Nautical Bag

A few weeks ago I saw a great bag at DownEast Outfitters (same place where I got the $10 wedding dress!) For some reason I couldn't find it on their website or anywhere else I checked online, so you'll have to deal with horrendous pictures from inside the dressing room.

I loved the idea of the bag, but there were a few things that I didn't like about it. The fact that it was black striped (the name "sea striped bag" seemed like it had to be blue!), the ropes weren't "ropey" enough...

the pleats at the bottom and the strange, metallic/ silvery liner with a weird green zipper.

But that's the beauty of doing it yourself, you can make it how you want it! And that's exactly what I did. Here's the final product!

I looooove how it turned out! It was a serious pain in the butt to make (trial and error and I are very good friends now) but the end result was worth it!  It's blue striped, pleat-less, with nice "ropey" straps....

And and has a nice, clean white liner with pockets for everything I need!

Now here comes the fun part! I'm going to walk you through how I did it! But please keep in mind that I screwed up A LOT while I was making this, so my process isn't perfect. :)

You will need:

• 1/3 yard of blue striped, home decor fabric (it took me forever to find this, but I finally found it at Ikea!)
• 1/3 yard white liner fabric
• scrap of red home decor fabric (this will be your base)
• 1 1/3 yard (4 ft) of soft rope (I found mine at Wal*Mart by the trims)
• 1 package red quilt binding
• Fabric glue (like Fabritac)
• Usual sewing notions (sewing machine, thread, scissors, pins, seam ripper, etc)

Gathered your materials? Let's get started! *Note: I used a 1/4" seam unless otherwise stated.

You'll need to figure out what you want the base of your bag to be. (The original bag was round, but I though an oval would look better.) I found a small storage basket with an oval base and traced it with my disappearing ink pen.

Cut out your base and then find the circumference, but don't worry, you don't need a calculator or equations! Just use your measuring tape and lay it along your traced shape. Easy peasy! Keep that number in mind, you'll need it when you  make your pattern.

This next part is a little confusing, I hope it makes sense! My oval had a 27.5" circumference, so I added a half inch to get 28" (Remember we need to add the half inch for 1/4" inch seam allowance on each side). Since the bag has two sides, each side of the bag needed to be half of my 28" (14") at the base. I wanted the bag to be symmetrical, so when I was making my pattern, I folded a piece of freezer paper in half and drew my pattern, making sure that the base of my bag was 7". That way, when I cut out and unfolded my pattern, I would have a perfectly symmetrical bag with a 14" base! Phew...does that make sense?

This is what my pattern ended up looking like. I added in my measurements to help give you an idea of what the dimensions of my bag are. Cut two pieces from your striped fabric.

Next, you'll need to repeat all the the steps with your liner fabric (though this time, you don't have to figure out all of the math or draw a new pattern! Huzzah!) You should then have six pieces of fabric: one red base, two blue striped pieces cut out from your pattern, one white base, and two white pieces cut out from your pattern. If you want any pockets on the inside, make sure to cut those out too!

Pin your blue striped pieces with the right sides together and sew up the sides with a straight stitch. Sew another zig zag stitch right next to your original stitch for added strength.

Then, pin your base on! This can be tricky, but just be patient and make sure everything lines up. Sew around the base, and then again with a zig zag stitch.

See? This helps make the bag stronger.

Moving onto the liner! If you want to add pockets, now is the time to do so. I cut out two 8x10 pieces out of my liner fabric, folded them in half (right sides together), sewed around leaving a few inches to turn, turned them right side out, and pressed flat.

Pin your pockets onto the right side of your liner and make sure it's all straight and even.

Sew around the sides and bottom of the pocket. Now, this is much easier if you do this BEFORE you assemble your liner. A friend called me while I was working on the bag so when I came back I jumped right into sewing together my liner, completely forgetting about the pockets. Oops!

Next, repeat the assembly process with your liner. Sew the sides together, and then add the oval base to the bottom. You should now have two bags, one made out of your blue striped/red fabrics, and one made out of your liner!

Now we've got to add the rope handles! You need two pieces of two foot long rope (or shorter, if that's what you like!) Slightly fray out the bottom to make it easier to sew through and pin it on the wrong side of the "pointy" part of your liner. Sew across the rope several times and test it to make sure it's secure. Repeat with the other side of the rope on the same side of the liner, and then do the whole thing again with the other rope!

This is what you should have right now. A liner with handles! Now we get to assemble the bag!

Put the liner into the striped bag with the wrong sides together. When you look inside, it should look like the inside of a purse, with no exposed raw edges (except for the ones at the top.)

When it's all lined up (take extra care lining up the raw edges at the top of the bag, this is where it counts) pin the bag together. I pinned farther down because I wanted the bag to stay together, but I also wanted room to pin on the quilt binding.

