Time for a new tutorial...

I found some spare time to finally write down the tutorial I promised last week. The bag has been used extensively lately, and I must say it's one of my favorites (didn't I say that of every single one of my bags?).

 It's sturdy, carries quite a bit and yet it still looks elegant, if I may say so myself. And it's so simple to make. Ready?!


Here is what you need:
- enough denim, canvas, or any other heavy-weight fabric you have at hand to cut two 54cm x 52cm pieces from - the given dimensions include seam allowances for side seams and bottom seam (note: since I wanted to make use of the denim's nice selvedge (Yes, Cindy, you got that right - that was of course on purpose!!), I cut two separate pieces.  You could of course take one long strand and fold the fabric in half - do not forget to adjust for the seam allowances in that case and to add some at the top as well.
- two 65cm x 6cm straps of leather
- an awl
- heavy duty thread and a ditto needle
- scissors
- large paper clips
- sewing machine
- iron



Instructions

1. Cut the fabric as shown in picture 2.
2. Bottom and side seams using the half French seam: on the sewing machine, sew the bottom seam closed on the right (!) side of the fabric, taking into account a 2cm (3/4'') seam allowance(picture 3).
Cut away half of the seam allowance on one of the pieces as shown in picture 4. Press the seam open. Fold the longer seam allowance over the shorter, tucking inside the shorter end and secure with pins (picture 5.). Now, sew into place ( picture 6). Repeat with both of the side seams.

3. Boxed corners using a French seam: on the right side (!) of the bag,  fold the bag such that bottom seam and side seam align perfectly on top of each other. Pin and next sew together (on the right side!) (picture 7.). Press. Next turn the bag inside out, fold and tuck the first seam inside layers. Sew on machine making sure to use a slightly bigger seam allowance than in the previous step. The result should look as show in picture 9.

Note: for a good description of the different types of French seams and felled seams, check out Annekata's tutorial here.

4. Handles: I got the idea for the handles from the Japanese sewing book Making Leather Bags Lesson 1,2 by Umami Yoshimi Ezura - a gem really, that I recommend to anyone loving nice, simple and yet elegant bags.
At both ends of each strip of leather, make little wholes using an awl (picture 11), making sure the distance between wholes is equal and left and right on each side match perfectly. These wholes will help you sewing the handles to the bag more easily. If your leather is thin enough you could omit this step. Next, mark on your fabric where the handles should come (picture 12). Now, pinch your leather strip between the fabric, folding the leather strip in two (I ironed the fold of the leather handles - before you do this try on a little piece first to see how your leather responds to heat). Adjust such that the previously made wholes coincide perfectly. Secure with a large paper clip (picture 13). Sew into place with a heavy-duty needle and some heavy duty thread, using small stitches and going through the earlier made wholes. (I did every stitch twice to make sure the handles are tightly sewn to the bag.). And done!

As usually, if you have questions about this project just let me know! I'd be happy to help. Also, if you made something using a tutorial found on this blog or if you got inspired by something you found here, make sure to post your pictures here.

Good luck!

As with all tutorials found on this blog, please note this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!

Sewing with kids :: the easy tote bag revisited

It has been a creative summer, somehow. We haven't been home much, but when we were, we spent our time creatively. The girls rediscovered their sewing machine. This nice tote which M. made for one of her friends is only one of the results - it was a special request, actually, from her friend who loved the first bag so much she asked M. to make her one too. Doesn't it look fantastic?! The only difference with the first bag is that this one has only one strap. For the full tutorial click here. To finish it off I made her her own label with some twill tape and stamps.

A nice back-to-school surprise for one lucky friend if you ask me...

And yet another clothes hanger tutorial...

You might start wondering if all is well with me...
Another clothes hanger tutorial?! Really!?
What's so interesting about a clothes hanger, you'd want to decorate it anyways?


