Make an Easy Bag Holder

 Hello Readers. It seems that I have a million plastic bags from the grocery stores. Maybe 2 million. They seem to multiply but I keep them because they are so useful. They make a great emergency lunch bag, wet laundry bag for travel, trash bag, water proof cover, dog poop picker-upper... The uses are endless. I wanted a nicer holder for all my bags. I also wanted something easy to use if I need to grab a bag quick. Let me show you what I made.

 This bag holder is cute and holds all my plastic shopping bags. It was super easy to make too.

 I found this dish towel at a thrift shop. I loved the Irish blessing it had on it immediately. I wanted to use it in my home in some way. Let's make it into something cute and useful. You will need a towel like this one (Similar here.), some elastic, and a small length of ribbon.  

  I wanted to sew elastic across the top of the towel and across the bottom of the towel. I used the white border as a guide for the placement for my elastic. The elastic will keep the plastic bags neatly inside. I want the plastic bags easy to access but not falling out on their own, that wouldn't be neat. I also wanted to add a little handle to hang it up in my utility room.

 

Then, I sewed the long sides of the towel together. I folded it in half lengthwise with the right sides together. I used white thread to match the white border of the towel. I used a straight stitch on my sewing machine and sewed the 2 side edges together. This will make the towel into a tube shape.

I added my ribbon handle at the back of the towel. I sewed it across the seam I had just sewn so it would be centered evenly in the back of this bag holder. This will be a handle so I can hang up my bag holder on a hook, cabinet handle, or even a door knob.

  Plastic bags are very light weight so this bag holder can hold all the bags I can stuff inside of it. I didn't need to worry about weight. Even a million plastic bags weigh almost nothing. The elastic gathers the top and bottom to hold the bags inside. It will be nice and neat.

 

 

This bag holder looks so much cuter than a plastic bag of plastic bags. The colorful towel is a nice touch in my laundry room. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.  

 

 

 

Make a Fun Tie Necklace

 Hello Readers. St. Patrick's Day is coming. Are you Irish? Do you celebrate this holiday? I am and I do. I don't go overboard but I play Irish music, eat some Irish foods and always wear something green for good luck of course. 

  Let's make a fun necklace with a men's tie. I used a shamrock tie because of the holiday but you can do this with any tie you like, whenever you like. You can use a solid color or a pattern, whatever style you like. No holiday is needed.  

 You just need a tie, rubber band and a strong necklace or ribbon to fit around your neck. This tie is perfect for St. Patrick's Day but a different tie would make a dressy accessory for any occasion you are celebrating. 

 I am using a strand of pearls, no they are not real. You can use any necklace or string of beads that can hold the weight of this tie. A dainty chain necklace is NOT going to work here. The delicate chain could snap. Use a strand of beads of even a length or ribbon that is long enough to tie around your neck and shirt collar comfortably. 

 I folded the tie on itself. The top folds need to stay together and even in length at the top but the lower folds should be shorter and shorter so you can see the different layers of the tie on top of itself. The short end of the tie is in back and it is a couple inches longer than the whole folded tie.

 I wrapped a rubber band around the folded part of the tie, about 1/3 from the top. (It doesn't need to be exact.) The rubber band gathers the tie together and make it look very full and eye catching. It also holds the whole folded tie together securely. I left the small end of the tie hanging down in the back of the tie. 

Next, I wrapped the narrow end of the tie around the front to cover the rubber band. The narrow end of the tie covers the rubber band because the rubber band is important but it is not cute. 

 

After I wrapped the end of the tie around the front I wrapped it to the back as well. I tucked the very end into the rubber band in the back. This will hold the whole thing together. I want that small tie end to stay in place hidden in the back. The rubber band will keep it in place.

I slipped the necklace into the widest top fold of the tie. It will lay against my neck and under the shirt collar best that way. 

I added this necklace around the collar of my button-up shirt. The necklace slipped right under the collar. The tie necklace is a fun piece that adds a lot to this outfit. I liked the look but I can always take it apart and wear the tie normally if I want. 

 

I added this faux pearl earring through the front layer of the tie just for fun. You can add a pin or something like this to the front of your tie if you like, but it is not necessary. I just liked the look of it. 

 Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. And Happy St. Patrick's Day to everyone. Erin go bragh! 

More Tiny Alterations

 Hello Readers. I love to sew but I don't always make large or elaborate projects. Sometimes I just need to make a small or tiny change to improve how things fit. 

 Before and after.

