Wool Bag Tutorial

I finished a wool bag for a Christmas exchange (and got a great bag in return).

I did remember to photograph the process, so I can write my first tutorial (My mom would be proud-I looked up how to spell tutorial!) Here it goes:

First I started with a piece of wool that I felted and fulled (I'm not describing that process here, there are lots of tutorials-I'm getting my money's worth for looking that up!-out there.) I cut pieces of fabric for lining and some batting for stability. My lining fabric is a home dec fabric so it is a bit heavier weight, but the wool didn't full much, so I needed a bit there. You may not need to add the batting, so in that case skip the instructions pertaining to that. You can choose to make this in any size you want; squar-ish, rectangular-tall or wide, big or small.

Next, mark where you want the handles to go. Place the lining fabric right side down and place the batting on top. Trim 1/4 inch off of the batting on the parts that will be the top. Pin/baste the batting to the lining. Turn over so the lining is right side up. Cut out the hole for the handle. Quilt the batting and lining together. (for the non-quilters, either free-motion sew or sew lines back and forth across the fabric to join them together). Zig-zag stitch around the handles to prevent them from unraveling (we will add a decorative finish later.)

Fold the lining in half and sew the sides together. Fold the bag so that one side seam lines up with bottom fold of the base of the bag, creating a triangle on the corner. Measure how wide you want the base to be and mark, pin and sew the seam to create the triangle "flaps". You can either trim the triangles off or fold them into the bottom of the bag. If there is too much bulk, you can lay the lining triangles down on the base and point the triangles of the bag up along the side of the bag.

Repeat the process from the beginning for the bag. (I created the bag before I fulled (washed) it to decrease the unraveling and create more uniformity.)

My bag needed a little more stiffness in the base, so I cut a piece of Timtex or Peltex to fit the size of the base. (Use the measurement of the last "triangle seam" for the width, and measure between the "triangle seams" for the length.) Have the right side of the bag facing out, and the right side of the lining facing itself. Place the timtex (if you are using it) inside the bag at the base and adjust to get it into the corners. If you didn't trim the triangles, make sure the are laying flat. Slide the lining into the bag and make sure that the points in the base, the side seams, and the holes in the handle line up. Fold the top of the lining down over the top of the batting and pin to the wrong side of the bag.

Use a blanket stitch along the top the lining and bag to attach the lining to the bag. Blanket stitch around the handles as well. You may want to tack the lining to the bag at the base, in the corner points.

Enjoy your new bag!!

Back in my right mind

Sorry about the crazy post yesterday. It seems that some people get the easiest kids; the ones that sleep through the night when they are brought home from the hospital, the ones that are easy-going and come-what-may, the ones have no problem occupying themselves whenever and instinctively know how to sit still. This is not what the good Lord blessed me with. Mine are all strong willed, high energy, and seem to know exactly the moment when I am not looking to start to cause problems. With 4 kids, there is always 4 things going on at the same time, plus my own. Then of course the phone rings, the dryer or oven beeps, or some other something happens! Life gets even more complicated when I add in my oldest who has a combination of ADHD, Oppositional/Defient Disorder, and (now we are finding out) Asperger's Syndrome. He really changes the atmosphere of the group. He increases the tensions and energy, and is often the center of many fights and arguments. We are only just beginning to figure out what is going on with him as far as the Asperger's diagnosis and how to fix all the craziness that it brings into our home. I will say that is it something that we long suspected, but it does help to get the reassurance from medical professionals.
My kids truly are blessings, and I won't trade their personalities for anything. Their stong wills will be perservance later; their high energy will move mountains. They are all quite smart (even taking into account a bit of subjectivity!) I take my job of training, molding, and caring for these precious little ones very seriously. Sometimes so seriously that I feel like I am going to lose my mind-but I guess that I why God also blessed me with my great hubby who comes from his long hard day of work and picks up the pieces.

