How does she do it?

So everyone seemed to love the Flat Iron Case and Cosmetic Bag Christmas Gifts.

Since then I've even had requests for more! So I thought I'd post some photos of what I did, so that I don't forget if I need to make them again!

This one was for my momma.

Supplies are pretty simple. Fabric, lining, rotary cutter, thread, and fabric. 

And my machine of course.

Flat Iron Case

Lay the fabric right sides together on top of the lining. I think I used pieces that were 17" x 15", but it would totally depend on the size of your curling iron/flat iron. 

I pinned it all the way around. And then you sew it together, leaving an opening large enough to flip it inside out. 

 Trim the edges so it's nice and smooth. 

Fold the bottom third up and pin it in place. Sew from the base of one fold all the way around to the next. 

 At this point, I added the ribbon and sew over that so it's attached. 

And there you go. You have a flat iron case with a ribbon to tie it. 

It's the perfect size for my curling iron. 

I can put it in while it's still hot. 

And fold it up so it's ready to go. 

Useful and adorable. 

The matching Cosmetic Bag

Start with fabric and fusible lining (to make it a little bit more stiff)

Iron the lining to the fabric.

Sew the right sides together with the zipper inside. Do the same thing to the other side of the zipper. 

Sew from one end of the zipper to the other. 

Trim and finish the edges. I used a zigzag stitch since I don't own a serger...yet. 

Turn it inside out and there you have it. A flat iron case and matching cosmetic bag. 

That all your friends are sure to love. 

This is the fabric I got for B...I hope she likes it...

Christmas Presents

Since living with Martha Stewart my senior year of college, I learned of number of great cooking/sewing skills. I have decided to put those skills to good use this year and make most of my Christmas gifts.

So what have I been making? Flat Iron/Curling Iron cases and matching Cosmetic Bags.

Read: Necessities.

I am in love with the final product, especially the one for my lovely roomie.

I'm in love!

So I used the same material you would use for a hot pad to create a Flat Iron/Curling Iron case.

Flat Iron Case open.

I decided to go with a black and white polka dot fabric for L since that is totally her.

 

The Flat Iron case closed. 

Then I created a matching Cosmetic bag.

Matching Cosmetic Bag

For L's I used a black and white gingham as the lining. I usually just use the same fabric though.

I also made one for my little cousins, mom, and sister, but each with a fabric that fit their personality. I love this type of gift because they can be really personal. For L's, I added her initial to personalize it a bit more.

I think they look so great together.

I also bought some Kate Spade earrings so her gift wasn't just a homemade craft that cost under $10...

 

I put the earring box inside the Cosmetic bag when I wrapped it. Here you can see the inside lining too.

 

Here it is all together! I am so happy with how it all turned out. I think she's gonna LOVE it. I hope so at least. 

The Final product.

I used the Kate Spade tissue paper to wrap it in a box and then wrapped the whole thing in my new argyle wrapping paper.

Oh how I love the holidays!

I'll always be from Minnesota

You can take the girl out of Minnesota, but you can't take Minnesota out of the girl.

How true that is for me. (It's one of the reasons I want a tattoo in the shape of Minnesota's outline, sad, but so true.)

So when I discovered an Etsy shop that sold pillows in the shape of states, I feel in love, with the idea that is, not the price. No way I am paying $50 for something I can do myself. So I decided to give it a try. Minnesota has a pretty unique shape (although I feel like people don't recognize it when I show them, unless they are from the great state themselves).

I thought, if this works, it would be a great gift for K. I could make one in the shape of Missouri and one in the shape of South America for T (Chile is just too skinny to make by itself...) as a wedding present.

Anyways, it was a super easy project. I printed out an outline and enlarged it to fit on 2 pieces of 8.5" x 14" paper, cut it out and taped it together. I used some black fabric I already had (I plan on using sweatshirt material for K's).
Once I had 2 pieces cut out, I sewed almost all the way around it and stuffed it before I hand stitched the bottom closed. I need to work on making rounded corners with the sewing machine, but I think it was a success.

I think it's a perfect size! I cannot wait to make more of these. Missouri should be pretty easy (I hope) and South America will be a little tricky but I have 2 weeks to finish it.

Sweater Pillow

So our couch has been pillowless for over a year. I bought a bunch of fabric and pillows, made 1 purple pillow (was trying a ruched technique that failed-epically) and the rest are sitting on our couch their boring white selves.

So when I came across this tutorial in a blog, I knew I just had to try it. I mean, who doesn't love the idea of a sweater pillow? ESPECIALLY in winter. The only problem is that the cover isn't removable, so the pillows would be permanently sweater themed.

I kind of think I'm ok with that-although it might make washing them a little bit difficult. But hey, I have a bunch of extra sweaters, so I might as well try, and if it's a complete failure, well... I highly doubt anything could fail more than my Martha Stewartesque attempt at "textured" pillows. She makes it seem so easy -it's not.

And this is great, because the sweater already has built in texture! I bet I could even use an ARGYLE sweater. Oh my goodness, I just got a whole lot more excited about this project!
I'll let you know how it goes!

Happy sewing!