Cargo Pants Messenger Bag via Pinterest

I finally finished what I thought would be a quick project.  I started it a week ago Saturday, ran out of matching thread, and it sat there until today.  Quite awhile ago I pinned a tutorial to make a messenger bag out of a pair of cargo pants. Lucky for me, my son had a pair of army greenish ones that he said were ugly, and would never wear again. I'm pretty sure they were his choice a year ago, but his loss is my gain. Saved myself a trip to the thrift store, and a couple of bucks.

I think it turned out awesome!  Here is the link to the original post. noodle-head cargo pant messenger bag

I have used her patterns before, and really like them. I won't bother with a tutorial, you can just follow hers. It was pretty easy, and made from stuff I had on hand. The only thing I changed, was I made the strap adjustable with buttons.

I wasn't sure if I would want it as a shoulder bag, or a cross body messenger bag. This way, I can use it either way. I used a rectangular ring from an old strap in my stash. Not much gets thrown away around here, never know when you'll have a use for something. It's a bit of a curse, but usually works out for us!

You cut the front flap piece from one of the sides of the pant with the cargo pocket on it. My pair had these pockets on one side, and one larger pocket on the other. Not sure if these pockets are super useful, but they look cool, so I chose this side. My cell phone will fit in the bottom one.

I lined the bag and the strap with this fun print in a reddish coral print. I really like this color, and have a jacket in it that will look great together. I chose another floral print with a lot of colors to bind the flap and make inside pockets. Hoping spring will hurry up.  :) 

Put one of my labels on the outside pocket, I just like how it looks.

So there it is, my new bag. Another pinterest idea finished successfully. Yea!! Pretty sure I'll never get around to trying all of them, but it's still fun to have lots of ideas to choose from. 

Keep pinning!

Kindle Keeper

My family gave me a Kindle Fire for Christmas this year, and today I decided it needed a case. I googled DIY  kindle case and got a few ideas. After looking around I decided I wanted one very similar to another item I make, a junior portfolio.  I'll admit, it's not my finest work, but it will protect and carry my kindle in style for now. I learned what to do and not to do next time.

I wanted an inside pocket to hold it snugly, and a frame holder to hold it and be able to use the touch screen.

The carrier pocket is on the left, the screen holder on the right.  I had some wide elastic that worked great!

The cover is held shut by velcro, and can be folded to the back and the velcro holds it there. Bonus!!

I had to make a separate piece to attach the elastic to, and I should have made it a bit smaller. My seam allowances on the top and bottom got a little small, but I made it work. If you look carefully at the pictures, you'll notice the velcro is in a different spot. I had to move it over to make it close. It ended up thicker than I planned for, and the velcro wouldn't reach. I made note of my errors, and will do better next time. In the mean time, I'm really happy with this one. When the laptops are being used for homework in the evenings, I can still browse pinterest.

The fabrics are from Hobby Lobby, and I love them!

Patch Clutch Tutorial

Today I'm going to share a tutorial for a sewing project.  It is a combination of ideas I put together to make a cute little wristlet/clutch.  It could be done many different ways, but I'll show you how I did it.

You will need
6 different fabric scraps 2" x 5" (you will sew together and trim to 8 1/2" x 4") 
From solid color fabric (I used laundered dropcloth, it looks like linen)
1 - 8 1/2" x 2"   front upper  
1 - 8 1/2" x 6"   back
1 - 3" x 11"    handle
From lining fabric (anything cute that matches)
1 - 8 1/2" x 2"
1 - 8 1/2" x 4"
1 - 8 1/2" x 6"
Fusible interfacing  8 1/2" x 4"
Fusible fleece cut 1/2" smaller than your exterior pieces
1 - 8" x 1 1/2"
1 - 8" x 3 1/2"
1 - 8" x 5 1/2"
and 1 - 7" zipper

Lay your fabric scrap strips out so you like how it looks, and sew them together on the long sides, with a 1/4" seam allowance.  Press your seams open.  My pieces are longer, so I could make 2.

Cut it, centered end to end, to measure 8 1/2" x 4".

Cut out the rest of your pieces.

Fuse the interfacing to the back of the piece of strips, and then fuse the fleece to that piece and the upper top and back pieces.  There should be about a 1/4" around the edges.

Lay your zipper, face down with the pull on the left, and stitch it to the front piece.  Move your pull up or down to get it out of the way of the presser foot.  You can use a zipper foot, or I just adjust my needle all the way to the left, and leave my regular sewing foot on.

Now lay the matching lining  piece face down on top of the zipper and pin it.  Flip the whole thing over and stitch it on the back side.  That way you can follow your first stitching.

Now you have a sandwich, with the zipper in the middle.  Press both of these pieces down, with the zipper sticking up.  

Lay your upper top piece face down on the zipper and stitch.  Flip it over and pin the lining piece on and stitch it just like you did for the lower front. 

Press these two pieces away from the zipper, and top stitch on each side of the zipper.  Your front is finished!

I zig zag the ends of the zipper together so it won't spread open or go wonky on me when I stitch the back on. 

Take your handle piece and press it in half longways, then press each side to the center. Edgestitch both long edges

  Fold the handle in half and pin then stitch it to the upper left of the front of the wristlet.

Unzip the zipper halfway or more.  Lay the back piece face down on the front, then lay the matching lining piece face up on top of that.

Pin and stitch around the edges, being careful to keep the handle free.

You can just leave the seams as they are, zig-zag them, or serge them.

Unzip it all the way, and turn right side out.  I put a 3" piece of narrow ribbon in the zipper pull with a slipknot and heat sealed the ends with a wood burning tool.

Ta Da!!  It's all done.

I hope this makes sense.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. I also have a couple other fabric choices, and they are all in my etsy shop if you'd rather buy one than make one.  

Have fun sewing!!