Another Zippered Pouch

I made this lined zippered pouch for my niece.  She wanted one for her combs, particularly those long tail combs, so I made it  9" L x 3.5" W x 2.5" tall.

 It took me awhile to figure out how to determine the size of fabrics and zipper I would need for the pouch size I wanted.  I'm not really a numbers person so I had to draw and re-draw, measure and re-measure until I was sure.  And then I made one first out of scrap fabric just to be doubly sure my calculations were correct.

It's happened to me before that I've figured sizes and then measured fabric over and over again to be on the safe side and for some reason after it's been cut and sewn, it's off and I sit there not having a clue where I went wrong.  So, whenever I'm measuring and calculating, I'm always a little nervous.  However, in other areas of design I can just "eyeball" things and they are right on.  One example was when my husband and I were wallpapering the laundry room - correction, I was wallpapering the laundry room and he, being a general contractor, saw my methods and decided he needed to step in to make sure things turned out right.  Well, I started putting up a piece of wall paper on the wall and he said, "Wait! Did you measure and mark the wall to make sure the strip goes up straight?"  I said, "No, I know it's straight by looking at it."  Well, we debated for a couple minutes and he decided to pull out his tape measure and level and sure enough, it was right on.  I decided not to rub it in and he decided that I had just gotten lucky.  I knew better.  ;)

So, being more visual than anything, the most challenging part of sewing for me is when I'm not working with a pre-made pattern and I have to start adding measurements and seam allowances and 8ths and 4ths and halves together.  It's slightly embarrassing but here's my worksheet.

As you can see, I had to draw it over and over again, mainly so I could visualize it, and keep redoing the numbers.  Sheesh, my 12 yr. old son could have done this in his head.  He and his brother take after their dad that way.  C'est la vie  At least it's finished.  :)

I've contracted some sewing for a woman who sells children's clothing and accessories online, so I have megabillions of hours ahead of me to finish the products for her latest orders.  After that marathon, I want to make this triple zippered pouch I saw at the Sanrio website.

 

I'm thinking of brighter more colorful fabrics, but I love the 3-Zip.  I'm also thinking that I would probably add a little wrist strap to it.  I know a few girls who would love one of these, myself included.  Work first, then I can "play".  :)

Sewing Son

My 12 yr. old son came into my finally put together sewing room and asked if he could sew something.  He and his brother have sewn before, but it's been a little while.  I guess my new tidy, organized room is sew inviting that it drew him in - which is what I've been hoping it would do, mostly for me, but also for anyone else interested.  :)

After hemming and hawing, I gently told him I thought it was a bit late to start a sewing project after 10:30pm (even though I've been known to sew into the wee hours of the morning but I didn't want to go there) He had some ideas for what he wanted to make and we were looking online for some further inspiration and came across a plushie tutorial that sparked his interest.  So, tomorrow morning he'll (we'll) be starting on this one we found on Instructables.

How To Make A Grumpy Cat Plush by elewis03

Vintage Sewing Patterns

Remember when sewing patterns were only 65¢?

Umm.....no.

Apparently, that was the going price in the late 60's when I was just a wee lass.  I'm not divulging exactly how  wee.  Howie?

I found a bunch, which is more than some but less than loads, at a second hand store and I picked out several to take home with me.  Boy, looking at these is making me feel like I want to grab a ginger ale, plop down in my orange vinyl bean bag chair and watch an episode of Gidget.

And how could I resist this pattern for such cool threads?  Let's see, who do we have on here?  It looks like it could be  Lee Majors, James Gardner,  and Roger Moore.   I haven't figured out who the guy with the mustache is yet.

Real men wear embroidered shirts. 

Can you dig it?

Monkey Business

I had found this free, adorable, Molly Monkey pattern at mmmcrafts website.  I had downloaded it quite awhile ago, but just got working on it this past week.  It's not finished yet, but here's what I have so far.

(these pictures were taken with my phone so they're not the best quality)

 I have the beret sewn but still need to sew on it's ribbon band.

 I edge stitched all around the shoes and the red flowers and also added a few french knots to dress them up a bit.  I loved doing this hand stitching and wanted to make more of these shoes because they are so adorable!  But I don't have anyone else to wear them.  :))

My daughter had her own ideas about how she wanted the face to look, so it's slightly different from the original pattern.  I didn't sew up the skirt yet, but hope to get that finished this week.

My boys loved this doll and when they saw that there was also a Mikey Monkey pattern, they sweetly requested it.   I had so much fun sewing Molly that I am looking forward to sewing them a Mikey.  By the way, the Mikey Monkey pattern can be found at mmmcrafts Etsy shop.

 

(Thank you Larissa for such lovely patterns and instructions!)

Stuffed Toys

I've been feeling crafty lately, but I think it's because it's been SO long since I've done much sewing or crafting just for fun.  It seems that recently the only time I sew is when I have to make something.  And for a while I was doing some sewing for profit.  But, after I officially gave that up and put my machine away, I hadn't touched it for some time.  But, I finally pulled out the old Kenmore last week and got to work on a couple projects that didn't NEED to be done, but were just for enjoyment.  Here they are:

I did a couple little Owls for my boys.  I found this free "Easy Owl Pattern" at Toad's Treasures on blogspot.  Thank you Emily!!

We took a trip to the fabric store and I let my boys pick out their own fabric and decide on it's design.  They also did the stuffing and together we got them done in 1 afternoon.

My 10 yr. old decided that he wanted a "tummy" on his, which was not on the original pattern, and so he picked an old world map design fabric for that. 

 

It's hard to tell here, but my 7yr. old picked out black and white checkered and zebra print felt for the eyes and feet, and the wings are black and white owls.  He later wished that he had picked a "tummy" piece as well, but he's still happy with it.

These were so easy and so much fun to make that I definitely want to make more of them.  I actually picked out fabric to make an owl for myself, but I haven't gotten to that one yet.  That will have to wait for another day.  :)