artsy-crafty babe

Pleated Tote Pattern

The pleated tote pattern is finally done.  You can download the pattern and instructions here or from the sidebar to the left.  I really wanted to do a tutorial with pictures, but there hasn't been a whole lot of crafting or sewing going on lately.  I blame it on summer, but I'm not complaining!  We have swimming lessons for the next two weeks, then we're off on vacation for a week, so it looks like I won't get around to much in the next month or so.

I must warn you, this is a pretty crude pattern and my drawings leave a lot to be desired.  I wish I had the skills to whip out a fancy pattern for you, but this will have to do for now.  Please let me know if something isn't clear or is just plain wrong.  Feel free to email me any questions, I'll be happy to answer them.  Oh yeah, one more thing - it isn't mentioned in the pattern or instructions, but you need to tape the top half and bottom half of both the exterior and lining pattern pieces together to get one full piece.  I hope that doesn't confuse anyone!

If you make a pleated tote and want to share, please add it to the flickr group.  I can't wait to see what you come up with!  Happy sewing!!

the purse project

Did you join in the Purse Project fun? The theme this time around was using a tea towel, which is right up my alley. I couldn't pass this challenge up! I even used one of my "good" Martha tea towels to make a little fun party bag.

Making this bag is pretty simple, but I'm sure I'll confuse the crap out of you with my directions.

First, I folded my tea towel in half matching up the short sides. I then measured up 9" from the fold and cut off the excess. What you're left with is an 18" piece that will be used for the body and two other pieces (the part you just cut off), which you'll use for the handles.

You don't have to line this bag, but you can if you want to. I did, but it made it kind of bulky. If you line it, cut a piece of lining 18" x whatever the width of your tea towel is. It should be the same size as the tea towel piece you're using as the body. With the fold as the bottom of your bag, stitch up the side seams, leaving about 1/2" unsewn at the top. To get that curve on the bottom corners, I traced a saucer, using that as my stitch line. Do the same for the lining.

Make straps out of the two pieces you cut off earlier.

For the top rectangles, I cut 4 pieces of my lining fabric 4.5"x 10". Sandwich each strap between two of the rectangles, right sides together, spacing them to your desired width, then sew up the rectangle on three sides - short side, long side (with the straps), short side. Leave the bottom open. Turn your rectangle right side out. Next, press to the inside 1/2" of the open edge of the rectangle. At this point, all the raw edges of the rectangle should be on the inside.

If you're using a lining, put your lining inside the tea towel body, wrong sides together. Gather the top, using your machine or a needle in thread (my preferred method). The gathered width should be that of your finished rectangle.  Now comes the fun part - shove your gathered top inside the rectangle about 1/2", use lots of pins to keep in place, the sew.  Do this for the front and back of the purse.  I found this part most challenging because my canvas lining made it all quite bulky.  That's it, you're done.

Please excuse my wonky sewing on the twill tape trim, it was an after thought. It was one of those things that I wasn't even sure I was going to keep, but I liked it, so it stayed. Then, I decided that a fluffy flower would be the perfect finishing touch. Lucky for me, I had the perfect fabric and button in my stash. Voila, my tea towel purse!

Fluffly Flower Tutorial

I know that there are about a bazillion flower tutorials out there, but I thought I'd share my way of making them.  It's really quite simple.

Start out with about a 4" square of fabric - this will make one petal cluster for a flower of approximately the same size.  You will need about 6-8 of these squares.  For this particular flower I used 7 squares.

Fold in half.

Fold in half again, matching short sides.

Next, cut out an ice cream cone shape, with the folded corner of your square as the point of your cone.  I used pinking shears, but this isn't necessary.

When you open it up it should look something like this:

Next, sew a circle around the center, just a simple running stitch.

 

Pull threads together, like a little drawstring, tie the two ends of the thread into a knot, then cut off the strings.  It should look something like the photo below.  I've learned that the bigger the circle, the more gathered the petal clusters become.

Repeat these steps for 6-8 petal clusters.  The more petal clusters, the fluffier the flower.

Once you get them all gathered, string them on some thread.  I like to use a double strand for strength.

Pull the thread together, like you did for each petal cluster.  Tie in a knot and cut thread.  At this point your flower should look like this:

The front and the back should look pretty much the same, so choose which ever side looks best to you.  If you're making this as a brooch, then sew a pin onto some felt.

Hot glue the felt onto the back of the flower, or you can sew the flower onto your project.

To finish, sew (or hot glue) a button to the front.  Voila!  A fluffy flower brooch.

I hope that was clear.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask!