Greatest Adventure Summer sling bag

The first time I saw this line of fabric, I knew just what I wanted to make with it.  A fun, simple, portable bag that would be loved and used often, but so easy to make I wouldn't feel bad when it got dirty, worn and loved.
This Greatest Adventure fabric just screams summer adventures to me and is available now in retail stores.  And if you want to make a Summer Sling Bag of your own, read on.  This would make a great project for a summer sewing camp or just a fun quick project to whip up.
I'm posting this tutorial as part of The Summer Sewing Series at The Polkadot Chair, you can find all the different projects in the series here.

SUMMER SLING BAG

Supplies:

• 1/4 yard accent fabric
• 2 fat quarters, 1 for exterior, 1 for lining
• Large button (optional)
• Sewing supplies

Cutting Instructions:

• from the 1/4 yard cut:
• 1- 3" strip by Width of Fabric, trim down to 36" long
• 2- 3 1/2" X 8" pieces 

• from each fat quarter cut:
• 2- 8" X 13"

Strap preparation:

 Take the strip of fabric, press in half along the length.  Open up the halves and fold the long edges into the crease.  Fold along the crease again to enclose the raw edges.  Edge stitch along both sides of the strap.

 Sewing Instructions:
*use 1/2" seam allowance unless noted otherwise

•  Take the first exterior piece, place right side up.
•  Place one accent piece 3" from the bottom of the exterior piece, right side down.  Make sure the accent piece is upside down (if prints are directional) 
• Using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew the accent piece to the exterior piece

• Fold down the accent piece and press.
• Top stitch along the top edge of the accent piece.
• Repeat for the second exterior piece.
  
•  On one exterior piece, line up the two raw edges of the strap 4" down from top.  Baste or pin into place.
  
• Place the two exterior pieces right sides together.  Sew around the two sides and bottom. 
• Place the two lining pieces right sides together.  Sew around the two sides and bottom, leaving an opening in the bottom 3"- 4" wide.
• Clip the bottom corners of both the exterior and the lining.
• 
• Turn the exterior of the bag right side out.
  
• Slide the exterior of the bag into the lining of the bag.  Line up the side seams and the top edge, make sure the strap is out of the way.
  
• Sew around the top of the bag.
• Turn the bag right side out through the opening in the bottom of the lining.
  
• Sew the opening in the bottom of the lining closed.
• Push the lining into the exterior of the bag.  Fold along the sewn line and press.  Top stitch the bag opening.
• If you want to, sew a large button onto one side of the opening, this will help it to stay closed a bit better, but isn't really necessary if you prefer to leave it off.

I couldn't resist making a little change pouch to match and a notebook cover as well.  I'm hoping my daughter will use the notebook to record all our adventures we are trying to do this summer.  So far she's loving taking the bag with us on hikes to hold her water and snacks, and the change pouch in the bag as she walks to the neighborhood convenience store to get a treat with her brother and friends.
If you make one, I'd love to see!  What are you sewing this summer?

xoxo,
Amy

Change pouch tutorial

Hi friends!  I'm so excited to be here today with a fun and fast zipper pouch tutorial.  I'm guest posting today over on Skip To My Lou and sharing some fun ideas using this darling gift tag set made by my amazingly talented friend Gwen from Littler Design.  One of the ideas was to make something for your teacher using fun strawberry fabric- like this fabric from the Strawberry Biscuit line designed by Elea Lutz for Penny Rose Fabrics.  (*I was given this fabric to sew with, but the project and love for the fabric is all mine)
These little pouches are perfect for holding gift cards, money, library cards, chap stick or anything small you need to tote around.  I'm thinking I'll use mine to hold my ear buds for when I go to the gym.  They are fast to make up, so you can do a bunch at a time.
Ready?  Here we go:

Zippered Change Pouch Tutorial

Supplies:

• fabric- you need 3 1/2" X 5" pieces, so you can probably just use scraps
• fusible fleece- again scraps are great
• zipper- you need at least a 5" zipper, but longer ones are good too
• d-ring (optional- but I love the idea of adding a wrist strap so it doesn't get lost)
• sewing machine and supplies

Cutting:

•  4- 3 1/2" X 5" pieces of fabric (2 exterior fabric, 2 lining fabric)
• 1- 3 1/2" X 2 1/2" piece of fabric (accent fabric- for d-ring, if desired)
• 2- 3" X 4 1/2" pieces of fusible fleece (you can use another interfacing if desired- medium to light weight would be best)

Assembly:

• Fuse the fusible fleece to the wrong side of the exterior fabric

•  Prep the fabric for the d-ring- press in half along the long side (folded piece will measure 3 1/2" X 1 1/4")
• Open up the pressed piece and bring the sides into the fold and press

