SewAmazin Blog

Giveaway Day - May 2012

2012-05-21T10:37:00.000-04:00

Giveaway Day is here! This is my first time participating in this event coordinated by Sew, Mama, Sew! If you're new my blog, I hope you'll browse through my posts and visit again. I try to post regularly about whatever I'm working on, whether its sewing, machine embroidery or other crafting and home dec projects.

I've decided to give away this 3 piece set of zippered accessory cases:

I'm slightly addicted to these in-the-hoop machine embroidery designs from Embroidery Garden! I recently purchased the new Zipper Cases Set, and these are 3 of my 'sample' stitch-outs for the Credit/Business Card Case, iPhone Case and Tissue Case. The really nifty detail about this set is that when the embroidery is done, the inside lining is neatly finished with no seams or raw edges exposed, other than a few hand stitches.

All three of my samples are made using the same fabrics - the covers are brown batik with light teal blue flowers and vines, and the linings are marbled teal blue. The front of each case is quilted and the backs are padded. They all turned out great!

The Credit/Business Card case is about 4.5 inches wide and 3.25 inches tall and has a split ring for attaching it to a key ring or lanyard. It can hold lots of other things besides cards, too. (The Jo-Ann gift card is for illustration purposes only!)

The iPhone Case is about 5.5 inches wide by 3.375 inches tall - I don't have an iPhone, but my Blackberry fits nicely with room to spare. My digital camera also fits in this size case. I made a matching removable strap so it can be carried as a wristlet.

The wrist strap can be used to attach the case to a handbag or tote by attaching the folded fabric end to the split ring, wrapping it around a handle and clipping the swivel clasp to the ring.

The Tissue Case is 5.5 inches long and 3.25 inches wide and can hold a package of pocket tissues. It zips up the center to keep the tissues nice and neat.

I don't remember where I bought the brown batik fabric and I wish I could get more of it! I only have a remnant left, so this set will be one-of-a-kind or few-of-a-kind if I cut very carefully!

This giveaway is limited to US residents or individuals with a US mailing address only.

For a chance to win this zipper case set, all you need to do is leave a comment on this blog post by 8pm EDT on Friday, May 25. Only one entry is needed; if you leave multiple comments, only the first one will count as your entry.

You can comment about the zipper case set or, since next weekend marks the unofficial start of Summer, you can share something you're looking forward to doing this summer.

Please be sure you include a way to reach you by email in your comment. An email address or blog link is fine - don't post your mailing address.

I’ll use www.random.org to choose the winner and will contact them by email. The winner will have 3 days to respond before I contact a new winner. The winner's name will be announced here on this blog post by May 27, 2012.

Don't forget to go back to SMS to enter more Giveaways!

Thanks for visiting and Good Luck!

Shoe Diva Coin Purse

2012-05-18T00:41:00.000-04:00

Here's a cute little Shoe Diva coin purse I've made a couple of times this year. The first one was a special request back in February (you can see it in the gallery listing in my shop).

A few weeks later, one of my friends asked me to make another one for her granddaughter, with a little extra bling and her initial.

If this design looks familiar, that's because I used it previously on the Shoe Diva Insulated Bottle Carrier last fall. The embroidery design is called Mola Diva Shoe from Embroidery Library. I used 4D Embroidery software to reduce the design size slightly and reverse the image.

The color palette is made up of girly pinks, pale purples and fuchsia, embroidered on aubergine faux suede. For the letter A initial I used 8 Claws and a Paw's Tinker Bell font, stacked on top of the shoe's heel. For extra bling, I added some pale purple hot-fix crystals.

The lining for the coin purse is pale lavender satin that matches the ribbon loop at the top.

To sew the coin purse into a shoe shape, I made a fabric sandwich of the front, cotton batting and the lining and basted the layers together about 1/2 inch away from the embroidery. Then with right sides together (and the back already assembled with zipper inserted and open), I stitched again about 1/8 inch inside the basting stitches. The seam was trimmed with pinking shears before turning the piece right side out.

My friend wanted the finished coin purse to be just large enough for her granddaughter to carry her house key, but it could also fit a small tin of mints or a lip balm. And of course, we added the pink carabiner clip so she can attach it to her backpack.

Bits and Pieces, Odds and Ends

2012-05-14T22:54:00.000-04:00

Just a couple of updates on some of our recent posts and a bit of news to share. And since blog entries without photos are boring, here's one of Keli wearing one of our new patriotic scrunchie neck ruffles:

In March, we celebrated Keli's Happy Birthday Paw-ty - for every item purchased in my shops during March, we donated an extra 5% to WestieMed and RBARI. In April, we were thrilled to send $56.00 to WestieMed and $28.00 to RBARI for the first 3 months of 2012; a little more than $18.00 was specifically for Keli’s birthday. A great big THANK YOU to everyone who shopped with us in March!

My very first SewAmazin e-Newsletter has been sent out! If you have subscribed to my mailing list and haven't received it, please check your spam or junk mail folders. In addition to a quarterly newsletter, I plan to send notifications when new products are added to my shops and other special announcements. Here on the blog, I've added a Newsletter page where you can subscribe to my mailing list and see an archive of past issues.

Stitch N' Pitch - In my previous post, I included information about this year's event at Citi Field. Since posting, the game time has been changed to 8pm on June 3 with the marketplace beginning at 6pm. ~~No word yet if this will have an impact on the Stitch N' Pitch event~~.

Metsie Bandana-style Collar Slipcovers

2012-05-13T11:35:00.002-04:00

This entry was supposed to be posted in April, just in time for baseball's opening day ... but I got distracted. And then the Mets started winning, with a line-up that everyone said was way below-average. As the weeks played out, April was an amazing month for the comeback kids!

So here I am in May, finally sharing these Metsie bandana-style dog collar slipcovers! I made these for a friend who is also a big Mets fan. She asked for three reversible bandanas for her dogs, with the Mets logo fabric on one side and custom embroidery on the other side.

The first one is for Buddy - the embroidered side has the number 3 on it in white and orange with his nickname above and below, placed just like the back of a player's jersey. The buttonhole for the leash loop and all topstitching is done in Mets orange.

Can you guess which former Met player he is named for?

The second bandana, for Ollie, is similar to the first. And no - he wasn't named for Oliver Perez! I don't think he's named for anyone specific, they just liked that name for him.

They left the choice of a number up to me, so I chose the number 5 for this one, in honor of the team's most recent all-star.

Instead of a number, the third bandana has a baseball embroidery design on orange fabric for Miss Shea, who is named in honor of the former home of the Mets.

The buttonhole for the leash loop and all the topstitching is done in Mets blue thread

Sorry - I do not have the Mets logo fabric available for sale or for additional bandanas - this is from my own personal, dwindling stash that I only use for special projects. Thanks for understanding! If you'd like a similar bandana, I have several baseball themed fabrics that can be substituted for the logo side.

