Some dog accessories

A friend is adopting a little dog for her daughter for Christmas. (I arranged the match!) She planned to put a big Christmas bow on the collar on Christmas day to give to her daughter, then asked if I could make her a bow. Well.....I decided to give it a whirl.

Because I've been using the Made for Mermaids Madison pattern lately for my niece's twirly dress, I happened to notice that there are instructions at the end for making an optional fabric bow. I decided to see how that went!

I didn't have any plain red fabric or enough of the red snowflake fabric in my stash, but I ran across this peppermint fabric. I used it a few years ago to make my niece a skirt at Christmas, but apparently I never blogged it. Anyway, I think it turned out super cute!

Originally I was making the "collar" for the bow and planning to attach them together as specified in the Made for Mermaids  Layered Bow Tie Tutorial, and then I thought it'd be a great idea to make a bow tie, as well, but to make them interchangeable. Because, honestly, how often is this dog going to need to wear a giant bow that's as big as he is??? So I used sparkly gingerbread fabric from a prior twirly skirt for my niece to make the bow tie part, then made the center with peppermint to tie them together. And instead of sewing the whole thing on to the collar, I put a snap on both the bow and the bow tie and the opposite snap on the collar. Now either piece can snap on!

Definitely going to do this again!

Assembly line sewing!

When you have a lot of girls/women on your Christmas list (yes, I'm still getting those posts up), especially when some of them you don't know really well anymore, it can become difficult to find nice but not horribly expensive/time-consuming/specific gifts to give.  Last year was supposed to be the year of infinity scarves, but it didn't work out.  (That purple linen/cream lace scarf was the only one that was actually made for Christmas 2013 - but then I hung onto it until Christmas 2014).  I posted about two months ago about the plaid ones that I made, but now I'm showing the linen/lace ones.  There are even a few duplicates!

Back row, L to R: "deep lake" linen blend with black lace (stash), "potting soil" linen blend with hunter green lace (Grandma), black linen blend with red lace (coworker, friend's daughter)

Middle row, L to R: purple linen blend with cream lace (This was the one I made a year ago, from the leftovers of my sister-in-law's baby sling.  This is for a friend's daughter.), "ocean" linen blend with turquoise lace (from leftovers of another baby sling; also for a friend's daughter), "deep lake" linen blend with deep purple lace (2 of this - one for my aunt, one for a friend's daughter), navy linen blend with cream lace (this is from the leftovers of the original sling for my sister-in-law; for a friend), black linen blend with turquoise lace (stash).

Front row, L to R: "potting soil" linen blend with yellow lace (for my mom), "potting soil" linen blend with turquoise lace (stash)

So I made 12 of these linen/lace infinity scarves this year!  That made me pretty happy to get that yardage out of the stash.  The brown and teal linen blends were purchased specifically for this project, but the black linen blend was originally intended for dress pants for the Things - obviously that didn't happen so far, and I decided this was a more pressing need.  I have to say that the turqhoise  and black scarves are more drapey - I think that those fabrics had a lighter hand than the brown, teal, navy, and purple.  I can't remember if they were a different percentage blend now.  But I think they all turned out very nicely.

With the purple, turquoise, and navy scarves, I made them a little wider just because that was the width left over from the baby slings.  With the others, I was able to get 3 out of each length by making them a bit more narrow.  Still should look good, but allowed me to get more out of the same fabrics.

I like the way these turned out, and I hope that the recipients enjoy wearing them!

Lunchbags

The Things were in need of new lunchbags.  Thing 1's old Transformers lunch bag was in atrocious shape, and Thing 2's SpiderMan lunch bag was also starting to show signs of wear.  I wanted lunch bags that reflected their interests and were easily washable.  So I started with a pattern at Sew4Home and changed the dimensions just a bit to fit our reusable containers.  The batting is Insul-Bright, which should help the contents retain cold.  I really wanted to have easily washable linings, but I was out of PUL and unable to find any locally for a reasonable price.  So instead I used a green ripstop nylon that had been purchased for a different project.

The pattern is pretty easy to follow.  I did modify it a little, as I didn't want exposed raw edges on the inside.  So I stitched the outside and the lining separately and then put them together, using the bias tape to cover the raw edges around the top and on the flap.  Thing 1 wanted a Pokemon lunch bag, and when I couldn't find any Pokemon fabric or appliques locally, a friend was kind enough to find some in her stash and send it.  Originally I was going to cut appliques from the fabric, but then I decided to just go ahead and make it from the fabric to make my life easier. :)  Thing 2 loves Angry Birds and the color orange, so I used the last of an orange batik-like print in my stash and some Angry Birds ribbon.  As you can see, they were pretty happy!

