Halloween Themed Tiny Tin Sewing Room

Hello! It's been a while since I posted. My recovery is going well and I am so happy that I can do things as long as it doesn't require me to lifting or putting too much pressure on my left arm.
I created these 4 Halloween themed tiny tin sewing rooms this week. At first I was going to make just Halloween themed rooms. Then, looking at black sewing machine with gold details made me think "How fun would it be to put together sewing room with Halloween colors...".

I love how they turned out!

These will be seasonal limited addition and available in my etsy shop. I might make more depending on how well they are received. It is fun to do things bit differently. Now I hear Christmas bells ringing... ;)

Quilted Bag + Mini Quilt Block Charm

Summer is here and in full swing, I bet many of you are going places; local or far from home vacations. One of the things that is always nice and useful is a large bag you can throw things in and take it everywhere you go. I decided to do a tutorial of such a bag using fabrics designed by Amy from Diary of a Quilter. Sunny Side Avenue is her second fabric line from Riley Blake Designs. Hop over and check them out!

I decided to use these fabrics from her line for this project.

So, here is what you need:

*You will need

Two different green fabrics --- 1/2 yard each

Two different Blue fabrics --- one 1/3 yard, the other one 1 yard

Batting and muslin

Matching thread


How to

1. Cut 3 - 3"strips from each one of the fabrics and lay them out in the order you want. Once you have decided, sew them together. Open the seam and press with an iron.

2. Once you finished piecing 7 to 8 strips together, cut out 3" strips diagonally. To figure out the first line, I used the 30 degree angle line of the cutting tool and marked it with a pencil and started cutting.

3. Lay all the diagonal strips out to see the design before piecing them together. Once you are done piecing, it will look like this:

Open the seam and press with iron.

4. Cut off the ends. It is best to match the fabrics on both sides, so when you sew them together, the half diamond becomes one and gives a nicer finish.

5. Layer the muslin, cotton batting and pieced top together and baste. I used safety pins to secured them.

6. I can't tell you enough how much I love my new Aria sewing machine from Babylock. I should have a post just dedicated for this quilting feature someday! Anyways... I just did straight stitches on both sides of the seam. Cut off the excess.

7. Fold the quilted fabric in half right sides together. Sew the sides.

8. Create boxed bottom. Pinch the bottom corner and draw a 5" line (2 1/2" on one side of the seam and 2 1/2" seam on the other) and sew.

9. Sew liner. Cut 18 1/2" x 30" rectangle out of the blue fabric that is 1 yard. Also, cut 6" x 8" rectangle to create a pocket. Fold both sides and the bottom of the fabric, press with iron and fold the top twice 1/2" each time and sew. Sew it on to the large fabric. Sew the large fabric to make the liner in the same manner as you sewed the outer bag.

10. Sew handles. Cut 3" x 20 1/2" strips out of the left over strips you have already pieced to create the bag. I added fusible interfacing to strengthen the handle. Fold the fabric in half right sides together and sew. Turn inside out, press with iron. Using 1/8" seam stitch both sides.

11. Put the outer bag, liner and handles together and pin. Leaving a 4"opening, sew all around the top. Turn the fabric inside out, press with iron and give a good top stitch to finished it off.

I just gave quick steps for how I made this bag. If you are new to sewing and need more detailed instructions, you can visit my other tutorials such as She Carries Flowers or Reversable Crossbody Bag.

I made a mini quilt block to accessorize the bag... the idea popped in my head and I just couldn't resist! I am planning on doing a tutorials for this in the near future, stay tuned!

I am going to have a very exciting (and a little scary because this is a bit of out of my comfort zone...) week and I am going to let you know in a future post. Happy Summer everyone!

New Tiny Tin Sewing Rooms are In!

It's been a while since I last posted. The response for my Tiny Tin Sewing Rooms is more than I expected and I sold all the sewing rooms, Yay! I still have the two Christmas Wonderland ones, please check them out if you are interested. I have been making more over" the past two weeks and I am happy to announce that they are available in my Etsy shop now!