•  Fold again with raw sides in the center (piece should measure approx. 3 1/2" X 3/4")
• Top stitch both sides of the folded strip
• set aside

•  Place front exterior piece right side up on your work surface
• Line the zipper- pull side down- along the top of the piece
• Place the lining fabric wrong side up with the top edge aligned with the zipper and the sides lined up with the exterior piece
• Pin in place and sew using a 1/4" seam allowance (you can change to a zipper foot if you like, but I find it isn't really necessary)

•  Press both the lining and the exterior fabric away from the zipper
• Top stitch the first side

•  Place the back exterior piece of fabric right side up on your work surface
• Line up the zipper with the top edge, making sure the sewn side of the pouch lines up with the sides of your back piece. (I had it peek through a little on this picture so you can see that the back side of the pouch is hiding under there)
• Place the lining fabric wrong side up on the pile, making sure the sides match up with the other fabrics, and the top is lined up with the zipper
• Sew using a 1/4" seam allowance, press away from the zipper and top stitch.

•  If you are adding the d-ring, now is the best time to place it.  I like it to line up on the pull side of the zipper.  
• Thread your small strip of fabric through the d-ring and fold in half.  
• Place on the zipper side of the front fabric piece 1 1/2" from the bottom (just a suggestion- you can put it anywhere you want)- the d-ring should be on the fabric and the tails should extend beyond the side of the fabric.
• Pin in place- just to the exterior piece of fabric!

•  Bring the two exterior pieces and the two lining pieces right sides together.
• Line up the bottom edges and pin
• some notes on this step:
• 1. Fold the zipper toward the exterior fabric, you'll have to turn the seam allowances, when you get it lined up correctly, pin in place
• 2. You will need to leave an opening for turning in the bottom of the lining- I like to use two similarly colored pins to help me remember to start and stop here.
• 3. Make sure you open up the zipper!  And whatever you do- don't cut off this end of the zipper with the pull still on it- while you CAN fix this mistake, it's easier not to make it in the first place.

• Sew around the whole piece, starting and stopping on the lining- leaving your opening for turning. ( use 1/4" seam allowance)
• The piece will look like the picture above.

•  Trim your piece at all the places indicated by the arrows- as well as the tails of your d-ring strap.
• Turn right side out.
• Push out the corners of the exterior bottom-use a blunt chopstick or pencil, use your fingers to push the zipper out as much as possible on the top corners of the pouch.
• Sew the opening in the lining shut
• Push the lining into the exterior of the pouch.
• Press your pouch
• ENJOY!!

These little pouches are addicting and since they use so little fabric, it's easy to make up a whole bunch.
 I'd love to see any you make- and if you'd like to see more of my work, you can always find me on Instagram @Amerooniedesigns.  If sewing these isn't your thing, or you'd rather just buy some- you can find my inventory for sale on my Instagram shop account: @shopamerooniedesigns.

Hope your April is going well!

xoxo,
Amy

Mini zippered coin purse- tutorial

There is almost nothing that isn't cuter in miniature- houses, dogs, food- and purses.

This little coin purse is diminutive in size, but large on function.  Perfect for summer outings- put in a couple dollars and your I.D. and you're prepared for any last minute snow cone adventures or lemonade stand encounters.  The bright colors will help you find it even in the most cavernous beach bag.

Measuring a mere 3" high and 5" wide this coin purse might seem too small to do much, but adding a 1" gusset allows for a surprising amount of space inside.  And this little guy is lined with laminated cotton- perfect for keeping out sand and easy clean up if it gets dirty from all those coins.

Are you sold yet?  Feeling like you NEED one?  I'm here to help.  This is a quick sew and uses very little fabric.  If you don't have laminated cotton, don't fret, this can be made using any scraps you have on hand.

Let's get sewing.
(*note that the fabrics in the tutorial are a bit different than the final product shots, hope that doesn't add any confusion)

Materials:

fabric- 4 pieces 3 1/2" X 5 1/2" (2 interior and 2 exterior)
        *In this example I sewed 2 different fabrics together for the outside of the purse- the flowered cotton was cut to 2 1/2" X 5 1/2" and the laminated cotton was 1 1/2" X 5 1/2".  I sewed them together using a 1/4" seam allowance.

fusible fleece- 2 pieces 5" X 3" (not shown)

Zipper- You only need a 5" zipper, but if you have a longer one you can use it instead.

In the picture, you see two small scraps on the zipper- these were going to be a tie on the zipper, but I ended up using laminated cotton instead so it wouldn't fray.