 
The opening at the top ended up too big without some modifications, so I added snaps to either side at the top so that the sides would be snapped in (sort of like a gusset, maybe?) and then the flap would fit down snugly.  All in all, I'm pretty happy with them.  And so are the Things!  These have been in use now for about two months, and they're holding up well.  I do plan to make a second set at some point soon, just so that we have back-ups for when the bags are dirty and need to make a quick run through the wash.

Another hobo/sling bag

Also known as, I finally actually made a birthday gift a month in advance!

I made an oversized denim bag a few months ago, using a thrifted denim skirt, thrifted sheet, and the tutorial from Morning by Morning Productions.  I really liked how it turned out, and I had already purchased a second long denim skirt from a thrift store to make another one, this time for my aunt's birthday.  But then I saw this lined linen skirt at the thrift store, and I just thought it would be perfect.  So....here it is!

This skirt wasn't as long, so I had to shorten the bag a few inches, but it's still quite large.  I just love the colorful print.  If I carried a bag more than once in a blue moon, I'd be seriously tempted to keep this one for myself.  Fortunately for my aunt, I just don't carry bags.

You can see the lining in the next picture - it's a purple poly-something fabric.  Looks nice, but isn't exactly sturdy.  So I didn't put any pockets on the inside of this version.  And I decided that I didn't want to use elastic in the outer pockets.  Instead, I made larger rectangular pockets, with rounded lower corners.  I lined them with the poly, interfacing both linen and poly at the top of the pocket.  Then I put two snaps in to help keep things somewhat secure.  (I also used light interfacing on the linen piece behind where the pocket was stitched into place.

I'm hoping that my aunt likes it at least as much as I do!

Lego sack/playmat

I've had my eye on this tutorial for months now, and I finally got around to making it!  (Probably because I was procrastinating on something else....)  I used two queen-sized thrifted sheets to make this - it's 80 inches in diameter, as we have a LOT of Legos.  I have enough left from both sheets to make a somewhat smaller version, also....We'll see how long that takes. ;)

The tutorial is pretty simple.  Basically, this is two circles sewn together.  You then use premade or self-made bias tape or ribbon or whatever for the drawstrings.  I made my drawstrings from broadcloth I had leftover from the "green" party bags project.  I liked the idea of using something up (that totally finished off my leftover orange) as well as getting a pop of color.  And orange is Thing 2's favorite color, so he'll like that touch.  (As an aside, I cut my strips on the straight grain and then ran them through the bias tape maker.  I didn't feel that they needed to be cut on bias as these were only going to be used for drawstrings.)

And here's the sack all cinched up, with toys inside.  I'm hoping this works out in practice as well as it does in theory!  I'm also thinking that this will be a great idea for a baby gift - something the parents can use into the future.  If I give any as baby gifts, though, I'll put a caution in the accompanying note to use these only with supervision, as the drawstrings could pose a strangulation hazard.

Someone had posted a comment to the tutorial, saying that their self-made bias tape didn't move very easily through the casing.  I don't know what kind of fabric she used.  My thrifted sheets are almost certainly a poly/cotton blend, and I believe the broadcloth was also a poly/cotton blend.  The drawstrings move very easily through the casing.

Going green....

I have a cousin who is expecting a baby in the next month or so, and I have another diaper clutch in progress for her (I cut both out at the same time - good thing it turned out so successfully!).  But I also know that she switched to cloth diapers when her older child was around 2 years, and she plans to cloth diaper this baby from the start.  Not sure if it's more a financial or environmental decisions, but either way, go her!  In any event, because I know she's committed to cloth diapering, I decided that cloth baby wipes would be a nice gift!

