...doesn't bother me but it might bother you.

 Sew onto towel

 Using extra wide double fold bias tape attach to towel according to directions. Click here for instructions. I love double fold bias tape because it's SO easy to use. Those corners are a BREEZE,just look up the directions on the link.

 When you are all done it looks like this. I ran out on my last side, but here is the part I finished.

 Super cute!

You could even do with with a kitchen towel you already have. I need more fabric to make some more now!

Journal/Book Cover Tutorial

Now I don't think this is revolutionary, but I wanted to make a cover for my bible, which I have had for 11 years and love very much. The pages turn perfectly and it feels lovely. I know. Weird. But I know you know what I mean.

This can be modified for any size book, just adjust the measurements.  Let's get started.

Materials

2 pieces of coordinating (or uncoordinating)fabric

a good length of skinny elastic

a pretty button

a scrap of velcro

Measuring

Measure from the top to bottom of your book

Measure around the book (vertically), the COVER only 

The thickness of your book

After you have these measurements add 1 inch to the first two measurements.

Add about 2 inches to the thickness measurement (*Note* You could also make this "reversible" and omit the strap.)

My cover pieces ended up being 13 1/2 x 9 1/2 inches

The strap piece was 3 inches and I just made a 3 inch square for that piece.

 Go ahead and pin the cover pieces together with right sides facing. Mark a 4 inch opening on one of the short sides. This will be the opening you will turn it out from and where you will place the strap and elastic.

 Make a tube with your strap piece by folding in half right sides facing and sewing along the open side.

 Fold under one of the short sides and topstitch all around. Add one side of the velcro as well.

 Sew all around your fabric (except for your marked opening) using a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Clip the corners.

 Turn right side out and press really well. Don't skip this step!

Figure out where you want your strap and pin inside the opening.

Ok. Now we come to the elastic. I am sure there is a far more clever way to do this, but I wanted to ensure the elastic wouldn't be too loose or tight and to me this was the best way.

 Cut your elastic so it hangs over the edge a bit on each side.

  Decide where you want the elastic.  Mine is about 1.5 inches from the edge. Using a seam ripper carefully cut an opening and place your elastic how you want it. Repeat on the other side.

This is where you have to be careful. Topstitch around the entire cover being careful not to go over the elastic. You can pull it away from the needle and then at one point I had to pull the elastic through so I just carefully picked up the foot and needle and slid it through. It's actually not too hard because the elastic has a lot of give.

 Wrap your cover around your book and determine where to place the other side of the velcro. Mark it and pin and place and stitch it on. I hand stitched a button on the top of the strap just for decoration.

It turned out sooooo cute! It reminds me of when I was young and it was really cool to have a bible carrier. I had this insanely ornate one that was quilted, with lace and ribbons and the whole nine.  This is much sleeker, and maybe it's kinda dorky...but I never said I wasn't a dork ;)

This would also be nice to cover a plain journal with and give to a friend :)