Makeup Bag

Hi everyone! It's been a little while since I've had the time/energy to take on a new sewing project, so today I decided to ease back in to things. First up: a cute little makeup bag! I've been wanting to make one of these for a while now, so it seemed like the logical next project. I took pictures along the way, but tonight's post is just going to include the final project.

The bag ended up being about 7" long or so - perfect length for a few brushes!

After making this one I have so many ideas floating around in my head for different versions! Bigger, smaller, straps, square, pouch, ah! Can't wait to try them all out. I would've done it tonight, but I don't have enough zippers in stock. Good thing those coupons for Jo-Ann's came in the mail today! Until next time :)

iPad Case #2

Well if it wasn't apparent that I wanted an iPad before, it should be now! A friend of mine is in need of an iPad case, so I decided to try a new pattern. Although it took me quite a bit longer than the previous one, I'm thinking I like this one a little more. And hey - it was my first time putting in a zipper! I found the instructions here, but there were a few things that weren't 100% clear to me, so I'll try my best to explain them as I go along.

**Almost forgot! I used a 1/4" seam allowance for this project**


For this project I needed:

• 9" zipper of coordinating color
• Coordinating thread
• Velcro (although I hadn't added it yet at the time of this post)
• Outer fabric: 
• Back - 8 3/4" x 10 3/4"
• Front bottom - 7 1/4" x 8 3/4"
• Front top (I used a different fabric to mix it up a bit) - 3 3/4" x 8 3/4"

• Pocket lining fabric:
• Cut 1 - 8 3/4" x 10 3/4"
• Cut 1-  7 1/4" x 8 3/4"
• Cut 1 - 3 3/4" x 8 3/4"

• Inner lining fabric:
• Cut 2 - 8 3/4" x 10 3/4" (I used flannel so that the ipad would be against a soft surface)

• Strap and zipper ends:
• Cut 2 (strap) - 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"
• Cut 2 (zipper ends) - 1 1/2" x 2 1/2"

• Interfacing:
• Cut 2 - 8 3/4" x 10 3/4"
• Cut 1 - 3 1/2" x 3 1/2"

Phew! Cutting is always the hardest part for me. You'd be surprised how hard it is to cut a square...seriously.  First I made the strap. I fused the 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" to the wrong side of one of the strap pieces of the same size. Then putting right sides together, I sewed around both sides and the bottom, leaving the top completely open so I could turn it inside out. It looked like this:

Next, the zipper. The trick I learned from the blog I found this pattern on was genius! I took the two zipper ends and pressed the sides in to the middle so they looked like this:

Before I sewed these to either end of the zipper, I made sure to trim the zipper to 8 3/4". I then sandwiched the fabric around either end of the zipper and sewed a straight line across.

The zipper looked like this in the end:

Then it was time to make the front of my case. Taking the two top pieces of the outer fabric and fabric lining (3 3/4" x 8 3/4"), I placed them right sides together and sandwiched the zipper at the top. It's here you have to be very careful that the zipper is in the right position. You'll need it placed so that the front of the zipper is facing the right side of the outer fabric, or else it'll be inside out. I made that mistake and had to tear the whole thing apart to fix it! (The picture I have below has the pocket lining set to be the outside...that's what made it backwards! But I forgot to take another picture of the right way, so hopefully this will give you the right idea)

Using the zipper foot on the sewing machine, I sewed through the three layers - pocket fabric, zipper, outer fabric. Tip: Sew as close as you can to the actual zipper part. It'll look better if there's not a lot of the zipper fabric showing.

Once that was done, I opened the fabrics up and ironed them down on each side, so that the other side of the zipper was exposed and ready to sew the bottom outer and lining fabrics on.

Using the same method to do the top front of the case, I took the front outer bottom piece (7 1/4" x 8 3/4") and the bottom pocket lining piece of the same size, put them right sides together, sandwiched the zipper in between and sewed with my zipper foot. The completed front and back are pictured below:

I top stitched the front above and below the zipper to give it a nice finished look before make the back outer piece. There wasn't a lot to make here, just centering the strap to the middle of the front side of the back fabric, and sewing it along the top to keep it in place.

It's time to put the outer most layer of the case together. It was like creating a sandwich of sorts. First, put the outer back piece right side up, then add the assembled zipper front piece on top - right sides together. Lastly, put the inner pocket piece (8 3/4" x 10 3/4"), right side down. One by one it'll look like this:

The final fabric sandwich:

Pin around the sides and bottom, and sew along those 3 sides. Once that's one, turn it inside out. It's starting to take shape!

