Sewing Machine Cover, take 1.

This week's challenge was to either make a car cozy or a piece of baby clothing. Seeing as I have ZERO children, I really have no use for a cozy to carry my hot wheels in, nor do I need baby clothes. I really debated about whether or not I wanted to even participate this week, but then I decided I could make a previous week's unchosen option.

I had been debating a sewing machine cover since moving my machine to the kitchen table, and I happened to have some fabric (from pillow cases that went awry) that would otherwise go to waste (and that I really wanted to use in one way or another). The idea in my head seemed easy enough, though the actual execution was much harder than I thought.

Looking at it now, I think I could have done a better job. Not a single corner is sewn the same - mainly because I had no clue what I was doing. Also, by the time I finished I didn't want to iron anymore, so it is definitely in need of an ironing, which will make it more crisp. I tried really hard to make sure the sides were all the same, and yet I still managed to make it just wonky enough to make it look like I have no clue what I'm doing.


I'm thinking there might have been an easier way, and I'm debating if I want to try it out. I would definitely prefer a cover that was a little more put together, but I'm not sure if I want to tackle another cover (it was a bit stressful getting it all put together). I also feel like it needs to be lined inside and I had no clue had to do it this time around. Maybe I'll redo the outside & then use my first one as the lining for the new one... hmmmm

Weekly Sew-a-long Challenge. Week 3.

This week our challenge was to make something "Picture Perfect". That is, make something camera or picture related. I've been wanting to purchase a really cute case for my camera, so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to make one. All of the tutorials I found required bias tape for the finished piece. Sadly, I'm not prepared to make my own bias tape, and I was unwilling to go purchase any (I'm pretty much over buying anything I can make myself). So, this left me with 2 options: find another tutorial or make something up myself.

After debating this issue all week long I decided to just do it. I used the ugliest fabric I had to practice with, and figured if it turned out, I could always re-make it with a cuter fabric. I'm not sure I love it, so I haven't re-made it. I think I'll mess around with some more fabric before I settle on my final camera case, but for the sake of this last week's challenge, it's completed.

To make it, all I did was take 2 pieces of fabric (one about 1 inch longer top-to-bottom than the other piece) and a piece of leftover felt (to measure, I just wrapped it around my camera & made sure I had ample seam allowances) and sandwiched them together.

To start, I took the piece that was a bit longer and placed it wrong side up. I folded down the top about 1/2 an inch & then ironed it, then I folded it down another 1/2 inch & ironed it again. This basically created a double hem at the top of the fabric. I then slid the felt and the other piece of fabric (wrong side down) between the bottom fabric & the hem, so that when sewn, the hem would encase the felt & fabric. I then sewed a basic straight stitch across the top. The top fabric (the one with the hem showing) became my "inside" fabric, and the longer piece which created my hem would be the "outer" fabric.

Here is where I made my mistake. A buttonhole should be made at this time. I didn't and had to rip my almost-finished case apart to do this. Pick a spot where you'd like a strap hole. Set your machine up to make a buttonhole, & then place your fabric inside piece up & make a buttonhole. I practiced this a few times on a scrap of fabric to make sure the hole I was making was exactly the size I wanted it to be. I wasn't using a button, so I had to adjust my buttonhole foot a couple times before I had the perfect size. I also had to play around with my stitch length and width before I had a good stitch. I 100% recommend you do the same before attempting this on your case. Carefully use a seam ripper or snips to cut your buttonhole (make sure you don't cut your stitches).

I then folded the fabric sandwich in half lengthwise, so that the hem was visible on the outside. I lined up my sides & bottom and pinned them. I slid my camera in between the fabric a few times just to make sure the fit was correct (I wanted to make sure the fit was snug, so that my camera would not slip out of the case willy-nilly). Then I sewed around the edge and bottom, making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end. I trimmed my excess threads and seam allowances, then I turned it right-side out (the hem should not be visible from the outside), slid my camera in, and basked in it's "glory".

It's not exactly what I'm looking for in a camera case, but it works as a simple soft cover to keep your camera from getting scratched up if you throw it in your purse or bag.

