October Sewing

First up, I finished up all the pocket tissue holders I can stand.
As easy as they are, I don't do multiples well.

Benta asked for an airplane one.

 It will be a reminder of who made it for her.
Tissues from the DC-3.

However, if you would like one, my giveaway remains open.
Pocket tissue holders/covers are easy to make and it's an easy way to thank my readers.

 Next up in today's sewing were these cosmetic bags. My sis gave the purple and orange set to me for my Japan trip this spring. Very lightweight and washable. They are made of nylon fabric,  a zipper and some bias tape.

 I really liked the see-thru vinyl in the big one so I made two bags, both with vinyl on the front. They measure 9.5" x 7"  (large) and 8 x 5.5" (medium). Something fun to stuff into your luggage on a trip to help organize all the silly things you must take on your vacation.

 I didn't make the ultra small one - it's pretty small and I didn't use this one myself.

 I used a lightweight laminate with bicycles.
The wrong side shows through the vinyl quite well.

I used a coordinating cotton to bind the edges and make the straps.

 I traced off the first bag onto a piece of paper, adding my notes on construction.

To sew on the laminate and the vinyl, I used the thin tissue that came with the vinyl and placed the tissue underneath my fabrics, sewed  my seam, then ripped the paper away.

I had no problems sewing this other than putting the zipper the 'wrong' way the first time. The pull (and thus the strap) on the bottom bag should have been on the left-hand side in the photo below - but who cares.

You can't rip out wrong stitches on vinyl as the holes will show. You have to commit.

 I used my clover wonder clips - because they excel at helping keep bias binding in the correct place. You cannot use pins on vinyl and even the wonder clips will leave tiny gripper marks so you want to keep anything that will mar the vinyl inside the seam allowance.

I'm thinking of going against my rule on writing tutorials and making a how-to for these bags. Of course, the w-o-r-k will get in the way and squash that stupidity.

Chicken Hot Pads

I had a productive rainy day Sunday sewing time.
And I needed to change my blog post photo from the last one. Eewww.

Everyone I know was watching the super bowl but me. I've never been into football that much, can't drink the beer {Glutens, barley, hops :'( }. I almost watched it because Pencil Girl helped make the giant lion who made an appearance at the half time show.

   

I have a friend who is dire need of replacing her chicky hot pad so I dug out the box from where it had been stored for a few years and found that I already had some chickens cut out and ready to sew. I used to make these for holiday bazaars.

The wings are pockets for your hands. She keeps hers sitting/nesting over the teapot handle.

My zips came in so I was able to finish using up my laminate and I also used this free 'suede'  sample swatch from Spoonflower. Just the right size to make this Dumd Valentine Pouch.

This one might be my favorite. Soft airplanes.

I tried top-stitching on the vinyl laminate with a dull sewing machine needle and the backside is cruddy with skipped stitches. I am contemplating tossing this one or doing a giveaway. I spent about two seconds thinking about ripping out the top stitching and hand stitching around the heart instead with a thicker thread (the holes in the laminate are permanent). It might have to go into the time-out closet.

Heart Pouch

I saw one of these on facebook today about an hour before I had to go to work and get dressed.
I remembered Crafty Tokyo Mama had sent me some laminate scraps which have been sitting on my ironing board taking up space, cuz there wasn't a better spot.
I have three more small  pieces of laminate I plan to turn into heart pouches tomorrow.

Pouch measures about 3 1/2". Perfect for ear buds or coins or other tiny stuff.