******

Mark your calendars! This year's Stitch N' Pitch day at Citi Field is Sunday, June 3 vs Cardinals.

This year they're having a Marketplace beginning at 6pm ~~11am~~ (~~game begins at 2pm~~ game time has been changed to 8pm). Vendors include: Knitty City, Lion Brand Yarn Studio, The Yarn Company, Warm Up America, Vogue Knitting, Knit Shop Girl, Flying Fingers and The National NeedleArts Association. They plan to giveaway 3 gift baskets filled with books, supplies, yarns, kits and more. And every attendee will receive a Marketplace Coupon that can be used at participating vendors shops.

See www.mets.com/stitchnpitch for tickets and information on the event. And follow StitchNPitch on Twitter for information on the raffle baskets, coupons and more.

*****

DIY Screen Curtain

2012-03-24T14:13:00.001-04:00

Have you seen the ads on TV for a curtain made of screening for your patio and sliding doors? We've had one for our sliding doors ever since Keli was a puppy. We usually set it up on the first warm day of spring and leave it there through the summer into mid-fall. On nice days, both Keli and Penny like to go out onto the deck to sunbathe and watch the squirrels, birds and other passers-by. The curtain allows them to go out and come back in when they get too warm and helps keep out most of the insects and airborne objects.

At the end of last year, our poor screen curtain was showing its age - the weighted strip had fallen off of one panel and both panels had small rips and tears all over.

We've had warm sunny days for the past week and of course, the girls wanted to go in and out - which meant we either had to keep opening and closing the sliding screen door for them or leave it open and deal with the bugs. And there were a few head-bumping incidents when Penny tried to push through the screen door. So I decided it was time to make a replacement screen, re-using the weights from our old screen, a spare tension rod and pet screening:

It turned out great - and you can see that Keli is very happy to get out and soak up the sun!

I used the old screen curtain as a guideline for constructing the new curtain. It's constructed very much like any other curtain, but without the fuss of making pretty hems.

The first step was to measure the door opening to determine the finished size needed for the curtain. To calculate how much screening I needed, I added 1 inch to the width and 6 inches to the height of the doorway. (I forgot to take photos as I went along, so I have a few drawings to help explain the process.)

My doorway opening is about 32 inches wide by 76 inches tall. The two panels will overlap about 2 inches at the center, so for each panel I needed about 18 inches wide (32+1 = 33; divided by 2 = 16.5 + 2 = 18.5) by 82 inches long of screening.

I decided to use vinyl pet screening because I've seen it used for bag-making and embroidery and it won't hurt my machines. It's a little bit heftier than typical screening. I found a package of pet screening at Home Depot that measures 36 x 84 - perfect sizing for my curtain.

To cut the two 18 inch panels, I unrolled the screening on our patio table where it could lay flat. To mark the cutting line, I measured 18 inches from one edge and marked the center with pieces of blue painters tape. I used my craft scissors to cut along the edge of the tape - don't use your good sewing scissors for this!

To make the sides of each panel look finished, I used my serger and a 3-thread narrow overlock stitch along each long edge, barely trimming the screen. No fancy threads were used - just regular black serger thread. This step is for appearance only, but it also helps smooth the edges of the panel.

If you don't have a serger and would like a nice finished edge, many sewing machines have some sort of overcast or edge finishing stitch.

The weighted pieces from the old screen were in good shape, so I sewed them to the bottom of each panel - instead of sewing pins, I used 4-5 clothespins to keep the screen and weighted strips aligned. To sew up close the edge, I used a narrow zipper foot, a size 100 topstitch needle and a long straight stitch of 5mm.

The recycled weighted strips feel like rectangular metal pieces, inside a vinyl or faux leather casing. If I needed to make something like it, I would probably try using drapery weights inside a casing made of sport nylon or outdoor fabric.

Here's how the weighted hem looks from the other side. No fancy finishes on the bottom of the screen.

I used regular sewing thread again, because that's what I have on hand. Upholstery or heavy duty thread could be used, too.

After the panels were done, the curtain was ready to be assembled.

Back outside on the big patio table, I set the panels flat, overlapping them about 2 inches at the center. I measured across the bottom, center and top and adjusted the top panel so that the finished width was 33 inches at each point, and used more painters tape to keep them together at the center.

To form the rod pocket of the curtain, I measured from the bottom of each panel and marked 77 inches - my doorway height plus 1 inch. That's the finished top edge. I folded the screen at this mark, securing the edge with tape and more clothespins, especially at the center overlap section.

To transport the curtain to the sewing machine, I rolled it up from the bottom. The rod pocket and header are formed by stitching across the folded section two times. The height of the rod pocket depends on the size of the tension rod; mine is about 1/2 - 3/4 inch in diameter, so my rod pocket is 1-1/2 inches tall.

I stitched once at 1-1/2 inches from the top and a second time at 3 inches from the top. The stitching was done with the folded edge on the right side of the needle and the rolled up screen on the left side. To measure the 3 inch and 1-1/2 inch sections, I used a quilting guide attachment and let the folded edge 'ride' up against the guide.

Be sure the table behind your sewing machine doesn't have anything on it, because the screen will knock it off as you get near the end of the seam.

This photo shows the rod pocket and header with the tension rod inserted.

After stitching the rod pocket, about 3 inches of excess screening remained, so I trimmed it off 1/2 inch lower than the bottom seam. As I was trimming, I accidentally snipped part of one of my panels where they overlap, so I had to 'patch' it with some extra screen.

The old screen had velcro and magnets attached at the edges and in the overlap section; I never felt that they worked very well, so I didn't bother adding them to the new screen. If I feel I need them, I can always add them later on.

That's all there is to it! The entire project took about 2 hours from start to finish (with a few interruptions from the Pesties) and it only cost a little under $15 for the screening.

Happy Spring!

Pin It to Win It!

2012-03-09T16:07:00.000-05:00

We're so excited! Penny and our Swirling Shamrock Bandana-style Dog Collar Slipcover are one of the 5 items selected for the current round (3/2 through 3/16/2012) of ArtFire.com's "Pin It to Win It" Contest!

Source: artfire.com via Artfire on Pinterest

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you've seen my daily entries for Part 1 of the contest earlier this week. I've been sharing a variety of items from my SewAmazin shop on ArtFire, from bandanas and scrunchie neck ruffles for the pets to insulated bottle carriers and other items for people. The 5 items for Part 2 were selected this morning and we were pleasantly surprised to be included!

Part 2 of the contest begins today and continues through Friday, March 16 and if you're on Pinterest, you can enter for a chance to win! Simply re-pin each item from ArtFire.com's Pin It to Win It! board on Pinterest. You only need to re-pin each item one time only to be entered - multiple re-pins won't increase your chances of winning. The winner will be randomly selected on March 16 and notified via their Pinterest account how to select and claim their prize.

Good Luck!

