Today marks the beginning of the One World One Heart Giveaway.  If you didn’t participate last year, let me tell you now, you won’t want to miss it this year. From now through February 12th, you’ll have the opportunity to enter hundreds of giveaways, simply by visiting participating blogs and leaving a comment.  The rules vary from one blog to another, so be sure you read each giveaway post for details. (Note: As of 5 p.m. on January 29th, there are 732 giveaways on the list. Amazing!)

 For my giveaway, there will be 2 winners, both drawn by a random number generator.  One winner will receive the wristlet key fob pictured above, and another will receive a 5-1/2″ x 60″ cotton scarf (also pictured).  All you have to do is leave a comment on this post (and this post only!) before midnight Central Time on February 12th, and you will be entered in the drawing.  Depending on how many comments I get, I may add a 3rd prize.  You don’t need to have your own blog in order to enter my giveaway, but you will need to leave a valid email address so I can contact you if you win. 

When you leave a comment, there’s a space where you can enter your email.  I’m the only one who can see this, so don’t worry about it being posted for the whole world to see. Alternatively, you can provide the url for your website or blog (if you have one) in the space provided on the comment form, as long as there’s a way for me to contact you there.

I will draw the winner and notify her/him on February 13th.

OK, a recap of my rules:
1. Leave a comment on this post.  Don’t leave it on any of my other posts, because it won’t count.
2. Make sure you have a valid email so I can contact you if you’re a winner.
3. Comment before midnight Central Time on February 12th.
4. That’s it!

After you comment here, go over to the OWOH website for a list of currently participating bloggers. Be sure to visit their sites and enter their giveaways as well — no telling how many prizes you might win!

I’m having a giveaway on my other blog as well (Lenny da Vinci), where the prize is one of my embellished fabric pins, so be sure to stop by over there and enter.

If you’re not feeling lucky, or you don’t want to wait til the drawing, both the key fob and the scarf are also available, at the time of this writing, in my Etsy shop.

As much as I like a zip pouch, I quickly grow tired of the basic pouch with a zipper along the top edge. So I’ve been trying to mix it up a little bit, yet still keep it simple.  When I saw this tutorial over at Javajem Knits, I knew this would be my next zip pouch.  Jody’s tutorial is for a larger pouch than I needed, so I modified the size and cut my fabrics as follows:

Front portion above the zipper – 1-1/2″ x 5″ (1 each of outer fabric, lining, and interfacing)
Front portion below the zipper – 2-3/4″ x 5″ (1 each of outer fabric, lining, and interfacing)
Back – 4-1/4″ x 5″ (again, 1 each of outer fabric, lining, and interfacing)

The finished size of my pouch is approximately 3-3/4″ x 5″.  Credit cards fit into it nicely.

For my strap, I cut a 10-1/2″ x 2″ strip, and ran it through my 1″ tape maker to fold it before pressing into a 1/2″-wide strip and topstitching the edges. 

I made my first pouch slightly narrower, forgetting that the head of the zipper would take up a little space and make the opening smaller.  It’s a tight squeeze for a credit card, so I cut the pieces for my remaining pouches 5″ wide.  And somehow, I didn’t notice that I cut my strap too long, so it ended up way too long to stay easily on my wrist.  To shorten it, I simply tied a knot in the end, and I really like the way it looks.  The side tab on my test pouch didn’t help me much with opening and closing the zipper, so I left it off all the others.  But if I make this in a larger size, I’ll probably include the tab.

Go ahead and try a few of these!  They’re easy and require very little fabric, and make nice little purse organizers or a way to carry some cash and a credit card without hauling around a larger bag.

Like I said, these are so easy!  I made 15 wristlet key fobs in less than 2 hours, and I was taking my time.  For the tutorial, go here.

Tonight I made some small wristlet zip pouches, just big enough to hold credit cards and a driver’s license. They were a special request from my mama, who doesn’t like to carry a large purse while doing her grocery shopping. In the next day or so I’ll try to post photos and a link to the tutorial I used.

As promised, here are instructions for some of the ribbon flowers I was working on a few days ago.  If you have all your supplies ready to go, and your glue gun plugged in, you can make one of these in less than 10 minutes, and probably in no more than 5 minutes.  They really are that easy.

I like to use these little flower stamens, which are available in the cake decorating aisle of your local craft store.  But in a pinch, you can easily substitute a narrow ribbon in their place, and that’s what I’ll show you in this tutorial.

For the small flower I used a 10″ length of 1″-wide wired ribbon.  For the large flower, I used an 18″ length of 1-1/2″ wired ribbon and an 18″ length of 1/4″-wide grosgrain ribbon.  If you’d like a fuller flower, just cut a longer piece of ribbon.

