Quick Kitchen Sewing Project

I had some friends over the other day to help me consume the small feast of paella I made (which was super easy by the way, I'll post a picture the next time I make it, it was so good it's one of those I'll make it the day after I just made it because the left overs are already gone type of deal). And one of my friends was oohh-ing over this plastic bag storage bag I'd whipped up ages ago, and I remember I still had the photos and decided to post the tutorial for you all. 

I distinctly remember I was having a blur moment with my etsy shop, when I cut out the fabric for the Sandi ID wallets it was the wrong way round and the prints wouldn't line up, so I despondently shuffled them all into my scrap fabric box and whipped up this simple project to boost my confidence. It's probably the most used item I've made. 

Keep reading after the jump for the tutorial

Quick Living Room Makeover - Cushion Cover Tutorial

For the past year the living room has looked a little bland. We had a TV (which didn't work for a couple of months because we decided that since the antenna wasn't working anyways why add another distraction to our time; but we caved, bad and bought rabbit ears) and courtesy of ikea a coffee table and a couch. We had a bunch of mismatched pillows and throw blankets, so basically a great place for napping but not for congregating. So I figured a quick makeover for the couch and a new rug would change things up a bit. I got these two fabrics to match our red couch and since I only order 1/4 yard in one; I had to do plain backed cushion cases with the nice fabric on the front which suited me just fine since no one sees the back, and I get to keep the left over fabric for ID wallets and such.

This is one of the easiest items to sew since it's all straight lines and a zigzag stitch will secure the edges.

Left over fabric for ID Wallets, it's the best part of having a business all fabric is potentially an investment...lol

  The basic cushion case size is about 18 inch x 18 inch laid flat (it's much easier to use a old cushion cover as a template than to use the cushion itself)

(BTW  - all good craft rooms look like this hot mess)

What you'll need

• 18 x 18 inch of pattern fabric
• 18 x 10 inch of plain fabric (I used a natural twill)
• 18 x 14 inch of plain fabric
• If you don't have enough fabric you can do 2 x 18 x 10.5 inch and use two metal snaps or buttons (I did the first lot this way but decided I like the idea of a proper envelope slip case) 

 

• This is the basic idea of how the overlapped fabric works

 

What to do 

• Grab the 18 x 10 inch piece of fabric
• Fold the 18 inch side down one inch + iron 
• Unfold 
• Fold the 18 inch side down 1/2 inch so it aligns with the crease just ironed + iron again

• With the raw edge of the 18 inch side folded in; iron again

•  Fold it over itself again

•  Flip over and stitch down the hem

• Do this with the other backing piece of plain fabric as well

• Place the patterned fabric face up. 
• Align the edges of the short rectangle with the patterned fabric and pin. 

• Align the edges of the large rectangle with the patterned fabric and pin.

• At the overlap it should look like this with the short rectangle tucked under the large one

 

• You can stitch around with a straight stitch and then hem the raw edges with a zigzag stitch or I found the opposite way to be easier. By hemming the raw edge first the pieces held together perfectly and when it came to doing the straight stitch I could just zip straight around.

• And that's basically it, the quick way to make cushion covers. You could add a zip if you like or studs if you don't have enough fabric but this is a great beginner's project.

Happy Crafting!

Mel

IRL

So it's been a while huh? There's been plenty of stuff going on that hasn't been blogged (possibly due to a misplaced camera battery charger) and the kicker to getting back up and blogging again was because my replacement Google reader - 'The Old Reader' pronounced my blog as 'dead' since I hadn't posted in a month. If you guys haven't already make sure to update your go to reader since Google is killing off reader =( or follow me on facebook.  There is a tutorial in the works which just needs to be written and was going to be the surprise update, but then I had all these food pictures to drool over. Also I have my 6 week break coming up and there will be some epic sewing of stuffs and a surprise I can reveal later on but until then this is how life in the real world has been.

There's been much procrasti-baking going on as I've waited for two shipments of clothing fabric to come in to inspire me to make more clothes. However I had to divert one to a relative's place in the US since the shipping ($70) was more than the cost of the very cheap fabric itself ($60 for 13 yards), so now I'm waiting another couple of weeks before I receive it.

In the mean time I've been busy at the oven instead of the sewing machine 

Berry Crumble Slice

Mini Cheesecakes

Pandan Chiffon Cake

Chocolate Fondant

Mini Apple Hand Pies

I've also managed to 'misplace' my camera battery charger and the weather has turned to miserable so it's been especially hard to take photos of my dress as promised. I let Pruet do it the first time round and he didn't tell me how awkwardly I was posed and that my sleeve was rolled up so it's been put away for another day. Also I haven't got much wear out of it since the stretchy jersey fabric I used to make it rubs against nylon stockings something horrible and static. The waistband is a bit wonky since I overestimated my waist and the inner circle for my circle skirt was too large but I managed to rectify it. I used the Amazing Fit 2648 for the top and I couldn't figure out my measurements even though I've read lots of blogs on how to measure yourself. My measurements showed me as a size 12 in some places and a 8 in others but I cut all the pieces in a 6 and it worked just fine. Also I only had 1.5m of this remnant fabric for $5 so I winged the skirt. Ironically though there are no pockets despite my fanaticism about all things pockets in work clothes, the fabric in this dress was just too stretchy for it. It looks good on and it has the right knee length for work, now all I have to do is make one in a non-static winter fabric. 

