Category: SYTYC

Thank you to everyone who voted for my nursery canvases! I’m working on the tutorial and hope to have it up in the next few days! In case you missed the post, here it is:

We’re renters. So when we moved into our home, right before our baby was born, I had a hard time decorating her room. The walls are a caramel copper color and while not necessarily a “girly” shade, I fell in love with Heather Bailey’s Nicey Jane fabric and thought the prints, reminiscent of the 1940′s, complimented her brown walls.

I made some curtains and a few crib sheets, but when it came to decorating the walls I was stuck. Her room has remained quite bare until now! Using a mix of paint, paper and fabric, I created 7 unique canvases to adorn the wall over her dresser, which up until recently housed a changing pad.

I love the way they came out and they dress up the room so much! Every time I go in, I can’t help but smile at my artwork, and hope it makes my darling girl happy, too.

I made this little dress in about 3 hours and for under $20! I used some soft polyester knit I found at Hancock Fabrics for $4.99/yard. I got 5 yards, and with my 40% off 1 cut of fabric coupon, my total came to $15.87 after tax!! These dresses sell for upwards of $200 in stores, so I’m thrilled with my savings!

I found these dresses on Craftster years ago and have always loved them. I hadn’t thought about them in a while and was really excited when I decided on making one for my Red Week challenge. I read several blogs about how people made these and I was confused. All the directions were basically the same, but none took me step by step through the process. And no one’s math was the same! So using some from here and some from there, I was able to simplify them.

First, you need to do some measuring. To get the size of my circle skirt, I needed to measure my waist: 30″.  I measured right at my belly button because that’s where the waist of this dress sits. To make that into a pattern, I needed to find the radius of a circle the size of my waist, so I divided by 6.28. You don’t need to know the fancy math, just trust me.

So, 30/6.28 = 4.7. I adjusted this to 4.5″ because my knit fabric stretches so it doesn’t have to be exact.

Then I decided on length of skirt and came up with 18″. In hindsight, I wish I’d gone about 4″ longer, but that’s just because I like to wear my skirts right below my knee instead of right above it. So decide length based on your personal preference.

To make your straps, you need to decide how wide to make them. To cover your bust, measure from your breastbone, over the fullest part of your breast, and to the middle of your underarm. Mine is 11″ (yes, I have gigantic hooters).

To determine strap length, you need to make them 1.5 times your height. It’s daunting, but doable! I’m 5’5″, which is 66″. 1.5 times 66 inches is 99 inches, but I just rounded up to 100.

So, got that? You need 4 measurements: waist divided by 6.28, length of skirt, width of straps, and length of straps.

To make your pattern, get packing paper, freezer paper, or a bunch of pieces of computer paper taped together. Start at one corner and measure down the first number you came up with for your waist. Mine is 4.5″ so I made a curved mark 4.5″ from the corner. Do this with the old pencil-on-a-string trick, or make a series of little marks and connect them with a line.

Then I measured 18″ down from that and made another line for my skirt length.

Cut out on your lines. You’ll have 1/4 of your circle skirt.

Now, keeping your fabric folded in half with selvages matched, fold the fabric in from the end so it’s doubled on itself. Place your pattern so the 2 straight lines match up with the edges.

Next, cut a waistband 10″ tall and the length of your waist you measured. So mine was 10″ by 30″. (In the picture mine is longer than 30″ but trust me on this! Make it the length of your waist measurement!)

Next you’ll have to cut your straps. You’ll need to lay your fabric out flat somewhere (and it’s 3 yards for me, so quite a bit of space!) to cut them all at once.

I kept my fabric folded in half  so I could cut both straps at once. I took my ruler and placed pins 11″ apart, every 2″ the length of the fabric. Well, 100 inches of it, anyway!

Then I cut along the pin lines to get my straps.

Now for construction. A lot of people call this the 1 seam dress because it’s easy to do at once. I’d recommend doing it in parts, and wish I had.

Open up your circle skirt. If there are sides to your fabric, place the right side up.

Get your straps. They need to be overlapped a little, 3 to 5 inches is average for what I read. I opted for 5″ because I’m quite modest about my chest. So overlap the straps at one end and pin.

Take them to your skirt, and deciding a middle point, place the middle of the overlapped straps down.

I then pinned the straps from edge to edge.

This is where I recommend stopping and starting the sewing. Just sew the straps on then come back. If you’re daring, keep reading to learn how to do it at once. It was just difficult to keep all the layers in the right place.