First, remove the wire from one edge of your ribbon.

Next, turn under one raw end of the ribbon and tack it in place by hand with tiny stitches.

Then, with your needle and thread, sew a loose running stitch along the edge from which you removed the wire.  This is your gathering thread.

Pull the gathering thread to gather your ribbon, and tack the end in place with a small stitch to secure the gathers.  At this time, if your ribbon seems to fray easily, you might want to turn this end under and stitch it like you did the first end.  At this point you’ll have a nice little curly piece of ribbon.

Adjust the ribbon until it looks the way you want it.

Now you’ll make a flower center with the grosgrain ribbon.  Fan-fold the ribbon into 1/2″ folds. 

Tie a thread around one end of your fan to secure the folds.

Place the fan through the center of the flower.

Use hot glue or the craft glue of your choice to secure the fan to the back of the flower.  At this time you can also put a little extra glue into the folds of the fan to make sure they don’t come undone. If you’re using stamens instead, glue them on as well.  You could also use large beads here if you’d like.

Now you can attach your flowers to a piece of crinoline to create an arrangement, or you can sew or glue them to your project.  If the ends of your ribbon appear to be fraying too much, clean them up with a bit of FrayCheck or clear-drying glue.

Fabric flowers are always an easy way to embellish bags and accessories, and there are dozens of ways to make them.  The one pictured here isn’t unusual, but I thought I’d photograph the steps for you while making this one last night, and give you the directions that I typically use.  I also made a very easy ribbon flower, and I’ll try to show that to you this week.

Start by cutting 5 squares of fabric, all the same size.  For my flower I used 3-1/2″ squares, and the finished flower measures approximately 3-1/4″ at its widest point.  You can make these in just about any size you want, but keep in mind that if they’re really tiny or extremely large, they may be hard to handle. You can also use more squares if you want, depending on the look you’re after.  Lightweight fabrics are easiest to work with because they gather more easily and more tightly.  I used a mid-weight hand-dyed cotton, so I have some additional bulk in my gathers.

Fold one corner of a square over to meet the opposite corner, forming a triangle.  Finger-press to hold it in place.

Thread a needle with a fairly long double strand of thread. I like to use something that pretty closely matches the fabric, in case some of the stitches aren’t completely hidden by the button later on.  OK, beginning at one corner, loosely stitch along both open edges as pictured below.  Don’t stitch along the folded edge.

Note:  I’m left-handed, so all this may look backwards to you.

Pull the needle and thread to gather your triangle into a petal.

If you can’t keep the fabric gathered tightly enough, it’s OK to stitch the corners together to secure, as I did on the petal below.

With the same length of thread (don’t cut it off and start over), fold and stitch another petal the same way.  You will be making a chain of petals.

Continue in this fashion until all 5 petals are made.  Shape them together until you’re satisfied with the configuration, then stitch the corner of the last petal to the first one.  You may also need to make some extra stitches on the back to hold everything in place.  Once you have them all stitched together, you can fluff them and play with them until they look good to you.

Next, stitch a pretty button to the center front (see photo at top of post).  Make sure it’s large enough to cover the raw edges and stitching that will be visible in the center.  At this point you may want to add a piece of felt to the back if you’re adding a pin back, or you can glue or stitch the flower to whatever you’re embellishing.

Be warned, the back of your flower might not be very pretty, as evidenced below, but it’s unlikely that anyone will ever see the back anyway.

This simple little cell phone pouch was born from my need to keep my phone permanently attached to my body in case someone calls me for  a job interview.  I have a slider phone with very sensitive soft keys on the front, and I’ve accidentally dialed up the internet while carrying it in my pocket, so a pouch is essential.  I’ve been using another pouch I made last year, but I’ve had to tie the strap to my belt loop, and it either comes untied, or my phone topples out of the top when I’m sitting down.  I wanted something that would attach securely to the belt loop of my jeans, instead of a belt, because I don’t wear belts much, and with a flap to keep the phone safe.  

I played with the idea a bit today and came up with a pouch that attaches with d-rings, and with a flap that is secured with a velcro strip.

Before I show you how to make this, I need to make a couple of points.  First, this is one of those quick and easy projects where you have to sacrifice perfection.  The pieces are zigzagged together on the outside, so if you don’t like that look, this isn’t the project for you. I based this pouch on my eyeglass case tutorial, with batting sandwiched between 2 layers of fabric and the raw edges zigzagged or blanket-stitched.

