Treasured

Here's the finished result of what I was up to yesterday.

A friends little boy turned one last week. Sam's birthday party clashed with Nico's (I swear, the babies and toddlers and kiddies in my life have more social events than me), so I'm visiting him today.

A few people commented on the clown fabric yesterday. It's a few years old now, but it's Michael Miller Clown Capers.

Funnily enough, Sam's mum had originally bought the fabric to make something for his old brother (who is now four), but she never got around to it and so the fabric was gifted to my stash!

Anyway, I whipped up a couple of drawstring bags to hold his treasures, using my quick and easy tutorial.

I still had a little size 1 t-shirt in the stash, so with a little bit of dragster design, and some applifix....

... he now also has a very cool little man tee!

Tutorial - How to make a Tea Towel Drawstring Bag

I have another tutorial printed in the Weekly Times today.

Below is the full version with photos.

Whether you're heading off for an overseas trip, or just a weekend away, making a drawstring bag for your shoes is a great way to keep them separated from the lovely clean clothes in your suitcase.

Of course, drawstring bags have a multitude of uses - so make as many as you like. They're fabulous for kids toys, keeping puzzles together, and storing precious collections.

Download the PDF

Step 1

Gather your supplies:
Tea towel
Twill tape
Large Safety Pin
Pins
Sewing Machine
Scissors
Ruler or Tape Measure
Drawstring Cord (or a piece of ribbon)

Step 2

Fold the tea towel in half lengthways, with the right sides facing together.

Step 3

Using your sewing machine, stitch a straight line down both side seams. The top remains open.
You will now have what looks like a large inside out tea towel pocket.

Step 4

Turn the tea towel back out so that it is facing the right way.

Step 5

Each tea towel will be slightly different is size, so now you will need to do a little maths.
Measure the width of the tea towel envelops and then double it (this is to calculate the length of twill tape that you will need to use).

Cut the piece of twill tape to the required length.

Fold over the edge of the twill tape on either end and run a couple of lines of stitching along to ensure that you have a neat edge on both ends.

Step 6

Pin the twill tape right around the top edge of the tea towel envelope and stitch along the top and the bottom to create a channel for your drawstring.

Step 7

Using the previous twill tape measurement, add on 30 centimetres, and then cut a piece of drawstring cord (or ribbon)  to this length.

Attach one end of the drawstring cord (or ribbon) to a safety pin, and thread it through the drawstring channel.

Step 8

Once the drawstring is evenly threaded through on both sides, tie a knot at either end to prevent fraying.

To prevent the drawstring from being removed, run a line of stitching down the side seam at the opposite side to the drawstring opening.

Step 9

Pop in your favourite pair of shoes!

...and the sewing resumes + 500th post

As soon as the real estate valuer left the building, I whipped the sewing machine back out to take pride of place on the dining table in the kitchen, and the cutting mat is now back in place on the kitchen bench..... so my life is once again back in equilibrium.

I'm off to a friends house for dinner tonight and I'll be giving handmade christmas gifts to the kiddies, so I whipped up some drawstrings bags to pack them in, rather than using wrapping paper. I just need to make some little gift tags and they'll be all finished.

On a completely unrelated subject, would you believe that this is my 500th post? I clearly have waaaaaay toooooooo much spare time on my hands. So to celebrate this momentous occassion, I'm going to have a quick pre-christmas giveaway. I'll make up a crafty prize pack with some fabric, zips, buttons etc. All you have to do to enter is leave me a comment by Monday night - 8PM Melbourne time.

Enter away!

Some new additions

My computer has been playing up for a while now, so it's off to be repaired, and I've borrowed the laptop instead. Some of the photo quality over the next few days may be a little dodgy as I don't have any photo editing software on this one.

I added some new items to The CurlyPops Shop.

This soft flannel baby wrap.... (I love the colours in this one but alas, I don't have a baby to wrap)

I've used vintage Sheridan sheeting for the body of this apron. It's an extra large size and should fit up to a size 22. I'm going to make some more in this size during the week.

