Reversible Purse

In the middle of the week i had an idea to make a reversible purse. This took me a about a couple hours spread over 2 nights. I had some pink cord left over from my gyro mouse bag (see May 2008), which dictated my fabric choice of the cat fabric also leftover from gyro mouse bag and pink from an old tank top left over from the t-shirt quilt (see June 2008).

My first step was to take a piece of newspaper, my wallet, keys, and cell phone to create a template for the purse that would hold all those contents easily. I decided on 20 inches long by 10 inches wide, then I cut out the cat fabric to use a template to cut the pink fabric.

I stretched the shirt over the cutting mat so i didn't cut through both layers of the fabric

The pink fabric is almost cut to the same size.

a preview of side one.

A preview of side two.

I then sewed the top and the bottom closed while the fabric was inside out [good side to good side].

next, while still inside out I sewed the sides down 3 to 4 inches which will be the front flap.
The result of all the sewing on the reverse side.

Next I turned the purse right side out and on the open edges i tucked the raw edges in and pined everything down.
Then I folded the open area in half and then sewed along both edges.

Next i used my sewing machine to put in button hole stitching.

Button hole on the reverse.

I used a seam ripper to open the button hole.

then i attached the buttons back to back, make sure you leave enough slack when sewing the buttons so that they will still slip through the button hole.


The last step was to hand sew in the cord, right under the fold. there should be enough space to tuck the cord a 1/4 inch or so into the bag to hide the raw edges.


The finished purse side one.

The finished purse side two.


The filled finished purse.

Slip Covers for Sofa

My boyfriend had a little sofa whose 70's plaid cushion had come to their demise so I made some new cushions for the sofa.


Step 1: was to get 5 inch thick foam from joanns when it was on sale and cut it in 24"x20" squares. there was a little extra piece at the end of the foam which I made into a side cushion.

Step 2: get a whole bunch a fabric and cut it to size.

This is a picture of the foam and the cut fabric.

Step 3: sew all of the pieces together except one long edge, which the zipper will be sewn into it.

Step 4: sew the zipper in the one long piece for all 5 pieces.

Step 5: sew the last piece into place and stuff with the foam.

The finished sofa. I left the fabric a little baggy so that i could put some batting in to hide the rough edge cuts. turns out you can't really see it. so the batting will be the next step.

But Fredo doesn't care and is enjoying the sofa anyway!

Blood Drop Buddy

These are my Blood Drop stuffed toys. I got the Pilgrim one 6 years or so ago for giving blood, and a friend that works for the blood bank recently sent me the gold one. The gold really is not my style and I thought compared to the Pilgrim he could use some more style. After taking some suggestions the style that won was Lederhosen...




Here is the before shot

i took the bow off and measured for the circumference of the pants and sewed this together in a tube and did the same for each leg.

I then pinned the body and legs together along with an extra piece to join everything together. i pinned everything on the inside to keep the seams hidden.

the finished pants!

I then made some two straps by sewing a mini tube of fabric and sewed then so that they cross in the back.
final pants!

no more hat!

take a rectangle of fabric and fold it into a trapezoid by bringing in the corners to a point at the center line and running a few stiches to keep that point.


then you can kinda push the center down to make the shape you want to for the hat.


I used clear thread to sew the hat onto his head.

the criss cross straps


the buddies back together again!

Sweater One Reconstruction

The before shot

I cut along the center and added some extra fabric to attach the zippers to trying to follow the logic of this craftsters post

this is the sweater with the fabric added. where my sweater is different that the shirt demonstrated in the link, which i am trying to demonstrate in the picture is that you can pinch a roll of fabric along the center. most of my zip of sweaters have that so i thought i would try it.

this picture is showing how the length of the zipper was just a bit too long so i just hand stitched over it a bunch of times i link under where i wanted to just it off. I think the zipper package usually gives directions. my scissors were not being friendly this night so that's what i did. make sure you cut an even/level amount off each side

the cut edge!

close-ish up shot on the top.

close up on the bottom. which could use some finessing but that's for another night.

I also added pockets. final desired size was 5x5 inches so i cut 6x6 inch squares and put them about inch from the zipper and 2.5 inches from bottom.

The after shot

Simple Brown Purse

outside fabric

Lining fabric

Sew one side

sew the zipper in: just continue along one hand sewing one side at a time

here is how the zipper should look.

on the other side you will have to sew in the ribbon to serve for the strap. i think i got a yard because it was cheap, like .33 cents a yard and i just a tie a pretty knot at the top depending on how much i need. this way i would have plenty left to leave excess and sew into the bag. it will be visible from in the lining. also be sure you don't have any twists in the ribbon its not going to be fun to fix it later.

once the straps are in place continue sewing in the second side of the zipper.

once all that is done you can sew the final side of the bag.

if you turn it inside out this if what it should look like.

the finished bag from the top down.

the finished bag!

Halloween Clothing Reconstruction

I wanted to make a Halloween outfit without spending too much money for the economics themed party that was being held at some friends house. this costume is for a "slutsky equation" were the costume design gave emphasis to the first word.

I adapted the directions for triangle camisole found on this site

first you take a regular t-shirt, it can be one that fits you or not. this one made it to the pajama shirt/rag pile because it had a run in with the bleach.



second you cut off the shirt under the armpits, this tube of fabric becomes the base of the shirt now. at this point you would size the tube to fit you, in this case i did not need to make those adjustments.

third you cut out triangles from the sleeves, so you can leave the upper part of the shirt to cut 1.5 to 2 inch wide strips to make the strings that hold the shirt up.

once the triangles are cut position them on the shirt while you try it on, pin it in place and then sew it down. also before you do this you may want to hem the top part of the shirt to give it a finished look.

next you need to sew the strips together to make them long enough to tie around your neck.

once you have two long strips completed fold it around one of the triangles as shown here, pin in place and sew up the whole length of the strap to give it extra stability.

here is what one looks like, then do the same thing for the other side and you are done.

tada the finished shirt!

now what is a shirt with out a skirt??

i had this skirt, i didn't really like how it fit me and the zipper had recently broken so needless to say i never really wore it, so i decided it would be a prime target to adjust to fit me better. my goal with this skirt was to make it wider so it would fall at my hips and not my waist and shorter to fit with the Halloween theme.

here is the skirt in its original state


task one was to take of the zipper and the back seam.

then i measured about where i wanted to cut the fabric, keeping in mind the construction of a skirt where the front is a little shorter than the back by a half an inch or so.


i cut off the bottom length and pined it in place on the sides, keeping in mind the grain of the corduroy, once these were sewed in place i made a final fit adjustment and sewed the back shut. i made this a slip on skirt for ease.

then i hemmed the bottom and the raw edges on the back and voila! a new shorter wider skirt

Warm Fuzzy "Full Slanket"

This is a variation on the slanket or blanket with sleeves. hence the name "full slanket" as this warm fuzzy has a back to it. It is made with 3.5 yards of Fleece.
Directions are forthcoming but the main feature that sets this apart from other similar products is the side drawstring to pull up the extra length from your feet when you walk.