Reusable Gift Bags

 You can't go wrong with a drawstring bag. These are smallish - about 8" wide x 10" tall.
Perfect size for these birthday gifts I picked up at the local Spring In The Country Bazaar.

Some lotion ,some face scrubbies and who doesn't enjoy a good Lemon Drop.
The lotions and face scrubbies were made in my town. The Lemon Drop mix in Oregon.

My friend in Japan sent me the "This Took Me Hours To Make" ribbon which was about right. Haha. Perfect finishing touch.

 While out doing errands yesterday, some plants might have jumped into the car for a ride home. This one is a Primula and will need to stay inside for a bit longer until the night time temps go up. Then it will be part of an awesome patio pot outside.

It's on my kitchen table right now, getting in the way of taking photographs, but making me smile at the lovely lavender colors.

 Do you utilize re-usable gift bags?  I've seen IG posts where making a stash of these is a thing.
I have a stash of decorative paper bags. I don't think I want a stash of fabric bags too.

For the time they take - lined, reversible, I can't see someone shelling out cash for these.

Probably a bit like receiving handmade jam/jelly. If you return the jars, that person will gift you more jam.

Thinking Of You Card

A blogging friend, who used to live in Oregon, had a super bad fall last November. I wanted to send her a Get Well Soon card but because it was November, I was knee-deep in Christmas overtime at work. I settled for a regular card as a place-marker until I could get this card out of my head.

This is her horse, Nick. The image is one I 'borrowed' from her blog when I was looking for inspiration.

These type art cards are fun to execute. The drawing is worked from the background up. Finding fabrics, identifying shapes, sewing it down only took an hour on Saturday. I cut the cardstock 'frame' and trimmed it on Sunday. Mailed it Monday.

Grabbing fabrics takes the longest with the next step of cutting and placing shapes.The drawing/photo image gets simplified by necessity. In the original photo, there is actually another horse in the corral with Nick. He didn't make the cut. You want your focal image to stand out.

There's even room to do more with mixed media. Yarns, laces, paint. I reached my finish point  - a card to send to my friend. She can either enjoy it as is or play some more with it.

Next job was to hinge the art inside the black cardstock 'frame'. (I used a scrap piece of paper to figure out the opening by cutting the middle out until I had enough of the art showing.)
I just used regular scotch tape as this isn't a large piece. This type of hinging is not museum quality but is what's called "Conservation" in the picture framing industry. This type of hinge is removable with little distress to the artwork.

You start with 2 -3 pieces of tape about 3- 4 inches long and place them sticky side up. Place the art on top with half  the tape lengthwise showing. The other half is sticking to the backside of the art.

The next step is to place the top cardstock frame over the art, positioning it 'just right' and pressing down over the tape when you subjectively decide.

Third step is to flip the frame and attached art over carefully. Take a longer piece of tape 4-5" long and place over the the sticky side. This piece of tape will extend past on three sides making a hinge that is no longer sticky.

 You can see in the above photo that the artwork is attached to the top frame. This method makes it easy for the top cardstock frame to go where it best shows the artwork. The hinges allow the art fabrics to hang free. The fabrics and the paper expand and contract at different rates over time. This method allows non-restricted movement. And it's reversible with very little detriment to the valuable artwork. (lol).

 This was my inspiration photo. Of course my blue sky (from my scrap basket!!) had an airplane flying over - checking over things. My way of saying my thoughts are with you.

I started with a large piece of backing fabric - muslin/scrap - something thin but sturdy.
Found some blue sky.
Some white for clouds,
Some green for trees.
The corral color is the wrong side of a old gold calico.
The rails are a thin flat ribbon.
The horse is from my t-shirt hack camo knit. Worked perfectly for horse texture.
Some fuzzy bits for a mane - ran out ---hmmmm.

basically - small bits and bobs from my scrap basket and an inspirational photo.
When I originally thought up this card, I was thinking a 5 x 7" card - haha - This turned out as a 8 x 11" card. Bigger - but easier to execute small cutting areas.

A very good piece of Happy Mail winging it's way south to my blogging friend.

Extra Pull Key Fob Tutorial

 These Key Fobs are fun to make. 

Getting the zipper pulls on can be fiddly but I love the end result. As someone who fidgets, unzipping and arranging the pulls and then zipping it  back together are fun for me.

