Giveaway Friday!

Now is the time to comment on our blog to win your choice of the fabulous bags we have made this week. The only one we are not offering in the giveaway is the pillowcase backpack, because it is made of sentimental fabric. If you link to our blog, let us know in the comment section and we will put your name in twice!

I didn't have the heart to make the bamboo bags without my sewing buddy today, but I made 5 (gulp) Sandi Henderson Peasant Dresses today - one for a customer, one for Lilly, who immediately demanded one exactly like it, two made out of soft knit for nightgowns, and one for July 4th. I just have the shirring left to do tomorrow. I was petrified to try the shirring, but my customer really wanted this one dress, so I tried it....it was easy and fun! I used this great tutorial from Sandi Henderson. I highly recommend her patterns, even for someone new to sewing. Her directions are great, and her patterns are just so stinking cute. The apron knot dress above is an example of her designs.

And by the way, it is exactly...completely....half way til Christmas today. Get cracking!

More Pillowcase Love.........

What do you get when you slice a pillowcase up into wedgies?

THE SWEETEST SKIRT I'VE EVER SEEN!

Oh my goodness.....run, don't walk and see this awesome tutorial Rebecca (not my Rebecca) wrote over at Renaissance. And peruse her blog...I just found it today, and can tell it will be one of my favorite daily reads.

hmmm....it took one pillowcase to make a skirt for that itty bitty girl...wonder how many it would take to make one to fit me (and my 20 week belly)........

Purse Week - Day 5 Bamboo Handled Bag

Tomorrow I'm going to start on this Bamboo Handled Bag from Little Birdie Secrets
What a great website....spend some time browsing on her site...what a creative girl!

I'll be working on it all by my lonesome self tomorrow as my partner is Christmas Crime is going on the Lake Retreat with all her youth group friends. Sniff.

Don't forget to comment for our giveaway! We will draw names from all the comments this week and you'll get a chance to win your favorite purse. If you link to our blog on yours, and let us know, we'll put your name in twice!

We are nearing the end of the week....next week we will be making homemade bath products, so those of you who do not sew can participate.

Blessings, Lesli

Pillowcase Backpack Reveal!

Check out this bit of retro awesomeness, circa 1977. This was made from a pillowcase that was on my bed when I was a kid.

I love the pattern...it was really easy. It took about 30 minutes from start to finish. It's a very strong sturdy bag, because it's folded so that the fabric is doubled. I would love to make some more of these for all my kids, if I could only find some more pillowcases! I have one more blue and white striped pillowcase, and I think I'm going to applique something on it to make a backpack for Samuel...just didn't have time today.

This was a VERY SIMPLE bag...if you are nervous about getting started, this should be the first one you try.

Happy sewing!

Just a little extra pillowcase madness

Want more pillowcase fun? Here are some great patterns to get you started. Pillowcases are great Goodwill or garage sale finds. And even if you don't want to make anything, you can keep your eyes peeled for great vintage pillowcases and send them our way!

Bella Dia shows you how to make a great skirt to really showcase some vintage patterns here.

Betz White shows us how to make a really quick apron at her great blog.

Or, if you need something to wear, she'll show you how to make this cute shirt.

I know I just have to make one of these vintage pillowcase lunchboxes from Oh, Fransson ...SO CUTE!

Sew Butterfly at Cut Out + Keep made this great ruffle apron. I love anything with ruffles on it.

Even more fabulous ideas can be found at Craftzine

....................including boxer shorts, a nightie, little girl's dresses, a catnip quilt,

Who knew you could do so much with a pillowcase. I love free fabric.

Purse Week- Day 4 Pillowcase Backpack

Today we are heading over to Little Birdie Secrets to make some great EASY pillowcase bags. Rebecca has been dying to make these because she thinks they would be great swim bags. She has been riding her bike to swim team, and several times her bag has fallen off her shoulder and caught up in the spokes of her bike. These backpack straps would be much better for staying on the shoulders!

This will be our afternoon project today..........Come on, I KNOW you have an old pillowcase lying around......YOU CAN DO THIS! We picked up a pack of eyelets over at JoAnne's...no special tools needed...everything came right in the package. We are going to borrow some of Dad's nice white rope for the straps, I think, or raid the ribbon box.

I don't happen to have a pillowcase handy, so I'm going to stitch up my own from some fabric I've got in my stash. Meet you back here later to show you the results of our effort.

Blossie Bag Reveal!

Here is Rebecca's Blossie Bag, using Annamaria Horner's Chocolate Lollipop fabric. Rebecca says she envisions hers as a bible bag. She added a pencil pocket in the lining.

Here is my bag, using some fabric from a table runner I started, and never finished! I think I might have to fill it with some beach type goodies for a birthday gift for a friend.

Both of us benefited from my mom's compulsive ric rac buying in the 70's....she gave us her huge stash when she was here at Christmas, and it's awesome!

These bags were really easy, and the tutorial was great. It is really spot on, with no trouble spots. I thought my bag, which I made first, was a little too tall, so Rebecca shortened hers a little. It would be very easy to make this bag into whatever size you wanted it to be, just by changing the size of the rectangle you start with. The great thing about this bag, is that it can be made mostly from scraps, making it an economical bag to make. The largest piece you need is 18.5x11 for the lining. It required no purchase of any specialty items except for the interfacing. We used some VERY thick stiff fusible interfacing....it almost had the texture of felt. You could use batting in between the layers if you wanted a stiffer bag.

So.....has anyone made anything yet? Is everyone ready for Friday's giveaway? We'll be drawing names from the comment box for your favorite bag!