Drawstring Bag Toy Play Mat with Zipper

For the Texting While Sewing Contest, with Amy over at During Quiet Time blog.  The challenge was to make a bag that includes a zipper and the design of the bag must use text fabric in a creative way, well I hope I have succeeded.

How easy was that?  A Zipper Text print right there!

I wanted to create something fun for my 4 Kids Christmas Swap Partner.  He is a little boy who loves music and one of the items his mom put in her mosaic was a car play mat, but she also wanted something that could be taken to Grandma's house.  So the perfect thing was a Drawstring Bag Toy Play Mat!  and what is wonderful is that Man Sewing put together a YouTube video on how to make one, I am such a visual learner!

I made 2 changes to the pattern, I made the interior a patchwork I-Spy ABC Quilt! I had to hand quilt it since I injured my back last week and I could not sit at a sewing machine, I love the extra texture it adds to the quilt.

AND I added a zipper in the middle of it so you can fold it up and tuck the toys into the zippered pocket and not worry about the toys falling out as she drives to Grandma's house.

text fabric inside ;)

 On a few of the blocks I embroidered the letter, but not on all of them, there are a few Instrument I-Spy blocks that might be harder to recognize.
These are some of my favorite blocks from the quilt.

Those Jellyfish, so cute, wasn't sure if he would know H for Hen, and those 3 flutes can also be called Nose Flutes!

Sadly enough I did not have enough of the ABC print for the exterior outside so I added a cute Cat Music Text print on 2 ends.

I think I will be making another one in the future, cause my daughter really liked it!  I asked her to pose playing on it for a photo and told her I would only get a picture of her back, she has been on a no photo kick since our vacation this summer.

But then she surprised me!

And asked for all of these photos to be taken, yes she still has a Pacifier, (guilty look by me) but she was sick all last night so she was especially needy for it today.
She lost her tooth 2 weeks ago and this is the first photo she has allowed me to make even though I have begged her for one.  Of course this picture took me a while to get also, but at least she was telling me to keep taking pictures and I was telling her funny things to make her smile.

Please move your Bibila (Pacifier in Greek) out of the way honey so I can take a picture of the zippered text pocket.

Many of the music prints also have text written on them, and I tried to match them up next to there ABC print, so this one says Butterfly and I put it next to the Birds.  Several of these music prints I bought from Sew Me a Song a sponsor of the Texting While Sewing Contest.

Check out the rest of the entrants on IG with the hashtag #textingwhilesewing2

More Curvy Clutch Hack Clutches!

I have made a few more of my Curvy Clutch Hack Pattern Clutches.
They make great Christmas Gifts, easy and quick to sew up, I like to do them in batches of two's.
I sewed these up for my Sister In Laws for Christmas, I hope they like them as much as I do,  we give out presents at Thanksgiving time since that is when the family gets all together.  I still have to mail mine cause we won't go to the States this year, so they need to go in the mail soon.

The top one has ruffled pockets on both sides.

Simple and beautiful!

I love the ruffle on this one, I only had a small piece it has little sailors, boats and anchors, so cute!

 Where are you taking your pictures, Mara?

At an abandoned house that overlooks our town of Kalabaka, Greece.

 And just down the street a little bit from our house (not shown in picture, but you can see the road I take to go to our house in the window frame).

You can also make a Curvy Clutch hack minus the ruffles, still bind the pocket piece, and also with out the hardware for the strap.

I sewed one of the pockets shut, so you can easily place your cell phone inside and it won't fall out while you are carrying your clutch.

The open side is next to the strap and the other side looks like a pocket, but I sewed it shut, didn't want to cover the cute girl riding her bicycle with the ruffle so that is why this one did not get ruffles.

I sent this one as a present to a friend who went the extra mile for me.
Will you be sewing up any Curvy Clutch Hack's for Christmas?  Let me know if you do, would love to see them, tag #thecurvyclutchhack if you are on IG.

Linking to Ho Ho Ho and on We Sew over at Ella and Nesta's blog this month!

