For Penny

Fabric choices -

Since you  liked the brown, I thought I'd give you a few different fabrics to choose from.
This one is the only one I currently have at home:



I had meetings in Austin the last two days, so stopped at JoAnn's Fabric to see what they had to choose from.  These are what I found:  (A lot of the pictures turned out looking green, but I only chose the ones what had brown backgrounds)
#1 - Circles 


#2 - Colorful Circles


#3 -  Flowers


#4 - Swirls #1


#5 - Large Flowers


#6 -  Flowers (with some Blue)


#7 - Swirls #2



And there a bunch of choices that we could use for lining.















 

Let me know what you think or if you have any questions.!!!!!

Mom got her bag today,

so now I can post the pictures!










I used Mom and Dad's jeans to make this.  I think it came out pretty good!

Another Bag DONE!!!

LOVE this bag.  Kinda like the one I made my Mom (which she hasn't received yet, but once she does, I'll post pictures).  Anyway, our church holds a huge fundraiser ever year called "Wurstbraten".  We make sausage, sell it by the pound, then have a Sausage Supper..  It's the main fundraiser we have each year and this year it's on November 6, 2011.    As part of the night, they also have a "Country Store" where people can make things to be sold and all the profits go to church.

Last year I made this pillow:


So this year I decided to make a tote bag kinda like Mom's.  They are coming down for a visit sometime really soon (end of this week), so I thought I better get the bag done so I don't have to worry about it while they are here.  I started it yesterday.  As with most of the things I make, I don't use a pattern, just start out and see how it ends up.  I got most of the piecing done yesterday, so today I just had to put it together.  It took me longer than I thought it would, but turned out really nice!
Front:


Back:


Side:


Inside:


I added pockets inside this one and the hook and loop closure is about 4" long.  You can't see it on the picture of the front, but I quilted a design on the sides of the pocket.   It's 14" wide, 14 1/2" tall and the gusset is 5".   I'm very happy with the result!  After my list of things to sew I'll make me one (like I need any more bags - lol).

Comments are always appreciated!!!!!  These would make great Christmas presents!  Send me an email at jylslife at gmail.com!!!!!!

I've done LOTS of sewing lately.

Sadly, most of what I've sewn are for gifts, so I can't post pictures yet.  The only thing that I can post is the lastest baby quilt I made for our newest grandson who's due on the 12th, but can come any day.  I've made each one of our grandkids one of these, so I hand-quilt them.

Front


Back


And yesterday I had the best trip to JoAnn's Fabric!!!!  They had coupons out and would let you use more than one, so I decided to splurge.  One coupon was 50% off any regular priced item, one was 40% off one regular price item and the other one was 20% off your total purchase!  So even though I spent over $100, I saved $45!

I've been looking for some home decor fabric to make another purse.  And of course, that also means I'll need to make another laptop bag, book cover, cosmetic bag, and other stuff that I have in the black that I'm using now.  So this is the fabric I came home with:


and with the fabric I'll use for the lining:


Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, I bought a pink "Survivor" patch for my mom, and today decided to make a tote bag for her.  At first it started really easy, but quickly became more intricate, so it took me all day.  But it turned out really cute!!!  If it wasn't for the "Survivor" patch on it, I'd keep it!  Once I figure out if they are coming to visit soon or if I need to mail it, I'll post pictures.

So keep checking back!

Do you like egg mcmuffins

but don't want to leave the house (or spend the $ on one)?  Here's my version that costs less than one dollar!!!!!

I made anther reusable shopping bag

to send to Todd's cousin in Colorado.  And this time I remembered to take some pictures before I sent it off!






I've started working again full time, so haven't had much energy to do much in the evenings.  I have one baby afghan done and am working on another one.  Once the second one is done, I'll post pictures and tell the story of them.  :D

For Kathy

I went through Nel's fabric that I brought home and here are the fabrics that would be big enough to make a reusable shopping/grocery bag out of:

1)  This is just a little thicker than regular cotton fabric and has a "shine" to it, but it would work fine


2)  This one is some sort of synthetic, but would also work:


The rest are regular cotton:
3)


4)



5)



6)



7)



8)


9)


10)



11)



12)



13)


A few of them I'd have to find another coordinating fabric for the lining .  I usually use muslin and have both off-white and white already.  Let me know if you like any of them.

Did a little sewing over the weekend.

Inspired by this post on craftster, I decided to try a couple of "buckets".  The first one turned out really bad, not surprising, so that one went in the garbaga, but the others I made were pretty good!  Now just to find a use for them.  lol

First (good) one - the green is a denim-weight fabric and the lining is a much lighter fabric.  Would work fine if you had the right stuff in it, but alone it doesn't stand up very well.  It was really tall, so I folded it over - I think I like that look!


Inside:


So I decided to do another one and add some heavy interfacing - that helped A LOT!

Keep in mind they were supposed to be square, but these didn't turn out very well,  So I tried again!

This one is much better!  I used actual canvas for both the outside and the lining.




 
I didn't have any regular brown thread, so tried to use some that was thicker - and that's why the top is funky.  I had the heavier thread in the bobbin.  But I was happy it stands up on it's own!  Again, not sure where I'll use it, but we'll see if I can find somewhere.  I'm also thinking of making some small ones to organize things in the bathroom (q-tips, cotton balls, etc.).

More Reusable Shopping Bags!!!

Last week one of our television stations aired this story about Austin banning plastic bags in stores.  So I thought "What a great time to make some more reusable shopping bags"!!!  I bought some more pretty fabric and took a few days to make them.   I decided this time to make a whole set and also include produce bags.

Here are the pictures:
There are three t-shirt bags


All with button holes and tabs to hold them on the racks at the store


The produce bags are two different sizes - three large and four small


The last one I didn't have enough fabric for the whole outside, so decided to make squares for the "quilted" look.  I did use batting in this bag so it's a little stronger.  It also has a long handle - great to carry two gallons of milk (or something similar).


And they all fold up to be carried together!




I posted them on my etsy account for sale here.  I have an example of what all they hold there.

And while I was at it, I also posted some other bags that I had made.


This set of three is also available here.


This set of two is available here.

And a couple single bags

Available here.

and

Available here.

If you are interested in any of these, leave a comment with your e-mail address and I'll send you a coupon code for free shipping!!!!

I still have another fabric that I haven't started on yet, but I'll be making another set.  Pictures will be posted as soon as I'm done!

GO GREEN!!!!!  lol