This tutorial looks long, but it’s mostly photos.  This really is a very easy project.

My phone is the LG Chocolate, which measures 1-3/4″ x 3-3/4″ x 5/8″, so this tutorial is based on those measurements. There’s still plenty of room for a larger phone, but check your phone and adjust accordingly.

A strip of velcro has 2 parts – a soft side, and a stiffer, prickly side.  I like to sew to soft side to the flap.  This way, if the flap brushes against your phone, you don’t riskscratching your phone.  The other side might cause scratches.

The directions that follow are exactly as I made the pouch pictured here. However, there are some things I would do differently next time. First, I would round the corners of my flap so they wouldn’t stick out quite as much when closed.  I would also make the velcro strips longer, so that the entire edge of the flap is stuck in place when closed.  Before beginning, think this project through in case there are any style changes you would like to make.

You could change this pouch to attach to a belt.  Just cut the strap a little longer and rotate it 90 degrees before sewing to the pouch.

OK, for this project you will need the following:

- 1 each of outside fabric, lining, and batting, cut to 3-1/2″ wide by 4-3/4″ high.  This is the front of your pouch.
- 1 each of outside fabric, lining, and batting, cut to 3-1/2″ wide by 6-3/4″ high.  This is the back and the flap of your pouch.
- 1 strip of only one of your fabrics, cut to 2-1/4″ wide by 6″ long. This is the strap.
- thread
- Two  1″ d-rings

First, make the strap by folding the long strip (2-1/4″ x 6″) in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and stitch the long side and one short side. Clip corners and turn the tube right side out. Press flat.

Topstitch edges.

Layer the longer pieces (3-1/2″ x 6-3/4″) as follows to make the back of the pouch:
-batting
-outside fabric, with right side up
 
Pin layers together.

 Pin raw edge of strap (open end) to pouch back as pictured, with the top edge of strap approximately 2″ down from top of pouch back, and raw edge centered left to right.

Stitch end of strap in place.

Thread both d-rings onto strap, and fold strap to the right.

Stitch strap in place with two rows of stitching as shown, roughly in the center of the pouch from left to right.  Go over the stitches a couple of times to thoroughly secure the strap.

Remove the pins.

Flip the entire piece over, with batting facing up.

Place lining on top, right side up (sorry, no photo!).  Fold outer fabric out of the way as shown. Pin layers in place.

Stitch soft side of velcro to lining side near top of pouch, through the lining and the batting.  Remember, the outer fabric needs to be out of the way.  (Actually, you don’t have to fold this out of the way to make this work, but if you stitch through all layers, the stitching will show through on the front. That’s just a personal choice.)

If you expect to be opening and closing your pouch a lot, consider stitching around the velcro twice.

You’re done with the back, so set it aside for now.

Layer remaining pieces (3-1/2″ x 4-3/4″) as follows, to make front of pouch:
- lining, right side down
- batting
- outer fabric, right side up

Pin layers together.

Place other piece of velcro on outer fabric, about 1/2″ from the top edge, and stitch twice through all layers.

Zigzag top edge of pouch front through all layers. When zigzagging, let the right-hand swing of the needle go very slightly beyond the edge of the fabric. I used a stitch width of about 4, and a length of around 1.5.

Now you’ll put the front and back together and finish your project.

Pin front to back, right sides out.

Pin strap out of the way.

Zigzag carefully around all 4 edges of the pouch. This will finish all the remaining edges and will attach the front to the back.

Remove all the pins, add a cell phone, and you’re ready to go!

This fabric bracelet is another one of those easy accessory projects that you can make quickly and easily, and with minimal investment if you already have fabric scraps on hand. For the version with buttons pictured here, I only needed 2 strips of fabric, each about 1-1/4″ wide, 2 d-rings, and a few stray buttons. You can use smaller scraps as well, as I did with the blue crazy-pieced bracelet. Other variations are limited only by your imagination.

I’ve seen several cute fabric bracelets that were fastened with buttons and cord, and I love them all, but for this bracelet I wanted something that fastened a bit more securely. I also wanted it to be completely adjustable to fit wrists other than my own, just in case a very convincing niece talks me out of it.  These d-rings have been on my table for a couple of weeks, waiting for another project that I’m working on, so they were an obvious choice for my bracelet.

When choosing fabric for the back of the bracelet, keep in mind that it will probably show, so don’t pick the ugliest thing in your stash.

About cutting your fabric strips – I used 3/4″ d-rings, so my strip width is 1-1/4″ (3/4″ + 1/4″ on each side for seam allowances).  Actually, I cut them very slightly wider than 1-1/4″ because my seams tend to go a tiny bit over 1/4″. For length, I estimated that 10″ would be enough, keeping in mind that I would lose about 1-1/2″ of that during construction.

My wrist measures less than 6″, and I had a lot of length left over when I put this on, so I tucked the loose end beneath the bracelet. If you don’t want to do this, be sure you adjust the length accordingly.

Once you determine the size of your strips, the rest is very quick and easy.

With right sides together and using 1/4″ seam, sew the strips together on both long sides and one short side.  Leave the remaining short side open for turning.

To reduce bulk, clip the corners of the short end that you stitched up.

Using a chopstick or a dowel, turn the strip right side out. Press carefully. If you want, you can zigzag the raw end, but I didn’t really think it was necessary on mine.

Topstitch around the edges if you like.  This step isn’t necessary, but you know me, I topstitch everything.

Insert the open end through both d-rings and fold down about 1 to 1-1/4″, to the back of the bracelet.

Pin in place, and stitch through all layers to secure.

You can stop now and wear your bracelet, or you can embellish it with buttons, embroidery, beads, or whatever comes to mind.  Just be careful not to attach anything where it will get pinched by the d-rings.

With the holiday season closing in on us, I thought some more tutorials might be useful to those of you who like to handcraft your gifts.

The first new tutorial I have for you is the basic Scrappy Pieced Scarf. This scarf can be as simple or as complex as you’d like to make it.  This is a great way to use up scraps in your fabric stash, and the instructions can easily be adapted for charm packs, leftover quilt blocks, or fabric strips. In the directions here, I’ll be working with simple, unpieced sections of fabric, but I encourage you to be creative and to experiment.

1. First, decide how large you want your scarf to be.  You have a lot of flexibility here, and your decision will be based on the size of the fabric scraps you’ve chosen to work with.  In my case, I had originally hoped for a finished width of 7″, but I wanted to include a stack of fabrics that were all no more than 6-1/4″ wide and in varying lengths, so I altered my plans and settled on a narrower scarf. Next, I decided that 60″ would be a nice length, but this measurement is flexible as well.

2. When you’ve decided how wide and how long your scarf will be, cut an assortment of fabric pieces in the width you’ve chosen. They can be squares or rectangles. I chose to cut rectangles, some short and some long.  Anything goes, so don’t feel like you have to be rigid and precise. If you are using leftover quilt blocks, make sure you cut them to fit the predetermined width of your scarf.

3. Arrange your pieces end to end as you’d like them to be sewn together, until you have enough pieces to achieve the length you want. Don’t forget that you’ll lose length to seam allowances, so plan accordingly and give yourself a little extra.

4. Now sew the pieces together end to end, right sides together.  I like to use a 1/4″ seam, but you should use whatever you’re comfortable with.

5. Press all the seams to one side.

6. With right side up, topstitch near each seam line, being sure you are stitching through all the seam layers that you previously pressed to one side.  This will keep all your seams flat, and will give your scarf a nicely finished look.  I like to use a slightly longer stitch length when I topstitch.

7. Repeat this process for the other side of your scarf.  For mine, I made it even more simple by using just 4 long pieces of fabric for the second side. If you like, you can use one piece of fabric for this side.

8. Place the two sides right sides together, and stitch all the way around the scarf, leaving an opening large enough for turning right side out.  I suggest making this opening large enough for your hand to fit through, so you can more easily turn the piece.

9. Clip the corners to reduce bulk, then turn right side out through the opening from the previous step.

Safety tip: When your turn a project like this right side out and are trying to get the corners nice and pointy, I strongly recommend using a chopstick or a very skinny dowel to get the job done.  Avoid using sharp, pointed scissors, as they can poke through the fabric and injure you. I badly cut myself  using scissors this way, and over 10 years later, my scar will still hurt on occasion.

10. Turn the edges of the opening to the inside and carefully press the scarf.

11. Topstitch all the way around the edge. This will sew the opening closed, as well as give a smooth finish to the edges of your scarf.

All done!  My finished scarf measures approximately 5-3/4″ wide by 62″ long. This project lends itself well to embellishment, fringe, fancy trims — whatever your imagine can come up with, so have fun with it!

At the request of a few readers, I’ve put together this tutorial for the ever-popular wristlet key fob. These key fobs are so simple to make, and they are a great assembly-line craft.  You can quickly and easily attach fabric or ribbon to several pieces of webbing in one step, then attach the hardware as your second step. They make great gifts that not only require a minimal amount of your time (very important these days!), but fit into a small budget as well.