Now to make the inner lining of the case. After fusing the 8 3/4" x 10 3/4" pieces of interfacing to the wrong sides of my inner lining fabric, I put the two pieces right sides together and sewed around 3 edges - both sides and the bottom - leaving the top open. DO NOT turn it inside out. Leave it as it is at this point.

Almost there! Slide the outer assembled piece in to the recently assembled inner lining, so right sides are together.

 

Stitch around the top of the case, leaving about 3-4" open on the front side to turn it inside out. *Be sure to keep the pocket lining sides together when sewing around the top.* If not, you'll see the interfacing when you unzip the pocket. 

Flip the case inside out using the opening at the top, and push the inner lining in to the outer shell. So close! Top stitch around the top of the case and there you go! I didn't have any velcro at home, but once I get some I'm going to put a small piece on the strap and outer shell to keep the strap down and the iPad safe and sound. 

Tote Bag!

I made some of this tote in sewing class and some at home, so unfortunately I don't have a bunch of "how to" instructions to post, but just to keep this blog fresh I thought I'd post a few pictures! I'm really excited to make it in all different shapes, sizes, patterns....everything!

Also, I found a bunch of this fabric in a "fabric sale" bin at a local clothing shop today. About 3 yards for only $8! It made me think of something my mom would like! I think she requested a kindle cover, so we'll see what I can come up with!

iPad Case

Happy Easter weekend! My dad came to Nashville to visit me over the holiday, and after the hello hugs I immediately made my way to his iPad. I don't have one of my own (Dad, if you're reading this - Christmas... *cough cough*) so whenever there is one around I'm sure to hoard it. Kind of like babies. Anyway, seeing his iPad gave me a new project idea. An iPad case! I did a little searching on Pinterest and decided to mimic the tutorial here, but I did a few things to make it my own.

Honestly, the hardest part of the entire thing was picking out the fabric! It's technically an iPad case for my dad, so the feminine fabrics had to stay in the fabric bin. I finally settled on a cool guitar print. Hey, I live in Nashville! I started by cutting all my fabric.

• One piece of the outside fabric and inside fabric, each 21 1/2 by 11 1/2 (I used flannel on the inside to protect the iPad screen
• Coordinating fabrics for the outside and the inside of your fabric. The outside piece should be 7 1/2 by 4 1/2 and the inside piece should be 7 1/2 by 6 1/2
• Three pieces of heavy weight interfacing
• 4 1/2 by 11
• 8 by 11
• 7 1/2 by 11

First I made the pocket. Putting the edges of the right sides together, I sewed a 1/4 inch seam to connect my two pocket pieces (outside and inside). I opened seam up, pressed it, and then did a top stitch on either side of the seam to create a cool look for the final product.

Then, folding the now whole piece in half, with right sides together, I sewed around the 3 remaining sides, leaving an inch or so open at the bottom to turn it inside out. There was no need to sew on the top side...the fold did that for me. And yes, when I folded it in half the fabrics weren't even. That's ok though - it was supposed to be that! After turning it inside out it looked like this:

The bottom still has an open hole, but I closed that up when I sewed the pocket on the main piece of fabric in this step. I put the large main fabric piece face down on my table, and folded the bottom up so I had an 8" piece showing the right side. 

I centered my pocket on this piece of fabric. It was 1" from the bottom, and had about 2 1/2 inches on each side. I pinned it in place, unfolded the fabric so I didn't sew the front and back together, and top stitched around the two sides and bottom. 

Once that was finished, I applied the interfacing. On the wrong side of the fabric I positioned the 4 1/2 inch piece 1/2 inch from the top and 1/4 inch from each side. 1/4 below the bottom of that piece I positioned the 8 inch piece. Another 1/4 inch below the 8 inch piece I placed the 7 1/2 inch piece. This is important because it'll allow natural creases later. Be sure to iron them in place!

 Now I was in the home stretch! Kind of. Putting right sides together, I pinned the large inside piece and the large outside piece together and started sewing! I was sure to leave a good 4 inch opening at the bottom so I was able to turn it inside out. Oh yeah, and I backstitched on either end of that so it was durable!

Once turned inside out, I folded the bottom up and it looked like this:

Last step was top stitching around the entire, yes I said entire, iPad case! This held the sides together and made it look pretty. I ironed the whole thing afterward and was sure to iron the top flap crease so it stayed. It looked like this!

and this!

and this!

and finally...this!