Another new bag

 I never ever carry a purse - I just take my backpack as needed - so it's somewhat surprising that I made myself a sling bag.  However, I decided that I needed something that would be smaller than a backpack for school field trips.  I see other moms carrying the string bags, but I'd really like pockets in it as well as maybe room for a water bottle.  So while I work out the mental design for that, I went ahead with another sling bag.  This one is also from a recycled denim skirt.  I shortened the bag, much like the colorful one, as I didn't really want to be able to carry too much in it!

The lining is a fun science print - it's like a school science notebook!  I found this on clearance at JAF several years ago, and I think the only thing I've ever done with it was to use a couple of small pieces as appliques for shoes for Thing 2.  It was definitely time to do something fun with it!  There's an elasticized pocket on the side not pictured, and then this is a small pocket for a wallet or maybe cell phone.  I decided to go with snaps instead of a zipper in the interest of time.  You can also see a small loop sticking out above the pocket - this is for a key leash (which hasn't been done yet) so that the keys can be in the bottom of the bag but still be secured and easily found.  

I also intend to make an insulated cover for my water bottle, and there is a "water bottle leash" attached to the other side of the bag - this will help hold it in place and upright.  Just need to finish that part....

Just for kicks, I decided to have fun with the pockets.  (These pockets were not recycled - I traced the shape of another jeans pocket onto my recycled denim and lined them with the science fabric.)  I drew on my fabric with a disappearing ink pen and then traced that with stitching.  This one is my initials, all lower case.

And this one is an ECG tracing.

The good news is that both "embroideries" turned out really well.  The bad news is that I wasn't too confident, so I went for the subtle look - one strand of black thread with one strand of a light blue.  It was actually more subtle than intended, and basically you can't see these unless you're looking for them.  :(  Boo.  But next time I try this, I'll be more bold. 

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!

Repurposed sheets

One pair of PJ pants would normally not rate its own blog post, but I've been bad about posting lately and am trying to fix that. In addition, I just need to rave about these for other reasons.

I have definitely repurposed sheets before - I've made sheets into baby pack-n-play or crib sheets, I've made sheets into PJs for birthday gifts and Operation Christmas Child gifts, and I've made them into cloth napkins (not blogged). But I've never made flannel sheets into PJs before - at least not that I can remember, and definitely not for myself. I got this fitted flannel sheet at a thrift store several years ago, I think. Since I love snowmen, I thought this would be great for winter PJ pants for me. And between the PR Fabric Stash contest and needing to sew another pair of PJ pants (same size) for a friend's birthday, I had the impetus to do something about it. OMG! Can I just say how incredibly soft these PJ pants are? Soooo comfy. I love them! I'm guessing it's from all the use and washing they got in their previous life. At any rate, I would totally use old flannel sheets again for PJs. I may have to keep an eye out at the thrift store.....

Christmas gifts

Sad but true - my Christmas gifts came down to the wire, and I confess that they're still not quite done. Oh, well.....I had everything done that was necessary for in person, and Christmas gifts that come late in the mail are always fun, right?

Things have been slow lately, because I was dealing with the class from *$#&!!! Also, my serger was on the blink for awhile. My output slowed down dramatically while I was waiting for my baby to come back from the shop. But come back it did, and then I was able to get back into the swing of things!

First up, the shark shirts from the Patrick Curved Raglan Seam pattern. My boys have been waiting on these for a long time, but I couldn't finish them without the serger. Now they're done, and each shirt has been worn at least twice in the last week! :) These are the same sizes as before (3T and 5T), but this time, I used 1/4" seam allowances. I am planning to compare the size 5T to the "big kid" sizes and maybe move up to the next size for the next shirt. I'd also like to try the hoodie instructions.

This is my go-to PJ pants pattern, and I liked the addition of the contrast cuffs so much on my wolf PJ pants that I did it again for these. And I used black bias tape for the drawstring. I think my friend will like these!

I finally finished the stack of cloth napkins for my friend. Those got sent out to her early so that she could use them. Hopefully she likes them! These were cut out of some flannel sheets I got from freecycle. I also have a bunch of fabric to use to make her some more. The basic pattern is from a book called Simply Napkins.