The Curvy Clutch Hack

The Curvy Clutch is a Pink Door Fabrics Free Pattern, you can pick it up at their store, The Curvy Clutch Sewing Pattern. 
Everyone loves making it on IG, there are so many inspirational photos, just check out the hashtag #TheCurvyClutch

I wanted to just add a small twist a cute ruffled pocket for the front, to quickly put your phone in and a wristlet handle.

So I bring you The Curvy Clutch Hack Tutorial :)

Read through the instructions first and be sure to grab the instructions for The Curvy Clutch from Pink Door fabrics as well as print the 2 pages with the pattern.

Cutting Instructions:

Main Fabric - (1) 10.5" x 6.5"   (1) 10.5" x 5" for the ruffled pocket

Lining Fabric - (2) 10.5" x 6.5"

Ruffle Fabric and Binding - (3) 2 1/4" x 10"  

White Fabric -  (1) 10.5" x 6.5" goes behind the ruffled pocket (1) 10.5" x 5" the lining of the ruffled pocket (2) 2" x 9" the interior of the curved accent piece

(I used white fabric for the clutch pictured above, but use whatever you like)

Accent Panel - (2) 2 x 2" for the zipper tabs (2) 2" x 9" , cutting these and the 2 plain or white pieces above as the accent panel following the dark line on the bottom NOT the dash line from the pattern piece given in the Curvy Clutch pattern, page 8

Wristlet Strap - (1) 1 3/4" X 2 1/4" D-ring tab, (1) 1 3/4" X 10" (for a child) or 15" (for an adult)

Hardware: 1/2" D-ring and 1/2" Swivel Snap Hook , I get my hardware supplies from Emmaline Bags.

Interfacing (the pattern calls for 6 pieces of SF101, that's a lot for me, it is so hard to find here, so I have substituted it with Pellon TP971 Fusible Thermolam) (2) 10.5" x 6.5"

Fist Step:  Sew the Accent Panels together, following the directions from the Curvy Clutch Pattern, Step #3, remember you have cut yours on the solid line and not the dash line

Ironing:

1.  Iron the 2 Accent Panels you just sewed above.
2.  Iron the Fusible fleece to the 2 fabric pieces that are 10.5" x 6.5" (one Main fabric and one White fabric)
3.  Iron your zipper pull fabric and the 1 3/4" wristlet strap fabrics like she shows you in the Curvy Clutch Pattern Step #7
4. Iron the (3) 2 1/4" x 10" strips in half lengthwise, (making your pocket ruffle and binding)

Making the Wrist Strap:

1. In the Ironing Section Step #3 you ironed a 1 3/4" x 10" (or 15")  piece into 4, now follow this easy tutorial on how to make your strap.

Triming and Cutting:

1.  Trim the Fabrics you ironed above in step 2 using the Curvy Clutch Pattern Piece Main Panel, also trim your Two Lining Fabric cuts.
2. Cut (1) Ruffle Fabric that you ironed in step #4 above in half to make (2) 2 1/4" (but now ironed in half) x 5" pieces (this will be your ruffle pocket binding) 
3.  Place your 10.5" X 5" Main Fabric and White Fabric wrong sides together, Mark a line 3" from the top and 3" down,  Cut a diagonal line. 

Making the pocket is as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4! 

Sewing it All together:

1. Let's make the ruffles first, set your sewing machine to the longest stitch and sew 1/8" away from the raw cut edge, on both ruffle pieces, make sure to leave long tails at the beginning and end of each piece.  Then sew again 1/4" away from the raw edge, Pull the top thread to create your ruffle.
   
2.  Reset your stitch to it's normal setting and sew a 1/8" seam at the top of your pocket pieces (one piece main fabric and one piece white fabric) wrong sides together. (this is to keep them from wiggling around while sewing on the ruffles and binding)
3. Sew the ruffle to the pocket opening raw edges together a tad less than a 1/4", leave some of the ruffle hanging off both ends so you can trim down and have them in the seam allowance.
4. Take your binding piece and using wonderclips align the raw edge with the raw edge of the ruffle you just sewed on, flip it over and on the back side you should see the stitching from when you sewed down your ruffle, now sew just outside of that line it should be 1/4" to 3/8" 
5. Flip the binding over and to the back and sew down from the front just under the binding to catch the folded edge on the back side.
6. Now you have your ruffled pocket align the bottom raw edge of it to your 10.5" x 6.5" White Fabric and edge stitch 1/8" on the bottom. 
   
