Happy Sunday everyone :) It is really cold here and I decided that this is a perfect chance to spend all Sunday sitting on my sewing machine! I bought some new fabrics yesterday - I posted earlier today on Facebook - and will make them into a bag of some sort (what else??).

Just wanted to show you some of my latest creations, all completed last week. Maybe this will give you some inspiration for a Sunday project of your own :))

Fabrics I bought yesterday:
- Flora from the Impressions Collection by Ty Pennington
- Bear Essentials 2 by P & B Textiles (turquoise)
- Classic Elements by P & B Textiles (gray)

The following items I actually made for a review that I am working on right now, which will be posted on Sew Mama Sew in December:

A Classy Clutch:

Exterior fabric: The Painted Garden by Dena Designs for Free Spirit

Lining fabric: Dear Stella

A small purse that can be used as a clutch, a wristlet or worn across the body. This is a new design that I made up rather spontaneously :) I will probably make a sewing pattern from this. It could even be a nice beginner pattern, since it is fairly easy to make but still has a little bit of embellishment and uses some hardware (hence is not too boring. That was my point :))

This pattern is an old Burda bag sewing pattern that I found in my stash. I had a little bit of that beautiful purple fabric left and decided to use it for this bag design (I previoulsy made a California Sunshine Bag with this fabric).

Exterior fabric: "Queen Anne's Lace" from the Piper Collection by Dear Stella
Lining fabric: "Citron" from Garden Pindot by Michael Miller

Happy sewing  and stay warm :)

I am really excited to introduce you to my latest sewing pattern, the All Day Out Bag! This pdf sewing pattern is now available in my pattern store.
But before I will tell you a bit more about this pattern, there is this:
Not too long ago I asked you to suggest names for the bag and I would like to thank all of you who did so! It was a tough choice but in the end I picked a winner:

Congratulations Norma! You will get the pdf pattern for free, I will send it to you right after I am done finishing this blog post :)

The most striking feature of this bag is probably the front pocket with its slanted edges but you will dicover a lot more awesome details to this pattern: in addition to the roomy main compartment there is another slip pocket on the inside as well as a divided elasticized pocket. On the back there is a 3D shaped pouch, which will allow you to store even more items in this spacious handbag. The strap is attached with two rivets on either side.

The pdf file comes with 30 pages of instructions, 61 pictures and 9 pattern pieces. All measurements are given in centimeters and inches.
The finished size of this bag is 24 x 32 x 8 cm/ 9.5" x 12.5" x 3.25" (height x width x depth).

Supplies needed:
- Exterior fabric: 1.20 m or 1 1/4 yd
- Lining fabric: 2/3 m or 3/4 yd
- Fusible fleece e.g. Pellon 987F: 2/3 m or 3/4 yd
- Fusible interfacing, e. g. Pellon 931 TD:  1.80 m or 2 yd
- 2 O-rings (2.5 cm / 1” diameter)
- 2 magnetic snaps
- 1 piece of elastic (1 cm (3/8”) wide): approx. 32 cm or 12.5”
- 4 rivets

Thank you to all my testers who were such a great help, as always! Please check out how beautiful their bags turned out:

Carol says she has a preference for bright colors. I think her bag looks awesome, especially with the contrast of exterior and lining fabric!

Sarah from Prairie Girl Knits used velvet and a wool blend for her bag. She mentioned that it was a bit harder to sew with these kinds of fabrics but I think the result looks gorgeous (have you noticed those sparkly rivets??)!

Janet's version looks so sophisticated! She used a black/charcoal pin stripe for the exterior and a green cotton fabric for the lining, the pockets and the bag flap.

This is Tonya's bag. She used a burgundy fine wale corduroy and a brightly colored cotton print as a nice contrast. Her granddaughter liked her bag so much she declared it her own :)

Jenniffer's bag comes in plaid wool fabric that she found in a thrift store! Look how perfectly she lined up the main panel and the slanted front pockets! I like pink so needless to say I love her bag :)

Kim used contrasting fabrics for her All Day Out Bag. She said she especially liked the pleat on the flap of the pouch. I am glad to hear that :)

DeeAnn used blue shades for her All Day Out Bag. I especially like the look of the pouch with the paisley pattern. She made the lining show at the top edge of the front pocket on purpose which adds a nice touch to the bag!

This is Heidi's wonderful bag. I don't know what I like more about her bag: the great pattern of the fabric or the fact that the fussy cut on the front just came out perfectly!!

And another one with perfect fussy cut on the front!! Dee used IKEA furnishing fabric for her All Day Out Bag. I love the color combo black, white and red!

The last one in the row is Patti's bag. She said she really likes the shape of it and the fact that it is so roomy. Patti stitched the strap instead of using rivets.

You can purchase the pdf pattern in my pattern store. Do you like this design? I would love to hear your opinion!
Happy sewing :)

One of my October weekends was devoted to a project I like to call "Now-that-it's-getting-winter-get-rid-of-the-freaking-drafts-in-your-house". Seriously, weather-wise I just live in the wrong state. I hate freezing, but I freeze all the time as soon as temperatures drop below 60 degrees (mind you USA, that is 15 degrees on the Celsius scale. Sounds pretty bad, huh?!). Our house here is old, built in the 1930s and while they installed new windows before we moved in, the wooden window frames have cracks and holes, if I hold my hand close to them I can feel the wind. No joke. This is not what you want when you live upstate NY where it usually stays cold from November to April. So this year I decided to finally do something about it and so I gathered as much information about how to weatherize windows when you don't have a clue about home improvement whatsoever.

