Nancy Drew Part 2; It's Time for a Skirt

Hello Readers. Today is the second part of my Nancy Drew tribute.  It started with the copy of Nancy's first adventure, "The Secret of the Old Clock". Along with the book, my neighbor Jackie also passed along some fabric. When I saw the clocks with a blue background, I was inspired to make a very simple skirt to match my clutch from yesterday.

I started by putting together the fabric into a rectangle and seeing if it was enough to make a skirt for myself. I basted it together with big loose stitches just to make it easier to handle and work with.

I ended up making a casing and using yarn to gather the fabric up and hold it together while I attached it to the elastic waist I had measured out. Once it was attached to the elastic I removed the yarn and stitched it up the back. It will slip on and off easily.

Here is the finished product. I don't usually sew an entire piece of clothing from start to finish. This was a fun change for me. I like how the clocks look from a distance. It looks sort of like an animal print or just a colorful design but up close you can see the different clocks. I know where I can wear this great outfit. A mystery book convention maybe? Or maybe just out to dinner.

Thanks for reading, now go make something fun for yourself.

Nancy Drew Part 1; A Clutch Purse

Hello Readers. Do you remember Nancy Drew? She was a mature, polished teen that solved mysteries for her dad. She was no-nonsense, had a cool convertible car, and always dressed well. Even when she was out-smarting the bad guys. I recently was given a copy of the first book in the series, along with some other books from a neighbor. (Thanks Jackie!)

My daughter has a copy of this book and so does my local library. (I've seen it.)

And there was a small problem with this specific book, the pages were coming apart from the cover. The whole back of the spine was split. For all these reasons, I decided to make this book into something else entirely. 

A little clutch purse.

I saw this idea on Pinterest and decided to try it. The tutorial is here. It seemed simple enough but the hot glue was a little messy and difficult. As you will see, read on.

I removed the pages with a razor blade.

I traced the book and cut the lining the right size. I used a scrap of blue velvet because I had it on hand and I thought the thickness of the fabric would hide the glue under it. It worked well for that.

I glued the lining down and then glued in the zipper. The tutorial recommended gluing one side and then the other. That worked well too.

Here is my finished clutch. It is really small and will only hold the basics. A thicker book would hold more, but I really like it. It goes perfectly with tomorrow's project. Check back to see what else I made in honor of the most fabulous teen detective.

Thanks for reading, now go make something fun for yourself.