Until next time. Happy Crafting! 

Mel

Secret passport holder pseudo-tutorial

Guys I made a dress that I can actually wear! I'm so proud and I've been waiting to take a picture of it so I can post it, but the weather has suddenly decided to be cloudy and overcast after the hottest, longest stretch of over 30 degree Celcius days. I've put off making clothes from store bought patterns because I can never get the measurements right. I had a feeling I was not an American size 14 despite what my tape measure measurements told me, so I cut the smallest size (6) and it worked. Also the whole dress was made from a remnant piece I bought at 80% off so I paid $3.98 for a dress...score! Anyways now I've lured you in with the idea of a dress there is no photo alas, maybe tomorrow if the weather is good. But I've had this other pseudo tutorial lying around in my photos folder and thought it was about time to put it up. 

I was positive I took photos of this as I went, but it seems like I deleted them all when I was clearing my SD card so it would be nice empty to go overseas and fill up with more photos. 

So it is called a secret passport holder - the kind you take on holidays to secret away on your persons. The ones you can buy in stores and online market themselves as 'secret' or 'invisible' or both, but honestly? Not in a humid Asian country. Maybe if I was travelling to Europe in the middle of winter and hiding my neck pouch string under a scarf/ turtleneck, or hiding the fanny pack under layers of clothing. But in Asia where even one layer is enough to make you sweat, and some clever person will just cut the string of your pouch whilst it's on blatant display, I thought I better be craftier than them. 

 So can you see it?

 Nope? I'll give you a hint...

Found it?

Ta-dah. In your face fast fingered pick pockets. Ain't nobody going to get their hands on my passport. Lol.

So the basic premise of the secret passport holder is that it is a zip pouch with a looped elastic around the side and a fabric divider inside. The elastic loop is pulled through a belt loop and then the whole zip pouch is pulled through the elastic to form a closed loop.

The most important thing about this secret passport holder is that the lining is made from a waterproof fabric. Since the holder is kept nice and close to your body for security, in the nice hot countries it also absorbs all your lovely sweat, hence why I needed to launder it before photographing. I read somewhere that someone's passport became moldy from their sweat so I didn't want to take any chances. The divider compartment means that you can store your passport in one and spare cash, important jewellery and other valuables in the other side.

So my passport and ring were kept safely on my persons for the entire trip and the spare cash...well that was all used up.

The best part of the passport holder is that it just looks like you have something in your pocket (ha ha ha) and once you pop your phone in it is barely noticeable, even in fitted white pants.

If you want a rough idea of how to make it check out the wet bag tutorial as it uses the same fabrics and has tips on how to sew through the PUL. All you need to do is add in the elastic instead of the fabric handle, scale down the size to passport size and add in an extra rectangle of fabric as a divider if you want one. If you want a better idea of how to make one I can whip up a bad paint picture or a proper tutorial.

Happy Crafting!

Skirt Pocket Tutorial

It's almost been a whole month since I blogged and not because I haven't been crafting but because I've been inundated with uni and etsy stuffs. Well that and my house is a mess and just as I was about to photograph my lovely new skirt with pockets I found a family of spiders under a moving box which is still sitting in the corner of our laundry drying/ dining/ ironing/ guest room. So house cleaned and a slew of hot days and beautiful sunlight to help photograph the skirt means I have a post for you all. 

The mother of the spiders I spotted a few days before I moved the dreaded box

So if you recall I've made two different items to circumvent any need to add pockets to my skirts/dresses because there are just to many of them that would need upgrading, and making one (or two) items seemed to be easier. The inspiration for the Sandi ID Wallet Tutorial came from a need to have coins on me to avoid awkward moments when the doctors went on mid/ post ward round coffees and my pocketless skirts didn't have imaginary coins to save me from penniless embarrassment. 

Then there was the first world problem of not having a place to pop my phone and so the fabric pouch with elastic was made basically for the sole purpose of not having to add pockets (again).

So this time round I was motivated by another work/uni related awkward moment to actually finally put pockets into my skirt. I mentioned on facebook that I'm currently sitting in with a doctor who powers through his lunch break whilst I tried to fold my stomach on myself to dampen the growling it's doing in the middle of a consultation. Thus, I figured it was about time to add some pockets into my skirt, if only to smuggle food in.

So I was putting it off the whole adding pockets in because I thought it would be too hard, but it was soooo quick + simple. 

