I tried something new last weekend.

One of the ladies at work had an old cosmetic bag that she wondered if I could make a new one.  She let me bring it home.  I did get another one made, I see some flaws in it, but it really turned out pretty good!

This is hers:


Hers needs to be cleaned, but she can't get it clean, plus where the hanger hooks on it's ripping.


Hers and the one I made:


Here they are hung up together




The one major flaw is that the corners don't match up, so it doesn't sit up good and that's why it's all "wonky" when hanging.  I won't point out the few other mistakes.  lol

It really is a nice bag, but with all the supplies (mesh, four small zippers, vinyl and one purse zipper), I'd have to charge quite a bit for it, plus the one I made took me at least 9 hours!  I'm not sure if she's going to want one or not, but it was fun trying and I may fix this one and use it myself!!!!

We've got all the details of our trip to Hawai'i in December ironed out.  It's charged on our credit card and hopefully will be paid off before the trip!  We're putting at least half of my paychecks toward the trip and the last two weeks I worked four days each week.  It was too much and really reminded me of why I left in the first place, but I'll put up with it for a little while to get this trip paid for quicker.

I made another cover for my binder!!!!

The first one was OK, but I had wanted it large enough to sew around the edges and I wasn't very happy with the closure.  So, went to Hobby Lobby one day and they had this really neat travel fabric.  We're planning to spend Christmas in Hawai'i this year to see Todd's oldest and her family, so this was perfect!!!!

Here's the front:


Open and inside the front cover - added an extra layer so I could use it to store paper in, and also a couple slots for business cards.


Inside the back cover - storage for extra papers and a slot for sticky notes!



And the back


Unfortunately, that's about all the sewing I've done for a while.  I'm back to work minimum 33 days a week, sometimes more.  Plus, we built a garden enclosure and I've been planting vegetables!!!!  You can see the post about it here.

I made a cover for my new binder!!!!

It's good, but I know I can do better.  lol  I bought some more fabric this week and whenever I get time, I'll start on another one.

 In the mean time, here are the pictures:  (I have reusable shopping bags made out of this fabric.)
Front - the flap for the magnetic closure is kinda off center.  I think the next one I"ll use velcro.  And a little piece of elastic to keep a pen.


Inside front cover:  Two places for business cards and a place to slip paper.  Next one I may make room for some more business cards - I need to order some for Todd's trucking business.


Inside back cover:  another place to slip paper, and also a little pocket to keep post it notes.


And the back:

More Organizational Tools!!!!

I used to be a big fan of the "Daytimer" products, but since I made my purse and wallet, I haven't been using my old Daytimer planner.


Plus, it's a little small.  These pages that hold credit cards are about 4" by 7"


So.....I went to Office Depot after work the other day to see if I could find something else.  They had the perfect size of binder, about 7" by 9".  The only problem was the rings were 2" and that was too wide.  I decided to look online and found the same size binder with 1" rings - PERFECT!  I looked everywhere to see if I could find loose-leaf paper to go in it and couldn't find any.  I'm sure someone probably makes it, but I was tired and just decided to order a Heavy Duty Hold Punch.  The punches are adjustable and you can have up to 7 holes!  Ordered them and they arrived yesterday so I sat down after work last night and put my new organizer together.  And here it is!!!!
Front - I wasn't worried about the color because when I make my new purse, I'll also make a cover for the binder so it closes and has a place to hang a pen.


Inside - I goofed and ordered a binder with a pocket on the inside.  I need to decided if I want to just cover up the pocket (because it would be a good place to hide something), or if I want to order another one that doesn't have a pocket.  For now, I'll just use this one.


I ended up having to cut a regular size piece of paper, but I got two small pieces out of one regular size.  Each piece of paper is approximately 5 1/2" by 8".  It doesn't sound like a lot, but it really gives me more room to write things.  I also found somewhere online a place to print off lined paper landscape, so used that then cut the paper (I did also have to cut about 1/2" off the long side of the paper before I cut it in half ) and put holes in it.  I decided to print off a calendar to put in, and I also made dividers.  Labeled them with my new DYMO label maker - LOVE IT!!!!!!


Of course, Office Supplies are tax deductible for Todd's business, so I made sure to have part of the binder dedicated to his business.  lol   I also put the list of what is tax deductible so it's handy when I'm out shopping.