Before you fall asleep over this blog post that was orininally designed to show you how to easily sew a draft stopper for your door, let me just tell you this: rope caulk is awesome! It is a putty-like substance that comes as a rope (duh...) with different strands and you can simply "unwind" as much as you need, in the thickness that you need to fill cracks or gaps and then simply seal them with it. It is amazing! I spent an entire Sunday filling all the drafty cracks in our house and I used up two of these packages. So if you are looking for a simple way to make your home more cozy, go get rope caulk!

So back to the title of this post. We have a backdoor in our kitchen, that leads into a very cold staircase and the basement. There is a really big gap under the door which I decided had to go as well. I mean, what's the use in fixing your windows if the cold still has this very convenient way to get into your house, right? I thought about making a simple draft stopper, you know, the ones that are made of fabric, stuffed with batting which you simply push in front of the door. I didn't like the idea very much since they always have to be put back in place after using the door. And the gap would be open if I leave the house through that door, so that was no option.

I found a very cool idea over at this website. They used foam tubes (originally designed for pipe insulation, you will find them at your hardware store as well) as a filler, what an awesome idea! I bought a 6' long foam tube that has a 1.75" inch diameter and started designing my own draft stopper. If you have read so far, congratulations and thank you, I really appreciate it :)
If you are interested in my "stylish" draft stopper, here is what I made:
(This tutorial is free but if you would rather prefer to download this complete tutorial as a pdf file you may purchase it here for only $2.)

First you will have to measure the width of your door, so you will know to what length to cut your foam tubes. When measuring, watch out for protruding parts (see first picture below) and take these into account so you will be able to close your door later with the draft stopper attached.
Also measure the depth of your door. You don't have to be too exact. I noted down 1 1/2" for mine.

Get some fabric. I actually had a Polyester fabric lying around in my stash (God knows why I bought this one…) which was perfect for this project. You most certainly don't want to use your best lightweight quilting cotton and you also might want to use darker colors, since the thing is going to be dragged over the ground fairly often.

Measurements: (seam allowance 1/2" included)

The width of your fabric piece should be: the width of your tube (i. e. the width of your door) plus about 3 extra inches.
The height of your fabric piece should be approx. 26 inches (if you use tubes with a diameter of 1.75 inches. Allow more fabric if you use tubes bigger in diameter). My piece of fabric was much too long as you will see in the pictures, don't let that confuse you :)

Fold the fabric in half horizontally (that means, after folding your fabric will still have the same width but will only be half as high as before), right sides together. Sew along the two short edges. Leave the long edge open.

Turn right side out. Put one of your foam tubes into the fabric and push it right into the upper corner, making sure it is centered. Pin it in place by closing the fabric, so that the tube is entirely covered by fabric. Pin as close to the tube as possible, as indicated by the white dashes in the picture below.

With the zipper foot of your sewing machine, sew along the tube, closing the fabric and trapping the tube inside.

Now measure from the seam you just made: the depth of your door, in my case 1 1/2". You can also put the unfinished draft stopper under your door to get the perfect measurements (see pictures below). Use a fabric marker to mark a line parallel to the seam you just stitched. I also recommend pinning the two fabric layers together, so nothing will slip while sewing. Stitch along the line you marked.

Take the second foam tube and put it into the fabric. Slide it inside, all the way to the seam you just made. Using pins, close down the fabric on the other side of the tube, again trapping the tube inside.

Using the zipper foot of your sewing machine, stitch along the tube again, closing the channel. Trim the rest of the fabric to the appropiate size: since this end of my draft stopper is going to be in the staircase and hence out of my view most of the time, I simply trimmed the fabric down to approx. 3/4" (measured from the stitching next to the tube) and did a zig zag stitch to prevent the edges from fraying. I agree this may not be the cleanest solution but I am not going to try winning Project Runway with this thing after all :-)

If you want your edge to be neat, trim down the fabric to a length of 1 1/4" (again measured from the stitching next to the tube) and then bend the fabric of both edges down towards the inside by approx. 1/2". Pin in place and stitch along the edge using a 1/4" seam allowance.

And that is it! Your draft stopper is finished. Slide it underneath your door and enjoy! No more drafts and it looks kinda stylish too. That fabric isn't even as hideous as I thought.

If you live in a cold area, you will have lots of fun with this. We had our first snow last night and I am not too happy about it... On the other hand I realized I really enjoy the sound of snow falling. Seems like I can't really make up my mind about it :) Do you like winter? Or are you one of those happy folks living in a warmer climate?
Happy sewing and stay warm :)

A few weeks ago my mom got herself a smartphone! With her being far away in Germany I was very happy about it because now we can finally text each other again. The last time I was home, I had my mini travel sleeve with me, and she liked it a lot. Since I got a lot of free stuff when I was home - when you only visit your parents three weeks every year they tend to spoil you, isn't that great?!? - I promised to make her a few purses. The mini travel sleeve was the first thing on her list and it turns out it was actually a good thing I took my time because now I could make it to fit her new phone perfectly! She gave me the measurements of her Samsung and so her travel sleeve is a bit bigger than the one that I made for my free sewing tutorial.

My mom asked for fabrics in pink, purple or gray colors and I found this eggplant colored quilting cotton by Jennifer Sampou, from her line "Studio Stash" (for Robert Kaufmann Fabrics).

I added a zipper pocket to the back since she wanted to be able to store change somewhere. In Germany we pay a lot more in cash and therefore it is good to have a pocket for coins. My travel sleeve would have been to small to add a zipper pocket anyway but hers had just the right dimensions.

Instead of a button and string I used a small magnetic snap for the closure.

I hope my mom will like her new little purse. Since I will be going home again for Christmas this year (yay!!) she will have to wait a few more weeks until she gets it. I prefer to give it to her in person instead of shipping it. She can look at these pictures in the meantime :)

If you like this sleeve feel free to check out my free tutorial that I made back in February. Happy sewing :)