I wasn't quite as crafty this summer as I've been some others, but I did get several things made.  I did some really heavy cleaning and rearranging this summer instead. Thing one: Crocheted baskets. I made the red, white and blue one first. I had some heavy yarn left over from another project. When I came across the pattern, I thought they would work. It's a great yarn basket! My second try was with some Red Heart Super Saver yarn. I found these colors that looked rather like watermelon colors. I put two pockets on the inside of this one.   Thing two: Baby blanket. Several friends are having babies over the next school year, so I started with this one. Thing 3: Stained glass boxes. Looking into my newly cleaned out closet, I thought the banker's boxes I'd been using for storage looked like they'd been used for too many things over the past 30 years. (That would be because they have!) So I took an idea I'd used at school. I cut a multi-color pack of tissue pa...

I came upon this technique by accident. My team buys each child a pencil pouch each year (among several other things) and I was looking for ways to curb costs. I was planning on using clear vinyl and I was looking for ways to best sew on it, when I came across this technique where you fuse plastic bags together to make vinyl. I'm not one to keep plastic bags in the house, so I went to the dollar store and got some clear plastic gift bags and some yellow plastic table clothes and this is what happened. Here's the link for the album. Cut the bottoms off the cellophane bags and slit them up one side. I got a piece that measured about 11" x 16". That was the size I cut the table cloths into. For each piece of vinyl I needed 1 bag cut open and 4 pieces of table cloth. Line it all up and put it between two sheets of wax paper. Heat the iron up to somewhere between polyester and rayon. I started out higher and the more I did, I lowered the temp. You can use the wax paper mul...

Ohhh how I love a break from studies! It's been a while since I made a purse set, so here's my latest. Both the bags have a zippered pocket on either side. The tote has pockets all along the inside, but the purse ended up just to small to fool with them. Lots of zippers in the three items. Didn't do a how-to on this one. If you'd like to see one, here is one  Red & Black . There are some others linked from that page including a wallet.    

This one went much quicker. I put a flap on it instead of a zipper. Here are the two together.

So I think I'll make a new tote and maybe matching purse when I'm finished. I've made a couple of purses ( Denim & Pink ) and wallets to match. Hancocks was having a sale, so I went in and got at least two yard of the main fabric and lining and two sets of machine needles for under $25. Not bad price wise for two bags. Here are the fabrics I chose for this bag. The print is a stiffer fabric that has a light canvas feel and the black for the lining is just a plain broadcloth. My plans are to use a Fossil tote as a guide. It's a good size. Leather straps could be more comfortable. I really like the little end pockets and the one on the front, so I think I'll keep those in addition to putting as many pockets inside as possible. The other thing I don't like about most bags this size is that there is no flap or zipper and when they tip over stuff falls out. So mine will have one or the other. One of the great things about making your own purses is you can decide ...