Inside the back cover there is a pocket, so I stuck some post-it notes there.  I think I'll add at least one or two pockets there when I make the cover.


The only other thing I think I'm going to make are some folders to hold my coupons.  I won't have to use my coupon holder then, but I don't use lots of coupons anyway.
The dividers are labeled:
Calendar (with my list of birthdays and anniversaries here so I can get cards when one comes up),
Grocery List (coupons will be kept here),
To Do List,
TJDJ Trucking,
Original Designs by Jyl (JoAnn's coupons will be kept here),
Money,
and Travel (to keep info on our Hawaii trip for this Christmas we're starting to plan).

I also have a couple blank dividers and some extra paper.

Just for comparison - here's the Daytimer on top of the binder to show how much larger the binder is:


The thing I really love about it is that it's all loose-leaf, so I can change things around when I need to.  I'm really anxious to start on my new purse so I can make it large enough to carry the binder with me everywhere.  I am going back to work part-time for a little while, but only because someone just quit and I'm going to put the extra money into our "Hawaii" fund.  Although now I'm worried about being able to make enough product to sell at the craft shows I was wanting to do this spring/summer.  I'll have to see how things go working three days, and having four days off.

Keep checking back - I'll post pictures when I start on my new purse and I'll post updated pictures of the cover for the binder!!!!!

I'm thinking of doing a craft show or two this year.

The second Saturday of each month there is a large show in downtown (Historic) Georgetown.  While doing research on the cost of things and trying to figure out what to price my items at, I ran across a great blog post about The True Cost of Handmade.  Very interesting and I'd recommend everyong who appreciates handmade items read it.

Your comments would be appreciated - and feel free to visit my ETSY shop and give me feedback!

Thanks!!!!!

I've been wanting one of these for a long time.....

Mom used to have something like this.  I've seen them at Michael's and can't remember how much they were, but I do remember thinking it was too expensive.  Then I joined , I found instructions to make one!!!!  It's actually instructions to make a hamper, but I wanted to use it to hold my yarn.   The wood and hardware cost about $15 and the fabric I had on hand.  The blue fabric is kind of plastic coated and was kind of hard to work with.  I did make some changes on the bag (like I always do).  I made the main part of the bag, and had separate pieces that go over the dowels.

Here's the finished project:






The other change I made was adding a lining and pockets to the inside.  This allows me to keep my knitting needles, crochet hooks, patterns, etc. in it.  I haven't dug all my yarn out yet and I'm not sure it's all going to fit, but it will definitely better than what I had before.

I may end up making another bag, but for now I'm very happy with this!

Freightliner Seat Cover #2

My previous post was about the first seat cover I made for Todd's truck.  I decided he needed another one to switch out, so when he comes home we have another one to put in the truck and I can wash the one that was taken off.  We do this for everything he takes with him - from clothes to sheets and towels.  One bedroom in our house is dedicated to his stuff.  Everything is laid out in piles so when he comes home, he can just grab what he needs and I have until the next time he gets home to have everything washed.  This is especially helpful when he's only home for 12 to 24 hours.  If we didn't do this, I'd have to spend the whole time he's at home doing laundry.

Anyway, I wanted to take the new seat cover to check to make sure it was the right size so didn't get it all done before he left, so we washed the first one and he put that back on before he left.  This time he was home for two and a half days.  That sounds like a long time, but since he had been out for three weeks, we had lots of errands to run and he had one "honey-do" project for me (that will be in a separate post).
When we were at JoAnn's Fabric a while ago, I found this really neat semi fabric.  They only had one yard, so I bought it and didn't know what I was going to use it for.  That was a while ago, and I finally made it into a pillow case and used a pillow that was Todd's Mom's.  No picture yet of the pillow case, but from the scraps, I decided to use some of it for the new seat cover.

I really like the way it came out!!!!

Here it is on the office chair - it's not nearly as big as the seat in the truck :  

I still have some work to do on it, but it will be done before Todd gets home again.  This is also two layers of denim and two layers of cotton batting,  The front pulls down and has elastic in it to keep it on.  I'll also add the button holes for the long strap unless he says that's not working.  He's got two arm rests in the truck, so the back can't go down too low.