*****

In other news, I've decided to extend Keli's 10th Birthday Paw-ty celebration through the end of March - for every purchase from our SewAmazin ArtFire and Etsy shops this month, we'll donate an extra 5% of the item's listing price to either WestieMed.org or RBARI.org!

Shop News: Keli's Happy Birthday Paw-ty

2012-03-01T23:30:00.000-05:00

It's Keli's 10th birthday and we're celebrating all ~~weekend~~ month long!

But first we want to show off her new Happy Birthday bandana collar slipcover. This party fabric has colorful streamers and gold confetti flecks floating on a white background.

It's Penny's half-birthday and she's wearing a matching Happy Birthday scrunchie neck ruffle, made of the same fabric.

So how will we be celebrating? They'll both get special treats, some new squeaky toys, and maybe another trip to the Bark Park.

We're also having a special birthday promotion in our SewAmazin ArtFire and Etsy shops - for every purchase made in the month of March 2012, we'll donate an extra 5% to either WestieMed.org or RBARI.org. For most items, that's a total of 15% of the item listing price!

No coupon codes are required and every item listed in both shops is included, both for people and pets. Even gift certificates for our ArtFire shop are included - we'll donate 5% of the gift certificate amount now, and the usual amount when it is redeemed later.

Oh, and Penny says we have to plan another celebration for her 5th birthday in September - she's already betting that she can sell more scrunchies than Keli will!

Shop News: St. Patrick's Day Scrunchies & Bandanas

2012-03-01T23:00:00.000-05:00

Today I read that March is National Craft Month, National Quilting Month and National Crochet Month ... and March 1 marks the beginning of the Spring season for meteorologists.

Spring forward to St. Patrick's Day, which happens to fall on a Saturday this year, and we've been busily sewing pairs of coordinating bandanas and scrunchie neck ruffles jam-packed with shamrocks for our ArtFire shop. We hope there's something for everyone in this collection.

First up we have Penny, wearing an elegant St. Patrick's Day Simple Shamrock Bandana-style collar slipcover. It has a dark green shamrock applique on a sage green shamrock toile bandana. The applique is attached using fusible web, with the edges machine sewn using a blanket stitch.

Next we have Keli wearing the matching St. Patrick's Day Simple Shamrock scrunchie neck ruffle, made of the same shamrock toile fabric.

Keli again, wearing a Green Plaid bandana collar slipcover in a dark green tartan design. This one could also be worn by the boys - for St. Patrick's Day, Christmas or any time of year. A matching Green Plaid scrunchie neck ruffle is in our shop, too (not shown).

This Green Plaid scrunchie neck ruffle is made of a coordinating medium green tartan plaid fabric. We have a matching bandana collar slipcover in medium green plaid is in our shop.

This is our whimsical Shamrocks and White Polka Dots bandana collar slipcover.

Keli thinks it's 'the finest in the land'. LOL

Here's Penny in the matching Shamrocks and Polka Dots scrunchie neck ruffle.

Penny looks a wee bit tipsy in our Shamrocks, Pitchers & Pints bandana collar slipcover - and yes, those are pitchers and mugs of green beer!

Not to be outdone, Keli shows us the matching Shamrocks, Pitchers & Pints scrunchie neck ruffle.

Wouldn't these be perfect to wear to parties and parades?

After the green beer bandana, Penny found it difficult to stop giggling!

Here she is in the Shamrock Celebration scrunchie neck ruffle. This fabric has shamrocks and ribbons with gold accents on a white background, quite elegant.

Keli shows us the matching Shamrock Celebration reversible bandana collar slipcover. It's fully reversible and the other side has a springy green daisy diamond print.

Here's Penny again in our Swirling Shamrocks bandana collar slipcover. (We have only a few of these still available.)

Last, but not least, Keli is wearing an Emerald Green Confetti Dot scrunchie neck ruffle. It has a little bit of sparkle and glitz for fancy occasions.

Bandana collar slipcovers are made based on a pattern by Penny Sanford Designs and are sold with her permission; a portion of each sale is donated to WestieMed to help ill or injured rescued West Highland terriers.

Scrunchie neck ruffles are made from own design and I donate part of each sale to Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge in Oakland, NJ, a local shelter.

Shop News: Valentine's Day Ruffles, Bandanas, Wristlets and more

2012-02-07T12:53:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day is just one week away and I've been adding new items to my SewAmazin studio on ArtFire for several weeks in anticipation! I thought I'd share them here in one long blog post with lots of pictures.

Scrunchie Neck Ruffles

These are so much fun to make! I think I made the first ruffle for Keli when she was about a year old, because the scrunchies from the store didn't fit her very well. They were either too tight or too big, and they had jingle bells attached that she could not resist chewing - a definite hazard for puppies! That's why all my scrunchie neck ruffles are based on actual neck sizes to accommodate big and small pets, and they are made of pet-friendly fabrics and trims; most are machine wash- and dry-able, too.

Penny's Puppy Love Conversation Hearts (left) and Keli's Hearts A Glitter (right) Scrunchie Neck Ruffles are so sweet:

Keli says Be My Valentine! This fabric has hearts and swirls accented in gold on a red background.

Penny's Ruby Red Confetti Dot Scrunchie has a little bit of glitz for Valentine's Day and other fancy occasions.

I donate part of the sales price of each of the neck ruffles to Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge in Oakland, NJ, a local no-kill shelter. In 2011, I was able to send them $26.00.

These scrunchies (and others suitable for Valentine's Day) can be found in the Dog/Pet Scrunchie Neck Ruffles section of my ArtFire shop.

Bandana-style collar slipcovers

These collar slipcovers are made based on a pattern by Penny Sanford Designs and are sold with her permission; a portion of each sale is donated to WestieMed to help ill or injured rescued West Highland terriers.

Keli likes the Valentine Hearts in blue - we thought this one would look nice on the boys, too.

Penny's favorite is the Valentine Hearts in red!

Both bandanas can be found in the Dog/Pet Collar Slipcovers section of my ArtFire shop along with several other designs suitable for Valentines Day.

Westie Applique Hand Towels

I added similar towels to my shop in December for Christmas (blog post here); here are a couple of variations on the theme for Valentine's Day:

I fussy-cut the Red Hearts and Swirls fabric so that the hearts would be placed in just the right place on each terrier applique.

This set of Pink Hearts Valentine Westies hand towels is one of a kind - I used almost every bit of the heart fabric for the terrier appliques and accent strips on these dark pink towels.

Look for these in the Embroidered Towels section of my shop.

A few visitors suggested they'd like to see these done with white terriers on black towels - I've found some black hand towels and have added that color option to my work list. Stay tuned!

Wristlets/Coin Purses/Key Fobs

I added a new Valentine's Day section to my shop for this collection of lip shaped wristlets and coin purses, made using in-the-hoop embroidery designs from Embroidery Garden.