I know, I know! Just one more to add to the list and then I'll stop, I promise... (hmm - I'm no so sure about the last part...)
But to be honest - I like these wire clothes hangers. Because of what they are, because of their simplicity, the bareness, the fact they're reduced to the essential. And yet they have so much potential. To hold clothes for one thing. But it's also a perfect frame to work around and to play with.

A couple of nights ago, my hands were itching - I felt the need for something creative but something slow (it'd been an eventful day - I'll spare you the details, but eventful it was). How about some embroidery with that hand dyed wool floss I got myself, I thought. I've been fascinated by Sachiko embroidery lately (for a nice tutorial, check out this post at the Purl Bee). I like the contrast between the little stitches and the fabric, the combination of simple straight lines into stunning patterns. I just wanted to give it a try. The clothes hanger cover that I had still in the back of my head seemed perfectly adequate for that matter.

You've probably seen these clothes hanger covers before. They are easy to make and I think they are useful for hanging slippery shirts or dresses. So, that's what I have for you today. Turns out that I'm not the kind of person for large symmetric pattern embroidery, so my Sachiko embroidery experiment soon became an exercise in free style embroidery. But it still was fun and definitely asks for more.

What you'll need:

- wire coat hanger
- piece of cotton or linen
- embroidery floss + needle
- sewing machine
- iron
- pins, scissors, ...


Steps:

1. Trace your clothes hanger on a piece of paper and cut out (pic. 1.).
2. Transfer pattern to double folded fabric and cut fabric taking into account a 1-1.5 cm seam allowance (pic. 2-3).
3. Pin the bottom hem of both pieces (pic. 4.) and sew on sewing machine(pic. 5).
4. Pin the two pieces together and sew on your machine leaving an opening at the top (pic. 6-7). Make small cuts at the rounded parts, perpendicularly to the seam (pic. 8). Turn and press with iron (pic. 9)
5. Using some embroidery floss decorate the cover. Add a little button, if you like. And done.



You could of course decorate the cover in many different ways, embroider or applique names on it, have your kids draw on them with fabric markers or paint with fabric paint, tie dye, ... Or why not transfer one of your kid's drawings onto the cover and (have them) embroider the outlines. This could make a nice and easy, personalized gift for the holidays (holidays!? already?)...

I mentioned the new Flickr pool already a couple of times. If you made something with the help of a // Between the lines // tutorial or got inspired by something you found on this blog, don't be shy, and show us what you made! Check out this luxury version, for instance, of the clothes hanger covered with fabric strips, made by Cindy.Aren't these lovely/! And I think the hangers covered with Japanese masking tape are really clever! Thanks for adding these, girls!

Free style crochet and a wire coat hanger :: a tutorial

Some of you might remember my free style crochet experiment from earlier this year. If not, just head over to this post (but make sure to come back after!). At that time I already played with the idea of decorating a coat hanger that way. I even tried, but I wasn't patient enough at that time and it didn't work out too well, so I tore the whole thing down and put the idea and the hanger on hold. Until some of you mentioned their crochet-decorated coat hangers in the comments on my last tutorial, that is! As a matter of fact, I used to have one of those when I was a kid - with a red and blue pattern if remember well. So, you had me going again! Thank you so much! Only this time I wanted it to work out. And it did!
Sure, it took me a fair part of my Friday afternoon (the other part I took the kids to the local pool) but I do like the result a lot - and so do my girls "Can I have it mommy?".

What did I do different this time to make it work, you wonder? I guess I was less time-constrained (even though we went to the pool) and the tying of some string as a guide-line made a huge difference. And here is a - very - short description in case you want to give this a try as well.

