More Upcycled & Granola

I have upcycled a few more shirts...we went to the GT bookstore Memorial day...they had tons of ladies shirts for $5.00 because they are sized too small...so I bought a few with plans as such. Worked well...


Reconstructed a I heart New York shirt...is it about time to go back up there?

And no I DO NOT like granola...well Quaker smore granola bars yes...and no I DO NOT hug trees...but I have lots of planted things growing tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, fuchsia, wildflowers, watermelon, and YES I do shave my arm pits. So why all this hippy talk? I got something from the UPS man today...Birkenstocks. I bought them off EBAY. I had some back in middle/high school...and well I'm not sure if it happens to everybody when you turn 30 but...my back hurts...and I thought these would give me some support as apposed to my millions of pairs of super cute Yellow Box Flip Flops and well New Balance are too hot to wear to the ball field. Perhaps my back hurts because I stand up and sew at the kitchen cabinet so ba-boo can run laps around me rather than sewing at my table in my sewing closet. Anyway we'll see how this goes. Hubbie is going to say they are so ugly. They are the "Zara" Betulas.

Oh...I didn't see these...RHINESTONES and ZEBRA PRINT!!! Maybe they would have been a better choice...or maybe I'll get them if they help.

Ruffle Shirt Tutorial

Found another tutorial that I want to try...both are cute short UTube Videos. She doesn't have a picture...so I found one that is similar...sorry.

Make the pattern...
Ruffle Shirt Pattern


Then make the shirt...
Ruffle Shirt Tutorial

Upcycling T-Shirts

Ok...I found a FAN-tastic sight this morning...I was looking for ways to Upcycle T-shirts...Jackpot! Craftstylish is the name.

I started with one of hubbie's old white XL t-shirts...read the Yoke Neck tutorial...and just stopped after tying off the basting stitches. I also cut the sleeve hems and bottom hem off...so all edges are raw. And no I won't wear this shirt in public...it is just my tester shirt. I do like the fit...and will be great when I am preg again...so easy maternity shirts...this took minutes.

Yoke Neck Yoke Neck Tutorial

Then I tried it on one of my size medium shirts...and used the seem ripper to take the hem out...(I'm tall I always want more length.) Nice.

Others I am going to try. We have millions of t-shirts...and they are always giving them away at Georgia Tech games...now I can girly them up a bit.

Cardigan will be super cute with a little tank underneath!
Cardigan Tutorial

Pin Tucks Pin Tuck Tutorial

Ok so the next time you are at a concert and they run out of your size buy a size or two or three larger and make it your own!

oops...I forgot to show the cowl also...
Cowl Tutorial

Quilts

Last night I laid out some Snippets by American Jane, Moda Turnovers...into a pinwheel quilt. This is my first turnover packet...and first pinwheel quilt...it is going to be a baby quilt. Each of the 9 color palettes on this quilt are not in place yet...I was just trying some things out.

And today I am working on my Dad's quilt.

"Anna's" Diaper Bag Tutorial

CoCoJ Designs “Anna’s” Diaper Bag

Why did I come up with this bag? 3 reasons: 1-Because I have never used a stabilizer and don't really want to? 2-I wanted to use fabric I like, not pre-quilted fabric and I wanted the quilted look and feel and stability. 3-I wanted lots of big pockets for diapers/wipes, sippy cups, snacks, crayons/toys, my wallet/keys/cell phone, etc. All things need their place and should be easy to grab. So here we go… And please read through the entire tutorial before you start…looking ahead at the pictures helps you see what my words did not explain very well...and click on all pictures for more detail. Good Luck!

1-Free motion 1 yard of fabric onto a piece of pre-quilted material (Here is a tutorial on free motioning if you need to start there
Crazy Mom Quilts Free Motion Tutorial

2-Cut 19 x 28 inch piece leaving the 28 side open to cut the long straps from

3-Cut outside 8 x 9 inch pocket

4-Fold top of pocket down twice and sew it to hide the raw edge


5- On pocket fold and pin under other 3 raw edges

6-Pick a spot (I like to match the pattern up), pin in place and sew 3 sides onto the outside of the bag (leaving the top of the pocket open…I’m just reminding you not sew your pocket closed!)

7-The body: fold in half right sides together, pin and sew 2 side edges closed (leaving the top of the bag open)

8-Make triangles 4 inches and pin, then sew…now the outside body is finished! (this forms the rectangle in the bottom of your bag and gives it body, do not cut these off) Then turn this outer body right side out.