Kiss Me - Pink Lips Wristlet Purse - made of pink satin outside, lined with cotton fabric. The strap is sewn on and made of matching pink satin.

This wristlet/purse is just large enough to hold a gift card or small candy bar, lipstick, a small tin of mints and other small items.

Gimme a Kiss Pink Lips coin purse/key fob matches the wristlet above, but a bit smaller in size. It can hold a lipstick or USB stick.

Clip it to a key ring, handbag or backpack; keep track of rings or other jewelry at the gym.

Ruby Red Lips Wristlet Purse - made of red confetti dot fabric on the outside and lined with red satin. The strap is sewn on and made of red satin.

Be My Valentine Red Lips Wristlet Purse is made of cotton fabric with hearts and swirls with gold accents. The matching narrow strap is attached with a small lobster swivel clasp.

Be Mine Valentine coin purse/key fob matches the wristlet purse above.

I've made a selection of similar lips-shaped wristlets and coin purse/key fobs that are available inside the Cozy Quilt Shoppe, so look for them there if you are shopping for fabric.

Mrs. Claus Westie Coats

2012-01-02T19:20:00.001-05:00

In December, we saw lots of nice Christmas coats and sweaters worn by our Westie and doggie friends on Facebook, so of course Keli and Penny wanted new Christmas coats, too. They haven't had any new Christmas 'clothes' since their Barkettes dresses in 2008! Since they were going visiting with us on Christmas Day, we came up with these Mrs. Claus coats.

We've used this pattern, Butterick 4885, a few times before - remember their Pink Hoodie Slickers and Fance Winter Coats? They hate the hoodies, but still wear the winter coats whenever it gets really cold.

And the first time we used the pattern was for Penny's first fleece coat with furry pink trim. She grew out of that one pretty quickly!

One of the ready-to-wear coats we saw online looked like it was made of red velvet fabric with white fur trim and snowflakes embroidered on the back. But it had sleeves and my Pesties HATE anything with sleeves.

We found red Soft N Comfy fabric at JoAnn Fabrics, which is soft and velvety, just like minkee fabric. For the white trim we found remnants of white Ultra Cuddle fleece at JoAnn's. It resembles short fur, and is soft and warm; AND both knit fabrics are machine wash and dry - easy laundering is a very important feature for our Westie clothes!

Since we've already made all the necessary size alterations to the patterns on the previous versions, cutting out and sewing the coats was pretty easy. We used View D of the pattern because that version of the design already has trim at the tail end of the coat.

I had planned to embroider snowflakes on the back of each coat, but since I didn't actually begin these until the night before Christmas Eve, there wasn't enough time to add that step.

Both girls were sound asleep by the time I was ready to have them try on their coats; they were very cranky when I tried to wake them up to check the size and refused to even sit upright. The velcro on the straps wasn't even sewed on until Christmas Eve morning, when they were more cooperative models.

Keli's coat fits her just right, but I think I would make the white trim section at the tail end a bit shorter, since the proportion seems just a bit off.

Penny's coat fits her nicely, too. Like Keli's, the proportion of the red/white fabrics could be adjusted an inch or two on this one to make it more Claus-like.

I didn't have time to do the final top-stitching around the edges before Christmas; I may add that later.

And maybe for next Christmas we'll jazz up both coats by adding ribbon trim to the back. Or maybe some 3D snowflakes....

*******

Wow! Blogger says this is my 300th post! That's a lot of projects blogged over 4-1/2 years!

Christmas Westie T-shirt

2012-01-01T17:02:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since I sewed something for me! This project was a quick 'make-over' of a purchased ready-to-wear t-shirt; it was almost a no-sew project, LOL!

I stumbled upon the gray long sleeve t-shirt with the Westie screen print in Macy's Charter Club department while shopping in mid-December. Somehow, whenever there's a Westie printed, stitched or otherwise depicted on something in a store, I ALWAYS seem to find it.

The first photo shows the t-shirt 'before' I embellished it. Doesn't it look plain? The little red bow already had the beads stitched on it when I bought it, but it needed something else to make it special.

Of course, I needed to wear this for Christmas, so it had to be spruced up a bit. The red loopy fringe was in my stash and I thought it was perfect to add to the front at the neckline and around the wrists. The 'after' photo is much more festive, don't you agree?

I pre-soaked the red trim to make sure the color would not bleed onto the t-shirt later.

To attach the fringe to the shirt, I applied 1/4" wide wash-away adhesive tape to the neckline, then carefully placed the trim. Using a long stitch and a stretch needle, I sewed slowly, following the stitching at the top of the trim.

Each sleeve was done in a similar fashion, but I turned them inside out while sewing. And stitched even slower because the fringe loops kept getting in the way!

If I change my mind, I can change the look by removing the trim easily enough.

Christmas 2011: Pretty Purple Capelet and Boston B Insulated Bottle Carriers

2012-01-01T16:05:00.001-05:00

I didn't make too many Christmas gifts this year, and didn't have a chance to start working on them until a few days before Christmas Eve.

This Pretty Purple Capelet is a project that's been in progress for quite some time. The purple furry velboa has been in my collection for a couple of years, waiting for just the right project.

I knew it would be made into something for my niece who loves purple, but I wasn't sure what until I found the pattern for McCall's 4703. I thought a pretty capelet to wear for dress up would be perfect.

It wasn't hard to find matching purple lining, but choosing the right button was a little challenging. It had to be fit for a princess and not fade into the purple fur.

When I found a faux crystal button that looks like a large diamond, I thought it was the perfect gem.!

I remembered to add one of my fabric labels to the inside self facing.

The capelet is a Girls' size 8, which is probably a little big, so hopefully she'll have few years to wear it! My photos show the capelet draped on my adult size dress form - I don't have a child size form.

I've written a review of this pattern on PatternReview.com.

We gave gift cards to all of our nieces and nephews this year and each one was 'wrapped' in either a gift card holder or ID wallet made earlier this year.

I made this special penguin gift card holder with a matching purple scarf to go with the capelet!

Believe it or not, two of my nephews still had not received insulated bottle carriers from me - until now. They each received one of these red carriers embroidered with a Boston "B". Also included for each one is a reusable water bottle, one red and one blue. The carriers are large enough to fit an Aquafina 1 liter bottle, too.

ETA: The Boston B machine embroidery design file is available from Stitchmouse on Etsy.

Westie Applique Hand Towels

2011-12-31T23:00:00.000-05:00

Just in time for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I added a new section to my SewAmazin ArtFire Studio for Embroidered Towels, featuring these machine embroidered Westie applique designs.

I digitized the applique design using Penny's Free Westie Pattern with permission from the designer, Penny Sanford Fikes. A portion of the sales of every item the the design is stitched on will be donated to WestieMed or Westie rescue.

The inspiration for the towels was a photo of similar bath towels sold by a famous designer a year or two ago, but I added my own twist.

