Make a Ruffled Jean Skirt!

I found this free tutorial on how to make a ruffled jean skirt out of old jean pants. I also do this for my daughters. I take an old pair of jeans or buy some at the Goodwill store and make the cutest ruffled shorts and pants!

Purse Totes Finished!

I finally finished my daughter's teacher appreciation gifts! Ok, they are two weeks too late! They will make it just in time before school lets out for the summer!! (tomorrow is the last day of school!)

I am ready for some new fabric! I have almost used all of my flip flop fabric and am ready for a new design.

Free Shipping!

* FREE SHIPPING* with coupon code WELCOME

I found this link to Hancock Fabrics where they are offering free shipping to first time customers. I had never seen this before. I am not a huge fan of Hancock Fabrics because I find there website is not so user friendly and I don't like the way they hand out coupons but in small print they say it is only for non sale items and they give these coupons out when everything in the store is on sale! It just doesn't make sense to me. However, I do still shop there on occasion and My Man did give me a gift card from Hancock Fabrics for Mother's Day. I am just disappointed in this store.

Online Tutorials

I was looking on online and came across some wonderful tutorials. Here is one on Sew, Mama, Sew Blog:

Fabric Flower Tutorial

Here is another one I found:

The Vintage Smock Pattern

Here is another great tutorial for Ruffle Apron from One More Moore blog:

Almost Finished (Backpack tote)!

My mother-in-law (MIL) came over yesterday to give me some "sewing time". Thanks, Mom Trixie and thanks, Pop, for playing with the toddlers!! I am making the Chelsea Tote Backpack out of the flip flop fabric. I am very pleased with how it came out. I only need to add the loop closure and I will be finished. This one is actually for my MIL. There were pros and a con about this pattern. The first pro is that adding a zipper to the straps was SUPER EASY! and the directions were very easy to follow with lots of pictures! The con would be the way it fits as a backpack. I am not too fond of the way it looks and feels on my back. I believe with some adjusting, though, I can get it the way I want it. Other than that, I really enjoyed this sewing project!

Easy zipper backpack strap or zip it for single over the shoulder strap.

Outside pocket with flap.

As a backpack.

Over the shoulder.

My Newest Purse/Tote Pattern!

This is my latest purse/tote pattern thanks to my Mother-in-Law! Thanks, Mom Trixie! I am so excited about it. I hope to have one made by next week.

This is the Chelsea Tote Purse made in a different fabric. I found this pic on LazyGirlDesigns Blog.

Sewing Tip

Wash and iron.
My mom is a perfectionist when she does something. Me, I am not! I like to dive into it, get to it and get it done, and voila I am finished. However, I have learned with sewing that if I want a beautifully finished sewing project that I must do it right from the beginning. So before starting a sewing project, make sure you wash your fabric following the washing guidelines of your particular fabric. I once spent several days making three lined dresses for my daughters only to have the main outer fabric shrink smaller than the lining on all three dresses. Arghhhhh! Oh how I wished I would have taken the time to wash and dry my fabric before sewing.

My other sewing tip is to take the time to iron your sewing project along the way. I love quick satisfaction when I sew and I like to see it finished so quick that I would skip ironing the seams before sewing and this makes for actually an uneven dress. When I finally slowed down and started taking my time and taking the time to iron did I start seeing my sewing projects look so finely finished!

Sewing Project - Purse/tote (part 2)

Sewing outer pocket


Sewing main panel


Turning inside out


Topstitching

Voila!

I am trying to finish these purses by this weekend. I am on my second one. I prefer making my drawstring purse. My drawstring diaperbag/purse is my favorite because it is so forgiving when I make my little mistakes. Now these three are more tote purses. My Mom came over to watch my toddlers while I sewed this second one. Thanks, Mom! And there it is. I still need to add a button.