Origami Bag tutorial

I would like to thank the kind lady who let me know that one of the tutorials I posted a link to online no longer exists.  If you want to see the first bag I made like this one it is here.

After looking for another tutorial to link to and not finding one I decided I had to make my own.

I now have a new appreciation of the generous people who make tutorials and post them on their blog.  Thank you. Tutorials are not as easy to do as I thought they would be.

Firstly I learnt I should have used a light plain fabric and clear contrasting thread so that everything was easier to see.  So bear that in mind when you read my tutorial.  Also that I have no time to do it again right now because I promised the kind lady I would make one as soon as possible.  It has already taken a week of slaving away at the tutorial at night after work when I was already exhausted from talking to clients all day.

What You Need

40cm x 40cm (16") of exterior fabric
40cm x 40cm (16") of lining fabric
two buttons
cord (or ribbon like I used)

Instructions

Step 1:

Cut out one 40cm x 40cm square from both exterior and lining fabrics.

Please be more accurate than I was.  If you think you may not be perfectly square when cutting out, then stay away from spotted fabric!

Step 2:

Pin and sew the two squares together.  Right sides facing.

I used a 1cm seam as you can see (above).

Leave a gap of about 5cm to 8cm in one side so that you can turn right side out.

See my fingers.  Am I doing bunny ears or the peace sign?

Step 3:

Clip all four corners to reduce bulk.

Step 4:

Turn right side out and press.

Ensure all four corners are pushed all the way out and are square.

Step 5:

Fold in half.

Step 6:

Fold the sides over until tip of triangle is flush to the other edge.

(This is where using a light coloured fabric would have been more useful to show what I am talking about!)

Fold the top corner down.  Press entire project.

Step 7:

Draw lines on the crease lines.  The lines on the sides will be your stitching lines.

Step 8:

Fold over the top and bottom flaps to the line marked and pin.

Sew across about 1/2" to form your casings.

My casing.  If I didn't use spotted fabric you would probably not notice it looking so uneven.

Step 9:

Sew the sides.  Follow those lines you drew in step 7.

Just wanted to show that not only do I cut wonky uneven squares of fabric but I sew wonky straight lines of stitching.

No don't do this.  Sew yours straight.

Step 10:

Origami fold the sides in to look like mini squares.

Step 11:

Fold the top flap of mini square over as in photo on left.

Step 12:

Stitch a button onto each side. 

Step 13:

Stitch an embellishment to the front.

After making a couple of flowers for the front that all seemed too big, I got lazy and went ahead and used one.  Personally I think a smaller flower would look better.

Step 14:

Pull your cord through the casings and voila!  Your done!!!



Hope you like this tutorial and can follow my instructions well enough.  If you can't my email is always a few clicks away.

I want a little bit of empty nest syndrome!

I am having quite a bit of difficulties in writing regular blog post's!  It's frustrating me no end.  Is it a lack of sewing projects to show?..........no.  Is it having nothing to write about?..........no.  Is it time management?........a little bit.  What is making it hard to blog is the fact my son keeps wanting to use my computer which makes it hard for me to get access to it.

To write a blog post I really require a decent sized block of time, uninterrupted to write, edit etc.  I require private time and for it to be at night time.  The time management bit is that I need a regular time slot to be available .........regularly.  Mornings are also great times to write blogs but some mornings I have to get up, get ready for work and then go.  There is no time for personal activities some mornings!

What can I do about reclaiming my computer back for me?  He has a laptop of his own and our house is a hotspot.  Yeah, yeah I need to get a spine!  Tonight I will.  I have already asked my daughter for help! lol

I realized that I have put myself on hold until the kids move back out of home.  I want a little bit of empty nest syndrome!  They are both adults and act like ones when they live on their own but since moving back home I find they revert back to kids again and I treat them like kids.  Washing their clothes, cooking, cleaning after them etc. I am my own worst enemy!  Yeah, I know!  I need to get a spine..again!

The daughter is not so bad at helping with household chores.  Often when I come home from work I will find she has done some tiding up and the dishes.  My son though is a typical bloke that just doesn't see mess.  Just like my husband!!!!!

I made this kitchen floor mat using an old towel and some cotton fabric scraps.  I thought the idea for this mat came from some random blog surfing awhile ago but could be from a craft book I borrowed from the library  ages ago.  I stumbled upon blog posts of the towel projects the other day that came from the same book. The book is "Handmade Home" by Amanda Blake Soule from the "SouleMamma" blog.

The other mats were done differently to mine but look a lot easier to do (and quicker!).  A rectangle of towel and a rectangle of cotton fabric sewed together around the edges and turned right side out.  Towel scraps appliqued to the top.

For mine I layered two towel rectangles together.  Appliqued cotton scraps on top and binded the top and bottom raw edges.  I slip stitched the side edges together.  Looks alright, and being two layers of towel means its soft and plush.  The cat loves it and sits on it whenever it can.

 

I wish I could sit on a post all day by the river. 

5 cent scrap of fabric

During my weekly tour of the local op shops, I was lucky to spot a wee scrap of fabric that has two beautiful horses on it.  Horse fabric is so hard to find and to find this scrap and only costing 5 cents was like winning lotto.

I am not horse mad by the way.  I had horse mad friends growing up and did try to learn how to ride. Unfortunately one of my friend's had a fat and obese horse named "Star" who deliberately stood on my foot and refused to move.  Nearly broke a bone in my foot.  I chose motorbikes thereafter.

My school mate is now my sister in law and had passed her mad fetish onto my darling niece Becky.  So the fabric had to be "got" and a bag made.
Here it is:

A little close up

Interior with another horse on the pocket

Check out the handle on this bag.  I also scored a wooden belt  and turned it into the bag handle.  Compliments the cowboy/ country look doesn't it?

This wild duck followed me up and down the riverbank while I was looking for a great photo spot for my bag.  Looking to be fed?  Or is he after his 15 seconds of fame on a blog?  He (or she) is rather cute!  Sadly for him/her I will not feed wildlife.  They need to learn to look after themselves!  Tough love!

Bag pattern information:

This bag was made using a free bag pattern shared by Keyka of Keyka Lou - The sewing blog.  She also generously allows home crafters to make a few to sell on their stalls etc.  I am planning on making one or two to sell using some "African animal" fabric I found with lions, zebras, cheetahs and a giraffe. 

Kind regards and HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY!

Looking forward to this year 2012

Why am I looking forward to a year that has every "doom Sayer" predicting is going to end? 

The huge solar flare that is going to hit Earth approx Dec 20th.

I am looking forward to the possibility that the flare will cause a huge  "Aurora australis" that can easily be seen by many on the main land.  Aboriginal folklore of the "Great Rainbow Serpent" may be the retelling of the indigenous witnessing this great event hundreds of years ago.

Not looking forward to the possible heat wave though.  Make sure you look after the elderly, sick and very young with plenty of water etc.  And batteries for the youngsters in case power goes out, internet down, (no facebook for awhile!!) lol.

To sewing:

I have got a few projects finished!  Hurray!  One of the projects I enjoyed making the most was some "thank you gifts".  A lovely couple who live on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia helped my in-laws out when they broke down returning from holidays.

I made them a wristlet and a couple of peg bags.  Not knowing the lovely people in person made deciding what to make them difficult.  I decided on pouches and peg bags as they can be  used to store a lot of different things.  A work mate uses a peg bag that I made as a sock holder in her wardrobe.

I got a new camera and I haven't learnt how to use it properly yet!  I didn't know it was still on special effects mode when I was rushed to take these pictures until the items were on the road 900km away.

Looks lovely in real mode.  Blues, reds and black.  If I find the scraps will post pic of fabric!

Pouches were from a Heather Bailey pouch tutorial from the book called "Signature Styles".  I purchased mine at www.Can Do Books.com.au.

Looks like the owls are sneaking a peek.

Last year was a terrible year for a lot of people.  My FIL got very sick, my SIL had a heart attack and in a coma, my daughters cat got bitten by a snake and the news on TV was tragedy after tragedy.  I didn't feel much like blogging as I didn't have many happy things to say!  I sewed though and got through 2011.

I hope 2012 is a good one for all of us and I will have plenty of happy things to blog about.

Hugs to everyone.

I still sew...

Hi, just a quick post to say "hello" and keep my blog active....sort of!  I have been very busy with un-craft related things (boo hoo :( . but have manged to make this bag in small (desperate to sew) blocks of time! 

It's one of the wonderful bag pattern freebies that use to be offered by "Oh Fransson".  I don't understand why its not offered anymore.  A lot of free patterns are being taken off the free list and put up later for sale.  Is the GFC to blame for this???

Amongst other things I have been on holiday in the beautiful seaside town of Streaky Bay, South Australia.  Might do a post on it once the hell of a holiday fades and the family and I can finally laugh about it.

I went on this holiday with my hubby and about 30 members of his family!  The logistics of holidaying with so many and planning the days, ensuring no one gets left behind in the caravan park on fishing trips defies belief.  Also just following the car in front with no idea where you are heading for is just plain silly!  People got cut off from the convoy and then lost!!!  Plan your holidays better than we did, folks or just camp close to home.  Streaky Bay is about 830km from home.  Way too far!

Anyway, enough about that.  I am off for some much needed therapy!  In my sewing room of course!  (just borrowed the "One Metre Wonders" book from the library and it looks awesome!)

Cheers

Kylie

Current doings

I've had a good week this week!  I hope you have too!  The lovely spring sunshine is fabulous and always puts me in a cheerful mood.

In the sewing room, I have been running up some monster pencil cases.  My daughter spotted one on the net and asked me to make her one.  She loved it immensely and took it to school where her friends saw it and one of them asked me (it was more like begged! lol) to make her one.  I couldn't refuse her or my niece and so it has been production line central around here!

A small but very important tip for anyone who decides they want to have a go at making monster pencil cases:  Do not use stretch denim!  Only use a sturdy fabric or else it all stretches out of shape.  Save your old (non stretchy) jeans for this and keep your eyes out for any size zips in thrift stores.  All of the zips I used were about 50cm in length.  I just stitched as normal and cut off the left over bit just before turning case to the right side.

I am going to make a few more to keep in reserve for the next child that asks for one and will photograph my sewing steps for those just learning the joy of sewing.

These girls are my attempt at the 'Black Apple Doll' pattern.  Thank you to Emily from the Black Apple blog for providing this free pattern. 

My girls are not quite finished yet.  Still stuffing their tiny little arms and legs!  One little lady (shown below) is falling behind on her sisters and still feeling very flat.

These girls will be 'waiting in reserve' for just the right home to go to.  I often read of blogs doing 'soft toy appeals' for charity and like to get involved but something else always comes up that uses my time and I fall behind the deadline for delivery.  I have decided to make things in advance and only offer to send some stuff whenever I have some already made.

If this blog post sounds a little all over the place, I sincerely apologize.  It feels like an epic post that has been 5 days in the making!  Every time I sit down to get this blog post up, I have been dragged away.  Dragged off screaming to Zumba classes, dragged off to wander around a new shopping centre under construction, dragged off to drive around the countryside lost etc.  When I did get to write a few words I found that I had not uploaded my pictures yet.  On trying to upload pictures, the computer ignored the camera plugged in and I had to wait for the master to get home from work to sort it out.

And they say a good blog should post 3 or 4 times a week!  I had trouble just getting the one completed!!

Cheerio!  (getting dragged off to the city to buy a Campmaster portable toilet and tent whoo hoo excitement plus!!) (not!)

slipper parade

My messenger type bag GIVEAWAY here.  Closes 4th September.


Now onto my slipper parade.

The pattern and instructions for these comfy slippers was found in the magazine SEW HIP issue 20.  These slippers have cotton uppers lined with fleece.  The sole is three layers consisting of curtain blackout (makes a nice non slip base), wadding and fleece.  The instruction's diagram was a bit misleading and the layers came out wrong.  The wadding is on top!!!  I have corrected the pattern's instructions for future reference.

 Same as above 'Sew Hip' pattern.  Made from soft fleece, making these very comfy indeed.

These red slippers were made by using the cuffs from a man's shirt!  What a great recycling idea!  I used this tutorial.  It is written in a language I don't know, but the pictures were ample enough for me to work out how to put them together.   I am definitely going to attempt these again.  On the lookout for nice men's shirts now!

I have given these slippers to a friend, who after her new house was built, did her own flooring using some beautiful polished floor boards.  Hopefully her guests will use these slippers and help keep her floor looking fantastic!  I know I will.

PS  To my friends who have entered my giveaway, if you haven't already done so, you can add another entry for being my follower.  I will be using the number generator to pick a winner, so please get your extra entry!!


Cheers!

Rushed, unplanned birthday gift.

Front of pot holder

Back of pot holder

A pot holder I made.  I wasn't planning on making any potholders and they definitely were not on my 'things to do' list.  What was on my list of things to do was finish off those bunny softies from previous post.

I had decided to find something on tv to watch while I hand-stitched the bunnies faces, but just as I sat down with my tools and was ready to start, my daughters friend came to me and said:

"Aunty Kylie!  It's my mum's birthday today and I have no money to buy her a gift!  Could we make her a heart or something?"

Goodbye hand-stitching, hello surfing internet and browsing my craft books to find something to make.  Something quick.

These potholders from Martha Stewart fit the bill.  The only down side was that by the time we found a project and selected some fabric from my stash, I didn't have much time left before her mother arrived to pick her up.

I rushed the binding and just managed to take a quick photo before her mother made it out of the car and knocked on the door.

I am working again this weekend so plan on having a sewing day today, hand-stitching in front of the tv.  Front door is locked, phone is off the hook and my mobile has been buried inside the linen closet!  Maybe I should park my car in the next street over just in case?

Cute bunny softies

I just love this softie pattern freebie by Jenny from the Allsorts blog.  It is so easy to make and the result is so cute!  She even has a tutorial and pattern for the little dress.

I am making a few of these because they are so cute and I wanted to help out a fellow blogger's "Huggles for Kids" QLD flood appeal.  Alas I am too slow and have missed the boat for that one.  I started in late January but the softies I was making then were a bit of a disaster.  A pic below will show you the uninspiring mess I was making.

I realized while making these softies that windcheating fabric does not make good softies!  Well not this type.   Will paint some kind of face on these guys, make them some clothes and add ears or hair and see if they are good enough to send to Leanne for her on going Huggles for Kids campaign.

Hopefully if I pull my finger out, I can get all these guys finished and posted off to Leanne for  her next delivery.

pretty pouch and paper flower thingy

I have been laughing a lot the past three days and thought I would write a really funny post, but alas, zilch.  The minute I sat down to write in my blog I got a blank mind!  So it's just my sewing news today.

I think nearly running over a drunk that staggered out into the road in front of my car and also the wind ripping my car door out of my hands and knocking into the car next to mine, might have something to do with the laughter fading away today.

Also getting told off for committing a small act of kindness towards some strangers really wiped the smile off my face.

But guess what makes me happy?

Sewing this pouch made me happy!  A beautiful free pattern, with a clear tutorial, from Skip to My Lou.  I made a few at Christmas for gifts but forgot to take pictures!

The flower is a little project I found in this book.  It uses a toilet roll for the petals.  Pretty paper is glued to the toilet roll before 'slices' are cut out and semi flattened into the petal shapes.  Tissue paper is used to cover the petals and then its decorated as desired.  I am going to thread beads onto mine and hang it from the window.  I think it will look pretty with a cluster of these all hanging at different lengths.

 

Cheers!
Kylie

small time filler projects

I found this luscious piece of deep red velvet looking plush and immediately decided it would make perfect strawberries.  I used this pattern and tutorial from Embroideroo.  They turned out a little larger than I wanted and a second look at the tutorial states "pincushion".  Should have been a clue to silly me!  I'll shrink the pattern next time, but they were very nice slack time sewing.  I am currently working a project for the  OWOH  give-away-athon and have one week left to finish but needed a little "time out" project.
Tutorial can be found here.

Yummy fruit hey!  The apples are from a Tilda craft book called Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle.

Hand sewn beads are lovely and wonderful to do while watching TV but knocking the bead container over and spilling thousands of seed beads all over the carpet is not wonderful!  I spent ages picking up all those beads instead of just vacuuming them.  After all they were only a couple of bucks to buy.  I learnt a piece of paper is great for sweeping beads onto and then using as a funnel to pour them back into their container.

I got a little carried away making lots of red apples!  This fruit basket was a freebie from some wine selling merchant that knocked on my door.  He did talk me into buying some wine and threw in a free bottle of strawberry wine for me to try.  It was so delicious I ordered two cases more of the stuff.  Chilled it is the most awesome refreshing summer wine and best of all it has a very low alcohol content so visitors can have a glass and still drive home.

Another project to take me away from my OWOH project are these pouches.  I have made the same size as the tutorial and they are palm size pouches which make good  gift bags for little gifts like brooches, hair accessories, jewelery etc.  Tutorial was found on a wonderful blog called Maccabags and is quite a well made tutorial with good pictures.

I better get back to my OWOH project.  I am at that stage of changing my mind on some fabrics I have chosen to compliment the main fabric.  This is the time consuming part for me.  Choosing is so hard! lol

Thanks for reading!