You'll need:

• Zipper (10 inches or longer). I used a 22"  YKK brand. 
• Extra zipper pulls.               Atkinson brand with YKK pulls 
• Key Fob Hardware               Bought on etsy. 
• Scrap fabric 1 7/8 inches wide by length of zipper tape. I used a Liberty print.
• SF 101 Interfacing.                Bought at Joann's
  

 I found a little light interfacing gave me the firmness I wanted in this keyfob. My go-to is SF 101 (pellon product). Iron this to wrong side of fabric strip. To help with bulk at center when folding, I cut my interfacing narrower than the fabric.

 I'm trying to decide which zipper tape color goes best with my Liberty fabric. Purple, Orange, Hot Pink???

You'll need to cut off the top and bottom metal stops on your zipper. Unzip the pull all the way off. You are left with two tapes.

Sandwich your zipper tape inside the Fabric trim. Sew and top-stitch. I don't have to use my zipper foot on my machine. I can move the needle over to the far left. That way the foot rides evenly on the fabric strip and doesn't get all lumpy-bumpy with the zipper teeth.

If you can't move your needle over, switch to your zipper foot to sew this fabric trim.

I used two parallel lines of top-stitching, I could have used one. Or, a decorative stitch on my machine.

 Okay - here are the fiddly bits.

You can google, "How do I put a zipper pull back on" to find a lot of youtube videos. I like the one by Erin Erickson of DUMD (Dog Under My Desk) Sewing patterns.
{I don't think my left hand is up to taking video as well as close-ups}.

I'll try to explain the process. Zipper teeth need to interlock with each other. One side of your tape will be higher than the other. Always start with that same side for each subsequent zipper pull.

Don't mind the messy ends, you will trim these later. You might even trim them while your giant hands try to fiddle with tiny teeth.

Slip the top of the pull on whichever side you decide to start with. Slide until you hear a little click. Two clicks is also okay. Take the other end of the zipper tape and start it. The first side is easy, the second side is a lot tougher. There isn't as much room in the pull for two tapes.

Try pulling on your left tape to give the second tape room to maneuver. Try using the pad of your finger to tap the bottom end of the pull while tugging the left over and maneuvering the rightside into the pull.  Are your fingers getting more clumsy?  Take a deep breath and repeat.  If you listen carefully, you will hear the "click" as the second side engages.

If you totally have nylon coils disintegrating, trim off the end and start again.
At some point after hearing the 'click' of the second end, you will be able to pull the tab and zip it up the tape.

It does get easier now that I've made half a dozen. Just remember to breathe.

 The first pull zips up the teeth. Carefully, tug the tapes apart at the end where you start the zipper pull and do the next pull. If you start on the opposite side, it will create a little gaposis. If you start it on the same side as before, it looks straighter.



Homestretch:

 You can buy key fob hardware pliers for $20 and up, or like me, I use pliers I found in the hangar. I put masking tape on the jaws to soften the teeth. I also use a scrap of fabric to try not to mar the shiny fob hardware.

 Once you have your fabric butted up inside the fob hardware, you want to squeeze gently all over the hardware. Don't do one place at a time. Gradual squeezing on the left, then on the right - make sure your fabric is straight, squeeze again until it's all tight.

Some people use glue also but I've never had one pop out so I skip the glue.

 I used a 22" zipper, sewed my fabric trim on, then cut it in half to make two key fobs.

 See how the front one is twisting towards the camera - this is one reason I used interfacing. I think with time and use, it will lie flatter.

These are the pulls I ordered. YKK brand pulls mix well with YKK zippers.


I ordered the key fob hardware on etsy years ago - I still have some. I did have to google search for the zipper pulls and then bought the cheapest one. I haven't seen these colored pulls in a store. The zippers are usually in stash or if I have to order some - then I generally use ZipIt on etsy.


I would love to see ones you've made. Throw a photo at  me in the comments or by email or Instagram (sidebar).


This is an easy project for gifts.

I'm linking up with Sew and Sow's Saturday linky party:

Snap Bag 2

I haven't sewn one of these Snap bags in a while. In fact, this one was mostly sewn already and just needed a pick-me-up hand stitch finish.

Embellished with tiny pom poms.

It "snaps" when you pull the top edges apart and snaps back together to keep your items inside secure. Its a fun "snap" sound too.

I need to make some more for my etsy shop.