You should be here…Yeah! ! !

9-Now cut liner 20 x 28 inches from a pre-quilted material

10- Cut 2 pieces of pre-quilted material 13 x 20 inches to make the inside pockets with

11-Fold down 20 inch side of inside pocket fabric twice and sew to hide the raw edge (Yes I am still in my robe and I have hairy arms, moving along now…)

12-Pin wrong side on the right of liner turning the bottoms of each pocket piece under and iron. Leave 3 ½ inches open between the pockets

13-Sew the bottom of the pockets straight across onto the liner
14-Sew 2 pocket slits 6 inches from each side (or as many you like…one for diapers, one for sippy cup, one for snacks, etc)



15- Fold liner in half right sides together and sew the 2 sides closed (like Step 7)
16-Make triangles 4 inches, pin and sew (like step 8) Do cut the triangles off on the liner. Ta-Da your liner!

17-Lets make straps. Cut 2 pieces of self quilted material 33 x 5 inches

18-Fold the short side in half to 2.5 inches right sides together and sew 33 inch side…same for both straps
19-Turn straps right side out. Iron flat. Sew a seam or two to give the strap some body (I free motion these to match, I hope you can see this in the 2nd picture)


20-Let’s make the ruffles. Cut 2 pieces 6 x 44 inches (or the width of your material, this leaves finished edges) not quilted material. Fold in half to 3 inches with wrong sides together and sew 2 rows of basting stitches (long stitches) along the 44 inch side.

21- Scrunch ruffles until each are 20 inches long and tie off ends with the thread (if you do not know how to do a basting stitch…go here and learn really quickly…
Gathering Fabric into Ruffles
22- Putting it all together. Iron and pin down edge of the OUTER BODY to hide the raw edge about ½ inch. Then Pin the ruffle to it and sew ruffle in place (I use the inside of my presser foot as my guide) Sorry for switching bags on you…I didn’t photo this well when I made the red bag)


23-Iron and pin down the liner to hide the raw edge. See pictures above.
24 -Slip the liner into the shell (already did this in picture sorry)
25-Place straps between the liner and shell with pins (I usually put them in about 1 inch) but place with the straps to your comfort level before sewing them in.
26- Pin liner and outer body together and stitch in the ditch of the shell. Ta Da! Finito! Good Job! If it is not that cute, try again…now you know what you are doing. Finished size about 18" wide, 12.5" high with ruffle and 3" deep.

Red Floral Diaper Bag

Jennifer Paganelli's Sis Boom Patchwork Fabric Quilted Diaper Bag

I will work on posting a printable version...Please comment or email me with questions or problems...and I'll try to address them. Thank you...and Enjoy my 1st tutorial!

Ps. You should have enough material left over to make a matching wallet...so scoot over to That Darn Kat and she'll teach you how.
That Darn Kat Quilted Wallet Tutorial

Pss. Printable tutorial is now ready...see side bar for link.

CLICK HERE TO JUMP TO MY HOME PAGE

Almost

So Jake took C.J. to the Braves game tonight to hang out with Uncle Ross. I stayed home and worked on this diaper bag. It is only lacking one thing…straps. I have not designed and made those yet. Tomorrow. But it is pretty cute thus far. I like the kelly green liner...against the zebra print! It is some of the fabric my mom bought for me buy the bolt when a fabric store in Montgomery was going out of business a few months ago.

(And I typed up the tutorial for this diaper bag and went by it to make this bag…to work the kinks out.) Possibly tomorrow I shall add pictures to the tutorial and post it. It is rather time consuming putting a tutorial together. Anyway. Good night.

Don't forget this is Jennifer Paganelli fabric.

Vegetable Car Free Motioning

Ok so...I found the coolest song over on Pampering Beki's blog a while ago.

http://pamperingbeki.blogspot.com/

Jump over and have a listen to #10 on her music list. The song is Vegetable Car by Josh Radin. I love it so much I went out and bought the cd. And I always comment about Vegetable Car on her blog/twitter, etc. (The whole cd, Simple Things, is great buy the way.)

So yesterday she commented that she likes my J. Pag bag that I am working on...and said I should embroider "Vegetable Car" on it. Ha. So funny.

So I free motioned it on and here it is. Thanks for the idea Lovely Lady.