Halloween is Fast Approaching

I have just listed some Halloween fabric in my Etsy shop. It may be a little early, but I don't think so for fabric. It does take time to create all the things you want to create and it's best to start early with that. And you may want to order early too before it's all gone.
I brought back some favorites like Pumpkins Gone Wild by Sandy Gervais for Moda. I have the jelly rolls.

I have Monsters in the Closet yardage by Sue Marsh. It's a not too scary monster print and a cute Monster Eggs print.

And, I have the very collectible Wizard of Oz Charm Tin Over the Rainbow. It has 30 assorted prints and a free tote pattern all in a tin case. It's pretty neat.

I also have October Glow Twice the Charm Packs by Thimbleberries. Twice the Charm Packs are pretty cool. They are fabric strips that measure 5.5"x 22" and there are 21 of these strips in October Glow. That's like getting over 80 charm squares!

And newest to my shop are 2 Halloween Charm Packs from Moda. I have Halloween Night by Minick & Simpson.

I also just listed Haunted Mansion Charm Packs by Sanae.

I am expecting some more yardage very soon and will list that too, so stay tuned.

Many Purpose Bags

I had been working on these bags off and on for a little while. I wanted to make some bags that were not only attractive and functional, but I wanted to create something that had many uses.

I think this Simple Drawstring Gift Bag is a no brainer. You can make this any size and use it for just about anything. I will be making more of these for my good shoes. You can store stuff in them, so many ideas. And, I think they make nice gift bags too.

My Plastic Bag Keeper is kinda neat. I have not fully transitioned to reusable shopping bags entirely so I still have a bunch of plastic bags laying around. But I'm getting there. So I use one of these bag keepers to put them in. They are up and out of the way and the bag is cute too. I also have one that I put cleaning rags in.

My Clothespin Bag is a little different. You can use the tabs to hang it on the line and the wind won't blow it off. I have one in my laundry room for odds and ends, it hangs on a rung of a metal shelf. If you have a little girl with hair scrunchies et c this would be perfect to keep all those in. There's lots of things that you can use this for. I originally made it for clothespins and I have one filled with them. It will hold about 75 pins.

These bags are available in PDF format at my Etsy shop. I have them altogether in a 3 in 1 tutorial.

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Christmas in July Sale

I am having a store wide sale in my shop. But I am really tired right now and I need to go to bed. Basically it's a sale. Please visit my shop to see the sale ad details. I hope to see you there.
Sale runs July 15-25.

From My Scrap Bag...A Mini Message Board

For this project you will need the following materials:
cardboard~~I used corrugated
fabric~~I used cotton
thin batting~~I actually used fleece, but I'm not too happy with it
ribbon and pre-gathered eyelet trim
decorative buttons~~I used 4
glue~~I used Fabri-Tac and hot glue

You can make yours any size, mine is about 7" square. Start by cutting your cardboard the size you want. Cut 1 piece of fabric and your batting about 2" bigger than your cardboard. For my 7" cardboard I cut my fabric 9"x9". Cut a 2nd piece of fabric the same size as your cardboard.

Lay bigger fabric face down, lay batting on top and center cardboard on top of it. Miter and glue 2 adjacent corners and then glue the side down. Do the next corner and side and keep the cardboard centered and pull the fabric taut. I used hot glue for this step and only burned my fingers twice!

Glue a piece of satin ribbon around your piece, creating a criss cross pattern. I used stick pins to hold it in place until I got it adjusted just right. Then glue ends down on the back. Hot glue. Flip piece over, and readjust ribbon if necessary. Add a tiny dab of glue  where ribbons meet at the crosses, I used Fabri-Tac here.

Glue a piece of ribbon so you can hang it. Hot glue.

Glue pre-gathered eyelet trim around the perimeter, squaring off corners and overlapping the ends. Hot glue.

Glue your smaller piece of fabric face up over all the raw edges on the back. Hot glue.

Flip piece over and glue buttons where ribbons cross. I used Fabri-Tac here.

And that's it. Hope you enjoy!

Go Green With My Clothespin Bag...Coming Soon!

I wanted to make a clothespin bag earlier in the season so people could actually get some use out of it. Well here it is almost the middle of July and I'm still working on it.

No worries though, there are still a few months left to hang things on the line. And it is a wonderful way to reduce your footprint on the earth. Go here to find some more reasons and for some interesting facts.

I actually have it planned to finish 2 varieties of clothespin bags. I think they are quite charming if I do say so myself.

Here is a little preview of 1 of them. Do you recognize that fabric, if you do and you are the first to tell me the name of it and the designer I will send you this pdf file for free (when its finished that is).

The Madison Bag

Today is Independence Day, a day when most are spending time with family and friends, having BBQs, going swimming and watching fireworks. I was not fortunate enough to be able to do any of that this year because as kids get older they like to spend time with their friends, not their Mom :(

So rather than feel sorry for myself I decided to go through my fabric stash and find some beautiful fabric to make something with. I chose this delicious Cotton Candy in lime by Sweetwater for Clothworks. And I designed this new bag that I named The Madison Bag.

This bag has 2 pockets on the front that have fold down flaps. They are adorned with 2 of my fabric flowers. :) There is a nice roomy zippered pocket on the inside and my method for installing it is a breeze. You can find it here. Please visit my Etsy shop for more tutorials.

So while others were eating their BBQ I was enjoying my Cotton Candy!