May Giveaway Day

It's May Giveaway Day at Chimera Threads. Thank you Sew Mama Sew!Blog for coordinating this event. It sounded like to much fun to miss out on. Sew here are the details for participating on this blog. I am going to give away a treasure bag. It will, of course, have a treasure or two or more in it. To qualify for the treasure please either comment on ways I can improve my tutorial (previous post) or what is your favorite thing about craft type blogs. By this, I mean do you like seeing what others are making, or are you looking for good ideas or inspiration, etc. You get the idea. I am trying to improve my blogging skills. Only meaningful comments, please. I will randomly pick an appropriate comment the morning of June 1st. I am willing to ship internationally as I love getting international mail. I will accept comments from this post and the previous post (treasure bag tutorial).

Treasure Bag Tutorial

This is a tutorial for a small gift bag. I've been making them for my family to hold chocolates and small gifts for the various holidays. I like to use theme fabrics when making them for the different holidays, hearts for Valentine's, shamrocks for St. Pat's, bunnies for Easter, etc. The finished size is about 4 1/2" tall x 3" wide. This is my first attempt at a tutorial. I would appreciate comments that would help my tutorial writing skills improve. So here goes:

Materials needed:

1. 2-5"x6" pieces of fabric for the sides
2. 1-3 1/2" circle of fabric for the bottom
3. 7/8-1yd 1/8" ribbon or cord for the drawstring
   

Due to the small size of the bag the casings get pressed before sewing the side seams.
Press down 1/4", then 1" from that fold. Unfold and sew the side seams (1/4" seam allowance), leaving a 1/4" opening 1 7/8" down from the top edge. (See above picture).Press the seams open.

I usually stay stitch just a bit less than the seam allowance on the bottom edge. This will allow you to clip to the stitching to help it lie flat when sewing to the bottom.

Now fold down the casing, 1/4" and then 1", edge stitch from the bottom fold and stitch again 1/4" away from the edge stitching. Make sure the side seams are flat or you will not be able to get the drawstring threaded through.

Next pin and sew the bottom to the sides,1/4" seam allowance. I divide the bottom and sides by quarters, match these up, pin on these marks and then sew. You may need to clip the bottom edge of the sides to make it fit and lie flat enough to sew. Just be sure not to clip through the stay stitching.

Turn the bag right side out. Cut the ribbon or cord in half and thread it through the casing as follows: start on one side and completely go around and come out where you started, then start on the opposite side and completely go around and come out where you started. Knot the ends together. TIP: Because the casing is so narrow I use a large blunt needle to thread the ribbon through. Thread the ribbon into the eye of the needle and push through the the casing with the eye end of the needle.


Your bag is now ready to be filled with treasures for that special someone.

Happy Scrappy Too

This is scrappy quilt number two for this year. It did use up some of the bigger scraps but it didn't make much of dent in the scrap pile. I'm still working on it. Scrappy quilt number three is waiting to be quilted. It will have to wait until I finish the baby quilt I'm working on.

The pattern I used for this quilt can be found here. It's hard to believe that it is the same pattern. The fabric choice makes a such difference.

A New Pincushion

I finally made a new pincushion for myself. My old one was about 16 or 17 years old. Time for an update. My mom and I attended the Seven Sisters Quilt show and she bought this pattern there. So we went home from the quilt show and made it that very evening. The fabrics are all leftover scraps from my scrap quilt. I just finished that quilt a few days ago and hope to post a pic soon. Hope my new pincushion serves as well as my last one.

Eco-friendly Lunch Bag

After shopping for quite some time for the perfect lunch bag/box, my daughter found a picture of one she really liked in a Japanese magazine. Unfortunately the directions were almost undecipherable. So we found a bag of the size and shape she wanted and I drafted a pattern using the design elements from the magazine picture. It worked perfectly as you can see. And has the added bonus of being machine washable. By-the-way sushi is one of her favorite lunches.

Miss May Flowers

Miss May Flowers looks like a folk dancer ready to do the May pole dance. When I was in elementary school we had a May day celebration. All the classes would learn different folk dances, dress in costumes and then perform their dances for the whole school on the playground. I can't remember if it was the third or fourth graders who got to do the May pole dance. I do remember doing the May pole dance. It was fun. What a great way to celebrate spring.