What you'll need:

- a wire coat hanger
- yarn, string or... kitchen twine, aka butcher's twine. Since I couldn't find any yarn that I found suited for this project, I used the latter. It was the first thing that I could find that came close enough to yarn and its slightly rough texture with pieces sticking out here and there is just perfect for this project.
- crochet hook
- optional: buttons, ribbons, beads, colored thread



Steps:

1. Attach the end of the twine to the hanger and now start going criss cross with it, wrapping and tying as shown in picture II. This net will form the structure for your free style crochet. Don't over do it as you will need "space" to work around and add detail.
2. Stop knotting somewhere on the wire, make a loop, slip your crochet hook through it and start crocheting around the wire using a simple crochet stitch (picture III). You don't need to go all around the hanger at once - this project is a little wild and crazy. Consider it like a road trip where you take little side roads whenever you grow tired of using the high way. So, start to work around the net that you created inside the wire, using the different stitches you know (chain stitches, single crochet, double crochet, ...), and alternate by doing parts on the wire and on the inside of the hanger.
3. Optional: As you can see in picture IV (and the many other pictures below), I didn't cover all of the wire nor the entire net. I wanted to keep it "airy" and it left me some room to further adorn it with little treasures. I used little buttons - I intentionally didn't cut off the end of the twine but attached a mother of pearl button to it instead - a silk ribbon, a tag with my blog's name on it which I found lying around, a bead, some red thread... You could add many other things like pieces of wood or sticks, shells, dried flowers... I found this to be the fun and relaxing part.

I hope I made myself somewhat clear. If not, let me know.

I clearly couldn't get enough of my new clothes hanger as I kept on photographing it from different angles... So, here are some more pictures.

Note: Did you make something with the help of a // Between the lines // tutorial? Post your pictures here! I'd love to see your creations!

DIY : colorful wire clothes hanger

We're still in summer mode here, though for K. today is the last day of his summer vacation, unfortunately. This year's summer vacation has been very relaxing - Carpe Diem (seize the day) has been our motto. We've been doing plenty of things but only because we wanted to. And today I really wanted to do something crafty! So I did. It took me a while before I came up with something, though. I made a big mess as I kept pulling things out. But then eventually pieces fell into place when I found a wire clothes hanger (check out this article if you'd like to find out more about the origin of the wire clothes hanger - the drawings are great!).

The result of my crafty afternoon is this enhanced, colorful wire clothes hanger... with a short description in 16 photographs. Again, it's an easy craft you could have your kids do or help you with on a rainy afternoon.


What you'll need:

- wire coat hanger (the ones you get at the dry cleaner's)
- bias tape, ribbon, or a piece of fabric
- a piece of (masking) tape
- white glue
- optional: ribbon, rivet punch + rivets




Steps:

1. If you don't have ribbon or bias tape at hand, make your own (pic. 4 & 5) by cutting a long strip from a piece of fabric. Don't bother about cutting in bias, we want the ribbon to fray! Yes, fray! Although I had only a small piece of fabric, I cut one long strip from it. This is how: start cutting a strip lengthwise from one side to the other, BUT WITHOUT CUTTING THROUGH TO THE VERY END! Repeat, alternating sides as shown in the diagram below.



2. Attach the ribbon to the wire coat hanger as shown in pic. 6 and wind the ribbon around a couple of times to hide the tape.

3. Next, start twisting the ribbon around the wire all the way around. Don't be afraid of the fabric fraying - we like the effect! To make sure the ribbon is everywhere tightly twisted around the wire, check once in a while and twist the ribbon between your fingers as you work your way back to where you stopped.

4. At the bottom of the hook twist the ribbon around both wires and work your way up the hook (pic. 9 & 10).

5. Cut off the ribbon leaving a 1 inch end. Put on some white glue and next continue twisting the ribbon, smearing the glue in and over the fabric and such way that the tip is completely covered and there are no loose ends left (pic. 11-13).

6. Optional: Decorate with a tag. I used stamps for this and the motto of our summer "Carpe diem". Make one for every family member and have their names on it, or if you plan for a summer party make one for every guest. The possibilities obviously are endless. Use the rivet punch to attach a rivet and tie to the hanger with a piece of ribbon. All done!

// La douce France // - arts and crafts

Earlier this week we visited this cute little village, Puy l'Eveque, and found quite a few surprises there besides the weekly market we intended to visit. Different alleys across the village were "dressed up" in one way or another - with old shoes, umbrellas, word art, ... So much fun - we felt like being on a treasure hunt wondering what would turn up in the next alley.
And we all loved this tree decorated with a most colorful crocheted scarf.

To be honest: this visit made my fingers itch...

Summer bracelets DIY

When M. came home from her camp with school, she showed me this yellow bracelet she made with 'scoubidoo' strings. One of her friends taught her how to make these and of course I wanted to have a go at it too. Instead of scoubidou string I used strips of fabric for one and leather - what did you think?!- shoelaces in offsetting colors for another one. I believe both resulting bracelets look really nice. The possibilities in terms of material to braid with are endless. How about tall beach grass or just hemp cord?

So, in case you 're in need of a fun summer project here's a how-to in 16 pictures with a short description below. I could probably have done with less photos - it's just that I had fun taking pictures...



This is what you'll need for an adult size leather bracelet. (You might have to adjust depending on the material you use, so make sure to do a try-out before cutting ends.):

- a 52cm long strip of fabric or leather shoe lace
- a second strip of fabric or leather shoe lace of approximately 95 cm
- a big-eyed  needle
- a cylindrical object to hold the loop so your project stays put while braiding (the neck of an Elmer's glue bottle works just fine; when out on the beach, the finger of a helper's hand might do the trick as well)



Steps:

1. Fold both strands in half and place the shorter one on top of the longer one as shown in picture 2.
2. Start braiding as shown in pictures 3 through 8, making sure to pull the strings evenly - I made my bracelet really tight but you could make a looser version by pulling less on the strings you braid with.
3. Continue like this until you reach the end of the strands you're braiding with.
4. Hide the loose ends in the braid as shown in pictures 10-11, using a big-eyed needle.
5. Tie a overhand knot in both remaining loose ends as shown in pictures 12-14 and here.
6. Put it around your wrist, pull one of the ends through the loop and  (have someone help you to) make a double knot and your bracelet is ready to wear!

This is the kind of craft you could easily do with kids - have them cut strips of fabric, no need to worry about the strips being straight and regular, and teach them how to braid. It's a good exercise for fine motor skills, and because it's repetitive it's very relaxing too. Use the resulting braid as a bracelet, anklet, key chain, headband... Once you've got the hang of it, or if you want to take this project to the next level, slip some beads on the longest one of your strings before you start and braid them in by slipping them down one by one as you go.

With special thanks to my little girl M. for teaching me how to make these...

Triangles and polka dots

I gave some hints last week about 'something' I whipped together for the birthday girl.
Since she's officially ten now, and all the presents were unwrapped and all ten candles were blown out last night (the cake we still have plenty off, but that's a story for later),  I can finally show you some pictures.
As some of you already guessed, I made a flag garland.

I used whichever fabric I had available from my failing bag business. Well, that's not entirely the way it went (for the colors, I mean - the bag business is failing, LOL! A bag anyone??).
Let's say that I found some of these colors to go really well together, so well that I had stacked them that way last time I cleaned up my crafts closet.  So, when I started on my flags all I did was take out the entire stack and cut triangles. The big surprise, however, came after I finished the whole thing. That's when I remembered my leather polka dot garland from a while ago. A perfect match color-wise, as it turned out, but I especially like the repetition of the polka dot pattern in one of the fabrics I chose for the flags - it happened totally unconsciously, but it's there and I like it!

Now, if you want to try this, all you need is fabric in a couple of different prints and/or colors, cut to triangles (I used the same size triangle for all flags, but you could vary sizes if you like, or even combine different shapes), some biais tape and thread. 
Since I didn't have any biais tape, I used twill tape, which I folded in half. To make the sewing easier I pinned the flags in between the tape. Limited by the length of my twill tape, I didn't leave space in between flags, but you could of course space them out a bit. I threaded my machine with two different colors of thread. Also, since the twill tape was rather on the narrow side especially when folded, I used a zig zag stitch, just to make sure the triangles got caught in between the folded twill tape.

For the polka dot garland, just hop over here to find a short description.

Wishing you a good week!

xo, P.

