Thursday, June 26, 2014

Odds & Ends

I’ve been a lazy blogger recently… so sorry! I’ve been keeping busy potting flowers and plants for our front porch and patio out back.

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And I put up a regular bird feeder and a humming bird nectar feeder.

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I have really been enjoying seeing the variety of birds coming by each day!!

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I finally got around to making a new nametag for our local guild here in Haymarket.

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And I made a new purse organizer insert.  I thought you might like to see how I made it in case you want to make one, too!!

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I used stash scraps of some decor weight fabrics for this project, because I like the heavier weight for sturdiness.

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I measured the size I wanted to fit my purse and added an inch all around for ease and seam allowances, then cut two pieces of fabric for the outside and two pieces for the lining. 

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I used fusible Pellon DecorBond interfacing on those pieces to make them stiff.  I thought about how many pockets I needed for my stuff and what size they needed to be, as well as, where I wanted them- inside or outside the insert.

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I cut out the pockets according to my needs- adding 1/4” to all sides for seam allowances. With right sides together, I sewed the top edge only of the larger outside pockets, then flipped it right side out, pressed that seam and topstitched it.

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I used the stitch and flip method for these pockets- meaning I laid the unfinished bottom pocket edge where I wanted the pocket to end-facing up toward the top edge on the right side of the insert.

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Then I stitched across that pocket edge from side to side using a 1/4” seam allowance. Then when I flipped the pocket up, and pinned the sides, the bottom raw edge of the pocket is enclosed inside the pocket.  I hope I explained this method well… it’s kinda hard to put into words sometimes!!

I decided to leave one large outside pocket as it was for coupons, so I just basted the pocket to the sides.

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But I decided I wanted the other large outside pocket divided into two pockets, so I marked where I wanted it divided and sewed through all thicknesses on that line, creating two pockets on that side.

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Next, I sewed the inside pockets with right sides together, leaving an opening each time, to turn it through.

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I then turned them right sides out and pressed them and topstitched them on the top edges.

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I placed them where I wanted them on the insert lining pieces.  On one side, I was putting one tall pocket and one elastic strip to hold pens and my reading glasses tube.

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I pinned that pocket and inserted one edge of the elastic under the pocket, so the raw edge would be hidden behind it.  Then I sewed the pocket on, then sewed the elastic into loops to hold my items.  The other raw elastic edge would be enclosed by the side seam!

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The other inside lining piece would have two long shallow pockets for holding my checkbook and some business cards.  I placed them and sewed them down on three sides.

Now, sew the two side seams on both the outside bag and the inside lining pieces.

I wanted two loops for the top of the insert, so I cut two strips and made the loops using the same method as I make my quilt binding- by pressing the strip in half lengthwise –

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open it back up and fold and press the raw edges into the center fold.  Then I topstitch the two long edges.

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Next I basted those loops onto the right side of the bag lining over the side seams.

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Place the outside and lining with right sides together, matching side seams and stitch around the top edges with a 1/4” seam allowance.  Turn right side out and press and topstitch around that top edge.

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Next, turn the bag with the outer right sides together, and pin and sew across the insert bottom.  I then zigzagged the seam edges to finish it.

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Lastly, I boxed the corners, by aligning the bottom seam and the side seam forming a triangle.  Draw a line across wherever you want to create the depth you want. 

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Sew across the line, trim off the triangle point and zigzag the edge.  Repeat on the other side. Turn right side out!!

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Taadaa!!  You are done!

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And because you made it to fit your purse, it is a perfect fit!!  YAY!!

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So, what have you all been up to lately?

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Saturday, June 14, 2014

Happy Father’s Day to My Daddy!

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That’s my family in 1956- the year I was born!

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That’s us a few years later…

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and even later! 

My poor Daddy…

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He is the most amazing man and beloved father!!

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I hope he has the most wonderful Father’s Day!

I love you, Daddy!!

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Friday, June 13, 2014

Design Wall Up!

Well, it only took 10 months,

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but I finally got my big design wall up!

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In my previous sewing room, I put the design wall fabric directly on the wall and held  it there with flat thumbtacks.  Then I cut and mitered molding painted white to use as a frame around the fabric which covered the tacks.

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That worked fine, except occasionally when I needed to pin something…YIKES!!  Really hard to pin directly into wall board!

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So this time, I did what my brilliant bee friends suggested and bought foam insulation sheets from Lowes and wrapped the fabric around the board, secured it on the back with duck tape, then mounted that on the wall.

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But I was not happy with how the mitered corners matched… or should I say did NOT match up… sigh…

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So, I made some fun dimensional flowers that looked very Mary Engelbreit-ish,  like the rest of the room, to glue on to hide the ugly mitered corners.

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Then I pinned up those quilt block window valances I made for my windows in there but later decided I did not like and took down …

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The design wall is 5 feet tall by 6 feet wide, a foot shorter than the previuos one, but it would have had to touch the ceiling to be that big in this room because of the dresser!

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But I am pleased how it looks there and glad it is finally up!!  Yay!!

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One more thing off my never ending list of things to get done!!

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So how about you?  How is your list coming along??

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Monday, June 9, 2014

Pillow Talk!

I’m slowly checking off the things on my “To Do” list of home decor items to make for the new house!!

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I needed to make new smaller throw pillows for the two Queen Ann recliner chairs in the library.

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I used a mini-charm pack of Scrumptious and a few white on white scraps for this pillow.

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I made the two sides different for variety!!

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This one is made from a set of signature blocks I received from an online block exchange over five years ago!

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I never knew what do do with them before, but I do like the resulting pillow.

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I made the two sides different, too!

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So, next on my list is a large wall quilt for my bedroom to go here…

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so Yogi says to stay tuned!!

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So, what are you sewing on this week?

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