This to me was the trickiest part of the bag (this was my first time using quilt binding, and I've only used bias tape once!). Use your quilt binding to hid the raw edges all around the top of your bag. (You'll need to cut different sizes and different angles, don't try to use just one continuous piece!) Pin in place.

Sew along your quilt binding, hiding the raw edges. I loved that I didn't have to do any turning right side out with this bag!

You're almost done!! I didn't use all of my quilt binding so I cut four 2 inch pieces to cover the part where the rope meets the bag (if you're like me, it's a little bit messy! But you seasoned sewers might not need this step :) I used fabric glue to secure it on the bag, then wrapped it around the rope, folded under the raw edge, and glued in place. Do it again three more times.

AND YOU'RE DONE!!! Fill it up, and go out there and flaunt your beautiful new, Nautical Bag! This would make a great gift for any lady (including yourself ;) in your life wanting a little more summertime!

By the way...I don't like having to say this, but this tutorial is for personal use only. If you use my tutorial, link back to me and give proper credit. And please don't use my tutorial to make bags to sell! Thanks!

If you have questions about it, feel free to ask me and I'll do my best to clear things up. Also, if you make a Nautical Bag using this tutorial I would love to see your final results! Email me Amikins48 (at) gmail (dot) com or leave me a comment with a link to your blog. Happy sewing!

I'm linking up to these parties! (For some reason blogger isn't letting me add buttons to this post, but each link will take you to the linky party I linked up to!)


Under the Table and Dreaming Showcase Sunday, I heart Naptime Sundae Scoop, Tatertots and Jello Weekend Wrap Up, Crystal's Craft Spot Feature Friday, Sew Can Do Craftastic Monday, Fingerprints on the Fridge Feature Yourself Friday, A Few of my Favorite Things Favorite Things Friday, Tea Rose Home Wednesday Link Party, Fireflies and Jellybeans Show off Your Stuff Party, The Girl Creative Just Something I Whipped Up Monday, Just Another Day in Paradise Christmas in July, Craft Envy Saturday Spotlight, "Tute"-in Tuesday at Oops, I craft my pants, 

Easy Peasy No-Sew Flower Pins

I don't think I've ever updated my blog this much. But I have an excuse, I can't sleep! It's just one of those nights. So, I thought I would show you what I made this weekend!

I was lucky enough to snag this bag of trim at the local thrift store in town.

Two bucks for all of this! I was really excited, even though I didn't have any idea what I would do with it. I'm not a quilt-maker, nor am I currently involved with any projects that would require lace or trim of any kind. So, I started playing around with it, and eventually came up with...

...these! Flower pins! As much as I love sewing, I loved that these required none. Super easy, super fast, super cheap! (Some trim can go for as little as 27 cents a yard, and I used about a foot of trim in each flower. Talk about a bargain!) Using the existing ruffles and other patterns from the trim helped make each one unique. I really like how they turned out!

Updated Note: When I was linking up to Tea Rose Home's Linky Party, I noticed that she and several other bloggers recently participated in a challenge at M&J Trims where each participant received a box of trims and were challenged to make something out of what was in the box. Many participants made flowers out of their trims to include in other projects. I just want to clarify that I am not trying to pass off another's idea as my own. The following tutorial is the result of my own playing around with extra trims that I bought at the thrift store. Thank you.

Want to make one of your own? You will need the following:

Trim of your choice (I used about a foot (12 inches) in each of my single layer flowers.)
Coordinating felt (enough for a 1'' diameter circle)
Scissors
Hot glue gun
Pin back (can be found at most craft stores)
Accent for the middle (I used a button and other accents that I found in my stash)

Got everything? Great! Onto the next step.

Cut a one inch circle out of your felt. It doesn't have to be perfect, it is likely you will be trimming it down after you're done gluing.

Next, glue down the edge of your trim with a dot of hot glue (you really don't need much). Begin making small pleats by folding the trim over back onto itself and securing with another dot of hot glue. Remember, the smaller you make your pleats, the smaller the ruffles will be, and the more trim you will need to go around the felt circle.

Don't forget to glue the trim onto the circle every few pleats!

Continue to make pleats all the way around the felt, following the curve of the circle.

Trim off any extra trim (haha!), but make sure to leave enough to fold under.

Fold the edge of the trim under (to hide any raw edges) and glue in place.

Add the center of your flower, whatever floats your boat!

Turn flower over and trim off any excess felt to reduce bulk. Glue the pin back on and you're done!!