   
7. Take one of your Curved Accent Panel Pieces and align it with the top of the Main Panel, be sure to cover the top of the ruffle pocket and follow the directions from the Curvy Clutch Pattern, Step #6, 
8. Flip over your pocket piece and trim the ruffle and triangles to match the White Main Panel.
   
9. Do the same thing with the other Main Fabric Panel Piece and Curved Accent Panel, following the directions from the Curvy Clutch Pattern, Step #6 this is your back piece.
10. Attach your folded 1 3/4" D-ring tab to the the panel piece.
11.  You already ironed your zipper tabs above in the ironing section step #3 now follow the directions in the Curvy Clutch Pattern Step #7 to attach them to your 7.5" trimmed zipper.
12. Follow the steps 8 through 14 of the Curvy Clutch Pattern add your wrist strap that you made above and TaDa you know have a Ruffled Curvy Clutch!

If you make one be sure to use the hashtag #thecurvyclutchhack would love to see what you make.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Fabric used for this Curvy Clutch Hack are all Michael Miller Fabrics:

Lining and Accent: Out to Sea by Sarah Jane

Main Print: Color Me, Princess Paisley by Haley Crouse

Ruffle and Binding : Cotton Couture in color Peta

Linking to Bag it event over at Elm Street Quilts

          

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Said WIth Love Advent Calendar

Hello Everyone,
From the title you probably guessed I am getting ready to Celebrate Christmas Early!  And I am so excited that it is only 3 months away, can you believe it?
Are you ready to celebrate?  Do you have a hand made Advent Calendar to help you celebrate, or would you like to make one?

This is the Advent Calendar created by Anne Boundy of Said With Love.

Anne is hosting a Sew Along to make your own Advent Calendar, it is a relaxed Sew Along and there is no pressure, but I know I will be so excited to hang mine up on December 1st, here are the dates for the Sew Along.

Our Sew Along Schedule

26th September – purchase the pattern (a PDF will be emailed to you), select your fabric and start cutting
3rd October – start making the pockets
10th October – finish all the pockets (there are 25 of them to make!)
17th October – make the tree main section and borders
24th October – sewing on the buttons
31st October – catch up
7th November – quilting and binding
14th November – round up of the sew along
If you are on Instagram you can show your progress with the hashtag #SWLAdventCalendarSAL

I must admit my favorite part was decorating the tree, it went from this

to this.

added some buttons on the tree with metallic thread and little puffed up presents underneath.

The big buttons were fun to put on too, especially with my button pins, haha.

Taking photos of it was hard, since it does come out to a fairly large size, I had to stand on a chair in order to get a full picture of it and our little stray kitty was wondering just what I was doing.

I have it all packed up right now and can't wait for the next 68 days to pass so I can hang it up properly.

I was a pattern tester for the Said With Love Advent Calendar, but I do love this pattern, it is charm pack friendly and you use all of the little pieces of fabric, and this will be a family treasure.
Are you going to join us in the Sew Along?  You can find the pattern here.

FABulous Home Sewn

I want to introduce you to my friend Fenna of FABulous Home Sewn, go on over to her blog and browse around, she sews lots of things for her kids, she has 5!!
You can read more about her in the Canadian Pattern Designer Blog Hop, where she was featured this summer as one of the Great Canadian Designers!
And she makes the most wonderful patterns that make up great gifts for children or even for yourself, she is working on a handbag right now the pattern should be out soon and it looks fantastic.

She is giving one of her patterns above, the winners choice, to my 4 Kids Christmas Swap Participants, who made their mosaics and posted them on IG.

Drumroll.......And the winner is: Threehoneybees,   Congratulations!!!

Here are a few more pictures and some links to more of what I have made with her patterns, I have the Perfect Petal Purse and the Pirates Treasure Wallet, all of her patterns can be found on Craftsy.

 It is so hard to find something to sew up for boys, I have made these for my nephews and 2 for my son, the picture below shows it in action, he loves being able to pay for things by himself.

