SMS Giveaway WINNER!!

Wow! I am overwhelmed by how many comments I got for my giveaway!!

One hundred and forty three to be exact!

Thank you to all who stopped by my little blog. I loved each and everyone of your kind words. One commenter mentioned that 143 names was a lot of work to put into a hat...and she was right! I actually ended up using random.org. That was a lot easier!

The lucky winner is....JORDAN!! Congratulations!

Jordan will be the recipient of my Paisley Ruffle Apron, from my shop, just stitch.

I had so much fun participating in the Sew Mama Sew! Giveaway Day, that I will definitely do it again. Meanwhile, I will keep posting new tutorials and other things I find fun and interesting!! Please come back, don't be shy!

Happy sewing!!

Sew Mama Sew May Giveaway Day!!

(**This giveaway is now closed. I will post a winner later today! Thank you for all who participated!)

I am excited to be taking part in the Sew, Mama, Sew! May Giveaway Day! Go on over and check out the master list of all the participants and hopefully you'll win some awesome stuff!

If you are stopping by for the first time, thank you and 'Hello!' I hope you enjoy my little blog.

Ok...I bet you are all wondering what you could win...I thought and thought about what would be a fun and worthy prize. I decided to give away one of my aprons from my shop!

My Paisley Ruffle Apron, to be exact!

I hope you like it!

How do you win, you ask?? It's simple. All you have to do, is leave a comment for this post. Please be sure to include your email address in the comment so I can contact you if you win.

That's it.

Really!

The giveaway will be open until Wednesday, May 25. I will randomly draw a name from a hat to select the lucky winner. Please check back on Thursday, May 26 to see who won! I will also post the winner on my Facebook page.

Good Luck! Be sure to go visit my shop, just stitch., to see more of my lovely aprons and gifts!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tutorial: The Anywhere Bag

Summer time is upon us which means lots of traveling for my family. I have a laundry bag I made a couple years ago that always travels with us to hold our dirty clothes. I decided to alter the size to make it smaller and came up with:

The Anywhere Bag!

It's so versatile, you can use it for diapers/wipes, toys (which is what I use it for while we travel), crayons and coloring books...you name it!

I am not sold on the name...what do you think? This is what I've been calling it to myself and it just kinda stuck...

You really can take it anywhere and use it for anything...as an added bonus, it's reversible!

To begin, gather your supplies:

Outer fabric cut: 22.5" x 13"

Lining fabric cut: 22.5 x 13"

Casing piece cut: 4" x 44"

Drawstring cut: 2-21" x 3" pieces

Safety pin, scissors, iron, straight pins, pinking shears (optional)

Casing:

Fold the casing in half, right sides together, short ends together. Sew together using a 1/2" seam, to make a tube. Iron seams open.

Flip tube right side out, center the seam and press tube flat.

Fold in half lengthwise and press. The seam should now be hidden on the inside. Set aside.

Drawstring:

Using a 1/2" seam allowance, sew together the drawstring strips along the short ends (right sides together) to make one long strip.

Iron the long strip in half lengthwise (wrong sides together). Open strip and fold long edges to the center crease and press. Now refold in half and press again.

Top stitch about 1/8" from outer edge. (Not shown in picture) Use your pinking shears to cut each end to help prevent fraying. Set aside.

Bag:

Place the casing piece on top of the main panel (right side facing up) matching the raw edges. Make sure to center the casing so that there is about 1/2" of the main panel showing on each side.
Now place the lining panel directly on top, right side down. Line it up with the main panel. Sew a 1/2" seam across all 3 pieces.

Press everything nice and flat.

Now open the bag so both the main panel and lining panel are laying flat and facing up. Re-fold in half lengthwise, matching up the lining to lining, and main panel to main panel (right sides together). I don't have a picture of this step, sorry! If you skip down 2 pictures, this may help you visualize what I am talking about.

Pin the bag around all the sides. On the lining piece, measure about 4" at the bottom. Mark with your marking pen. This will be the hole left open for turning the bag right side out. Sew 1/4" around the entire bag, except the part for turning. Make sure you don't sew anymore than 1/4". This is very important!

Your bag should now look like this. Clip corners and flip right side out. Use a pencil or turning tool to push the corners out.

Bag flipped right side out. (I haven't poked out the corners yet)

Fold in the opened edges you left open for turning. Pin and either hand sew or edge stitch the opening shut. Push the lining down into the main panel.

Using your iron, press around the casing to help the lining lay nicely. Almost done!

This step is optional, but I ran a stitch around the top edge of the bag, for a more polished look.

Using your safety pin, run the drawstring through the casing, making sure not to pull all the way through.
Center the drawstring so there is an equal amount on each end.

Find the center of the casing (it should be at the fold) and sew a few stitches to tack the drawstring in place, so it doesn't come out.

Tie a knot at the end of each drawstring.

That's it!

Now stuff it full of goodies!

Main panel is by Ann Kelle, lining fabric is Riley Blake.

**Like I said earlier, this can be made in any size you want! It works great as a laundry bag, too!

Tutorial: Reversible Super Hero Cape!

Got a super hero in your life? Every good respectable super hero needs a cape, right?

Right!

I figured I had bombarded y'all with tutorials for little girls, so I needed to come up with something for the little men in your life! My son, Bobby, is currently obsessed with super heroes, flying, and jumping off of everything. This is such a fun stage!

I got inspired for this cape by the comic book super heroes. Classics like Batman, Superman, Captain America and Bobby's favorite, Spiderman.

Here's how I did it:

Reversible Super Hero Cape

Supplies:

2-1/2 yards cotton fabric, colors of your choice

Scrap pieces of fabric for accent color

2-8.5"x 11" pieces of black felt (found in the craft section)

iron on interfacing for appliques

3-4"velcro

paper (for stencil)

fabric glue

scissors/pins/iron

Measure your little guy and determine how big you want the cape. Mine was roughly 19"x 21". Cut 2 main panels. (**Note** I cut rectangles. Looking back, I wish I had made the sides angled, more like a triangle. I think the cape would lay better at the neck this way.)

Iron your interfacing onto the back of a scrap piece of fabric. Once you decide on the applique you are happy with, trace it onto the fabric and cut. Other words would work great too! How about: 'Bam!', 'Boom!', 'Zap!', or 'KaPow!'...those would all be fun also!

After you cut out your word and are happy with it, use a little fabric glue and glue it onto a black piece of felt. Then cut the felt so it leaves a little black outline around your word. (You will sew the word into place later, the glue is just to keep it where you want it for now.)

Using your interfacing again, iron it onto the back of the contrasting fabric and cut out a fun shape (A starburst, perhaps?? Not really sure what to call it). Then using a straight stitch, edge stitch all the way around, attaching it to the cape.

Pin your word on top of the starburst, then edge stitch all the way around.

Now do the same for the other side of the cape. Iron on the interfacing, cut out your shape and glue it to the felt. Then cut around the felt leaving some black showing to create an outline. Then cut out another starburst in a contrasting color and edge stitch both into place. You can do what ever you like! I used a lightning bolt.

It should now look like this, after sewing it into place.

After ironing both panels, place them right sides together and pin. Sew a 1/2" seam allowance along the 2 sides and the bottom, leaving the top open . Turn right side out through the top and press with your iron again. Edge stitch around all 3 sides and press.

The top edge should still be unfinished.

Using the fabric you have leftover, cut 2 strips, one of each color. I cut 2"x 23", I think. Sew along the long edge and 2 short edges with 1/4" seam allowance. Along the other long edge, I sewed about 2" from each side, leaving a long area that was left open for turning. (You can see in the picture I marked it with my marking pen.

Turn the strap right side out and press. Make sure the opened area is folded under 1/4" .

Fit the cape into the opened area and pin into place. Then using an edge stitch, stitch all the way around the rectangular strap, sewing it into place.

Almost done! My super hero...patiently waiting for his cape to be finished!

Now, cut 2-3" of velcro and sew it to the ends of the strap, on opposite sides.

'BAM!' You are done!!

Now let his imagination run wild!!

Pretty Hair Bow Holder

Lily has a lot of hair. So naturally, she has tons of hair bows! I needed something to do with them that would make finding them easier. I found this tutorial and loved it. I loved the look of the polka dots, so I found a yellow and white dot scrap of fabric on Etsy that was the perfect size for my frame. Hobby Lobby is a great place to find large frames for projects like this, because there isn't any glass in them to worry about. Plus, the frames are usually 50% off at least twice a month! Score!

I think it turned out really nice and it looks great in Lily' room. I think it would make such a cute gift!!

Finished!

I plan on hanging it above Lily's dresser, but for now, I just leaned it against the wall.

This is why Lily must wear hair bows! Poor girl, she can't see!!

There. That's better!