The man-apron

Well, so far I’ve been almost a stranger to the sewing room, although I did manage to get one thing made – and it wasn’t even from my new Christmas present! Plans are in the works for a purse with some of that fabric, by the way, and for a couple of tea towels…just didn’t want anybody to think I’d forgotten about it. 🙂

Anyway, just after the New Year, I was wandering around Outer Blogovia, looking at sites I’ve never visited, and came across a blog showing how she made a cute apron from old jeans. I’ve made a LOT of stuff from old jeans, so I thought this would be a good thing to try, just to get the ol’ creative juices flowing again. Well…it didn’t ‘exactly’ turn out like hers. She put cute little appliques on hers, and made it look really fun. I thought about doing mine the same way, but I used hubby’s old work pants – there just ain’t no dressin’ them thangs up!! He’s a plumber, and his pants get pretty . . . uhm . . . yah. But I figured I could make a decent work apron he could use in his shop or in the back yard, so it didn’t need any cute stuff.

I opened the inseam on one leg, and attached the widest part of the leg to the waistband. I cut a hole in the narrow end and finished it with bias binding, to keep the apron around the neck. I even added an extra button to the waistband, in case I wanted to wear it myself. Think ahead, y’know!! I don’t even mind the worn-out spot near the neck hole. That used to be the knee in these jeans’ first life. 🙂

He likes it. I like it. So, whatcha think?? Do you like it?? 🙂

final product

hubby wearing his ‘new’ apron

My Christmas present came!

Just LOOK what came in the mail today! I was wandering around WordPress one night, looking at the blogs I follow, and came across a giveaway at Crafty Staci’s blog. I just LOVED all the fabric she had pictured, but was really drawn to this batch.

And ya know what else? She included BUTTONS! I’m all about buttons – and these are lovely.

I have a couple of ideas already in mind for some of this fabric; the rest of it, I’m just going to look at and let it tell me what it wants to be.

It’s eye-candy time!! Thank you so much, Staci!!!!

AAAANNNND…it’s NOT over. Yet.

HA! And you thought I was all done posting tea towels. NOT!

Well, at least I wasn’t all done, until now. Honest. This is it. Last of the bunch.

I made this last batch made for a friend; she wanted four towels with matching hot pads. She liked the other Christmas towels that had sold, so I used those ideas again for these.

That blue and white one, though – that wasn’t for my friend (unless she picks it in the gift exchange!). It was for our VM Fellowship get-together. We were supposed to bring a gift for the gift exchange, and what do you think I wanted to bring??? Yep, a box of rocks. Since that got turned down flat, I decided to make one final tea towel with a drawstring gift bag (since I didn’t have one single bit of Christmas wrapping paper, nor even one tiny box). I’m not real pleased with the bag, but I think the next one will be better. But it works, so it will do the job I made it for – guess I should be thankful for that, eh?

Well, reckon I need to find some other outlet for my sewing-frenzy state of mind. Whatcha think? What would be a good project now?? I’m thinking doll clothes might be fun to try.

red/white towel

red/white pads (front/back)

candy towel

candy hot pads

‘tree’ towel

‘tree’ hot pads

plaid towel

plaid pads

blue/white towel and bag

AAAAAANNNNNNND………..it’s over

Well, the “Big Day” came and went. Gone. Done. Was all that hurryhurrysewsewgiterdun worth it? Wellllllllllll……………..

Yep.

I did sell about five bowl cozies and seven tea towels. The very first towels I sold were two of my favorites! 🙂 All the folks that usually have tables at this holiday bazaar said it was a slow year, so I don’t feel bad about the low number of sales. I feel thankful for the ones I did sell – and I did get one order for a set of pot holders. Besides that, I got to talk to a lot of people I normally would not have seen. 🙂

One real blessing was selling eight towels to my friend’s sister and niece before the bazaar. And today I got to give away three of the ones I didn’t sell, and the joy it gave the recipients was worth the effort put into making them. Very worth it!

Will I try a holiday bazaar next year??

Yep.

So, here are the last of the lot, the ones I hustled and bustled to get made before the Big Day. Thanks so much for letting me share.

I just love this fabric!! It didn’t sell, so I might keep it

my attempt at doing a peasant blouse look – gave this one to my friend

got this fabric in Leavenworth, WA…gave to my friend’s mom

sent this one to AL to my friend’s sister

music, music! sold this one at the bazaar

I liked the button on this one

gave this one to my friend’s daughter

my one and only ‘boy’ towel…even has a pocket and button flap on the back

the pocket – and it works!

my attempt at a button flap for the back of the shirt

Another one with the Bible verse fabric

These ‘diaper’ towels are great. They’re actually flour sack towels, not diapers. 🙂

another ‘diaper’ fabric…country girl look

had a bowl cozy to match – sold the cozy!

for my friend’s mom, who loves birds and blue.

another country girl towel, sent to AL to live in the country.

gone to my friend’s niece

sold this one with the music one. I love this towel!

one of the first ones I sold…used scraps from other projects. I loved this one!