So enough of all of this stuff, and back to the good stuff next time. I have a tutorial on making a wool hand bag that I have photographed, but will put up when I have time. Right now, I need to get the littlest munchkin down for a nap.

Thanks for listening!!

Stress levels reaching max, patience reaching all time low....

Right now, I have a screaming headache. I could have something to do with my 3 year old running around making Jedi noises at the top of his lungs. The 1 year old has a love affair with the silverware drawer and has discovered how to get herself completely, and I do mean completely undressed, which she likes to do with a dirty diaper. My 7 year old is yelling about the Wii when he should be reading his book. My 9 year old has lost my guitar tuner, which he is blaming on anyone else, is refusing to practice his guitar and when he finally is coerced into playing, he is playing the wrong chords so as to make everyone who is within earshot cringe. My husband had a late meeting at work (although thank God he has one!) so his dinner is sitting out on the table and the little two are trying to eat it (and have managed to polish off all the cheese). I haven't gotten to the ol' list of presents that need to be made, so I have a bit of stored-up frustration there too. And if Hubby doesn't get home soon, I'm going to be late to church for choir practice-better hit Confession first!!! Let's hope the Motrin kicks in soon..... Tomorrow will be a better day!! (Or else!)

Life gets in the way of blogging

So, I've been busy the last couple of weeks. I've been getting ready for holiday craft bazaars. I've always sold rosaries, but this year I've decided to add first communion dresses. My sewing machine has been busily humming away the last few weeks making my two samples, and I still need to make a couple more. I have about 10-15 people interested, so I might be busy this winter and spring.

All of this business resulted in 2 consequences: A veritable mountain of laundry (This is some of it folded!):

I also realized that in order to make all these dresses, I would need more space than the folding table in the family room! So I cleaned out a room in the basement and now I have my own sewing kingdom!

Hallowee'n Costumes

The way I do DD's hair, everyone thinks she looks so much like Cindy Lou Who for the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. I didn't have to think that hard to come up with a costume idea for her.

DD#3 chose to be his hero and alter-ego: Super Why for the PBS show.

I have finished the front and back sections of the felted purse. I still need to do the side/bottom strip and the handles. Slow, but steady progress! Happy sewing!

Craft Show Craziness

I've had a craft show this past weekend with rather short notice so I've been rushing around trying to get many rosaries made for the show. The show was for breast cancer patients in the parish that hosted the show and it felt wonderful to donate a good percentage of the sales to that cause. I have 2 more shows on Nov. 1 and Nov. 8.

I have been thinking about adding a "line" of First Communion dresses and maybe Baptism gowns as well. So I bought some fabric to make a prototype or two and show it at the craft shows to see what peoples reaction to them will be. That should be an indicator for whether or not to proceed with this crazy idea. Of course, I got some fabric for clothes for myself (I need some tops). I also got some fabric for a halloween custom for DD#1 and some patterns that didn't make the photo.

Last weekend, we went apple picking and pumpkin hunting at our local fruit farm. We had a great time. DD works well in the backpack carrier, otherwise she would eat the rotten apples on the ground and generally run off in any direction. This way she is happy to sit up there, take in the view, and taste test the apples. She prefers one in each hand.

DS#3 picked about 10 pumpkins; I think this is the one he went home with! DS#1 took the longest to find his, he needs to make everything dramatic-he even needed to go to the farthest reaches of the patch just to make sure he had the "best one". DS#2 picked his, was happy-so much like his dad!
Happy Sewing!

Curtains and Robe

As promised, a photo of all the finished robes, and DD decided to hope into the photo, too. She loves the camera.

I also photographed the bedroom curtains I finished a couple of weeks ago. They have a goblet pleat on top. I wanted something interesting and a bit formal since the curtains are heavy. I will post instructions when I can figure out how to get the scanner to work with the laptop.

The colors of the close-up picture are a little more true to life than the full length photo. Now I just need to paint....