Saturday, August 23, 2014

Getting Some Closures


I’m one of those dudes who has what I call, the final step problem. You know what I mean? Do I put away my clean laundry or just pick out of the laundry basket all week? Do I put away the dishes or just pull the clean ones from the dishwasher. So it should be no surprise that there were sewing projects also waiting for final touches. Those missing final touches being that I needed to be added were closures.
But I there was no more time to procrastinate! Some of these bags had new homes to go to so I couldn't put it off any longer.



You remember my Daycare Bag right? I really struggled to think about what type of closure would be best for its function. I don’t think a bigger clasp would have been beneficial for a mom or dad on the go shoving last minutes items into the bag. So I just decided to be unoriginal and just do some snaps. I figured if they actually needed to close it that these would be sufficient.


I was a little apprehensive putting these on. I've done grommets before, which I didn't realize are very similar to these. The instructions on the back of the package were so tiny and vague. So I reached out to the internet thinking, “no big deal – there’s probably a youtube video showing how to do this”… yea, no (or at least I couldn't find one). I was lucky enough to find this blog called Sid's In Stitches – this Sid lady is my new hero cause without her showing me the steps I might have blown threw more snaps than I had on hand. Anyways, this is why I created this blog – to say thanks, so thanks Sid!




The last bag that needed a closure before it got sent out was my Hippy Dippy Bag. This one could handle a bigger and badder closure, so I found this leather toggle cutie to use. I figured big deal – I just need to sew this down…. Well, you know how I’m complaining that I don’t have proper needle usage down? Yea I think I’m still having that problem because when I tried to sew this down I got some for real eyelashing problems. But maybe the tension was wrong….

So I had to think about what I could do. I decided to change it up and use a.... a... back-and-forth stich? a... a... tight zig-zag stich? Man I just really need to educate myself soon on these terms.

I of course I did a quick google to see how others were sewing on their leather toggles. I found a blog by a lady named Maris called Sew Maris. She’s amazing and a talent. How she put on her leather toggles on was inspired and the coat she made was perfection.

Maybe I learned something, maybe I just need to re-read my old posts:
  • Maybe as I get further along I really need to take a class or read a book.  It's fun discovering on my own, but I think a little training could go a looooonnng way.
  • When all else fails do it your way and love it.
  • I love finding new sewing idols and learning from them.  <3 <3 <3




Thursday, August 14, 2014

My Heavenly Headbands


See, I told you I could find something else to sew other than tote bags!  I decided to make headbands simply because I saw them pinterest and they looked like a great gift to make for friends.  I made some car seat covers for some lady friends of my mine who had kids recently.  Well, unfortunately, one of the girls is moving away.  I know this will be sad for them both to leave each other, so I wanted to make something for them to remind them of their friendship.  I made them these fabric headbands out of the remaining fabric from their car seat covers.  Awh, I love them both so much and I hope these remind them of all their good times.

I choose the pattern and tutorial at Me and My DYI for Reversible Headbands.  One of the main factors for why I choose this one is because she used the kind of elastic I had (non-roll).  Originally I was thinking of making the Craft Snob’s DIY Headband because it involved fewer steps, but it uses fold over elastic – I’m not familiar with that and don't have any.  I probably could have used non-roll elastic, but… whatevs.  ANYWAYS, I like ones I made better anyways, they are cuter.


So the first one I made I followed Debbie’s instructions at Me and My DYI exactly. I love her instructions and details, but oi, she used one of those turn-inside-out-tools, and I haven’t had luck using my mom’s and I don’t have one so….. I felt that anxiety bubble up because I hate turning pieces inside out, but actually it wasn't that hard. I created my own concoction to pull the elastic through the strap.
It worked out just fine. You can follow her instructions and I’m sure they’ll turn out as perfect as her. That being said, I (of course) ended up altering her pattern. After sewing the first one I felt like it could use a bit of tweaking.

Okay, so below is what I had an issue with, the bands almost seemed too big. The top of the band like lifted off the head a little. You can see that I wanted it to have a pleat in it, so that it folded over. So I altered the pattern a smidgen.



As it turns out my elastic was ¾” and Debbie’s was a ½” so I need to change the pattern a bit anyways. Below you can see her original pattern below (folded in half) and my altered pattern above showing how I was accommodating the larger elastic size. The first one I made it was hard to pull the elastic through and because it was such a tight fit it kind of twisted around a bit.  BUT as you can see in the bottom picture, the fold over came out amaz.





Anyways, they turned out so great. I did a couple where I did reversed for the two ladies to each have a fabric from each other’s car seat covers. That being said, I’m not sure if it’s worth the extra work to make them reversible…. Cute, but, meh.




If you are reading this now I am probably at my sewing machine furiously making as many as I can for all the girls in my life. I hope these inspire you to make your own. Oh, here are some silly pics of me demo-ing these headbands for my friends.





What I learned before all the blood got stuck in my head from an overly tight headband:
  • Check yourself before sew yoself.  A couple of times I sewed the strap on the back twisted.  It’s hard for me to devote my attention 100% to sewing.  I either have the TV on in the background or chicken on the grill or something else dragging me away from the sewing machine.
  • A couple of times I just used my rotary cutter free-hand and the cuts which came out weird which meant that the final sewing came out weird too.  My mom always hounds on me to cut things out straight and correctly.  But my thing is that I have been able to convince myself that I can correct wonky cutouts by sewing them together straight…. I’m not sure I’m convinced anymore.
  • Can boys wear headbands, cause I look hawt. Jk, I’m not wearing them.  Maybe I’ll keep one for when I am washing my face. :)
  • GREAT project to get rid of your remnants and scraps.



Wednesday, August 6, 2014

I LOVE BATIK FABRIC!




UGH! I wanted so badly to do another sewing project this week, but I can’t because I'm going out of town! (WOOT!!)

Anyways I plan on moving away from tote bags officially… possibly…. Lol…. for the moment. I just really want to change it up to get new perspectives.

I thought show you the new fabric I bought. I LOVE BATIK FABRIC SO MUCH. It's so inspiring to me. Earlier, while getting supplies for my trip at a local box store, (I don't want to tell you cuz I hate admitting that I shop there) but for the price and the amount of fabric I got it was a good deal. I'm going to make stuff out of this in the upcoming weeks so stay tuned mi amigos.


Nothing new to learn this week, but here's some cool facts about batik: