Get creative with old denim jeans...

I've been having some fun this past week... in all my spare time (what a hoot that is!)...hanging out in my sewing room surrounded by old jeans and bits of fabric!!  I wanted to do something different for a couple friends for Christmas this year and came up with the idea of making some jean aprons.  I only had one pair that I had been saving... the other ones were too far gone to make anything out of... so I paid a trip to the thrift store and bought a couple pair to play with.

They are pretty easy to make... just take some left over material from other projects, old jeans that aren't totally clapped out (grin), some patience, a good iron, a sewing machine,bits of this and that (i.e. buttons, ribbon, old doilies, you get the picture) some more patience and time...  I am rather pleased with how they have turned out so far.  I even made one for the grandson of one of my pool buddies (unfortunately I didn't take a photo of it... just plain forgot!.

This apron has a light blue striped material around the edges and some red polka dot ribbon for "braces".  I raided my button jars and sewed a bunch of red and white buttons on the pocket! Salvage the labels off the jeans... you can use them for decoration too!

This one was a fun one to make with some bandana fabric I bought last summer for another project (which is now not going to happen because it's been confiscated for these aprons... oh well...)  If you want to tackle one like this just make sure you have a good sharp jeans needle in your machine!

This next one is a "shortie"... great for wearing around a barbeque... maybe hubby will get this one under the tree!

And just to show you something you can make with jean "scraps"... here's a table runner... and yes it is straight... it's just the angle that the photo was taken at that makes it look out of "whack"!

Here's another apron... this one with some green polka dot material around the edges, a piece of an old doily and some rick rack...

If you are interested in finding out how to make these... just leave me a comment.  If there is enough interest, I'll write up a small tutorial.

Happy Sewing...

Sharon

Fun Projects - Messenger Bag/Tutorial

Well my friend Karen recently "lightly and gently" scolded me for not posting more often! "it doesn't have to be a long post you know... you do some cool projects we all want to see."

Okay, my friend, I promise I will do a series of small posts over the summer.  And the first one is the "I need to grab my wallet and go to the store" messenger bag project I just completed a couple of days ago.

I don't know about you, but I ABSOLUTELY do not like having to haul my big tote bag (with everything but the kitchen sink in it...) to the grocery store or the beach.  So one day last week with a couple of hours to play in my sewing room, I decided to make a small kid sized messenger bag that fits my sunglasses, my wallet and keys. Here are the 5 things I like about it:

1. strap is wide and fits either over my shoulder and diagonally across my body
2. was made from left over fabric in my stash
3. has a little inner pocket to tuck my car/house keys in
4. washable
5. lined with iron on fleece to give it shape and body

 Here's a photo of the finished project:

I made the "body" out of jean fabric, lined it with the outer fabric and used another piece of fabric for the strap.  It's a great way to use up those scraps of fabric from other projects.

Here are the fabric size cutting instructions I used for my bag:

Flap - 1 - print fabric - 9.5" x 8"
Flap Lining - 1 - jean fabric - 9.5 x 8"

Body - 1 - jean fabric - 12" x 17"
Body Lining - 1 - print fabric - 12" x 17" 

Strap - 1 - print fabric - 40" long x 4.5" wide

Iron on fleece - for strap - 40" long x 4" wide
               - for flap - 1 piece - 9.5" x 8"
               - for body - 1 piece - 12" x 17"

You can find excellent picture sewing instructions for a kids messenger bag here. 

If you want to add an inner pocket, there are also instructions at the site for measurements and how to do it.

The pictorial is especially helpful if you need some assistance in learning how to attach the lining and strap to the bag.  It is easy as pie once you "get it" but it can drive you to drink (chuckle) if you don't know how... it is not an intuitive assembly!!

If you want to add a magnetic snap to the bag, do it before you assemble it!!  I forgot and then decided to just leave it off altogether rather than mess it up!

To strengthen the strap and allow it to "lie" nicely, top-stitch it on both sides and sew a couple of "lines" through the length of the strap.

So there you have it... use up your stash...make one for yourself, one for a friend, a neighbour, a favourite sister or niece and while you are at it why not make one for each of your kids, your grandkids, the neighbour kids, their friends... Just kidding...

Happy Sewing,
Sharon

Bet Mr. Levi never thought he'd see these...

cute jean place mats with bandana napkins sitting on the kitchen table...

If you've got an old pair of jeans hanging around that have seen better days, these place mats are super easy to make in a couple of hours.   I made these mats a couple of weeks ago from new jean material and attached two back pockets from an old pair of my hubby's jeans.  You could cut the mats from the jean legs if you wanted to... you may need to adjust the size.  Here's what you need if you want to make a pair of mats like mine:

Jean Place Mats

3/4 yard of jean material
gold coloured thread
twin needle (optional)
3/4 yard of fusible batting for the back
2 jean pockets... you can also use the pockets from kids jeans... they are somewhat smaller

If you are using new material, make sure you wash/dry it before cutting it out. These instructions are for one placemat.

Cut one piece of jean fabric 20" x 18".  Sew a pocket  to the fabric on the right hand side, Place approximately 3-1/2 inches from the bottom edge of the fabric and 1-3/4 inches from the side.  Sew around the pocket to attach it to the "placemat:" using gold coloured thread.

Serge all four edges of the fabric.  Fold under 1" on all sides. Press with an iron.  Cut the batting 18" x 16".  Fold back the fabric and iron the fusible batting on to the back of the jean fabric.  Fold the "seam allowance", miter the corners , fold back over the batting and pin. On the right side, sew all around the placemat in a double row.  You can use a twin needle or do each row approx. 1/4" apart.  You're done!

Bandana Napkin

1/2 yd, red bandana fabric
1/2 yd. blue bandana fabric

This is enough fabric to make 4 napkins.

Cut a 14" square out of both the red and blue bandana fabric for each napkin.  Pin wrong sides together.  Serge around the outside edge.

Tuck a napkin into the pocket on your place mat and you're done!

Now throw some beans in a pot, get a pot of chili brewing and break out a cool brewskie!

Cheers,
Sharon

The Card Winner & Little Dresses

Thanks to all of you who "played" and entered the card contest last week! It was very helpful for me and I thank you. Here are the results:

1st Place #1 Asian Blossom

Both #10 (Tea Party) and #4 (Poppies) were also quite popular as #1 pick!

2nd Place - Swan on the Lagoon

3rd Place - The Tea Party

And the winner of their favourite card is GALE! She choose #10, The Tea Party as her favourite. Please get in touch with me Gale with your mailing address so I can get your card off to you!


Little Dresses for a Sweet Granddaughter



I had a busy weekend. When I was in Toronto last month visiting with our daughter and granddaughter, my granddaughter asked me if I would make her a yellow dress. Well what gramma who loves to sew could say no to that kind of request?

When she was a baby and a toddler I made a gazillion dresses for her. She was the best dressed kid on the block. Well now that she is "four and five fourths" (her words... she will be 5 in September) I thought she wasn't too interested in having gramma make her dresses. Well, I was wrong... she sure set me straight (chuckle) in no short order.

So gramma went shopping for material last week and had a sewing marathon over the weekend. From the chaos of material, thread, buttons and zippers in my sewing room, four dresses for our sweet pumpkin emerged. They are simple, but cute and will keep her cool over the warm summer days yet to come!

Yellow pinstripe and yellow floral bottom

Pale green, blue and yellow dots cotton

She'll love this one ... it has turtles, hearts, butterflies, the sun, flowers and a hummingbird in the pattern!

Ice cream cones, ice cream cones and more ice cream cones. This might be her favourite! I wish I was four and could make one of these for me! (GRIN)

She loves getting parcels in the mail. Grandpa mailed all her new little dresses off to her today along with a couple goodies for mommy! I can hardly wait to get the phone call... she gets so excited when she gets a parcel... she'll be tripping over her tongue!

Have a great week everyone...

Sharon