The first few sets were stitched using this fun stripes and dots fabric on light green (celadon) towels, and I was amazed at how quickly they sold out! I received requests for custom colors on other towel colors, too!

In my original plan, I intended to list this complementary color combination, using the same green and red stripes and dots fabric on red (garnet) towels.

I managed to get these done and listed before Christmas, and they're still available (see Christmas Westie Applique Embroidered Hand Towels).

The applique fabric for this set of towels has pink and red stripes like candy canes, stitched on dark pink towels. They could be used for Valentine's Day, too.

A similar design stitched on red (garnet) towels is also available. Both can be found in the Embroidered Towels Section of my shop.

One of the requests I received early on was for blue terriers on white towels. It was hard to send these away - I wanted to keep them for myself!

I plan to add more Westie applique towels to my shop in the spring, in addition to other designs.

You can see more examples in the Embroidered Towels Section of my SewAmazin ArtFire studio or in my ArtFire Samples set on Flickr.

Mr. Met Fleece Scarf

2011-12-31T21:32:00.000-05:00

A friend (and fellow fan) asked me to make a Mr. Met embroidered fleece scarf for her husband for Christmas.

I chose this blue anti-pill fleece, cut twice as wide as the finished scarf by the full width of the fabric. After deciding how long the fringe would be, I marked the design placement on each end, then embroidered the designs.

On one end of the scarf is this Running Baseball design. I've used this design before on bibs and fleece hats, but this time I added some additional color stops to stitch the button on the top of the cap in orange.

On the other end of the scarf, I stitched this Mr. Met face, which I digitized using a pumpkin carving stencil image that Mets.com shared a couple of Halloweens ago.

To finish the scarf after the embroidery was complete, I folded it in half lengthwise and stitched the seam, using the dual feed foot on my sewing machine. After turning the scarf right side out, each long side was top-stitched a little less than 1/2 inch from the edge. For the final step - cutting the fringe - I used a June Tailor fringe template and a rotary cutter.

Lets Go Mets!

A Tropical Sassy

2011-12-29T01:53:00.000-05:00

In September, my SIL asked me to make a shoulder bag for her to use during her family trip to Disney in November. Sandy wanted something just big enough to carry her camera, DVD recorder, cell phone tickets and a few other essentials while traveling. And she asked for something bright and fun so her boys could spot her easily in a crowd.

We decided on a modified Sassy Bag - a pattern from Lazy Girl Designs that I've used a few times for myself - and some bright tropical turquoise and green fabrics.

Of course, I made a few changes to the original design, beginning with increasing the width and height of the bag by a few inches in each direction. And I made the shoulder strap adjustable so it could be worn snug or loose across the body as needed.

The closure is a magnetic snap and I added a bit of ribbon to the side seam with a carabiner clip to help keep track of keys.

The inside front has a slip pocket, divided into 3 sections; two sections wide enough for holding a cell phone and a digital camera, and one smaller section for carrying a pen or slim reading glasses. The extra width and larger pleats on the front let this Sassy expand to hold onto a wallet, sunglasses and a DVD recorder.

The back was made just like Lazy Girl Designs' Runaround Bag, fully lined, with a zipper closure for keeping things like tickets securely in place.

These are some of my favorite colors! And Sandy said her bag was exactly what she wanted for her trip. :-)

Bamboo Embroidered Towels

2011-12-29T00:44:00.000-05:00

A few months ago I received a request to do some custom embroidery on a set of bath and hand towels.

One of my ArtFire customers had been looking for towels with a bamboo design to match her new bath decor, but couldn't find any she liked, so contacted me.

Since I didn't have any bamboo embroidery designs in my collection, I searched several online sources, creating a board on Pinterest to help keep keep track of the various options.

She selected the small Bamboo design from Adorable Ideas, and sent me her towels. We traded emails with color palettes and photos of sample stitch-outs to make sure everything was just right before I stitched on the towels.

<< Here's a close-up of the bamboo design embroidered on one of the hand towels.

This is a closer view of the design increased by 20% and embroidered on the bath towels >>

I like the way the towels turned out, but more importantly, my customer wrote that she likes them and they look great in her bathroom!

Holiday Bazaar at the Cozy Quilt Shoppe

2011-11-17T11:58:00.000-05:00

Last Friday, I was invited to participate in the Cozy Quilt Shoppe's Holiday Bazaar - on Sunday, just two days later! This would be my first 'craft show' and I scrambled to get everything organized and ready for a table top display. Actually, it was a small gathering of about a half dozen crafters and the shoppers who visited the shop. But it was a good experience as a trial run for future possible craft shows.

Here's a peek at my table. Since I sell primarily online and most of my products are made to order, I don't have a lot of inventory on hand. But I did manage to fill a table with all my samples and I was prepared to take custom orders.

What did I have on hand to show? Scrunchie neck ruffles and various dog collar slipcovers, insulated water bottle carriers, and all my samples from my ArtFire shop.

On the left side of the photo you can see I used a 3-tiered revolving shoe rack to display the scrunchies. I didn't have a lot of time to plan so I had to improvise! Since I couldn't take my live models, I used a pair of stuffed Westies and the smallest samples.

My Mini Models

Those are fingertip towel holders displaying the Snow Guys, Snow Girls and Santa gift holder/gadget cases, gift card holders and key fobs.

How well did I do? I sold several scrunchies and bandanas, and almost all of the Snowman and Santa ornaments (partially shown on the right side of my photo). It wasn't a lot of money, but it did bring in about $5 more for my donations to WestieMed and RBARI.

I probably could have sold more scrunchies if I had smaller sizes ready to go, but I just didn't have enough time. But the experience was invaluable - if there is a next time, I'll be better prepared and organized.

Material Girl Kris also set up a table with some of her handmade items.

In the baskets, she had holiday themed table runners, mug rugs, candle mats, coasters and a few other items.

On the left (and in the close-up below) are her Pinhead Girls, which are brooches similar to doll heads.

Kris makes these one at a time, paints each face and chooses various fibers for hair and decorative embellishments. They're gorgeous but a little bit whimsical; no two are alike. She's thinking of setting up an Etsy shop to sell these online.

At the end of the day, Kris left her Pinhead Girls and I left a bunch of the Snow Guys, Snow Girls and Santa gift holder/gadget cases, as well as a few gift card holders at the shop; we'll see if they sell on a consignment basis for the holidays.

The Christmas Countdown begins ...

2011-11-05T18:55:00.000-04:00

There are about 50 days until Christmas.... or about 7 shopping weeks or about 45 good sewing days, plus or minus....

I have a ton of projects on my sewing 'to do' list, for both gifting and adding to my ArtFire and Etsy shops. In October, I added holiday scrunchie neck ruffles and bandanas for the pets (some of the latest holiday 'fashions' for Thanksgiving and Christmas are blogged over on Keli's Korner).