For this project, you will need 1-1/4″ key fob hardware, a 10″ length of 1-1/4″ wide webbing, a 10″ length of  1″ wide ribbon, coordinating thread, a towel or soft cloth, and pliers.  For my key fob, I substituted a strip of fabric for the ribbon.  I also suggest using an edge-stitch foot to sew your project.  Now, I know I go on and on about the edge-stitch foot, but it really is a great investment if you don’t already have one.  Believe me, it will make your sewing life so much easier! Check your machine manual for the appropriate part for your model number.  Of course, you can still make this project without an edge-stitch foot or attachment.

My finished key fob is approximately 5″ in length.  If you want it longer or shorter, adjust the length of your webbing and ribbon accordingly.

1.  First, I’ll talk about how to use a fabric strip instead of ribbon.  (If you’re using ribbon, you can skip directly to step 2. )  I used a 2″-wide by 10″ long strip of fabric. It’s not necessary to cut this on the bias — it’s fine to cut it on either the lengthwise or the crosswise grain. Now you’ll need to turn the raw edges to the inside to create a 1″-wide strip.  The easiest way to do this is to use a 1″ bias tape maker.  Simply run your fabric strip through the tape maker, with the wrong side up as pictured below, and press the strip as it emerges from the tape maker.  Remember, just because it’s a “bias” tape maker doesn’t mean you have to use a bias-cut strip.  If you don’t have a tape maker, you’ll need to press both edges of your strip to meet in the center, wrong sides together.

2. Next, you’ll sew your ribbon or fabric strip to the webbing.  But first, I’ll lecture you a little bit more on the edge-stitch foot!  See that little metal guide in the center of the foot pictured below? That’s the part that will simplify your sewing life.  You’ll be running the edge of your ribbon along that metal guide in order to stay in a straight line.  It’s important to note here that on my machine, I can adjust the needle left or right of center.  If your machine doesn’t have that feature, your edge-stitch attachment will likely look and operate much different from mine.  Again, consult your manual for instructions.  For the sake of this tutorial, I’ll have to assume that you can move your needle left or right.  If you don’t have an edge-stitch foot or attachment, you can still make this project, as long as you sew slowly and carefully in order to keep your lines of stitching as straight as possible.

3.  Now, layer your ribbon or fabric on top of the webbing, centering it the best you can.  Place the right edge of the ribbon or fabric against the guide on your foot.  The webbing will be beneath the guide. Move your needle to the left, as if you’re topstitching along the edge of the ribbon, and sew the ribbon to the webbing.  How far you move the needle is up to you, but be sure it’s far enough to the left to securely attach the ribbon or fabric.

4. Next, you’ll attach the other edge of the fabric or ribbon.  At this point, you can simply flip your key fob around and stitch along the remaining edge exactly as you did with the first edge, with everything to the left of the needle. If I’m using a soft fabric strip, I prefer to work the second side to the right of needle, so that I’m starting at the same end I started with before.  I find that I can avoid any “creeping” of the fabric this way, and it sits a little flatter on the webbing (but maybe it’s just me!).  If you decide to sew this edge to the right of the needle, don’t forget to move your needle to the right as well.

5.  Trim any stray threads that may be sticking off the ends of your key fob.  Now all you need to do is attach the hardware.  You should have what I’ll call an end-cap, and a key ring. You’ll notice that one side of the end-cap has two prongs on the inside.  These will help keep your webbing in place.  Fold the webbing in half, wrong sides together, and place the raw ends inside the end-cap, making sure all your edges are even and nothing is sticking out the sides that you don’t want hanging out.  While holding everything together with one hand, cover the metal parts with a cloth or towel, and squeeze the jaws of your end-cap together with your pliers.   Take your time with this.  It may take a few squeezes.  I usually squeeze each end of the end-cap, alternating back and forth until I’m satisfied.  The cloth or towel will protect your hardware from being scratched or dented by the pliers.  Finally, attach the key ring to the end cap.

That’s it!  You’re done!  You’ll find that once you make one of these, you’ll be able to make your next one very quickly.  If you have trouble understanding any of the instructions, just leave a comment here and I’ll try to clarify.

If you don’t already have supplies for your wristlet key fobs, you can find them at Crafters Vision.

HP and designer Vivienne Tam announced yesterday their collaboration on a special edition notebook intended to be the ultimate technology fashion statement. 

The digital clutch was unveiled at Tam’s show during New York’s Fashion Week, and features a pink and purple peony design on a red background on the exterior, and HP’s notebook technology on the inside.

The digital clutch notebook includes a matching embroidered sleeve, and is expected to be available in North America in early 2009.