The nephews both got some toys that were not going to be terribly easy to wrap. So instead, I used pillowcases. The younger nephew got one of the trains and toys pillowcases (I made these awhile ago but apparently didn't mention them), and the older one, who is in Little League, got the Peanuts baseball print. They were a hit! And much easier for wrapping....

There's more to mention, and more that's still being finished, so that'll be for next time!

Not much to show today....

Here's the picture of the finished lunchbag. Oops - actually, I took that picture before sewing on the velcro, it seems. Oh, well...you get the idea. I still think it's too big, after we've used it for almost two weeks. But it works, and I haven't had time to make another prototype. Soon, I hope...

In addition to the new jammies for Thing 1 and the muslin of the Hawaiian shirt for DH, I've also cut out two new pairs of shoes for Thing 2. As I feared when I finished the last ones, they were not exactly roomy. They fit....now. But they won't for long. I do like how the heel and toe guards are doing. Those were a toddler's size 7 regular, so I decided to allow for growth and trace and cut a toddler's size 9 wide. We'll see how those do. If I like the sizing in the denim shoes (I cut one of regular blue denim and one of white denim - both old jeans), then I'll probably finally make some black leather shoes. ;) In the meantime, before I sew these up, I need to come up with appliques for them. Otherwise they're a bit boring. I'll definitely put another Thomas on one pair, but not sure what to do with the other.

New shoes....

Thing 2 needed new shoes, as he's worn holes in the heels of his current shoes....go figure - I hadn't added heel guards to those. I had cut this pair out several weeks back...maybe when I made the last ones, come to think of it....so I sewed them up this weekend. I also thought it was time to do an applique, and he (like his brother!) is really into trains and especially Thomas the Tank Engine. We'll see what he thinks in the morning!

These are from the Make Them Yourself pattern, and I think I used a size 7 again. This may come back to haunt me, since I added both toe and heel guards this time. I may decide that I should have gone up a size to account for the extra addition. I hope not, but I guess it won't be the end of the world.

I also need to get some more leather, I think. But first I'll make a pair from the black leather jacket DSIL thrifted for me. :) This pair is made with recycled jeans, once again; Toughtek soles; recycled white jeans for the lining; and scraps of leather for the guards.

More finished items....red and green queues....

First up, the red queue!
I used red serger thread on these shorts so that I could get cracking on the other red stuff, and I think it looks fine. The shorts for Thing 2 are size T2, which I think fits him better and doesn't seem to pull across the front of the thighs. Both shorts have added slash pockets, using an old sheet for the pocket bags. I used KS SFT for Thing 2 and KS SFC for Thing 1, and the fabric is leftovers from boxers for DH (stash - yay!).

Knit pants and shorts for Thing 2. The shorts are size T1 from KS SFT again, but the pants are size XL from KS SFB. When I have a chance, I'll try these on him and also try on the blue pants (T1 from KS SFT) to see how the two patterns/sizes compare. The red interlock for the pants was purchased on sale at JAF, but the mystery knit for the shorts has been in my stash for awhile.

I had already cut out these pants for Thing 1 from the KS 3042 pattern prior to getting KS SFC. After sewing them up and seeing them on, I think this PJ pattern is just too wide-legged for normal use. I'm going to try the size S in KS SFC in another pair of PJs to see if it needs alterations before I start cranking out pants for Thing 1's fall kindergarten wardrobe. :) The shorts for Thing 2 are my now TNT pattern from KS SFT, and that fabric has been in the stash for almost two years now, I think. He's wearing those shorts today and they look great!

I added slash pockets to the pants. Instead of my usual plain white sheet for pocket bags for print pants, I decided to go with the seersucker fish leftovers. I think it looks pretty cute! Thing 1 likes it, so that's that. :)

Need more new shoes!

So Thing 2 loves his new shoes, but unfortunately, they're just a hair small. And so apparently he's been walking on the edge of the heels. I just discovered today that the denim is wearing through. Guess that puts new shoes at the top of my list! I will try the toddler size 7 regular next time. Even though I thought that I'd make the next pair in leather, I'm starting to think that I'll do another pair in denim first. That can test out my new size and make sure that I have it right. I'd rather do that than risk wearing through another heel so quickly.