There are 14 new sewing rooms and here are some of my favorites.

Aren't they so fun to look at?

I am going to post a review post for "I Modify IKEA" in my next post. I will see you then! :)

Tutorial: Half Hexie ~ Fly Away

I had a chance to work with Amanda Herring's new beautiful line of Desert Bloom a while ago and designed this quilt "Fly Away". It is a simple quilt to make with half hexagons, but the way of putting the fabrics together make butterfly looking shapes instead of hexagons. The finished quilt is 38"x 56", it is perfect as a baby quilt. I am posting the full tutorial on my blog today, in case you missed it.

Here is how I made this:

1. Print out the PDF I created and trace it onto either thin cardboard (like a cereal box) or clear plastic to create the template.

2. I had a 7" x width of the fabric strips in 21 different fabric designs from her line. Choose three fabrics from them to make the binding tape later.

3. Lay one of the fabric strips flat on the cutting mat. Cut off the selvage and cut the strip to 6 sections of 3 1/8" x 7" rectangles. Now you have 12 (because they were folded in half) rectangles. Do the same with the other 17 strips. Depending on how you want to lay the fabrics out, you might need one fabric more than the other. With this cutting instruction, you will have quite a bit of leftover half hexies to give you that flexibility. You can make pillows or bags with the leftovers later.

4. Use the template you have created on step 1 and cut half hexies.

5. Lay them out to see the color balance. Don't they kind of look like butterflies?

6. Sew them together. There are a couple tips: Sew the pieces vertically first then sew the strips side by side. Also, when you are piecing the half hexies together, you want to lay them out right sides together and the little triangle is sticking out on the both ends as the picture is showing.

7. I decided to do straight stitches on the quilt and I like how it turned out.

Thank you for stopping by. Happy sewing! :)

Tutorial ~ Stickable Bottle Cap Pincushion

Over a year ago, I attended a quilt retreat. When I took a break to walk around I walked passed a much older lady sitting at her sewing machine and sewing happily. We struck a conversation and chatted for a while and I noticed that she had a tiny tiny pincushion stuck to her sewing machine. I asked her where she got it and she said she made it with a bottle cap. Ha! Why didn't I think of that before?? When I am sewing I put my pincushion on top of the machine or beside the machine and sometimes I forget where I put it. It would be very convenient if I could stick a pincushion somewhere on the machine: out of the way of fabric but still very close when I am pulling out the needles as I continue sewing. On the way home from the retreat, I was so ready to make one... then I totally forgot to do so until last week when I really could have used one.

I made some and created this tutorial to share with you! It is a very quick and simple project. Just remember to keep some bottle caps before you toss out the empty bottles.:)

{You will need}

Plastic bottle cap (Most of mine are from soda bottles. I found it better to have a deeper cap instead of a shallow one)
Fabric scrap
Fiber fill
Thread
Small trims (Pom-pom, lace, ribbon whatever you desire)
Glue gun and glue
Glue for the trim

{How to}

1. Create a 3"diameter template with tick paper, and trace that on to fabric scrap. Cut out the circle.

2. Stitch around the edge with big stitches.

3. Pull the thread a little and stuff it with fiber fill and pull the thread all the way. I like my pincushions stuffed very well.

4. I stitched the top back and forth to keep the top from coming undone then tie the knot to finish it off.

5. Place a little drop of glue into the bottle cap and put the fabric ball you made in step 4, stitched side down, into the bottle cap. Squeeze it tight for a minute or so until the glue is hardened and the pincushion is secure.

6. I added lace around the cap as a finishing touch...

7. For adhesive I chose double sided tape with some cushion. That way, if I want to stick the pincushion on uneven surfaces there is some flexibility.

I was so excited about this and had to test it out right away! Check this out, I can stick this on the top and the side of the machine or right by my hand.

Because it was so easy and fun to make, I made a few more...

This will make a pretty, practical and inexpensive gift for your sewing friends for sure!

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. Thank you for visiting today! :)