I have made 4 perfect petal purses, now I cheat a little when making them, I sew the interfacing onto a strip of fabric when making the leaves and then I sew the strips right sides together around the cut out leaf interfacing and then cut the leaves with my wavy rotary cutter, it makes making this purse super easy and can be done within one day and looks super adorable!  See more pictures here, with that change to the pattern.

 A BEE-autiful Sunflower Perfect Petal Purse, I just doubled the petals on this one.

Do I have any money?

More photos can be found here, here, here and here.

For The Kids Christmas Swap

I am addicted to swaps, and now my kids are too!
They love it when mail comes in but get very sad when they find out that it's not for them (mommy gets most of the packages)
So how about we do a swap that is just for our kids or gandkids!

In order to participate in this swap you must have an OPEN IG account, I'm sorry no Private accounts, I realize some people don't want family/children's photos out there, and you can make an account just for swapping, but I also believe especially in this swap that you will want to see at least one photo of the child you will be sending too.  Thank you.  If you do not have IG, but would still like to play along, shoot me an e-mail and we can see what we can do, grecomara@gmail.com

Here are the details:

1. Sign Up for how many children you want to sew for, 1, 2, 3 or 4, if more than that, please send me an e-mail first, grecomara@gmail.com
2. Tell me the sexes you want to sew for, maybe you have all girls and you want to sew for some boys, or perhaps the opposite, or in my case I would like to sew for both boys and girls.
3. You will make one medium SEWN item, ie. pillowcase, hoop art for the wall, purses, bags, on the go art bag, etc.  I will be making a Pinterest board filled with inspiration, tag me on Pinterest if you find some great tutorials and ideas too, I am grecomara on Pinterest.
4. You will make one item that doesn't cost you money to make, I am in the bad habit of buying new fabric for every swap I am in, so this is the item where I want you to look for something else, that to a kid would be just as fun, maybe even more fun to receive than the sewn item.  Like today my son received some remolded crayons in the shape of Darth Vader and Storm Troopers, he has had a blast playing with these (she did buy the molds, but for very cheap on Amazon).  I made dinosaur eggs for some swap kids a few weeks ago, and those were with basic items we had in the kitchen, something like that for the second item in the swap.
5. Okay now we will spend money, $5 , purchase a small gift item and have it nicely wrapped for the child, this is a Christmas swap, in fact try to wrap all the items, this item can be a few things adding up to $5, say a small toy and candy.  But let's try not to spend more than $5.
6. Send some information about where you live, a post card is good, or maybe a magazine clipping, so they can see where in the world their gift came from.
7. For EACH child you sign up for you will also send a FQ (Fat Quarter, or same amount of scraps) for the sewing/swap addicted Mama/Grandma/Man.

Okay, got it, 3 gifts PER child, you sign up to swap with 2/3/4 children you will be partnered with someone who has 2/3/4 children and you will be sending 3 items to EACH child. You don't have to send a postcard to each child, but the gifts need to be separated AND labeled, but of course can be shipped in the same package.  The only time this is not the case is if you sign up for just swapping for 1 child and then you send 3 gifts to just that one child and one FQ for the mama.  For each child you sign up for you will be sending 1 FQ (or equal amount) of fabric to the mama, (hey I also like presents too!), sign up for 1 child/1 FQ, 2 children/2 FQ's, 3 children/3 FQ's, 4 children/4 FQ's.


RULES/DATES:  Very important and I am a stickler to rules and will contact you via e-mail if I feel you are not participating correctly or following the rules, you will have 5 days to respond to me and if not you will be dropped from the swap.  Got it okay!

