DIY – Page 34

DIY Carry On Bag

January 23, 2014 by KTgreen

I’ve been looking for a tutorial for a tote with a zipper. I wanted to make a carry on bag for all my electronic gear and it had to have a zipper so my stuff wouldn’t spill out on the belt in security. Hate that!

I made an overnight bag last year. It was really pretty and sturdy but just too big for me to carry. I need wheels for something that large!

DIY Overnight Bag — I could put Maggie in that bag!

Jes came by one weekend, loved it, and took it home with her. And she’s still using it.

I finally found a smaller bag tutorial with a zipper, at Sew4Home.com

I changed a few things, like the handles. I didn’t see any need for the double handle plus I wanted them to be a little wider and sturdier so I inserted them into the denim section’s seam. Nothing worse than having the straps fall off while I’m running through the airport!

I used denim for the bottom rather than faux leather and fleece rather than batting. I also stuck a pocket on the outside between the handles–so I can compulsively check my boarding pass every few minutes.

This is my version…

DIY Carry on tote, bag — This one is a wee big smaller.

Same fabrics as I used on the overnight bag. I ordered yards of these coordinating Premier Prints from Fabric.com to make bags for Christmas gifts last year.

Sometimes I just make things to have an excuse to take pictures of the pooch!

I’ve got a couple yards of these prints left. Think I’ll make a few accessories to go with the carry on!

And I need to start planning a trip!

Everything’s Fine, Really!

January 17, 2014 by KTgreen

I’m over the whole dieting thing. Haven’t lost an ounce. My problem is the portion control part. Yeah, I’m eating whole foods–lots of fruits, vegetables, and lean protein. Working out every day. We are actually cooking most meals at home. But the other night I made chicken and rice that served six and Terry and I ate the whole thing. Yeah, portion control. I’m thinking I need to go to a spa for a week where they serve me healthy food and won’t let me have an extra morsel. Canyon Ranch here I come.

So besides loosing 50 pounds and running a marathon in every state, getting organized seems to be a big New Years resolution for a lot of people. I’m organized. Yes, I can tell you what piece of fabric and pillow form is in each of the 3 trunks and 8 baskets in our house. And, although I have a weird filing system, I can tell Terry exactly where the instruction manual for the remote for the TV in the screen room lives. And, if you would just ask, I could tell you what is on each shelf in every closet in our house. From batteries to framed art. I know where it is.

But we do have a slight closet issue. Not so much reorganizing, more like they need gutted and rebuilt. Over the past few years, Terry and I have been doing just that. They all had those flimsy wire shelves and rods in them. You put too many coats on those rods and down it goes with all the coats onto the floor. Yeah, the hall coat closet was the first to get rebuilt. Now it has a nice wooden shelf and a wooden rod on sturdy brackets. (You wouldn’t think Floridians would need that many coats but we’ve got em!)

Then one day we were walking out the door to meet friends when we heard a huge crash. I ran outside and looked for the payload that the shuttle dropped, but no, nothing. So we went on our merry way. When we returned about midnight we discovered one of those damn wire shelves in the master bedroom closet had pulled out of the wall and collapsed. Bringing just about every other rod and shelf down with it. Holy catastrophe. Next closet that was redone.

This week we rebuilt the laundry room closet. Since Terry retired this year he no longer uses the upstairs office so I wanted to move his printer in there. I did the painting and Terry did the building. When I put stuff back in Terry asked “where is everything?” It’s all in there–plus more! Amazing what new deeper, sturdier shelves can do!

One more closet and a kitchen pantry to go! Then on to my next resolution.

My Doll Making Journey

January 16, 2014 by KTgreen

Christmas 2012 I attempted to make dolls for the four granddaughters. I waited too long and had some trouble with the pattern. The dolls were huge! Especially their heads and the first two had major cellulite issues. Only one doll was marginally acceptable so I gave it to the oldest granddaughter since there is no way she will ever accept a doll as a gift when she’s 12. Not even from me.

Courtney's Doll for 2012

The first two dolls still sit in the grandkids room. Andrew says that they can suck your soul out of your body and refuses to stay in that room unless I hide them in the closet. But, really, if they are going to suck your soul, what is the difference if they are in the closet or on the toy box?

Scary Dolls

The fourth doll still lies in pieces in a box. Poor thing will never get made!

This year I decided I wasn’t making dolls for Christmas. (Especially since the oldest said “no dolls please”.) But doll making was not going to defeat me. Two of the granddaughters have birthdays in December so guess what they were getting? And I started early.

I searched pinterest and all of the sewing blogs I follow but couldn’t find any dolls that I really liked until I came upon the Wee Wonderful Blog.

Wee Wonderfuls I bought the pattern and it showed up in my email as a PDF. It included the instructions and patterns for the dolls and all of the clothes–even underwear. Adorable.

The pattern was relatively easy. I changed some things. Like I’m not very good at embroidery so I used a fabric paint pen for their eyelashes and eyebrows. And you’re supposed to put the face on after the doll is all sewn up. I did the face and a sweet little heart on the bodies before I cut the pieces out–nothing worse than getting the doll all done then giving it a really ugly face (see scary doll above).

Doll Pieces

Sunshine Doll — And here is little Miss Sunshine.

And here's Rocker Doll — And here’s Rocker Doll.

The best friends are a wee bit afraid of Rocker Doll. Is it the black lace dress?

Could be the tatoos — Could be the tattoos

The girls were happy with their birthday presents.

Happy Addy Piper

But not as happy as Jes was when she found Rocker Doll in her stocking! And Jes wants a matching dress! Gotta get on that!

I had a lot of fun making the dolls–especially Rocker Doll. The Wee Wonderful pattern was good but the arms, legs, and hair had to be sewn on by hand. Even though I used hand-quilting thread which is supposed to be stronger and triple stitched all appendages, Addy only played with her doll one day and I had to sew them all back on. So I plan on designing my own doll pattern this year. Yeah, the journey continues.

Jes’s sister-in-law Pam already wants her very own Rocker Doll. Hmmm, wonder what tattoos I should put on that one?