Look! I got my embroidery straight!

is it lunchtime yet?

I love the weekends! But this weekend, I actually looked forward to Monday – especially lunchtime! Not that I was hungry or anything. I just wanted to try out that new lunch bag I made this weekend.

I had a lunch bag already, but hubby needed one. So I made one for…myself. 😆

OK, it started out to be for him, but he’s so picky. He didn’t want ANYTHING fun like embroidery or flowers or stuff like that on it. So I did what any loving wife would do. I gave him my old, plain bag and made a new one for myself.

The original bag (the one he now proudly uses) is made from a single layer of thin, thermal-type fabric (I don’t know what it’s called) that looks almost like paper on the outside, with a silver lining – see, I just KNEW there was one in this story somewhere!! 😆 It’s lightweight, and the design is simple – only four pieces: a front, a back, a side/bottom strip, and an outer pocket.

I felt the need to complicate it a bit, just to spice up my life. I didn’t have any of that thin thermal fabric, so I used what I had: insul-bright ®, a partial pair of jeans, a strip from an old jeans skirt (used for the side/bottom of the bag), iron-on vinyl, a strap from a defunct camera bag, and cotton broadcloth for lining. It’s a tad bit bulkier than the original bag, but it works!

For the side pocket, I used the other back pocket from the old jeans, cutting the pants around the pocket to make the piece measure 7″ X 8.” I ran a stitch down through the middle of the jeans pocket to make smaller slots, and embroidered fork and spoon to make it fun.

Is it lunchtime yet?

Abbreviations I used:

RST – right sides together
WST – wrong sides together
“ – inches
® – registered trademark

Steps I took to make this bag:

Cut all front & back pieces [outer fabric, lining fabric, Pellon Vinyl-Fuse® (an iron-on vinyl coating), and insul-bright® (used in oven mitts and hot pads)] to measure 8″ by 12″.
Cut side/bottom pieces (outer fabric strip, lining fabric, vinyl, and insul-bright®) to measure 7″ by 31.5″.
Cut handles to whatever length you prefer – I cut them 18″ and turned each end under 1/2″.
Attach insul-bright® to wrong side of lining, using whatever quilting style you like. I just used a plain X shape. Trim the extra insul-bright® out of the seam to cut down on bulk when you’re adding the bias tape.
Remove paper backing and put vinyl sticky-side down on back of lining pieces. Lay paper back over the vinyl to use like a pressing cloth. Press vinyl to lining pieces using a dry, medium-heat iron. Turn piece over and press from other side also – be sure to read the instructions for using this product!
Cut outer pocket 7″ by 8″. Turn top under 1/8″ and iron down, then again at 1/2″ to form a casing for elastic. Cut elastic 4.5″ and pull through casing. Tack down on each side of casing.
Measure 11.5″ down from top of side/bottom strip and mark – this will be the bottom of the bag. Lay pocket RST on strip, with bottom facing toward top of strip and 1/8″ above the mark. Sew a 1/8″ seam across bottom of pocket. Flip pocket back up, with top toward top of strip, and sew another seam 1/4″ on outside of pocket bottom, to encase the seam just made.
Attach sides of pocket to the strip with 1/8″ seam. The elastic will pull the sides in, so it will be a little tricky to keep it straight while sewing the side seams.
Put front piece and side/bottom strip WST – start with the side with the pocket on it, and about 1/2″ below front piece (to leave room for the zipper later). Clip pieces together down to the bottom of the front piece, curve side/bottom around bottom of front piece and clip, continuing on up the other side. Sew together with 3/8″ seam. Attach back side same way. Clip curves at bottom of piece, but don’t clip seam!
Encase seam in wide, double-fold bias tape. Open tape up, clip to seam with raw edges even and sew, following fold line. Fold over to other side of seam and clip in place. I hand sewed this part using a slip-stitch.
For the zipper, I used a 12″ and let the extra 4″ hang over the side away from the outer pocket. Lay zipper on top of front side, WST, and using a zipper foot, stitch about 1/4″ from outer edge of zipper. Open zipper and attach other side to back side in the same way. Cover edges of zipper with single-fold bias tape. Open tape, line up raw edges, and sew along fold line, all the way down the zipper.
Cover the end of zipper. Cut a piece of fabric about 1/2″ wider than width of zipper and roughly 3″ long (you can cover more of the end than this if you want). Turn wrong side out, fold raw edges of top 1/4″ down and press. Run a 1/4″ seam up each side. Turn right side out and slip over end of zipper. I hand-stitched this down because I used a metal-tooth zipper.