Take your waistband and fold it in half. Start in the middle of the front of the dress and sew the waistband on, all the way around to the beginning. There should be just a little overlap.

After securing the waistband to the dress, sew around the perimeter again, making sure everything has been included and reinforcing your seams. If you don’t have a serger, do a wide zigzag on your regular machine.

I took the waistband in the front and sewed the pieces together. I guess other people leave it V-shaped, but I wanted a more complete feel to my dress. I used black thread to show where I stitched because this part will never be seen.

(Please forgive the bunching at the waist. I made this dress to fit me, not my mannequin, and she hasn’t had 2 kids in the last 3 years!)

So this is what the completed dress looks like:

Then when you start wrapping it, you put it up over your bust one strap at a time.

To learn to tie it, I spent a lot of time on YouTube watching videos. There are a ton of them out there and they’re all super helpful.

To make my gym bag, I used:

2 yards outer fabric
2 yards inner fabric
1 yard inner fabric (contrast and bag)
1.5 yards 70 weight Pellon interfacing
.5 yards lightweight fusible interfacing
ribbon
1 9-inch zipper
1 magnetic closure
Elmer’s craft bond spray adhesive

I started with the outside first, so I cut 2 pieces of interfacing 19″ x 25,” 2 pieces of fabric to 19″ x 25,” 1 piece of fabric 13″ x 25″ (floral) and another piece of fabric 14″ x 25″ (blue).

Then using my Elmer’s spray adhesive, I attached my fabric to the interfacing. **I highly suggest you do this outside. Not only does it smell, but it gets EVERYWHERE. I’ve been using this stuff for nearly 10 years so I don’t mind doing it inside. But consider yourself forewarned–it’s sticky and it’s HARD to get off!

Once my fabric was attached, I flipped the pieces over and traced 4″ in from the sides and the bottom to give my bag it’s depth.

To make the pocket, I placed right sides together, lined the edges up, and sewed at 1/2″ seam allowance. Then I ironed the seam, flipped the blue part over the seam, so it shows 1/2″ on the floral side, and ironed it flat. The bottoms should line up evenly now.

Lay the pocket to top of one of the outside pieces and mark where you want your pockets. I chose to mark the center so I’d have 2 big pockets, then 4″ in from the side to have 2 skinny side pockets.

Then sew down the lines you marked. I also sewed a line all the way across, 4″ from the bottom so my pockets didn’t wrap around under the bag.

Cut the 4″ squares you traced on the back sides, and sew the outside of the bag together. (I have more information and pictures on how to do this in the lining, so keep reading!)

For the lining, I cut 2 pieces 20″ x 25″ (yes, 1 inch taller than the outside pieces), 1 piece 16″ x 25,” and 1 piece 13″ x 25.” Then I cut 2 pieces 2″ x 25″ and made them into bias tape for the accents on the top of the pockets. I cut 1 piece 12″ x 24″ for my lined, zippered pocket.

Now, the fabric I used for my lining isn’t just lightweight quilting cotton like the rest of my fabric. It’s a thicker bottom weight, so I only cut 1 of each for the inner pockets. If you think your fabric will be too flimsy with only 1 layer, cut 2 for each pocket.

To accent the pockets, I sandwiched the fabric between my pseudo-bias tape and stitched it down.

Then I lined my pockets up on one side of the lining and marked where I wanted my pockets. For the taller ones, I wanted 3 pockets, so I divided the fabric in 3rd and drew my lines.

For the shorter pocket, I only wanted 2, so I drew a line down the middle.

Now, to sew them down, you have to sew the shorter pocket to the taller pocket, then the taller pocket to the lining. If you sew the smaller pocket through all the layers, you’ll have a seam down the middle of the middle upper pocket. Make sense? So you want to carefully fold the lining piece back, and sew down your middle seam, attaching the short pocket to the tall one.

Then fold the short pocket in out of the way, and sew the tall pocket to the lining fabric.

Then I measured 4″ up from the bottom and drew a line. I then measured 4″ from the sides and drew my lines to make the box bottom.

I then sewed from the corner of one square to the other, to seal off the bottom of my pockets just like I did on the outside.

Then I cut out the square corners.

I then took my 12″ by 24″ lined pocket piece and ironed it to a piece of lightweight fusible interfacing of the same size. I placed it right sides together on my other lining piece, about 4 inches from the top. I drew a long, skinny rectangle, 9 inches long and .5″ tall. Then I drew a line down the middle and made 2 triangle shape marks at the end.

Then I sewed around the outer box shape,

and cut on my inner lines.

Then I put my pocket piece through the hole and pulled it to the other side.

And iron the opening flat.

Now, grab your zipper, and place it in the opening. If you’re a little afraid of zippers, DON’T BE. This is the easiest zipper you’ll ever put in anything, I promise!

Holding the zipper in the center, sew around the edge of the opening, staying close to the edge of the fabric.

I tried to use what I had on hand, and my only white zipper was 14,” so I just cut off the extra.

Now, take the bottom of the pocket and fold it up, matching the top and bottom, making a 12″ square.

And sew around the 3 open sides.

And you’ve got a cute, lined zippered pocket!

After cutting the corners on that side, place lining pieces right sides together, and sew down both sides, and across the bottom, leaving a hole several inches long to turn the bag through.

Now, the corners will still be open. Take them, place the seams from the side and the bottom together, and sew straight across.

Here’s a tip. When you place the seams together, lay one to one side and the other to the other side. This will even out the thickness of the fabric you’re putting through the machine, and it’ll give you perfect corners.

To do the magnetic closure, take 2 scrap pieces of interfacing, and mark the slits in the washer pieces that come with the closure.

Place them on the wrong side of each side of the lining, 3 inches from the top and centered.

Then I just stitch around each slit marking, making a sort of buttonhole for added security.

Cut on the lines and insert the magnetic closure.

For the straps, I cut 2 pieces 4 inches wide by 32 inches long of both the fabric and the fusible interfacing. Apply the interfacing to the wrong side of the straps.

Then fold down 1/2″ on each side and sew.

Fold right sides together and sew down the length of the strap. Then using a safety pin, turn the straps right side out, and sew down both sides for stability.

Originally, I was going to sew them on with an X, but decided to just sew them on in a “U” shape instead (the bag was too big and too difficult to manipulate through the hole in my machine to make it work the other way!). I placed each strap 2″ down from the top of the bag and eyeballed how far in from the sides I wanted it.

Now, take the lining and with right sides together, put the outside into the lining, making sure your straps are tucked down inside the 2 layers.

Pin the pieces together, and sew around the perimeter with a 1/2″ seam allowance.

Pull the bag through the hole in the lining and iron the top the same way you did the accent on the outer pocket. Then stitch the lining to the bag right along the fold, and sew the hole closed in the bottom.

And your bag is done!

To make the accessory bags, I estimated sizes. The floral one is 1 piece 15″ x 33″ and the striped one is 12″ x 24.”

So, I folded right sides together,

and ironed the top down 1″.

Then lift the flap, and fold the fabric down to the line you just ironed and press again.

Then fold down on the original crease and press (so your fabric is turned and ironed twice), creating a casing. Sew from the bottom of the bag to the edge of casing.

Then unfold the casing and fold over, aligning the fold with the seam. Press.

Repeat on the other side.

Fold the casing back down and iron, keeping your little flaps in so the edges are finished.

Sew along the bottom of the casing on each side of the bag.

I measure out ribbon twice as long as each side.

Thread it through with a safety pin and sew in the middle of each side to secure the ribbon.

Heat seal the ends, turn right side out and you’re done!

I narrowly beat my sister last week! What a race that was! Thank you for voting for my Game Day Gym Bag, a tutorial is coming very soon!

I come from a real sports family. Growing up we were on the field, on the court, in our backyard and watching it on tv. My Mom spent her days chauffeuring kids from one sport to another. I was always in search of a bag big enough for all the stuff I had to haul. I wanted a separate place to keep my shoes, a way to “hide” my clothes, and enough pockets to organize all the little things I liked to keep on hand. Every bag I got fell short of my expectations.

As an adult I don’t have the time to play organized sports anymore, but I do still love getting to the gym for some alone time. And I finally have the bag I always wanted! It’s full of pockets, a lined, zippered pocket for keeping keys, phones, and other important items from getting lost, and all the room you’ll need for your game day possessions. I made coordinating bags to store my shoes and clothes so I no longer have to worry about exposing all the funk on my shoes to the rest of my bag or dropping my sports bra on the ground as I dig for my keys. As an added bonus, I can toss the bags in the wash when they start to stink, saving my whole bag from that sporty aroma!

I actually made 2 crafts for the Game Day theme this week! My first project just didn’t seem like it was going to cut it, so last Wednesday I scrapped this idea and went with something else. But it was cute, so I want to share it. Just goes to show, the creative process for this competition is always moving!