Thing 1 is also getting a pair, though his will be for slippers. He was so fascinated with Thing 2's new shoes that I thought he'd like a pair, too. I'll probably use denim and flannel again for his, as well. I haven't decided what flannel to use, but it'll probably be another leftover from bedding.

And while I'm at it, I want to make two new sets of bedding. These will be from flannel that I bought back at Thanksgiving for bedding. The Things can use them, and I could use some more fabric in my "yards sewn" column. :)

At last, the new shoes....

I finally quit procrastinating and just sewed! And as usual, when finished, I thought, well why in the world didn't I do this much earlier in the week? Very silly! Thing 2 is very excited about his new shoes. He's still got them on, and I took this picture probably almost two hours ago. (That's mainly exciting because I know that he can take them off by himself.) I finally used the Make Them Yourself shoe pattern, in a toddler size 6 regular. The size was chosen by measuring the length and width of the foot, then flat measuring the pattern sole and trying to remember to allow for seam allowances. I think that next time I'll choose the toddler size 7 regular, because this pair won't allow for more than a hint of growth. But that's okay - they were quick and easy to make.

I used Toughtek for the soles - bought my Toughtek from Ahh.biz - no affiliation. I was just pleased with their fast shipping and thought that their price on Toughtek was at least comparable to any others I'd seen. Others have said to watch eBay for the best prices on Toughtek, but I didn't want to wait. :) Because the Toughtek is so thin, I used a layer of Warm & Natural cotton batting between the Toughtek sole and the flannel lining. I think that should be enough - we'll see. I also changed the pattern to have a heel lining - you can see alteration details in my PR review. My only quibble at the moment is that I think the elastic is too long, and maybe that's why Thing 2 can easily take them off. But that can be easily remedied by simply shortening it. Overall, I'm pleased with this pattern and think that it may fit Thing 2's feet better than the Chloe Toes pattern. I will have to make it again in leather for a true comparison.

The outer fabric is thrifted denim from old jeans, and the lining fabric is flannel leftover from one of the toddler bedding sets I sewed before Christmas.

Random mutterings....

Thing 2's new shoes were a hit! DMIL started talking about how popular the soft-soled leather baby shoes were, and DBIL informed her that I had sewn them. (He remembered from the discussion at Thanksgiving.) She seemed very surprised! Guess that means they look as good to her as they do to me. :) And despite the fact that they look enormous, both on and off Thing 2's feet, he gets around on them just fine.

I have traced the appropriate size of the MTY pattern to try out on the next shoes, and now I'm torn between using some leather or trying it in denim. Either way, I think I'll wait for the Toughtek to use on the soles. And either way, it'll be thrifted materials - I have the thrifted leather from jackets, and I have thrifted denim from old jeans. So we'll see....I think I'll line them in flannel scraps leftover from making bedding. That would be cute!

I also need to cut up and serge some corn bags. I was happy to see my YTD yardage stats change once I finally sewed again, and the corn bags are quick and easy. Plus it means more stuff done in advance of Christmas/birthdays, too! That should easily get another yard or two out today.

More shoes!

Yep, I'm on my way to obsessed. I stayed up late again last night to finish pair #2. I like these better in some ways than the first pair. Of course, there's the issue of "first try" mistakes on the first pair, and I did improve on that with this pair - mainly I just took things slowly with the sewing and made sure of keeping to a uniform seam allowance. My 1/4" presser foot was a big help. I also used jeanstitch thread this time, and I like the way it looks on the lighter leather. Very neat! This leather is thinner, so it was a little easier to sew. I'll see how well it holds up.

I'm going to be swapping more editing for patterns from Make Them Yourself, and I want to try out that leather shoe pattern. It's lined from what I can tell, so it might be better for the pair I want to make from DH's old jeans. (Nope, still haven't even started on my lunch sack from those.) I thought those would be fun. And of course I'll use jeanstitch thread on them!

I am also getting some recycled leather from Wisconsin - I put DSIL to work as a personal thrift shopper for me. I just called last night with the request, and this morning she called back to report. Woohoo! Three jackets and a purse to recycle - I can't wait! DB tells me that there is a LOT of leather there. I'll post pictures eventually.