A jewelry roll

I made this jewelry roll in sewing class yesterday. It is another of the projects in the One Yard Wonders book. I can make good use of this project because I make many small trips and never have a suitable case for any jewelry. So I rarely bring any along. This way I will have a small assortment of earrings, necklaces, and possibly bracelets.

The roll contains two pockets, each with a zipper, and those ribbon straps in the middle are to hold rings (and then be tied). I don't wear rings so that may find another use.

Here it is folded and tied. I clearly laid out the pattern in the wrong direction - those cats should be face up! But no matter. It works and it looks pretty cool.

Baby Bunting

I made this bunting partly in class, almost two weeks ago, and partly at home. I started it in class because I was afraid of it. By starting it there I can focus better and if I run into issues there is usually somebody who can help me.

I used a Butterick pattern that is designated "very easy". I think this means very easy for an experienced sewer. It was reasonably easy for me, but I had to take time on the zipper and I had a time getting the cuff edges lined up right. As usual, there were places in the directions where I wasn't quite sure what was meant but I did finally work it out. It's good to remember that "very easy" and "very quick" are two different things, also.

A Quick Grocery Bag

Last August I made a shopping bag from a T-shirt, following directions in the book Generation T. See that post.

The directions in the book had me measuring and cutting a shape from the front to make it very much like the plastic bags. That shape bit into the design on the front, however. So those T-shirts that have designs fairly close to the top would not be suitable for that project.

Martha Stewart has another version. You can go to marthastewart.com and hunt it down but I'll tell you the directions right here because it's so easy:

1. Turn the T-shirt inside out. sew the bottom closed, using the seam as a guide.

2. Take a medium-sized mixing bowl (about 9" diameter, more or less). Lay the T-shirt on a flat surface, flat. Place the bowl over the neck opening, making a half-circle shape wider than the neck. Use an air-erasable or water-erasable pen to draw the half-circle onto the T-shirt.

3. Cut out the larger neck opening.

4. Cut off the sleeves along the inside of the seamline.

That's it.

You can, of course, modify it. To make the bag handles narrower I tucked the ends under and sewed a zigzag through the layers. You can also zigzag the raw edges or serge them if you want to get fancy.

Oh, and that's Henry Miller on my t-shirt bag up there. Cool is the goal here.

Coasters

In sewing class I learned a way to make some simple coasters. They are meant for wine glasses but work perfectly well for other glasses and cups. This is a quick, simple project that can use up small pieces of fabric.

Start by cutting five squares of fabric. In this example, the squares are five inches square. They could also be four inches.

Fold and press each of four of the five in half, either on the diagonal or straight across. In this example, it's diagonal:

Now there is one open square and four triangles:

Place one of the triangles on top of the square, lining up the raw edges:

Lay another on top, one quarter turn from the last:

Do the same for the third:

For the fourth, tuck half of the triangle under the first flap:

How it looks (click on the pic for a larger view):

Sew a seam around all four sides. I made it 1/2" You could go with 1/4" if you like:

All sewn:

Clip corners and trim seams:

Turn it inside out - or rather, right-side out. And it's done!

Here is how it looks on a wine glass:

You can wander around the room and set it down wherever and the hostess won't have a fit. This type coaster could also serve as a wine identification tag, if each were different in some way.

Organizing patterns

I have struggled with how to organize my patterns. Where to store them, how to store them, so I can find what I want easily. Then an idea came to me. I have a couple of boxes I bought from Costco that originally contained greeting cards. They were organized by type of card, with dividers. I thought maybe patterns would fit in the space. I was right.

The box. I turned around the dividers to label them with the type pattern:

One box is clearly not enough, as I have many other patterns. My second box still contains greeting cards. So now I am thinking of storing them somewhere else... In the meantime at least some of them are organized.

More pillowcases

I made another pair of pillowcases for Valentine's Day presents. I did the same thing with the appliques that I did on the previous pair, with different fabric.

I really like how they look.

