More Pillows

Do you know how hard it is to find a plain orange pillow? I'll save you the trouble- and tell you it's impossible.

However, a plain pillows are just what we wanted in our living room. Our living room is a bit modern, we like clean lines, neutral colors as the background (couches, carpet, big furniture) with big bright pops of color.

Orange and red went with the art in the room, as well as our rug- and contrasted nicely with our light couch and all-black furniture.

But Like I said- it was impossible to find them- So I made them. This was a few years ago when I was a very novice sewer, but they turned out and they've hung around on our couches ever since.

This is just another example of the custom pillows I can make, order through my etsy shop!

Clutch

So after I made my larger bag from my Chinese fabric, I still had some material left over. So I made a small clutch and/or carry-all and/or whatever you want it to be :)

When it's closed, it measures about 7.5"x5"
It has a magnetic snap closure, so it's easy to open but stays firmly closed when you need it.
The inside is lined with the reverse of the fabric, so you get the same design, but with the colors reversed.

 Available now in my etsy!

Another Bag!

This bag was made from repurposed fabric. My mother is the queen of buying unique/unnecessary items. On one trip to China she bought me a robe.

A Chinese Silk robe with dragons and such on it.

Believe it or not, I have very little use for a silky Chinese robe in my life. But it was unique and kinda cool looking so I held onto it-- even if I never wore it.

Well, a couple years later I was about to throw it out when I realized that I could use this cool fabric, just not in the form of a robe

TA-DA!

I made a bag from the fabric. It's another over the shoulder tote.

 I didn't line this bag on purpose, so that you could get the negative color affect on the inside of the bag.

So, where there is red on the outside it is gold/orange on the inside. And where there is gold on the outside, you get red on the inside.  

Of course, I added pockets. What good is a bag without pockets?



The outside pocket



The inside pocket.

 This bag measure about 12"x15" and it's available in my etsy shop

Pillows

For my church I currently do work with the youth. So I deal with a pile of silly girls between the ages of 12 and 18. I personally spend most of my time with just the 12 and 13 year old girls.
We recently decided to make pillows for a project- unfortunately not one of them knew how to sew... or had even attempted it before.
So I had my work cut out for me, but I helped design and sew a bunch of 14" pillows.

Here's the silliest pillow first:


Ducky Pillow

 A pink pillow, with little yellow duckies, and yellow ric-rac for trim. I warned you... silly.


Blue Paisley Pillow

 You see those two little pearls in the middle of the pillow? That girl insisted upon putting buttons in the middles of the pillow... I'm not sure why, but it made her happy.




Hawaiian Print and Blue 'envelope' Pillow

We added a grey button on the bottom of the triangle flap on the blue 'envelope' pillow (So named because she wanted to have it look like it had a top that folded over like an envelope)



Zebra Print

This one I liked a lot- I'm happy that I was able to talk her into using the red thread to accent the black-and-white.
We even used a honeycomb stitch to make it a little bolder.


Red Honeycomb Stitch on Zebra Pillow



And finally, the twin pillows.

Because 13 year olds aren't always logical- this girl says she wants a set of boy-girl twins when she's older, so we made pillows for just such an occasion.

The reason behind them may be silly, but I loved these pillows. And her Uncle (who is apparently very 'into' home design and decor) swore that these were designer pillows- he couldn't believe they were home made.

I was very proud, I helped design these pillows, guided a novice sewer (and corrected many mistakes) well enough to create something that appears to be made by a top name designer.

Here they are in more detail:



Boy Pillow, front



Girl Pillow, Front

 Are those pockets cute or what?



Girl Pillow, back

 Of course, the boy pillow was backed with the brown and blue stripes, I just don't have a picture of it.
Here's what you see on the side:


Both Pillows, back

  So there is the pile of hand made pillows that I made with my young girls.

I really loved making the pillows so if you want some customized hand-made pillows you can leave a comment for me or request an item via my etsy shop

A Big Thank You- with a quick card!

I'm so excited- I made my first sale in my etsy shop!

It was fun to get the order, but before I shipped it off, I made a small gift from the extra fabric I used to make the item (I made a hair clip), and I also whipped up a quick Thank You card.

This really was a two minute project, so I know it's not much, but I think it's still pretty.

And I love it, since it represents my first success at something that I really want to do.

More Baby Stuff

I managed to get some organic AZO dye free cotton for cheap.. I mean super cheap. I'm not into super organic stuff, but since it was cheaper than 'regular' fabric I went for it.

I used it to make some more baby bibs and burp cloths.

Cute, right? And the bib isn't too bad either.

And it's reversible, green on one side, brown flower print (with green accents) on the other side.

And the burp rags:

I love these. For my son (my firstborn) I was given lots of burp rags and such one of them was made with one of these cloth diapers. It was by far my favorite burp rag. It was cute and it absorbed so much spit up. With my daughter I got three more as a gift- I love, love, loved them.

That's when I decided to make some myself- the world needs more of these fabulous burp cloths.

Here's a whole set of burp rags and bibs that can be found in my etsy shop.

Or you can get just a set of the burp cloths.

Small Tote

A woman at church asked me to make up a pattern so the girls (age 12-18) at our church could make some bags.

I was flattered that she thought of me as crafty enough to not only sew a bag , but to create my own pattern! I must be moving up in the world! And, I happy to report that it was a total success.

Along with the pattern I created for the girls, I also made a bag as a sample- But I do not need another bag- SO it's going for sale in my etsy shop 

 Do you love it? It's small for a tote, (because sometimes they are TOO big) but a little big for a normal purse... if you've been looking for a medium sized shoulder bag then you are in luck.

This shoulder bag is about 11"x12" (not counting the straps, of course)

If you look inside you can see the pockets:

The pockets are side by side, and one is thin so that it ideally holds pens/pencils etc. while the other pocket is larger to hold... you know... keys, phone, whatever!

Or if you don't like the pocket on the inside, simply flip it inside out:

The bag is reversible, so you can have your pockets on the outside if you wish.

The fabric is a little stretchy and has a fun striped texture to it. I hope someone finds this bag a good home, because I love it, but I just don't need it :)

Exploding Box

Have you all seen what scrapbookers call an exploding box?

When you see it, it seems so simple, and so innocent:

But when you pull off the lid...

It explodes!

I think these boxes are adorable! They are great for housing small gifts, and are often used as a photo album. You could make an 'album' of a senior year in high school, of a vacation or something similar to keep or to give as a gift.

I made this box with Valentine's Day in mind

 You can buy it in my etsy shop for that special someone.