1. Swap Sign Ups open between July 4th to July 26th (Parents Day, how cool is that!)
2. Swap Partners Assigned by July 31st (this is a SECRET Swap, but each group will be small so it will be an intimate group and you will be able to follow each other without detection :)
3. You must make a post about your childs/childrens desires and loves by August 15th, I love using Pinterest, but you can also write a blog post or make a mosaic and let your partner know about these options via a picture or post to your OPEN IG account and using your groups hashtag.
4. Post a fabric pull or a pattern design/ free tutorial idea that you think would look wonderful for the child you are making FOR by September 15th.
5. I want to see a progress shot by October 15th, this is important, if I don't see anything by this date, I will give you five days to contact me (I will be contacting you, trust me) and if you do not contact me with some kind of communication (really I am open with the communication, e-mail, IG DM, or just even a comment on one of my pictures to let me know where you are at in this swap) you will be dropped!!!
6. SHIP DATE: International shipping date is November 16th.  Same Country ship date: December 5th.  We want these packages to arrive before Christmas, so if you can ship early please go ahead and do so and let your swap mama or myself (mara_makes) know when you have shipped. Thank you.
7. Please, Please if you can respond/heart/comment on at least 1/4 or 1/3 of the photos shared to the hashtag you are a member of, input, praise, and friendship is greatly appreciated in this swap.  I will really love this to happen and if you feel you have an especially quite partner, please inform me and I will give a friendly nudge to them so they can participate in this fun for the kids swap!!!

Are you ready!

1. You are making something beautiful for a kid!
2. Please make sure that what you are sending to this child is of a quality that you would like your child to receive. 
3. Trim away all threads, ensure that all thread ends are tied off, sunk in. (a real pet peeve of mine, come on, how easy is this)
4.  That all seams are finished and stitched in properly. (kids are really hard on their stuff, and this is very important, they can't be constantly warned to be careful)
5. Have FUN!  I love creating something new and making my kids the guinea pigs is always fun!  I made these cute Hello Kitty purses for a swap, but I first tested my pattern on a bag for my daughter and realized that although I thought it would be a good idea to have the shoulder strap in front and in back of the ear, it in fact made the shoulder strap very twisty.
   

 So this way my daughter got the "dud" and I sent the 2 good ones, but she still loves her dud Hello Kitty Purse.

So after reading all of that (are you still awake) do you want to join in this Fun Swap, all about making something awesome for a child, so that your child also receives something wonderful, then sign up here!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

SIGN UP HERE! 

Swap Giveaways:

The really fun part, I will be hosting 3 giveaways during this swap, so be sure to keep your ears/eyes open and share this swap with all of your buddies!  Giveaway dates correspond to the deadlines listed in the Rules section: August 15th, September 15th and October 15th!

"this is an IG swap, but if you do not have IG and wish to participate, please e-mail me, maybe we can work something out."

Sewing for the kids!

The reason I started sewing was because I wanted to make my daughter some cute outfits.
My mom flew from America with a sewing machine in her overhead baggage, but it took me 2 years to pull it out and actually sew with it, when my daughter was born, something about little girls just makes you want me want to sew!  So of course she gets the majority of my sewn items, but every once in a while I will sew something up for my son, like this wallet.

This is the 5th Pirate's Treasure Wallet I have sewn up, this pattern is from Fenna of Fabulous Home Sewn, the first one was for my son, last year, and he loves it.

He thinks he is rich and uses it to buy himself treats, like ice cream above, he is also very sweet and even bought his sister a birthday present with "his own money" now those are quotes, because obviously the money is from me, lol!

The inside has 3 card slots, a clear vinyl slot (Nik likes to use this area to place his treasures) a zippered change pocket that comes in very handy, also a place to place bills (not going to happen).  He has used his little wallet so much, I have also sent all of the nephews one.  I thought I would sew up a new one for his first grade graduation present.

Graduation photo!

 See he is even holding his old one here, it goes everywhere with him, and it was time for a new one.

The month before I sewed up the Perfect Petal Purse a pattern also my Fenna from Fabulous Home Sewn.
 
adding extra long petals and an embroidered bee for the front.

Next up on my list is the long awaited Secret Garden Dress, I have had this pattern since the beginning before the designer named herself Audrey & Tiffany, and when she was selling it on Craftsy.

I've had these fabrics picked for the dress, well for ages, like I said, it's just my daughter is very hard to sew for since she is not a regular size so I have to fiddle with the patterns and it's kind of a pain, but this dress reminded me of butterflies and ladybugs (I have a second selection of fabrics with butterflies on them, so if this one works I will be making another one)
I hope to get to make this before the Canadian Pattern Designer Challenge ends, and if I do I will add the pictures here, but if not, just check out this dress it is a beauty and also check out all of the other Canadian Designers, you will recognize some of them I am sure!