Emma's New Dance Bag!

It's finally here!  I finally finished.  Ok, to be honest, I got most of it done fairly quickly but then I had to wait to embroider it and then wait to have time to finish it up. But all that waiting was worth it, cuz it's so freakin cute!  See...

Look!  It's LINED too!

I LOVE this bag. There are SO many ways to spice this sucker up!  I'm still thinking of adding a bow in the middle and maybe a feathery thingy.  You could add more tulle and a LOT more ribbon!  Don't know yet...

Here's a quick rundown of what I did:

1. Cut two pieces of outside fabric and sewed up 3 sides, leaving about an 1 and 1/4 open on the end of each side

2.  Finished remaining 1 1/4 on the top of the sides by folding it over and folding it over again and sewing.

3.  Then I found someone really cool who helped me embroidered Emma's name on it. (try not to pay too much attention to the size of the letters- it was my first time with a machine!)  **Any decoration done to the bag should be done BEFORE you put the lining in it.

Here's a pic of one of the sides to try and give you an idea:

4. Then I gathered my tulle (just doubled the circumference of the bag) and sewed it on.  Followed that with some pom-pom stuff and then ribbon.

5. Then I marked the bottom corners where I wanted the grommets to go and cut out a TINY x through both layers of fabric.  Took out a handy-dandy tool  (ok- another friend loaned this one to me) and squeezed on the grommets.

6.  Then I sewed up two pieces of my lining fabric.  My lining pieces were cut slightly smaller (about a half inch or so-in height) because I wasn't going to be making the casing with the lining as well.  This is where I'd probably do things differently the second time around because it got a little wonky.  This time, I sewed all the way up both sides and then just serged around the top to finish off the top of the lining.

7.  I placed the lining inside the bag.  *The bag should be slightly taller than the lining.

8.  With the bag-only fabric I folded it over 1/4in and then 1 inch to make the casing for the drawstrings.  Make sure that you catch the lining in this step!

9.  Then I pushed the string through the casing with a safety pin and tied it on at the bottom on the back of the grommets.

All Done!!   Isn't it great?!

Feel free to contact me if you need any help.  It's such a fun project!

Seat Belt Pillow Tutorial

My family and I are gearing up for a rather long car ride and in order to make it more comfortable, I was thinking of getting some travel pillows.  I looked online and I found these great pillows that attach to the seat belt so you can just lean over and be cozy.  Unfortunately, they were $25 + shipping!  If I wanted two, that'd be over $50!  Crazy!  So, being crafty like most crafty people are, I said to myself, "I can totally make that." So here is my tutorial for the awesome SEAT BELT PILLOW.  Enjoy! :)

First, I wanted to make these washable so I actually made a pillow and then I made a pillowcase with a zipper.  You can choose to do this or just make one pillow and stuff it and move on with your life.  I was just thinking that kids....um....drool and stuff.  

Secondly, these are not crash tested or DOT approved or anything like that.  I just wanted to make a pillow for the kids.  If you choose to make one, you do so at your own risk.  (I can't believe I have to write that crap)

Here's a closer look at the back of the pillow.  It has a velcro flap that encases the seat belt.  You can also see the zipper going up the long side of it.

Materials needed:

1/2 yard scrap fabric for pillow (I used leftover muslin I had around)

1/2 nice fabric for pillow case (I used fleece)

12-14in. invisible zipper

velcro (I used 1" wide and a 10" strip but that's just because that's what I had on hand)

polyester fiberfill- again I used what I had on hand but I'd say you'd use a fair amount to get it nice and firm

seam ripper (for the zipper insertion)

Ready, Set, Go!

First you have to make your pattern piece.  I just did this on the fabric itself because I'm kinda lazy like that.  I didn't even iron the lining fabric because who's going to see it?  LOL

 Crappy picture, I agree but I made a large 7.  You can make it whatever size you want but I just arbitrarily made it 16" along the top and 21" down the side.  It was 7" wide. Cut 2.

Ta-da!  I just cut it out and sewed around it.  MAKE SURE TO LEAVE A HOLE TO FLIP IT RIGHT-SIDE OUT!

Here it is all flipped and stuffed. I just sewed up the hole (black thread) on the sewing machine.

Now let's do the pillow case!

Cut out 2 more 7-shapes on your cover fabric.  (do this by folding the fabric over itself so you  have a front and a back 7) With right sides together mark (with pins) where you want your zipper to be on the LONG side of the 7:

REMOVE THE ZIPPER but leave the pins there.

Starting at the top sew a normal stitch until you get to the first pin.  Do a few back stitches then change to a basting stitch. ( a really long stitch) Baste all the way down to the other pin that denotes the end of the zipper.  Again, switch to your regular stitch.  Back stitch a little then continue to the end of the side.

Put the zipper back ON THE SEAM ALLOWANCES ONLY, with the zipper facing down.  Sew each side of the zipper on to each seam allowance.   A little tricky at first, but super cool.  

Once you have sewn on the zipper, close the seam allowance at the top and bottom of the zipper by sewing perpendicular to the seam.  That way no stitches will show.  I, of course, was having some camera issues at this point so I don't have a better picture.  :( 

Flip the cover to the right side and then rip out your basting stitches.  Like magic, the zipper will appear,  but no stitches will be seen!  Awesome! 

At this point, it's important to UNZIP the zipper a few inches.  Set the pillowcase aside.

Now, lets work on the velcro! Cut 2 pieces of your cover fabric 6x11.  On the RIGHT side on one piece, apply the ROUGH strip of velcro on the side.  

Now place your other piece of cover fabric over top, right sides together and sew up the top, the side with the velcro and the bottom.  Turn.

**Here's the tricky part. You need to visualize which side of your child the seat belt goes over- you can have a regular 7 or a backward 7 depending on which side of the car they sit on.  We have "places" in our car so each child sits in their own spot all the time.  If you can visualize this, the cover needs to be attached to the INSIDE side of the 7.  So, I suggest you put your pillow case out in front of you the way it will be worn on the child (right sides out) and then figure out where the placement of the coverpiece should be. It should be placed on the BACK of the INSIDE (opposite the zipper) of the 7.  Once you figure out which side of the pillowcase the cover should be attached to, BASTE it on (RIGHT side of 7).  (this is in case you screw it up anyway- which I did.  It was a lot easier to take out this way!)

When you think you've got the cover on right and it is basted on, then you can figure out your placement for the soft part of the velcro.  Mark it on the 7 with pins and then sew it on.  I actually sewed around the perimeter and then zig-zagged down the middle on both parts of the velcro. 

Almost done!  Now we just sew the whole thing together.  Make sure your zipper is slightly unzipped!!!  Align the 7s, RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER and sew up the remaining sides (sandwiching the velcro cover in the middle).  Turn rightside out through the zipper hole.  Shove in the pillow form that we made hours ago and zip up your pillowcase.  Place in vehicle and enjoy the peaceful snoring sounds of your children.  :)

Shhhh!