Sewing Clips and shopping bag

Awhile back I got a couple of reusable shopping bags from JoAnn's fabric store.. I love the size, definitely sturdy.

 I've used it to store fabric or yarn, when I'm not taking it with me. 

I noticed the bottom corner was coming undone after unloading one of my current projects and supplies .. 

 without much thought I grabbed some of my sewing clips to hold in place while I hand sew it.. 

as I was doing this the thought crossed my mind how much harder this would have been "pre-clip" days .. did't want to add more holes then necessary with pins.. 

and how many times recently I have grabbed them in projects in upcoming posts..

      

 after applying glue and placing the backing on bead embroidery and applique work

 

holding a crochet seam closed for sizing 

 

I was on the fence with them.. at craft stores they can really add up cost wise.. wasn't sure if the ones on Amazon would be worth it quality wise...

 I decided to go with Amazon this time.. have been very happy with them and highly recommend them. 

As for the bag,  the material holding the seams on the bottom, looks like it will give out before the rest of the bag.. at that point I plan on replacing  with another material

have been more than happy with this purchase as well, that they are repairable ... after constant use for more than a year...  is a definite plus in my book 

 also highly recommend   

Fabric Bowl update

Late last year I made a fabric bowl cozy thinking my dog could use it as a soft sided kibble bowl...  he loves it.. so much so I made him another lol...

( first post )

I decided to thoroughly test these before considering them for a new item in my shop.. they will be sold as bowl cozies not dog food bowls but the thinking is if they hold up to being a doggie dish they should be a decent cozy right

 

these are the original photos, taken before washing     

 

 

 

These photos are after almost six months of daily use.. washed and dried without any special treatment .. cold water and medium heat.. with anything from towels to jeans..

 

They did shrink a small amount, not enough to need to resize the pattern .. the cotton batting fluffed up a bit but held its placement well.. they did fade some but fabric still holding strong.. I didn't use any fabric softener  even though we have very harsh water.. laundry soap is not what one would consider high end... so no added fabric protection .. all in all I'm very happy with the test run.. now with a sturdy sewing table/desk I plan on moving forward with these and a few other items I've been testing.. no set date yet so stay tuned ;)

Fabric bowl

My dog has a hard time eating from a solid bowl.. his nose is longer than the rest of his snout .. he is of a good size so most kibble is small enough to get in his nose.. 

 I saw a microwave bowl cozy.. this could work for both sending hot foods over to my parents house nextdoor and my dog.. made one for doggie first figuring I could tweet the pattern for my parents cozies in the process.. being 100% cotton shrinkage is going to play a part in overall size..

Had a few extra minutes the other day so put a simple 10 by 10 inch two layers of outer fabric and two of batting .. darts were 1 inch long by 2 deep ... used a cute dog lead fat quarter..

He loves it.. eating without any issues.. even asked for more.. will post a update with overall instructions after I get sizing worked out better. 

Sewing again

 Been picking up fat quarters when I see them on sale/clearance.. now the Halloween ones are out so I had to get a couple of packs of those, right ;)

some I plan on using for small quilts or pot holder and such but I thought I would keep mask supplies in stock just in case.. if for no other reason than personal use.. as it turns out sales on the limited number I have in my shop are ticking up again.. 

 I pull out the fat quarters to start ironing them.. 

when I buy them I spray them down with rubbing alcohol, after removing the label.. never do it the other way around... trust me on this... makes a mess of the glue ..Ugh 

 Let dry then spray with water and iron on high heat.. tightens the fibers up nicely but takes a fair amount of time to "dry" them with an iron.. especially with the high humidity not common in our area

personally I like masks, two January's running now I haven't had the flu..  or major allergies either spring.. we've been using them for yard work, cleaning out the chicken coop, painting anything that normally sets off our allergies, but I didn't think to put one on before ironing the new fabric.. why do people feel the need to scent everything anyhow.. 

add the wet weather to that, after a few hours of ironing .. I had way more than I realized ( clearance price of 25 cents a fat quarter for puppies and hearts and some pretty animal prints that will make a cute baby or lap blanket ) ... playing with a rotary blade or doing anything that was so detailed was out of the question at that point..

 to pass time while working on crafts I run YouTube videos, gave up cable and regular television years ago  ...  YouTube craft videos is a favorite pastime of mine.. 

this time I put in quick sewing projects.. stopped in the middle of pulling out the fat quarters to make a cute bag pattern I saw being made..

 

scrunchies are apparently a thing again.. 

I have never worn one, the last time I had my hair in a ponytail was like preschool.. when I couldn't get away from my mother fast enough lol

 normally I find it a painful experience .. I have super fine hair, lots of it but so fine it takes a tight band to keep it in place .. 

seeing all of these different techniques for making scrunchies with minimal cutting involved, with all my fabric sitting in front of me.. I had to give one a try.. 

Made a blue one using amounts called for... it was fun to make, fairly fast although I used the ladder stitch to close up the opening as I was not using a coordinating color of thread.. was just playing around so didn't bother .. even at that it was pretty fast.. nothing like doing the out of sashay yarn.. now that took time .. 

 

             not too bad for using black yarn

 

 

 took three wraps.. or is it twists .. around my hair to hold but it did hold.. without pain.. 

That of course meant I needed to try again, so I shortened the amount of elastic but added to the fabric both by two inches.. 

Having the Halloween fat quarters in front of me and intending it to be for me I had to go with skulls... with a black background.. so closing the opening was super quick this time.. using the method of seaming and stitching the elastic together at the same time, just leaving a small side opening to finish off.. 

 

left a bit of a flat seam but not real noticeable when wearing, only took two twists .. perfect .. 

 

 

side by side comparison of size and closing seams.. 

Got called outside to help out so I only got one done, but wore it for hours without an issue.. dang too bad I just cut off about 9 inches of my hair lol..

I am so going to be making more of these