A garland to celebrate...

 

Just whipped this garland together this morning - a multicolor garland made with leather strips. My punch cutter let me down recently - I think it didn't like the leather I tried to punch too much...
So, no polka dots for this one. But hey! I like squares and rectangles even better anyway!

You can also find it here.

And before I sign off for the week, I'd like to thank you for all your positive comments and cheers to the opening of my Etsy shop. This means a tremendous lot too me!! So, a big thank you, girls!!

Wishing you a great and relaxing weekend!

xo, P.

Getting ready...

We're almost there! Tomorrow we can start packing for real. Only a few more things to label and we're done!
As you may know from previous posts, little H. has food allergies. This means she has to take some medication with her on her trip too, just in case. Most likely, she won't need any of it, but you never know. Because I didn't want to send her away with her meds in a plain plastic bag I decided to make a bag instead - very last minute, I know. To make it even more last minute I couldn't really figure out what I wanted it to look like exactly. I wanted it to be very basic and handy for the teachers (easy access to medicines as well as posology and other useful information). So, this is what the 'allergy kit' ended up looking like - a very basic drawstring bag indeed. The beauty of this bag, however, is in the detail I believe.

I used a red cross picture, found on the net and printed it on iron-on transfer paper together with her name. On the back, I made a little transparent pocket finished with a fabric flap and Velcro closure. It perfectly fits index cards with all necessary allergy information and the posology for the different medicines - right within eye sight whenever needed. To make this pocket, I used the vinyl envelope some new panties came in. I have been saving up vinyl packaging ever since I came across this interesting project through Whip Up. I used French seams as described here and made boxed corners. In order to keep the bag from opening I added a small fabric "stopper" to the drawstring, which slides up and down accordingly.

This project took me way longer than intended and necessary, but it's so much nicer than a plain plastic bag - don't you think??

Now, one more thing before I sign off: make sure to come back next week as I'm planning a small giveaway here - just to say thanks to all of you for the support, the encouragements, the compliments, the cheers... I felt/feel deeply touched when reading all of your comments... Thank you so much!

In the mean time, I'm wishing you a very nice weekend!

Cheers,

xo, P.

Quick fix grocery bag :: a tutorial

We had grapes this weekend. So? They were really good. Seedless white grapes and they came in one of those plastic bags, with cuts all over to make it stretchy. Hours after we had the grapes, while in the kitchen, my eye fell upon the plastic bag again. It was just a glimpse, but enough for me to hear it scream: please, make me!
I didn't pay too much attention to it until yesterday morning. I was working on something else when all of a sudden I remembered the bag. It didn't take me too long to think it through. All that I needed was a shirt.

I found a shirt - an old favorite but hopelessly stained one (bleach* near the bottom hem). And after some cutting, sewing and some more cutting I ended up with this bag.
It's probably one of the fastest and easiest bags I ever made, but I do like it a lot!



In case you want to give this super fast and easy grocery bag a try as well, keep on reading as I wrote down some instructions for you.

What you need:

- an old T-shirt
- scissors
- matching thread
- a button
- a piece of ribbon
- sewing machine



Instructions:


1. Take an ironed adult size T-shirt, right side out. (You could use a kid's T-shirt for a smaller sized bag).

2. Fold it in half as shown in picture 2.

3. Cut off the sleeves as shown in picture 3 and put them aside as you'll need them later to make a little pouch.

4. Cut around the neck-line as shown in picture 4.

5. Sew the bottom of the shirt closed using a French seam. If you're not familiar with the French seam check out this post. (Basically, you sew the hem closed on the right side, turn the bag inside out and sew another seam, sandwiching the first seam inside). Next, sew boxed corners, as explained here, in step 1. You could iron everything flat now, if you like.

6. Place the bag in front of you on a flat surface. Starting from the bottom, fold over the bag as shown in picture 6, about 2 1/2 inch, that is.