Pin them anywhere that needs a little bit of "prettying up." These flowers are really easy and customizable, use whatever you have on hand and make it your own! I experimented with doubling up the trims (As seen in the lace one. And please, if you are using lace trim, don't burn your fingers when you push the trim down on the hot glue like I did, it hurts) and making individual petals of a flower (not pictured). The possibilities really are endless, these are just what I came up with in the half hour I was experimenting. I plan on creating more, just as soon as all of these birthdays pass (starting yesterday I have my brother, my mom, my husband, and one of my best friend's birthday's in the space of five days. I've got a lot of creating/planning/shipping to do!)

Did anyone notice the tiny little stars stitched onto this trim? It's my favorite part, stars are one of my favorite things and when I noticed it I was so giddy! It's the little things in life. :)

Also, if you happen to make any flowers out of this tute, I would LOVE to see what you came up with! Leave me a link to your blog if you posted it, or email me! Amikins48(at)gmail(dot)com. Happy crafting!

I'm linking up to:

 



 






 

Lumbar Support Pillow

The hubs and I are driving to Utah this weekend to see some family.I'm so exited; on my mom's side one of my cousins is performing her last high school play (and she is queen of the stage). To celebrate the event, my grandparents on that side flew out to see it. On my dad's side, my grandma came to visit my uncle for the month, and one of his sons (who I haven't seen in years) is visiting with his wife. Basically, I'm going to get to see all of my living grandparents, a good majority of my cousins (from both sides!) and aunts and uncles I haven't seen for a while. I'm so excited! I get to see everyone! If only our immediate families were coming. :(

Anyway, it's a 4 1/2 hour drive, which really isn't that long...but I HATE long car rides! What I hate even more is driving. Luckily, I have an amazing husband that is willing to drive all long distances for me and never complains. Not even when his lower back is killing him. He mentioned to me a little while ago that driving for a long time really hurts his lower back, so I decided to make him a lumbar support pillow. It's a nifty little pillow that is placed in between the curve of the lower back and the chair (or seat or whatever) and provides support to the lower back.

See the little curve? That's what provides the support. Cute, functional, AND it was super easy! Aside from measuring the hubs, it took me less than a half hour to make. Want to make one for your loved one suffering from lower back pain? (Or yourself? ;)

You will need:
Fabric (I used a 12" x 23" rectangle and the two curved pieces were about 10" x 3". I also used snuggly soft fleece but you can use whatever you have on hand.)
Polyester Fiberfill
Sewing machine, thread, scissors, seam ripper, etc.
*Note: I used a 1/4 inch seam for the entire project.

The hardest part of this project was getting the right measurements for the pillow. I carefully held up a piece of paper perpendicular to my husband's back and traced a line that followed the curve of his back. This also helped me figure out how tall the pillow would be. After a little bit of trial and error, I came up with this shape. I call it the "D" shape.

Feel free to use mine or spend a little time measuring your lucky recipient's back. (You will probably need help if you're making this for yourself)  Next, you need to find out how big your rectangle will be. Don't worry, you don't  need to do any math here, simply lay your measuring tape along the perimeter of your "D" shape and add a half inch for seam allowance (mine ended up being 23 inches). This will be your length, your width can be whatever you choose (mine was a 12 inches).

 

Cut out two of your "D" shape and your rectangle. That's it for your pieces!! Next, you'll need to pin down the flat side of your "D" shape against the long side of your rectangle (right sides together). Be sure to line up the corners. Do the same on the opposite side, so the the curves of your "D" shape are facing each other.

See how the corners line up? Sew both pieces in place.

The next part is the trickiest part of the sewing. Bring up what's left of the long side of your rectangle and carefully pin it along the curved edge of your "D" shape. This is a lot like pinning a sleeve onto a the shirt base. Do this on both sides.

It will look a little more 3D after this step. :D Carefully sew in place, and make sure that the fabric underneath doesn't bunch up or you'll have one funny looking pillow! (Well, I guess it's already funny looking isn't it?) Do this on both sides.

You'll end up with a shape like this.^^ (My rectangle length was a bit too long, so I cut off most of it and left that little tab to help when I folded it under to hand sew it.) Next, you'll need to sew across the bottom, leaving a 4 inch opening to turn right side out and stuff.) Clip the corners, being careful not to cut the seam, to help it lay a little more flat. Turn right side out. Now comes the fun part! Stuffing! Stuff the pillow pretty firmly, it's meant for support!

When it's reached your ideal amount of firmness, fluff to reshape the pillow. Then, hand stitch the opening closed.

And that's it! You're done! No more suffering from lower back pain during long car rides! Wrap in up in pretty paper and see the happy face of the recipient! (This is also fun to do if it was for yourself, it feels like a real present!)

See? Wasn't that easy? And you didn't have to spend over $20 for one from a store. I already had everything in my stash so it was free for me!! Feel free to comment with any questions, this is my first tutorial so I'm not quite sure what I'm doing! Also, please only use this tute to make pillows for your family and friends, not to sell. Thank you!

I'm linking this up to the following linky parties!