 This shirt was so pretty, I liked the embroidery and the full sleeves. I thought it was too long to leave out and too bulky to tuck in. Let's give it a cut in length. 

 I cut the shirt tails to make a shorter shirt. This fabric will fray for sure so I needed to give it a new hem. 

 I sewed a new hem along the bottom of the shirt.   

 These velvet jeans were so cozy but too long.

 

  I just cut the bottom of each leg and then gave the jeans a new hem too.  

 I liked the new fitting outfit better. This was quick sewing but the clothes feel better when they fit better.  Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.  

Tiny Alterations

 Hello Readers. I always seem to be altering my clothes. (That is how this sewing blog started back in 2015.) Clothes just don't seem to fit and I feel the need to "fix" them. This skirt and shirt are like that. 

 Before and after. 

 This shirt was a mini dress that my daughter made into a tunic. She did not really like how it fit so she gave it to me. The brown in the plaid matched this skirt so let's make them work for me. 

 I decided to make it into a very simple top. I cut the sides straight and the length a bit shorter. 

 

I sewed the new sides and hem back together.

 

  I wanted a basic t-shirt fit instead of the tunic style. 

The skirt was really nice but just a bit loose and saggy, it needed to be just a little more fitted. 

I sewed along the side seams to make new side seams. I only took about 1/4 inch off each side. I didn't want it too tight I just wanted it to fit me a little better.  

 

I cut off the excess and used a zigzag stitch along the edge to prevent fraying. 

 These two piece fit much better now and I liked them together. Thanks for reading long, now go make something fun for yourself.  

 

 

 

Fabric Scrap Scarf

 Hello Readers. I was given a pile of fabric scraps and sample pieces a while back. (I have a nice mother-in-law.) I try to use the fabric pieces based on the weight of the fabric. Thick fabric makes nice cushions and bags, but soft fabric is better for clothing. This gray fabric had a nice gentle feel and drape to it. So let's make a cute little scarf. 

 This is my new fabulous fabric scrap scarf. 

 My mother-in-law worked at a fabric store for a long time and she collected and shared fabric with me. (So nice!) Do you see the upper left hand corner is missing? That's OK. If you look at the upper right hand corner, you can see a small hole. That's OK too. I am going to work around these issues. Life is about making the most of what you have, so is sewing. 

 

This gray fabric was very soft and silky. Stiff or thick fabric would not work very well for this project. I want this scarf to drape gently around my neck, stiff fabric won't do that. It was VERY cold where I live so I thought it would make a nice scarf. I only had to do a little work to make it nice and neat. 

 I thought a triangular shaped scarf was best for this piece of fabric. One corner is missing so I had to trim it a little to make the sides even. I used my rotary cutter because it cuts so easy. I also used the edge of this quilting ruler to guide my cutting. I wanted a nice straight edge that I was cutting.   

  I folded the piece in half with the right sides facing each other to sew it together.  

I sewed around the outer edges together. I sewed around the triangle to sew the cut edges together.

  I had that hole to use to turn it right side out.

 

If you don't have a hole like this, you should leave a small opening in the side seam to turn your scarf right side out.  

 But what about that hole? It's OK. I used a needle and thread to sew the edges of the hole closed by tucking the edges in and stitching it together. It won't show when the scarf is on anyway. 

I tied a small knot on one corner and tucked the other corner into the knot. That would keep it on my neck and hide the hole I sewed shut. 

 This scarf turned out really well. It was soft on my neck and a nice extra layer to keep me warm because winter just won't stop this year. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself. 

The Silhouette Sweatshirt

 Hello Readers. Let's up-cycle an old sweatshirt. This Florida sweatshirt was a great base for these small silhouettes. Let me show you haw I put it together. 

I lived in Florida for years but I wanted a new sweatshirt. 

I thought I could remove these letters from the front of this sweatshirt... I could not. I decided to cover them. 

I have some cool fabric that my mother-in-law gave me. I cut out some of the silhouettes from the fabric. The colors are great for this shirt. I love this aqua-marine greenish-blue. 

 

I used some fusible inter-facing to make it easier to handle the small pieces of fabric. 

 

I arranged the pieces so that they would cover the Florida logo. I used matching thread and stitched around the edges of the pictures. I used a zigzag stitch to attach the silhouettes to the shirt. 

 

I loved how it turned out but this sweatshirt was a little too big. I decided to fix that too. 

 

 

I cut the shirt down and made it smaller and short sleeved. 

 

This was a fun shirt and I love the new look. Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.