7. Now, starting about 3 inches from the side, with your scissors make 1/2 an inch to 3/4 of an inch cuts through all layers, leaving about 1 1/8 inch between every cut. Continue like this all the way to the other side and stop about 3 inches from the side seam.

8. Next, fold it over some more (an additional 2 to 2 1/2 inch) and repeat the cutting, but now right in between two cuts from the previous line, as shown in picture 8.

9. Go on like this a couple more times, depending on the size of your bag - I did 5 rows in total.

10. Optional - Pouch:



Take one sleeve and cut to size, such that the folded bag fits inside the sleeve (make sure to add seam allowance). The hem of the sleeve will be the top of the pouch (if its a tunnel, i.e. tubular all the way around so you could pass a ribbon through)- if not, sew a tunnel). Sew the cut-off sleeve closed at the other end using a French seam again - you can box the corners if you like. At the top: make two small incisions (front only) at the center of the hem. With a safety pin slide the ribbon through the tunnel, and pull the ribbon ends through the button. Make knots in both ribbon ends. To close the pouch just pull the button all the way up and vice versa to open.


As with all of my tutorials, please note, this tutorial is intended for personal use only. Therefore, do not reproduce, sell or commercialize in any form without permission. Thanks for understanding!


* the bleach stains ended up the in hem and one of the boxed corners!!

Free style crochet and a bottle

We've been drinking juice from glass bottles again, lately, because we think it tastes better. I threw out the first couple of bottles until I realized how pretty they were. Simple, straight, clear glass bottles. The perfect vase for spring flowers, or for the willow catkins we still have (they started to shoot roots). The perfect water bottle too, and since it comes with a lid, we could even take it to the park for a pic-nic.

I also kept them because I had a couple of decorating ideas in mind I wanted to try for the longest time. And here's the first one: a crocheted bottle cozy (or is it more like a cuff?) inspired by this This may seem like a bit of a stretch, but really, these pillows are what got me inspired!

Since I didn't have a pattern readily available and I didn't feel like counting from a picture either, I decided to do some free style crochet instead. And I'm totally pleased with the way it turned out, to the extent that I want to further explore my free style crochet capabilities... To be continued...

Polka dots :: a garland

Winter break is still on, so I have been busy with keeping the girls busy, mainly, for the past two weeks. But thanks to clever planning on my behalf - both girls have a friend over at this very moment - I found some time for a craft - or two...

This is craft number one: a garland with the leather polka dots from a couple of days ago. Simple, easy, but I like it! I used two different colors of thread for the sewing to get a baker's twine effect (and also because I couldn't make up my mind as to which color looked best).

Not sure if I'll keep the garland for special occasions or have it up in our "studio" (I'm a bit worried about a clash of colors) or in one of the girl's rooms maybe ...



Instructions: for this little craft I used a circular (paper) puncher, leather scraps in different colors, thread and sewing machine. Cut circles with the puncher, thread the sewing machine with two different colors top and bottom, "feed" the leather circles to your machine - for the space between circles, just continue sewing without feeding... Don't forget to make a knot at the beginning and end to secure.)

Polka Dots

Had fun today with a circular puncher and leather scraps.
I have no idea yet what I'll be using my little leather polka dots for (or maybe I do, actually), but I did have fun already photographing them - stacked in piles, scattered, I even threw some up in the air and tried to beat gravity with my camera...

The cutest tutorial ever!

I have a very special guest today, my sweet, big girl M. .
With an interview and her tutorial for a cute finger puppet.
Both the tutorial and the puppet were part of my birthday present.




// BTL // : So, M., tell me, where did you get the idea of making a finger puppet?

M.: Deep down in my craft thinking area, the craft section in my brain!

// BTL // : Does everyone have a section like that, you think?

M.: No, only original people do!

// BTL // : Hmm, I see... And why a tutorial?

M.: So that people who like my work can make it! That's what blogs are about, not?

// BTL // : Some blogs, yes. So, you knew all the time that I would put it up on my blog?!

M.: Well, actually, I was hoping so but I also made it for fun and because it was your birthday!