In the past week I've had the good fortune to have my work included in three different Christmas collections. Each one is packed with fabulous and festive holiday gifts, so I thought I'd share them here on my blog.

Back in July I tried to get a head start on Christmas by making some Santa and Snow Guy/Snow Girl Gift Holder zipper cases (they're still available in the Christmas Shop section of my ArtFire studio). One of the Mets Fan Snow Girl Gift Holder/Gadget Cases is featured in this collection called An All New Blue Christmas, a charming group of blue and white Christmas and winter themed handmade gifts. Blue is my favorite color!

An All New Blue Christmas

Curated By: craftybymistake

ArtFire.com

Handmade Soap

A few days later, Penny and her Santa's Helper Scrunchie Neck Ruffle were selected for this collection, called Santa Paws is coming to town! Aren't they the cutest little 'elves' you've ever seen?

Santa Paws is coming to town!

Curated By: MidwestieLady

ArtFire.com

Handmade Gifts

A third collection in a more traditional color scheme, Christmas Red and Green, included Penny again, this time wearing a Poinsettias and Roses Bandana-style Collar Slipcover.

Christmas Red and Green

Curated By: DoubleSJewelry

ArtFire.com

Fine Art Paintings

.....

I have a couple of custom orders and special requests to work on this week as well as a few new holiday projects. I will try to accept as many requests as possible until mid-November.

.....

October is Adopt-a-Shelter Dog Month

2011-10-23T00:50:00.003-04:00

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, have shopped in my SewAmazin ArtFire studio or visited my SewAmazin blog online recently, you've probably seen this coupon image in either a post, tweet or on the sidebar:

To celebrate Adopt-a-Shelter Dog month, every day during October members of the Crafting for Animals Guild on ArtFire have been writing articles on the guild's blog, sharing helpful information about animal adoption as well as their personal rescue stories. (My article, titled Lucky Penny was published on the blog on October 11.)

The month-long promotion peaks this coming week - October 23rd-29th - when participating shops will help raise funds for a single rescue organization - Close to Home Animal Rescue.

How does this work? First, click on the coupon image above - it will take you to a page on the guild's blog where you will see a list of participating shops. When you purchase an item from any of these artisans, use the coupon code 10CTH-CFA during checkout and 10% of your purchase will be donated to Close to Home Animal Rescue.

Ever since I opened my ArtFire studio earlier this year, I've donated a portion of the sales of some of my products to WestieMed; since April, I've been able to donate $100 to WestieMed to help care for ill or injured rescued Westies. In September, I added Ramapo-Bergen Animal Refuge, Inc. (RBARI), a local no-kill animal shelter, to my charitable donations. Generally, anything with a Westie embroidered or printed on it and all of the Dog Collar Slipcovers benefit WestieMed; sales of Insulated Water Bottle Carriers and Dog Scrunchie Neck Ruffles benefit RBARI.

During the Crafting for Animals Guild promotion next week, you can use the coupon code for any items in my shop, and I'll donate 10% of the sales price to Close to Home Animal Rescue. As a thank-you, I have a special free gift item that I'll include with each package, too.

I've been sewing like mad all month, adding Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas collar slipcovers and scrunchies in time for next week. Here's a small sample - visit my ArtFire shop to see the entire collection:

Boo Bats Reversible Bandana Collar Cover

Trick or Treat Reversible Bandana Collar Cover

Howl-a-ween Stripes Scrunchie Neck Ruffle

Howl-a-ween Checks Scrunchie Neck Ruffle

Tiny Autumn Leaves Bandana Collar Cover

Autumn Maple Leaves Bandana Collar Cover

Christmas Stripes & Dots Scrunchie Neck Ruffles

Classic Christmas Plaid Scrunchie Neck Ruffle

Classic Christmas Plaid Bandana Collar Cover

Poinsettias & Roses Bandana Collar Cover

All American Santa Gift Holder/Zipper Case

My Christmas Shop for people is open, too. :-)

Shoe Diva Insulated Bottle Carrier

2011-10-16T22:07:00.001-04:00

This insulated bottle carrier ranks among the top five of my all-time favorites (so far)! The recipient requested a customized design that featured high heeled shoes and the color pink. Oh, and I almost forgot - it had to have some sort of shiny 'bling'.

The embroidered design is actually a composite of two different designs from Embroidery Library. The background 'feathers' were part of one design (Fashionista Footwear), and the high heeled shoe is from a second design (Mola Diva Shoe).

My customer liked different elements of each design. Using embroidery software, I deleted the original shoe and text from the first design, saving just the background. Then I mirror imaged the Mola Diva Shoe and resized it to fit in the space. It didn't quite fill the void, so I needed to add some stitches to the background. It took me a couple of practice stitch-outs to get all the stitches just right.

When it came time to stitch the design, I changed all the colors to shades of pink ranging from soft bubblegum to intense azalea. And for the background, I selected a Sulky metallic thread to add the shiny glitz. Originally I had planned to add some hot-fix crystals, but they didn't stick to my sample. I don't really think the rhinestones are missed, lol!

The straps are hot pink polypro belting and I even found a cord lock in a coordinating pink color. I made sure one of the pinks in the embroidery matched the strap color.

Next time I'm making up a batch of bottle carriers, I'll add a variation of this one for my ArtFire & Etsy shops. ETA May 2012: available in my ArtFire shop: Shoe Diva Insulated Bottle Carrier

UPDATE: I recently was asked if my insulated water bottle carriers would fit an Aquafina 1-liter water bottle. Since I have been focused on encouraging the use of reusable water bottles, and I wasn't entirely sure how my carriers would fit specific plastic bottles.

So we went shopping - and I'm pleased to share that the Aquafina bottle does fit inside most of the bottle carriers in my shops, though it is a bit snug. Some of the carriers are a little short, so the drawstring doesn't quite pull in at the neck of the bottle, but both the Peace Love Paws and Recycle Symbol carriers fit quite well (see photo at right). This is just the right height so that the drawstring pulls in at the base of the bottle's neck *and* the top edge of the carrier doesn't get in the way while drinking.

I'll be adjusting my basic pattern for the future to ensure that the carriers will be able to carry the Aquafina bottle.

You can see more photos of all the bottle carriers I have made in my Insulated Water Bottle Carrier set on Flickr.
Find them in the Insulated Water Bottle Carrier section of my SewAmazin ArtFire studio
Selected carriers are also available in my SewAmazin Etsy shop

Quilted Cell Phone Pocket/Wristlet

2011-10-11T22:13:00.000-04:00

Back in late August, while I was working on the insulated lunch bags, Abbey asked me to make her a cell phone pocket to match her bag. I wasn't able to start it in time to deliver it with her lunch bag, but it was one of the first projects I finished in September. This is what I came up with:

Abbey's initials were stitched using the same Harrington font from 8 Claws and a Paw, in the 1 inch size. I omitted the flourishes used on her lunch bag.