Seat Cover #1 for Todd's Truck

After I made the seat covers for our Protege (which can be seen here), Todd asked me to make one for his truck (2006 Freightliner Columbia - post here).  He previously just had a piece of fleece, but that wasn't working very well.   Last time he was home, I got it done and he used it for the three weeks he was out.   Here's a picture of it on the office chair (I didn't get one of it in the truck).


I sewed his initials in it, but you can't see them very well, I should have done them in different thread, but it was a last minute decision.  (TJ is what his Mom and other relatives used to call him, I've always known him as Todd.)


When he came home it was pretty dirty, so I washed it and he said we needed to figure out a better way to keep it on the seat.  I had added a couple straps (that you can't see) on the bottom w/ velcro to hook around a bar underneath, but that wasn't quite enough.  So what I did (and no picture, sorry), was to add a large botton hole on each side where the seat meets the back, then made a long strap that can be adjusted (with double D Rings).  The strap is long enough to go all the way around the seat, so he can just pull it tight.  He's going to use that for a while and let me know if I need to add some velcro to keep it tight.

He seems to like it pretty well, he's shown it to a few people while out on the road.  The main part is two layers of the thickest denim we could find and two layers of all cotton batting.   It's REALLY heavy, so it will hold up with him getting in and out of the truck multiple times each day.  (I've already started another one that will be in the next post.

More finished Projects!!!!

I've been tired of dealing with our vertical blinds on the sliding glass doors for years, so finally decided to do something about them!   We put them up right after we purchased the house in 1998 and they broke soon after that.  We could still open and close them, but it was a pain!  Last weekend I made a trip to JoAnn's and was very happy to see they had their Home Decor Fabric 50% off!











The first ones I did are in our bedroom.  This fabric was not as expensive as what I used for the Living Room doors, but I still like it.  I first started by just hemming all around the fabric, but then decided that was too plain, plus I had to take what fabric JoAnn's had - I really wanted 5 yards, but they only had a few pieces that were barely so I had to get one that was 2 yards and one that was 2.5 yards.  So I decided to add some contrasting fabric on the top and bottom.  (I'll show you better pictures of the top later down in the post.)

Then I started on the Living Room blinds yesterday.  Here's the "before".


















And "After"!!!  I think they turned out nice.  MUCH better than dealing with those icky blinds!  The loops on the top make it easier to open and close them.  Since I didn't want to have to buy more hardware, I just used loops on top with Velcro - easy to put up and take down!

This fabric was regularly $44.99 a yard, but was also 50% off.  I wanted 5 yards of this, too, but they only had 4, so thought I'd add something on the top and bottom again.  It's kind of hard to see the brown on the bottom in this picture.

On this one I decided to do a small ruffle on just the top.

I was really like the fabric, but would have liked the flowers to be more brown.  I could have tried to special order fabric to see if I could get the color I wanted, but I didn't want to wait, so decided to go ahead with this.

 This is the top of the ones in the bedroom.  I had to make the loops a little longer since I didn't have as much fabric.  I also thought they were a little dull, so added a stripe of brown on them.  I also didn't like where the top border met the main part of the panel, so added a thick ribbon, which I think turned out pretty good!



 Unfortunately the fabric is dry clean only.  Since they are new there's still a lot of stabilizer in it, so I'm thinking of putting them in the dryer for a few minutes to "soften" them a little.  I'm just worried they will shrink.    Since I didn't have a pattern and just made them up as I went, they took me about a whole day for each set.   I always have an "idea" in my head how I want them to look, but it changes as I go on and never really know what the final look will be.  All in all, I'm very happy with both of them.   I'm anxious for Todd to get home to let me know what he thinks!

More Seat Covers.....

Another thing that has been on my "To Do" list for a while has been to make seat covers for our Mazda Protege.  If you've followed my blog, you'll know that I have already made some for our CX-7.   You can see the pictures here.  This week I decided to finally get them done.  Todd and I had picked out the fabric a while ago and it's been sitting on the shelf.  I also found some plain grey fabric that matched.  So, without further ado,
this a photo of the seat "before"


And "After"


And I added pockets to the back (there were none before).


I was very happy with how they turned out!

Our oldest granddaughter has a birthday in a few days, so I decided to make something for it.  Seeing all the neat stuff on Pinterest, I decided she needed a spa towel.  I had to guess at the measurements, but found sizing info on the 'net  and think I'm pretty close.



As always, comments are welcome!!!