There are 90 or so in these stacks, mainly because I was having fun cutting up flannel that was in the "huh?  What was I thinking?" category, as well as flannel that was leftover from other things but I just wasn't sure what to do with the leftover pieces.  And also because it was strangely fun and addicting.  These are all 8x8, with slightly rounded corners to make serging easier.  They are double-layer flannel, because I didn't have a stash of terrycloth or anything else for the backing, and I decided that I wanted this to be stash-busting instead of a reason to go shopping.  The apple, diaper pins, and beach flannel on the right and the penguin in the middle were all leftover pieces.  The Sesame Street on the upper left was purchased for making crib sheets for the local pregnancy center years ago, but obviously I never got around to using that particular flannel.  And the fall leaves on the left and polka dots on the top are both flannel sheets from the thrift store.  They were purchased to become PJ pants, but that hadn't happened yet, so I sacrificed them for this.

Now it turns out I have another pregnant cousin who is thinking about cloth diapering, so I'll send her some of these.  Maybe 2 dozen.  But Cousin #1 gets the rest, because I know that she'll cloth diaper. ;)

And since I was on a roll, I also cut the fall sheet into cloth napkins for an early Christmas present for another friend.  I decided that the casual fabric should mean a casual finish, so these are also serged with slightly rounded corners.  I got ten napkins out of the queen sized sheet, plus a half dozen or so cloth wipes.  Not bad!  Hooray for stash-busting!

Oversized denim bag

So I was thinking about what to do for an upcoming birthday gift, when I looked through a Linky Thursday post from Stacy Sews.  And there I saw it: the Hobo/Sling Bag tutorial from Morning by Morning Productions. And I thought, cool!  That looks like a fun yet practical gift!  I really wanted to find a long leather skirt to make one in leather (as she does in part 2), but no such luck was with me during the thrift store hunt.  Alas....maybe later.  I'll keep an eye out in the future.  But until then, the long denim skirts would have to do.  This one was made from a denim skirt that looked like those skirts that are made by splitting the inseams of jeans, then adding some fabric in the middle.  I don't think it was actually made that way, judging by the consistency of the thread color throughout the entire skirt - I just think it was made to look like those, which is why there's the diagonal seam in the lower right.

I cut off the waistband to help the skirt lie flatter, also removing the zipper fly - I have a friend who reuses old but working jeans zippers and wants to use the belt loops in a project, so I'm saving those for her.  I removed the back pockets and the coin pocket, then folded the skirt so that I could cut each piece on a fold.  Before sewing the pieces together, I stitched the pockets back onto the bag but in more useful places.  I couldn't find rivets I liked, so I ended up with decorative flower eyelets.  (They'll also show up on the next one - the smallest packet I could find had 50 pairs.)

The "lining" was made from a striped sheet I found months ago at the thrift store.  I was thinking originally of boy PJ pants from this - but there's plenty left, I think.  There's no mention made of interfacing, but I decided that since I don't know what will go in the pockets, it would be best to use some lightweight interfacing over the back of the lining piece.  It doesn't cover the entire piece - just a few inches around the pocket.  I managed to line up the stripes on the pocket really well on this side - not so much on the other. ;) I really like how it turned out, though!

More baby love....

Dr. Seuss's birthday was last month, and it gave me the impetus I needed to finally use some Thing 1/Thing 2 fabric that I bought from the SewItSeams coop several years ago. The problem is that I accidentally bought some of the poly knit and had no idea what to do with it, because I don't make diapers. (I thought I'd deleted my poly order and switched entirely to cotton interlock, but apparently I forgot to delete the poly part. So I ended up with both.) However, I have since seen that some people used the poly knits to make T-shirts for their kids, so I figured I had nothing to lose, right? So I sewed T-shirts for my boys from the Fishsticks Designs PCR pattern (still need to get pics of those shirts to blog), using the Thing 1/Thing 2 fabric for the main pieces and a cotton-Lycra knit for the sleeves and neckbands. Since that turned out well, I decided to use up the leftovers on a jogging suit for my niece. I didn't get it done quickly enough to mail to her for Dr. Seuss's birthday, but I think it'll be okay. This is KS SFB size M.

And my sister-in-law requested more boppy covers like the one I sent previously. Apparently it fits pretty well, and they use it all the time. So I raided my flannel stash (the dragonflies are from JAF clearance section a few years ago, and the other two are from JAF on Black Friday - maybe five years ago? I think that might've been my very first Black Friday fabric shopping trip.) This time I decided that I didn't feel like dealing with zippers (or buying them) when I have a snap press and plenty of snaps on hand! So I added an inch to each piece and interfaced the inch before turning it under and stitching in place, then added snaps. I haven't heard back yet, but I'm assuming these fit just as well.