Instead of piping, I used narrow, folded strips of black fabric as accents above and below the monogram section. The front and back of the pocket are quilted exactly like her lunch bag. The top edges are covered with a bias-cut binding in matching fabric.

I tried a few methods of joining the front and back pieces with wrong sides together and binding around the edges (to imitate a 'designer' tech pocket), but was not satisfied with the results. Finally I decided to sew them with right sides together, then used the serger to overlock the raw edges for a clean finish on the inside.

The sizing was a guess on my part - I wasn't sure what type of cell phone Abbey had, so I used my Blackberry and digital camera for guidance and tried to get a nice snug fit. The narrow strap is detachable, so that the pocket can be carried like a wristlet or hooked onto another bag with a clip.

I really like the way this turned out! And, I'd really like to make more of these as Christmas gifts - but I'll need to find a way to add a zippered section for carrying ID and maybe some cash.

Finished: Autumn UFOs

2011-10-10T23:26:00.000-04:00

September was National Sewing Month and I spent most of my sewing time catching up on customer orders! As a reward for finishing my long work list, I decided to revisit a few unfinished projects of my own and spent a couple of very productive days completing them.

Last October, I started work on this Trick or Treat Backdoor Quilt pattern from Cottage Creek Quilts' "Backdoor Quilt" series - remember my tea dyeing experiment? I pieced all the borders, tea-dyed the background, fused and stitched the appliques, and even digitized and stitched the text - and then packed it away to be finished later.

I decided to echo quilt around the design; I didn't really plan ahead, so it turned out a bit like meandering in some spots. The lines on the pumpkin are stitched through all layers in dark orange rayon thread.

The cat's whiskers and nose are hand stitched through all layers in cream pearl cotton #12. I think the crow should have a black bead for an eye, but I haven't found just the right one yet.

Before quilting, I added the zigzag decorative stitch above and below the Trick or Treat text. Want to know how I matched up the two rows of zigzags so well?

I used a twin needle! Since I couldn't choose between two similar thread colors, I used both. That's a trick I'll have to use again, especially with decorative stitches.

One of the projects in my 'un-started' list is a Bahama Breeze Quilt that uses paper piecing for assembling the quilt top. I was not familiar with that technique so in June 2009, I took a class at The Cozy Quilt Shoppe. The class was designed around a pattern from Norway Quilt Designs called Maple Madness. The pattern includes instructions for a wall hanging, lap quilt, placemat and table runner. In class, we made one leaf block in each size. I chose to combine them to make a pair of placemats:

Last year I pieced together the leaf blocks and borders and prepared the batting and backing. I couldn't decide how these should be quilted, so packed them away to be finished later. Sound familiar?

This year I stared at these for a long time before finally deciding to just keep it simple and stitch wavy lines across the placemat. I chose one of the curvy decorative stitches built into my machine, made it as long and as wide as it allowed, then randomly stitched parallel lines, guiding the placemat back and forth slightly as I stitched. The result almost looks like free-motion quilting. The thread is a 30 weight Sulky Blendable in variegated greens.

I'm so happy to finally have both of these projects finished! Hopefully I will find the time and inspiration to work on a few more from the UFO list soon.

Insulated Lunch Bags

2011-09-29T00:11:00.000-04:00

Warning - this is a photo-packed blog entry! :-)

"Pretty Maids all in a row"

Backstory:

I've been making Insulated Water Bottle Carriers for a little over a year now, so you might say it was just a matter of time until I came up with Insulated Lunch Bags, too. I gave it a go last September, when I made a simple lunch tote for myself, but never got around to making more - until now.

Last spring, one of our cousins asked if I could make a knock-off of a lunch bag style made by a famous designer for her 3 girls, in time for this school year. As an added twist, the girls' names would be embroidered on the bags. Of course I agreed, and even suggested they each could choose their own fabrics for a truly personalized bag.

To prepare for this project, I did some online window shopping to research the size and shape of the designer bags, made some notes about the design details, sketched up a draft pattern and started collecting the raw materials. Over the summer I looked at a lot of lunch bags available in department and other stores, but never did find the exact designer bag for a true comparison.

Flash forward to mid-August, when I finally had a break in my schedule to make the bags. We arranged to meet so the girls could choose fabrics; I packed up a supply from my stash in a variety of colors and patterns that I thought might be appealing. Their selections were surprisingly interesting - and inspiring!

Please excuse the wrinkled background in these photos - I rushed to get them done in natural lighting just before delivering the bags to the girls!

Draft #1 - Emily's Lunch Bag:
I needed to make up a sample to test my pattern; Emily chose this groovy peace, hearts and flowers fabric. The bright turquoise blue and hot pink go with her new (purchased) backpack, so I decided to feature those colors on her lunch bag by using bright pink zippers and contrast piping with turquoise fabric for the name panel.

The main shape of the front, back and pockets were already drafted, and I figured out the dimensions for the remaining pieces for the gusset, handles and piping as I worked my way through the bag-making process.

Emily's name is embroidered in bright pink on turquoise fabric using 2-inch letters from the Orange Juice font from 8 Claws and a Paw Embroidery.

On the back side of the bag, I created a border using flowers and peace signs included in Five Star Fonts' Funkadelic applique font pack.

Framing each turquoise band of fabric is contrasting bright pink piping. Piping matching the body of the bag is also stitched on each front and back. I used the specialty piping foot for my sewing machine to make all the piping - about 3 yards per bag.

The handles are padded with a narrow strip of fusible batting. The shoulder strap is optional and detachable (more on that below).

Most of the main pieces of the bag are backed with fusible batting and quilted in a diamond pattern at 45 degrees.

The front has a zipper pocket that is lined with matching fabric. The zipper matches the contrast piping, which is applied to the bottom of the zipper in this first trial version.

On one side of the gusset is a pocket with a clear vinyl window; on the other side is a small pocket with an elastic top edge.

The inside of the bag is lined in white nylon fabric, with one simple flat pocket decorated with fabric binding along the top edge.

Before sewing the lining together, I basted the nylon fabric pieces to Insul-Bright batting, which provides most of the insulation to keep things cool (or hot).

Draft #2 - Jenna's Lunch Bag:

Emily's lunch bag turned out almost as I imagined it should be; Jenna's bag reflects some of the design improvements.

Jenna chose this fabric print with medallions in teal blue, olive green, chocolate brown and tan on a cream background. I chose tea-dyed muslin for her contrast bands, dark brown fabric for contrast piping and matching dark brown zippers.

Jenna chose to have her initials embroidered on the front of her bag; I used the same Orange Juice font from 8 Claws and a Paw, in the 1-inch size.

For the back side of her bag, I found a medallion embroidery design on my machine from Husqvarna Viking (D100SE37T) that doesn't perfectly match the fabric print, but has similar elements. Using 4D Embroidery software, I reduced the size of the design, then created a border with 3 repeats rotating the middle one 45 degrees for variation.