Also, in case you noticed my fail of a camera strap, that is what happens when you are attempting to take pictures of a project "in action" and get your camera strap a little too close to the hot iron. It completely melted the outside strap, thus leaving me with the task of having to clean melted goo off my iron. My camera strap is now really ugly too! Maybe I'll make a new cover for it :)

Valentine's is made for crafting!

I know it's been a few days since my last post (4, to be exact), and I do have to apologize for that. We've been sick on this side of town, so the thought of doing anything has not been appealing.... just ask my dishes.

On the plus side, I do have a fun post today! The reason this post is so. much. fun. is because everything I am posting right. this. second. was made for less than $5! Now, I did manage to get some sale items, so that definitely helped the wallet, but overall I worked with inexpensive materials. Felt, to be exact. $0.20 felt, to be even more exact! Plus I was able to get some super cute Valentine's ribbon on sale for $0.99, which we all know I love me some dollar ribbon!!

This week for the sew-a-long challenge we were given a choice of making pajamas or anything Valentine's. Well, I don't know if you'll believe this, but I am in no way prepared to jump into pajama making. Add to that I don't own pajama-making fabric, and was not looking forward to buying any. So that left me with the Valentine's project. I'm sure you can tell that I'm not one for actually coming up with ideas on my own, so this proved to be a challenge in and of itself. After some uneventful Googling, the hubs and I headed to JoAnn's so I could have a look-see. I decided on the felt because it was cheap & in my head I had an idea for some hair clips. Add to that some ribbon and you've (or I've, or my cousins' daughters) got some super cute Valentine's barrettes.


 I think they're pretty darn cute. Sadly, not very much sewing actually went into these. In fact, I only actually sewed two lines. In the top & middle set, you can see the line down the middle of the hearts where I sewed to attach the hearts to one another. The rest was good ol' Tacky Glue. Heck, the bottom set doesn't have any sewing, period!

So what is a gal to do? Well, I did have to come up with something else, that's for sure! So I sat, and I thought, and I cut out hearts. I did this until I got an idea. I cut off a slice of felt, sewed on some of those hearts I had, and voila! instant bracelet.

Sadly, my "bracelet" left something to be desired. So I sat, and I thought, and I cut out some more hearts until I had an even better idea. Napkin rings! Simple, inexpensive, Valentine's... perfect!

I cut out a few more slices of felt, added some decorative stitches to the edges, and created a makeshift button hole (to keep the felt from ripping as you slide the hearts through) (also, they're makeshift because my buttonhole setting is temperamental, and while I was able to make fantastic buttonholes the other day, for some reason I was unable to get my machine to cooperate today - thus a simple box sewed 2 times over). The hearts act as buttons to keep the ring closed. I suppose I could have just sewn the circle closed, but to be honest, I didn't think of that until just now.

I don't actually own fabric napkins, so I slid some leftover felt through instead. Tada! Valentine's napkin rings!! Of course, this could easily be adapted into a cute bracelet for little wrists, so feel free to wrap a Valentine's napkin ring around whatever you deem fit!

And just to ease your frustration when you attempt this on your own (because why wouldn't you?), you'll never cut two hearts the same, ever. So just stop trying now. If you get two that are even remotely similar, thank your lucky stars and move on!

Also, I know I need to get better at taking pictures. My apologies, and I promise I'll try harder.

Crochet Hook Case

I'm so very excited to have completed my first week of the sew-a-long! I made a crochet hook case and I think it turned out pretty darn cute. I was lucky enough to have the materials already, so really all I had to do was get it done. I half wish I had practiced it in a different fabric, because I did make a few mistakes. Overall, though, I'm quite happy with the end product.



About halfway done I realized I should have taken pictures from the get-go. This is my hook pocket basted (my least favorite thing to do ever) on top of the inner fabric and the batting. I used disappearing ink (it's not just for gags anymore) to mark the lines I needed to sew for the individual hook pockets.

I'm not a fan of how the case pulls when I put my hooks inside of it. Though I think that is because I've got some pretty large hooks. I probably won't carry around the real big ones, ever, so hopefully that won't be much of an issue. I also messed up when attached my ribbon to the inside, so I modified the ribbon and button placement. I'm actually quite pleased with the result of my modification.

In case you're wondering: yes, I do realize I need to iron my ribbon. Also, as a reminder, I used the tutorial for "Rachel's Crochet Hook Case" from the Sometimes Crafter.