What you'll need

• sturdy fabric in the colour of your skirt/ dress
• I used black chino drill/ twill fabric because I hate hate hate discovering holes in pockets because your phones/ keys are too heavy/pointy for the sheer fabric they use in them

• a skirt or dress 
• template for pocket - so you'll want to download the picture or copy and paste it into a word document so it's printable on a A4 page

New Projects by you Part 3

I'm finally back in the saddle...of my sewing machine. Lovely imagery right? Well I'm not quite back in the saddle but I did an epic clean out of my craft area and as of right now everything has a place and is very pristine but I'm sure as soon as I start sewing there will be bits of loose thread everywhere again. Sometimes makes me wonder if I should just cave and let Pruet have his dog so I won't be the messiest person in the house anymore (an also it won't just be my hair all over the bathroom and kitchen floors).

So in lieu of anything new to post just yet as I had to wash and clean at least one of them for photographing, I've decided to do a new projects by you post. Most of these have been written in foreign languages Spanish, French...and one that google translate can auto translate but I can't figure it out (update: it's Turkish!), regardless they all have lovely pictures which explain their work as the google translate version of their post is probably not all that accurate. 

This a version of the DIY personalised fabric labels  rather than cut each label out separately the labels were cut out in long strips to make it easier to iron on.

This is a very funky fabric version of the Sandi ID wallet with an extra pocket at the back instead of a clear ID pocket - very practical. 

I love the combination of the fabric colours in this version of the  patchworky bi-fold wallet with a single contrasting fabric strip across the front. The colouful zipper works well with the brown lining fabric as well. 

This wallet version also has a little tutorial on how to change up the shape of the wallet to an envelope clutch style. I think this is a perfect example of how you can take the basics of a bag/wallet tutorial and customise it to suit your needs. The contrasting fabric strip is now at the back. She also mentioned that she added an extra bit of fabric so that the zip compartment of the wallet wouldn't open up onto the interfacing/lining part of the wallet. Basically something I should have added to my wallet tutorial but didn't because my sewing machine (the old one) was dying as it went through the layers, so go check out this version with the tutorial.

I hope these photos give you some inspiration to get crafty. 

Happy Crafting, 

Mel

Personal planner giveaway

Giveaway now closed

Congratulations to the winner of the competition commenter  #6 Thanh! Thanks for all your wonderful comments on the blog and facebook - I'm glad I'm not the only one in love with my sewing machine.

For those of you who did not win the lovely people from personal planners have offered a generous 15% discount off a personal planner anyways! 

 
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 Although I purposefully booked my flight home early to give myself time to catch up with friends in Melbourne and get back to studying, I still feel that pull of regret that comes with leaving family and an amazing holiday behind. I’ve spent the last few days in a whirlwind of family activities and Chinese New Year biscuit making. 

The love letter biscuits start out as a dollop of batter in the middle of a pair of circular disc prongs which is then squished flat by closing the top disc . Then the prongs are placed on a charcoal fire and the person manning the grill folds the circular biscuits in half. 

Then they toss the half-circle biscuit at the folder sitting at the table/ wood plank on the milo tins, who then folds them into quarters and stacks them into the tins. At least with these biscuits I was just the folder and wasn't manning the charcoal grill. The next day with the egg rolls was a whole different matter - I was dripping sweat in front of the charcoal grill; not onto the biscuits though.

Now that I’m homeward bound I figure it’s time to work out my plans for the rest of the year. Hopefully I’ll be able to make the transition from making crafty things into making crafty patterns so that when I start working and graduate I’ll still have this blog and my etsy shops although in a different form.  Which is why I’m happy to announce a giveaway for an item I hope will help me plan out the rest of my year, a personal planner. 

So I’m generally not much of a diary keeper. I start out with the best intentions but it dwindles downs around March because it’s not set out how I prefer, or it’s a hassle to wedge open a tiny a6 book. In the end I just made a fabric book cover for an ugly lined notebook which in turn ended up being a sketchbook for sewing plans rather than a real planner, which end up being a bunch of sticky notes and scrap bits of paper.

So what better than a planner which I can personalise exactly how my neurotic personality demands, basically with lots of long columns for lists, a pretty design and a spiral binding for easy opening. 

You can check it out them out at personal planner or on their facebook page. I like that you can customise the space on the planner pages with to do lists (yay!), notes or just blank space for doodles. You pretty much get to pick everything, from how it looks inside with the ability to import friend’s birthdays directly from facebook and the spare pages at the back can be personalised too. 

So how do you win a free planner to help you out with your year? The competition is open internationally (since I'm in Australia) and it's as easy as these two steps:

1) Like Personal Planner on Facebook
2) Comment in the comments selection below on your most valued sewing tool? (mines my seam ripper by a long shot, since I'm always having to undo things)

The giveaway will close Tuesday 22 January 2013. The winner will be chosen by random number generator. Good Luck. 

Happy Crafting