Directions:

1. Fuse the fleece to the wrong side of the exterior pieces

(I waited until I had fused the fleece to top stitch the seam between the two fabrics of my exterior, it helps hold the fleece in place.)

2. Line up one piece of exterior fabric with one piece of lining fabric- right sides together.  Slide the zipper between the layers lining it up with the top of the fabric.

  (In this photo the pieces are off-set so you can see them all, they should be lined up right on top of each other before sewing)

3. Pin in place, then sew the pieces to the zipper.  Pull the fabric away from the zipper, wrong sides together.  Press the seam and topstitch.

(*a tip for pinning when using laminated cotton: Pin in the seam allowance so the holes don't show.  If you use small pins, the holes in the laminate aren't too bad, but larger pins can leave noticeable holes.)

4.  Line up the other pieces of exterior and interior fabrics, right sides together on the opposite side of the zipper.  Repeat step 3.

(you can see the bottom of the first side peeking out under the second side.  Use the first side as a guide to line up the second side so they are straight)

5.  Now we are going to make the pouch.  First, you will need to trim the zipper so it is even with the fabric- before you do, make sure your zipper pull is open, and within the pouch, so you don't cut it off completely.

 

6.  Pin the exterior pieces together, right sides together, and the lining pieces together, also right sides together.  Fold the zipper toward the lining pieces.

7.  Sew around all 4 sides, leaving an opening in the bottom of the lining to allow for turning. 

8.  Gussets:  to make the gusset, you will start with one corner and pull out the sides so the seams are lined up in the middle.  Using a ruler and a pen, mark a line where the width of the corner is 1".  Sew along that line.  Repeat for the other 3 corners.  Trim the corners to a scant 1/4" seam.

 9.  Turn the coin pouch right side out.  Sew the opening in the lining closed.  Push the lining into the pouch exterior.  Press pouch.  Take a scrap of laminated cotton and pull through the zipper pull, tie.

 Now fill that baby up for gifting, or toss in all your spare change and go enjoy some lemonade.

 

Tomorrow I'll show you how to create this fun wrap card to gift this to your favorite teacher.

*Edited: You can find the tutorial for the card here.

 

Happy Sewing!

xoxo,

Amy 

Linked up to Friday Flair at Whipperberry. 

Blog Conference Tote Bag

You all gave me permission to make myself a new bag for the Creative Estates blogging conference.  But, I may have gone just a little overboard! :)
I found this gorgeous fabric at Wal-mart- yes you read that right, Wal-mart!!  And since it was not all that expensive I bought both color-ways of the canvas and both accent fabrics as well.  So, I made my bag- extra large since it costs money to check luggage now days and I wanted to have room to bring things home.  And I had fabric left over.  So I kept making things.  A notebook cover, a wallet, a business card holder (not pictured) a small notebook cover (not pictured), and three zippered pouches.  By the time I was done, I was a little Too coordinated.  But it was fun. :)

 This is the wallet I made.  I love this flower accent- it's easy and it's flat which keeps me from having to worry about it getting smashed. :)

These are the two zippered pouches.  I know you're all anxiously waiting for the answer to the sharp corner question, but I'm sorry to say I'm not there yet.  I will give you a heads up on what I've learned so far in an upcoming post, but quite frankly, when I do get the corners square- I like the look of the slightly angled corners better.  Hmmm.  We'll talk about it all soon.

This is the flower I made for the tote bag.  I just sort of cut out random + shaped pieces at varying sizes, singed the edges and glued them together.  No pattern, just kind of organic.  I love how it looks. 

And the final shot is my Little Miss with the pouch she allocated for herself.  I used it on the trip to hold all the business cards I received, my business card holder and my little notebook where I kept notes on who I met where so I would remember them better.  I'm so glad I did that because my brain is fried. 
I do make these bags to sell, but I have not had time to put them in an Etsy shop yet, so if you are interested, leave a comment or send me an e-mail and I'll be in touch about pricing and shipping.
I'll be back tomorrow with some lessons learned from my first-ever blogging conference.
* Edited to add- I've decided to give this tote bag away.  I owe you guys one big HUGE thank you for all your love and support!  So, even though I used it for the weekend- one lucky reader will soon become overly coordinated herself. ;) The give away will include the tote bag, notebook cover, wallet and small zippered pouch.
To enter:
1. Leave a comment- you must be a follower of my blog, since this is a reader appreciation give away. (new followers are welcome)
2.  For an additional entry- Like my facebook page, come back and leave a comment.
The give away will be open until next Wednesday April 20th!  Good luck. :)
xoxo,
Amy
Linked up to Show and Tell with Blue Cricket Designs, and Show off your Stuff party with Fireflies and Jellybeans