New dog bed

Yep, making more dog beds. Nope, the dog didn't tear up the old one, and it's still fine. But my DH had suggested back when I finished the first one, that it would be good to have a second bed for her to lie on. At that time, I had no desire to start another one. Now, well, I still don't want to start another one, but I've been thinking for awhile that it would be good to have one that would fit the cargo space in the SUV. Especially since we're taking a trip this weekend, and we're taking Zoe with us. So it's time to suck it up and make the dog bed already!

And if you're making one dog bed, you might as well make two at once, right? My MIL expressed interest in a dog bed, so I'm making one for her as a Christmas present. She doesn't know about it, so it'll still be a surprise at Christmas. ;) I just didn't have time to get it done before her birthday. At any rate, I don't plan on making any more, so I made sure to take a few pictures along the way.

The SUV bed is needs to be much wider than the foam, and because of my foam-saving cutting layout, the small dog bed also needed some extra width. When adding the width, I simply lined the two pieces up and whipstitched them together. This is two-inch thick foam, so I whipstitched on both sides of the foam, so that I'd only have to go through half the thickness on each side. I figured that would stand up better to stress. Hopefully you can see that in the picture here.

For the smaller dog bed, I simply used the single layer, as his crate is shorter, and I didn't want him to hit his head when he stood up in the crate. But for Zoe's bed, I once again wanted it four inches thick. So I laid two layers on top of each other (with the patched ends at opposite sides) and then once again used a soft sculpture needle to stitch the two layers together in three columns. Those layers are not going to shift!

No pictures, but I then wrapped each mattress in a couple of layers of poly batting and stitched it down on all sides, before inserting the mattress into a permanent muslin cover. I've also made the waterproof, removable cover from PUL and a separating zipper (I bought these zippers at Cleaners Supply and was very pleased with price, selection, and fast shipping - NAYY). Today I need to make at least one outer cover for each mattress.

Luggage Tags!

So I've seen various free patterns to make luggage tags and always thought they were neat and would make great Christmas gifts. I saw these a long time ago and thought they looked fast, easy, and cute, but there that idea sat. (I've always got more gift ideas than time, don't you?)

But then I saw these! I really liked the privacy flap idea. After all, who wants everyone in the airport getting your contact info while you wait for a flight? I figured these would be more useful, and they also looked easy. And then I remembered that I'm going on a trip to a conference shortly, and I could actually use these! Of course, I can't just cut out ones for myself - that's no fun! So I cut out eight luggage tags, but I've only made two so far. Naturally. Because I'm still supposed to be studying. :( But I needed two, so I made two. These are my prototypes, because there's a definite (though small) learning curve. As I figure out over the next days whether I'll have any checked baggage, I may need to make another. But that's okay. They didn't take too long.

Pictures! I finished something!

So just in time for Father's Day dinner (yes, I know I cut it close), I finished this new shirt. For those who are counting, it's The Shirt #4/"Real" Shirt #3. (I say "real" shirt, because DH won't wear the muslin. On the other hand, that crazy loud shirt does a great job of residing in the sewing room to serve as a memory aid for subsequent shirts.)

Here it is in all its grey glory. I used a "cotton blend broadcloth" from Fabric.com, which is a lighter-weight than the previously used broadcloths. I wasn't sure about it, but thought it was worth a try. The seams look very slightly puckered, but otherwise it seems fine, and the test run through the wash revealed that it might not be as prone to wrinkling. And this weight may actually be perfect for summer!

To celebrate finishing the shirt and being off the hook for "important sewing," I decided it was time to finally work on a project I've been considering for awhile and gathered supplies for a few weeks ago: a belt for me! I really don't like the one belt I have, but it was the only one I saw while belt-shopping that I didn't HATE. So....I've been stuck with it. And I have a few pairs of jeans which require a belt. So, without further ado, I present to you my paw-print belt:


I took 1-inch white cotton webbing, fused satin ribbon to one side, extending about five inches to the back side at one end and about eighteen inches to the back side on the other end, then stitched the ribbon down. I then threaded one end (the 5-inch on the back end) through both D-rings and then stitched that end down. Now I have a perfectly adjustable, cute belt to wear to work or wherever. One of my vet friends wants one for herself, and I'm getting excited about finding fun prints to make other belts to coordinate with outfits! These are going to be great Christmas gifts, too!