On the front of the bag, I rotated and mirror-imaged a coordinating corner design (D100SE38T) on either side of the initials. The embroidery colors closely match some of the colors from the fabric.

The quilting on this bag is done in a diamond pattern using a 30 degree angle.

On one side of the gusset is the pocket with a clear vinyl window. The vinyl has binding on all 4 sides to cover its raw edges.

The shoulder strap attaches to the bag by clipping the swivel hooks to D-rings that have been sewn onto the fabric handles. On the previous bag, I had sewn in extra fabric loops for the D-rings but the extra fabric made that seam too bulky to sew neatly.

The front pocket has a dark brown zipper; on this draft of the pattern, I attached the contrast piping above the zipper. I think it looks better that way.

Draft #3 - Abbey's Lunch Bag:

By the time I started this bag, the shape and size of most of the pattern pieces were finalized and my sewing process was established, so all I needed to do was to follow my notes to test-sew my own instructions.

Abbey had chosen a larger black-on-white damask print, but the scale of that print didn't really suit a smaller bag. I substituted this black and white damask print. She also preferred to have just her initials embroidered on her lunch bag.

I thought 8 Claws and a Paw's Harrington font would go well with the damask. I used the 2-inch size letters reduced to 75% or about 1.5 inches high. Using 4D Embroidery software, I created the flourishes on either side by selecting a machine font for fashion stitches, then mirroring and editing as needed.

Since I didn't have a damask border design in my collection, I chose this Fanciful Flourish design from Embroidery Library for the back side of the bag. The design is stitched all in black to mimic the damask fabric.

The result is a very classic black and white bag.

On one side of the gusset of each bag is a pocket with elastic at the top edge. This pocket is large enough to hold a cell phone, sunglasses or perhaps a container of hand sanitizer.

For Abbey's bag, I added some fabric tabs on either side of the main zipper so there's something to pull against when opening and closing the zipper.

Abbey also asked for a matching cell phone pocket, which I'll share in a later blog entry (but you can peek at it on Flickr here).

Lunch Bag #4 - Erin's Bag:

Erin's choice of fabric was bright and mod, but her selection presented several creative challenges!

First, the fabric was a remnant of just under a yard, so I knew right away that I would need to mix and match some other fabric for piping, binding and pocket linings.

A second challenge was choosing a fabric for embroidering her name. I tested several patterned fabrics in coordinating and contrasting colors before choosing this neutral linen-look fabric, which turned out to be just about perfect.

Erin's name is stitched in the same Orange Juice font from 8 Claws and a Paw using 1 inch letters.

The third challenge was choosing a motif to stitch on either side of her name. Does that flower look familiar?

Using 4D Embroidery software, I selected just a small part of the same embroidery design used for the back of Abbey's bag (above), this time in colors that matched Erin's fabric.

The flower petals and center are stitched with 3 color stops in shades of aquamarine and peapod green. The border for the back of her bag is the same flower design with the colors shuffled and the flowers each rotated just a bit for variety.

I'm pretty sure I tried to match the pattern of the fabric on either side of the zipper, but until I started editing my photos, I didn't realize how well they lined up! That was actually another challenge - keeping the linear pattern aligned horizontally across the bag.

The photo at left shows the fabric tab near the zipper pull a little clearer than in Abbey's photo.

The biggest challenge was the fact that I didn't have enough of the main fabric to make the entire bag and neither of my local JoAnn Fabric's had restocked it yet.

Fortunately, I found a coordinating plaid fabric from the same collection. I didn't want the bag to look too scrappy, so used the plaid in a supporting role for the lining of the front zipper pocket and design details of piping and binding. The plaid is printed on the diagonal, so instead of cutting strips on the bias for the piping and binding, I cut straight across the width of the yardage.

Lunch Bag #5 - Emma's Bag:

Emma chose this fun and whimsical fabric, an out-of-print design from Blank Quilting in some of my favorite colors.

Once again, I had only a remnant of fabric to work with - a mere 1/2 yard! I'd have to mix and match coordinating fabrics for even more for this bag than for Erin's! The tiny checked pattern fabric in light blue and lavender became my secondary fabric, with a marbled blue/purple for contrast piping and binding.

Emma's name is embroidered using a font from 8 Claws and a Paw called New Shoes (Sorry - I can't find the link to this font).

By this time, I was out of clever new ideas for border designs, so re-used this one from Emily's bag, changing up the colors to match the inspiration fabric.

I was running short of time - I was finishing up Emma's bag on the day I was supposed to deliver all 5 bags. As soon as the last thread was trimmed, I had just enough time to snap some photos before we drove down to the beach.

Even though we were hours behind schedule, it was worth the trip just to see each of the girls' enthusiastic reactions!

I hear the lunch bags are a big hit with each of the girls - and their friends, too. :-)

This was a fun project for me - each bag was like a puzzle, waiting for me to piece together the fabric, colors, patterns and design details so that all the elements meshed together.

You can see more photos of these and future lunch bags in my Insulated Lunch Bags set on Flickr

** Watch for similar Insulated Lunch Bags in my ArtFire studio in the near future **

A Pair of Pretty Butterflies

2011-09-07T08:35:00.000-04:00

Two of my nieces have August birthdays. This year, I made them each a pretty butterfly coin pouch to hold their 'gifts'.

Here is a pretty purple paisley coin pouch, made from yet another in-the-hoop design from Embroidery Garden.

This one is for my niece who loves purple! I had just enough fabric scraps for the paisley cover and polka-dot lining. I've been saving the purple carabiner for a special project like this.

I like the way the black zipper and detail stitching stands out on this one.

This butterfly is done with pink floral scraps and a dark fuschia zipper (it looks red in my photos, possibly because they were taken with my phone/camera).

I used a pretty bubblegum pink fabric for the lining on this one and it has a pink carabiner.

I thought the dark fuchsia zipper and thread would stand out better on this fabric, but maybe because the scale of the print is so large, it seems to blend into the background.

Beach Towels

2011-09-07T08:05:00.000-04:00

One of the reasons I keep this blog is to remind myself what I made for whom, and how and when I made it. So, with that in mind, here's a follow-up on a previous batch of gifts from 2010.

Last summer, I embroidered names on beach towels for a handful of nieces and nephews. The selection of towels available in August was minimal - I was only able to find two pink and two blue towels like this one at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

As a result, the two birthday girls got pink towels:

And two nephews got blue towels, because they were at the same August pool party:

I missed out on one July birthday last year. To make up for it, as soon as I spotted beach towels in the store this summer, I picked up a blue one to embroider:

Each name was created using the Typo font in my 4D Embroidery software. To do the embroidery, I hooped wash-away stitcky stabilizer to hold the towel in place, with Sulky Solvy on top during the embroidery. For Richie's towel, I also floated a piece of tear-away stabilizer underneath the hoop while it was stitching.