A little stripey drawstring bag....

...and this lovely floral drawstring bag.

Drawstring Bag Tutorial

I often have scrappy bits of bias tape hanging around and this is one of the ways that I have found to use them. Note: The bias tape I've used is not actually cut on the bias....it is all cut on the straight grain. For more information on how to make bias tape, there are great instructions here.

Warning: There are lots of photos and lots of thread colour changes involved in this tutorial.

Disclaimer: I'm an aussie but this I've used quilting rulers to make these drawstring bags so all of my measurements are in inches (sorry about that)! I will try to convert to centimetres as I go along.

Step 1:

Cut 2 pieces of fabric for the outer bag - 9.5 inches x 9.5 inches - 24.1 cm x 24.1 cm

Cut 2 pieces of fabric for the inner bag - 9.5 inches x 9.5 inches - 24.1 cm x 24.1 cm

Step 2:

Place right sides together (separately) for the inner and outer.

For the outer bag, sew along 3 sides using a 1/4 inch seam (0.6 cm)

For the inner bag, sew along 3 sides using a slightly larger seam allowance, but remember to leave a small opening at the bottom, and backstitch at the edges of the opening.

Step 3:

Outer bag - clip the bottom corners to take away the bulkiness, turn right side out and iron flat.

Step 4:

Make bias tape following the instructions for your bias tape maker.

I cut a strip 2 inches wide (5.1 cm) x 18 inches long (45.7 cm) and used my Clover 25 Bias Tape maker.

Step 5:

Turn the ends of the bias tape over and iron flat

Step 6:

Pin the bias tape onto the outer bag (1 inch from the top of the bag) - 2.5 cm from top.

Step 7:

Sew the bias tape onto the outer bag along the top edge and the bottom edge. Don't sew along the end as this is where the drawstring will thread through later.

Step 8:

Place the outer bag inside the inner bag - the right side of the outer bag will be facing the right side of the inner bag.

Step 9:

Secure the top edges together using pins or clips.

Step 10:

Check that the layers are even.

Step 11:

Topstitch along the top using a 1/4 inch seam allowance (0.6 cm)

Step 12:

Pull the outer bag through the small gap at the bottom of the inner bag

Step 13:

Stitch the gap closed at the bottom of the inner bag

Step 14:

Push the inner bag back inside the outer bag and topstitch very close to the edge.

Step 15:

It's now time to make the drawstring. You can really use anything you like for a drawstring but I'm using bias tape again.

Cut a strip 2 inches wide (5.1 cm) x 38 inches long (96.5 cm).

Make the bias tape and then fold in half (keeping the raw edges inside) and iron flat.

Step 16:

Stitch the bias tape closed along the outer edge and the ends.

Step 17:

Attach a safety pin and thread the drawstring through the open channel on the bag.

Step 18:

Just to ensure that the drawstring doesn't get tugged out acidentally, it's a good idea to stitch it in place on the opposite side to the channel opening.

Step 19:

The drawstring is now securely stitched into place

Step 20:

The finished product!

These can be made in many different sizes so just scale up the measurements to suit the size that you need.

Drawstrings

I'm making a start on some Christmas pressies.
Trying to get things ready now so that I'm not frazzled in December

I don't actually know who these little drawstrings bags are going to yet

But I just thought that I would whip them up anyway!

Another birthday gift

Here's a birthday gift for a friends little girl who is turning 2 next Saturday. This was 'On My Desk' last week.
Her brother received a Buzz Lightyear drawstring bag so she's getting a Princess drawstring bag (with drawstring sewn in and pull tags for the ribbon).
I also added a pom pom from my my pom pom making session a few weeks ago!

Inside the bag is a scrappy patchwork dolls quilt that I made way back in February and a princess pillow that I made this week. Her baby doll should be nice and warm for winter now!