This time I used the instructions in one of my Sewing with Nancy books for the construction of the cases. Here is how it goes:

* Cut out the pieces: in this case I cut two pieces approximately 45" X 27" of the main case fabric, and two of the "cuff" approximately 45" X 9".

* I folded one main piece , selvages matching, right sides together, and stitched the long side seam. I overcast the seam, then ironed it toward the case.

* I stitched the top seam, starting at the fold and catching the folded seam. Overcast the seam. Repeated these steps for the second case.

* I appliqued the cuffs, positioning the pieces on the upper half of the cuff fabric.

* I sewed the cuff side seams, right sides together, after lining them up with the case seam so they would be as close as possible to the same width when sewn.

* I folded the cuff pieces, wrong sides together, raw sides together.

* I sewed the cuffs to the main cases, right sides together. I finished the seam with an overcast stitch.

* I ironed them both.

I am not the best at cutting pieces exactly. That's why I had some trouble matching the pieces when I sewed them together. I think this is a skill I need to work on. Cut carefully and the rest should be easier. In the meantime I think I'll sew the cuffs to the main parts before sewing the side seams in the future. It's just a lot easier for me, although it leaves the finish of the cuff raw edges to deal with. No, wait, seems like that's really not an issue if I just sew them on as above, then do the sides. Yes, that's the trick.

A laptop sleeve

I made this laptop sleeve in sewing class Tuesday (yesterday!). The instructions came from the book, One-Yard Wonders, which I purchased from our instructor. She ordered a batch, knowing many of us would want one.

Another woman in the class was making a bag from the same book, and had made a grocery sack from it the previous week. We agreed that the author is biased in favor of bias tape and puts it everywhere. There are cases where it's a great addition but in some cases it simply is not the best idea. For example, two of the seams inside my bag (the other long side is a fold) are encased in bias tape. It makes it bulky and I could have achieved a better result with a different kind of finish seam.

The sleeve can be individualized not only by the choice of fabric(s) but also by the addition of appliques (which are actually called for in the pattern but which I did not add) and by the pattern one chooses to use in "quilting" the case. I did a variation of a zigzag pattern that I think adds to the overall appearance:

This type project also lends itself well to recycling fabric from other sources. I think used denim would be great here, for example, or even old curtains.

Addendum, Feb. 11: In the middle of the night I woke thinking about how to sew this with lining so that the two parts are sewn together at the top and then turned. For some reason I couldn't think how this was done, although I have made bags this way, so I turned to my patterns to find one that used this technique. It's simple:

* Sew three sides of the bag (attaching batting if needed), leaving the top open.

* Sew three sides of the lining, leaving top open and leaving an opening in one of the seams for turning.

* Place lining and bag together, right sides together, and sew top. turn.

This is how I will do the next one. If I want to finish the seams on the bag and lining I can, of course, but they will not be visible.

Pillowcases for Valentine's Day

The Tuesday before yesterday I made two pillowcases for one of my daughters, for Valentine's Day. I had read directions for pillowcases online and in a book so I had the general idea how to make a simple pair. To make these special, I decided to applique hearts on the "cuffs" of the pillowcases. I cut out hearts freehand, ironed them on using Steam-A-Seam 2 (no, I get no money for this endorsement!), then used an applique stitch around the edges.

It didn't go entirely as planned.

Initially, after I cut out the "cuff" part from the white cotton, I ironed and sewed hearts on it, then realized I had placed them in the wrong place. Once folded, they would not be in the right place. I started over, and this turned out to be a good thing.

After I cut out another cuff piece the sewing teacher came by and I told her what I was doing. She suggested that I use different stitches, better for appliques. For some reason I had not thought of this and was using a simple tight zigzag. The zigzag is fine but if you have a nice applique stitch how much nicer it can be! (Click on the pictures above to see the stitch up close.) But more than that, I realized I had not looked in my sewing manual for "how to do appliques". I did so, and learned about the "open toe" foot. This is a presser foot that is empty in the middle, allowing me to see clearly exactly where the needle is sewing. I could then do the stitches far more accurately and with greater confidence. I can see myself using this foot more often for situations where the exact placement of the stitch is important.