BAG FROM REPURPOSED SHIRTS

From this snap front Gap shirt I found at Salvation Army, I made a bag utilizing the snap opening as a pocket on the front of the bag. I used another SA shirt for the lining.
The outside shirt fabric has Pellon Thermolan Plus fleece fused to it to strengthen the bag and to protect the contents. I used one of the cuffs to make a snap closure at the top for a little bit of security.

The inside has a long pocket on one of the gusset sides, a zippered pocket on one side, and a small pocket on the other side at the bottom. The outside back has two small pockets at the bottom, and the front, along with the pocket made with the snapped placket, has four small divisions/pockets, with two on top of each other at the ends making six pockets.

I embroidered a floral motif on the back in orange thread. The handles used the button plackets of the floral shirts backed with the other shirt's fabric. The Gap label is sewn onto one of the straps.

Red and White Quilt from Kansas City Star

The Kansas City Star published patterns, a block a month, in 2013 for this quilt called "Rubies, Diamonds, and Garnets, Too..." designed by Bernadette Kent of Calgary, Alberta.  This is my second attempt at piecing, so I am happy with the outcome. Those 36 sashing strips took me weeks to do as there are 864 half triangle pieces to cut, sew two together, trim, and then sew in a strip. If I had known at the outset how time consuming those would be, I probably would not have started it. But they do add a lot to the overall look. The blocks were pretty quick to piece together; even the center star was not too bad.

Almost all of the white fabrics are from blouses from Salvation Army on their 49 cent day. The red checks and plaids are from shirts. The polka dot was a skirt. The rest of the fabrics had to be bought at a fabric store since it was hard to find red on red and red on white prints. This block to the right was from a bought fabric that had the illustrated sewing stitches fussy cut (cutting out a motif to be centered).

The center block was not what was originally published in the paper. They had to print a retraction for some reason and offered a download for this star.

If anyone wants these instructions I cut from The Star, I will be happy to mail it all to the first person I hear from.

Now I have to figure out how to quilt this 68" square. This will be my first quilting attempt, and I don't want to do it by hand. Perhaps I will practice free motion quilting and try doing that.  Those four white corners of the center block should get a special treatment. Any ideas?

Decorative Backing for old TV Armoire

 This beautiful armoire had a gaping hole in the back to accommodate the old huge TV we used to have.  I pieced together a bunch of squares made from a skirt and a jumper found at the Salvation Army, and laid that and some batting on top of a big piece of foam core. Remember to add a couple of inches to the overall fabric piece so it will lap around the board on all sides.

To attach it to the foam core, I used office clips to hold the batting and "quilt" at the edges and took yarn threaded onto a needle and sewed back and forth across the back, catching the top and bottom edges first, then the side edges. After that was completed, I added button "tufting" at each corner of each piece, bringing the thread through the foam core and tying off the ends.

close up of fabric quilt for back of armoire

Casserole Cozy

I just wanted a little blanket for my casserole to keep it warm and be able to handle it a little easier when hot.  With some quilted double-sided material (of course, you could make your own) I cut out enough fabric to come up to the top of each side and a little extra on the ends to act as pot holders.
Then to get it to hug the dish, I sewed two darts on each corner,--

--using pins, just make darts as if fitting a dress to a mannequin. I basted mine first since there is no pattern to follow and pulled out a couple to restitch.

After trimming around the top to make it all symmetrical, I made some bias tape trim and applied to the edges for the finished look.




I just turned the darts towards each other on each end and made that my inside.

Then when serving, tuck the ends down to keep food from getting on them. This particular dish has "handles" which it works well on.

A straight sided dish would not need the longer ends.

Custom Bedspread, Shams & Pillow

After seeing this fabric at Joann's Fabrics, I just had to have it for our newly painted master bedroom. It is made from two lengths that lay crosswise, and I joined them matching the patterns by meticulously pinning and hand sewing at spots to assure accuracy, then finishing on the machine. The other side is a bottom weight black cotton, and it is finished off with a black rope cording sandwiched between the two.

 On a trip to Mackinac Island, I purchased a dozen pieces of Frette linen with the Grand Hotel logo on them at a great price. Why not make shams with them? But they are stark white, so I tea dyed* two, which made them the perfect color. I added red strips of fabric to the sides to make them king size and added black braid over that seam (an idea from Eastern Accents shams). Leftover bedspread fabric was used for the back of the shams, as well as to cover cording for the edging. 

I felt it needed one more pillow, so I took an embroidered part of a blouse from Salvation Army, embellished with buttons and beads, added quilt fabric, black cording, and a ruffled edge.

*Tea dying instructions:
Boil water in a pot large enough for your fabric. For every cup of water, you will need one tea bag. Drop in tea bags; let steep for 5 minutes. Wet down your fabric (natural fabrics are best) before immersing into the tea bath. Push down on the fabric making sure it is completely covered and let it set for 10 minutes. Rinse out the tea completely and even give it a bath with a squirt of dishwashing liquid to be sure to remove the tannins. Remember it will dry a shade lighter. Repeat if necessary for a darker color. 

Flavored teas may give it a slightly different color; like, cinnamon, would be more of a red, etc. You can alway try coffee, too.

Fabric Tote for Walker

Walker tote

Tote for Walker

My mother-in-law needed something to carry a pen and phone in to 
attach to her walker, so after getting ideas online, I came up with a piece that drops over the front bar of the walker.  It has two large outside pockets and shorter divided pockets on each inside.

As shown above, there are seven pieces: a 12" X 23" backing on which I put velcro to keep from slipping off the bar, a 12" X 23" lining on which are sewn the shorter pockets, a handle to assist in lifting off walker if needed, and the 2 outer pockets which are 12" X 16" and folded over to create 12" X 8" pockets. 

Assemble the pieces as shown, then flip the outside velcro piece on top so right sides are facing, sew around, keeping a 4 to 5" open area to turn. Make sure handle in on the correct side and topstitch all around which will catch the open area, so no need to slip stitch closed.

The outside fabric was a jumper and the two other fabrics are from blouses. Of course, I got each piece for $.49 on Salvation Army's day of the week when a certain color is ready to be taken off shelves and they mark down to a crazy $.49 price.

Tote Bag From Old Jacket

Cotton Velour and Linen Tote Bag

Good old Salvation Army find for $.49 last Monday!  An XL purple cotton velour button down casual jacket had embroidered flowers at the bottom.  The left side is the front of the bag and the right side, the back. Using knowledge from Amy Butler and Lisa Lam, it is made with a gusset, an inside zippered pocket and open pockets, as well as an outside pocket in the gusset using another embroidered flower that was on the back of the jacket. The yellow flower showing on the right is part of the gusset. A gusset is simply one straight piece sewn between front and back...think upholstered seat cushion. This one is 4" wide.

The inside is made from an orchid linen jacket. One of the straps is the front buttonhole placket. Each strap is faced with the linen fabric and attached using the applique stitch on my machine.



A decorative stitch was also used along the top of the open pockets. The tote is lined with fusible fleece, so could be used to transport a laptop, if desired.