// BTL // : Are there any other craft activities you like?

M.: Yes! Sewing, drawing and inventing!

// BTL // : The best thing you ever made?

M.: My pyjamas pants! My bag! The Super Teacher collage for my teacher!

// BTL // : Any other things you like to do?

M.: School and writing. And taking photos, too...(laughs)

// BTL // : Thank you for your time, my sweet M.!

M.: You're very welcome!... I hope I'll invent something again soon, so I can come back!

// BTL // : Me too!

Valentine's Day :: DIY wire wrapped photo holder

Only four more days to go for Valentine's Day!
Here's another craft I whipped together yesterday. A simple wire wrapped photo holder. Time needed? 15 minutes approximately!

And here are the step by step instructions, just in case:



1. Needed: two ends of metal wire (25cm, but could be of any size really, depending on how tall you want the photo holder to be), rounded nosed pliers, flat nosed pliers, cutting pliers, clay

2. Take a piece of clay and shape as shown in the picture

3. - 6. Bend the wire to form a heart - secure as shown in pic. 5. Repeat with the second end.

7. Twist the two stems around each other

8. Cut one end off about 10cm measured from the bottom

9. Push the longer end through the clay, until the shorter end meets the clay.

10. With pliers bend the end to form a loop and cut off excess. Push the loop into the clay.

11. Smoothen the clay where needed (wet your fingers if necessary). Shape the hearts where needed so a picture, photograph or greeting card will stay put between the two hearts. Let air dry. And done!

Note: If you don't have clay, a large potato might do, or a cork (for tiny holders, that is), a rock (in that case you wrap the wire around the rock, instead of going through the rock), ... Also, because of the tools needed and the potentially sharp ends of the wire, this craft (or at least the part where you work the metal wire) is not recommended to be done by kids. Once assembled though, let your kids paint the clay once dried and further decorate the holder!

Good luck!

Valentine's day :: another how-to

Still in need of a Valentine's Day surprise or just another fancy way to wrap that present? Then keep on reading as I might have something for you.

I still had a crocheted heart left I wanted to use. I decided to make a little drawstring bag - very simple with a couple of details added to give it a sweet little touch. This what it ended up looking like.



The good news is - if you like this little bag, that is - that I have some instructions ready for you, so you can make one of your own.

What you need:

- red yarn enough for crocheting a drawstring, a big heart, and two tiny ones
- a crochet hook
- an embroidery needle
- embroidery floss
- an old white sheet or any other piece of fabric for the bag
- sewing machine


Instructions:

1. Cut a rectangular piece of fabric corresponding to the size you want the bag to be (don't forget to add seam allowances on the sides and at the top). Cut the fabric such that you'll have the fold of the fabric at the bottom of the bag - I used a 35cm by 90cm piece.

2. Position and pin the heart, for which you can find the instructions here, onto the front of the bag. Stitch into place either by hand or with the sewing machine.

3. Close the side seams using the French seam as explained here.
Note: close the side seams all the way up to the top.

3. Button holes for the drawstring: at the front of the bag, mark where the two button holes will come (you'll need two, 1cm high and about 1cm from either side of the center and 7cm from the top). Make the button holes with the sewing machine and cut open. Here's an "astuce" - a hint - for cutting open button holes. If you put a pin at the other inner end of the button hole that pin will keep you from cutting too far and hence cutting the stitches as well.


4. Fold the fabric over, on the wrong side, to make a tunnel of about 2.5 cm wide for the drawstring (the button holes nicely centered in the middle of the tunnel) and sew on the machine.



5. With the red yarn, crochet a drawstring in chain stitch. Put a safety pin through one end and pull the drawstring through the tunnel.

6. Crochet two tiny hearts (found through Whip Up here) and attach to each end of the drawstring.

7. Now you can further decorate the bag with some embroidery. You might prefer to do this before you start sewing, but I prefer to do this in the end because it's easier for me to visualize the end result.

And that's it!



You could use these bags for about anything, from wrapping presents to protecting the finest lingerie...