TUTORIAL: T-shirt Tote Bag, 2 Ways

This is by no means an original idea, but if you haven’t seen it, I thought it would be fun to make my own tutorial.  If you’re anything like me, you have stacks of old t-shirts you don’t really like to wear anymore (because they’re so bloomin’ old!) but you can’t bear to part with them because of their sentimental significance.  I just hate seeing them sitting there, unused and taking up space, so this is a quick and easy way to make them useful.

Start by laying your t-shirt out on a flat surface.  Carefully remove the sleeves, and cut a portion from the neck area.  You may choose to make it rounded (like my photo) or square, or any other shape for that matter.  The remaining fabric will become the handles of your bag.

From here, you can choose to finish your bag one of two ways… one requires a sewing machine, the other doesn’t.  For the no-sew version, cut two rings from one of the sleeves, cutting from the side with the raw edge.  Then snip the rings so they become long strips, and stretch them out until they curl up a bit.  These will become drawstrings to close up the bottom of the tote.

Now, back to the shirt.  Make two tiny snips in the bottom hem of the t-shirt, being careful NOT to cut through the stitching.  Your snips should be equally spaced… so make one in the middle of the front of the shirt, and one in the middle of the back.  You’ll now have two channels in which to insert the drawstrings.  Attach a safety pin to one end of one of the strings and guide it through one of the channels.

Then cinch it up and tie a bow.

Repeat on the other side… and voila!  You have a finished tote bag!  (Sorry, I forgot to rotate it and didn’t have to fix it!)

Now, with the no-sew method, you’ll have little holes in the bottom of the bag… it’s just the nature of the style.  If you’d like the holes to be smaller, you’ll need more of them.  That means more drawstrings, and more “hem snips”.  Here’s an example of the bottom of a bag with two holes (the top bag), and one with three:

If you have access to a sewing machine, and don’t like having holes in the bottom of your bag, then do the following:

Form the handles of the bag the same way you did with the no-sew version.  Then turn your shirt inside out and sew up the bottom.  Be sure to sew above the hemline, which you will trim and discard.

To make a gusset (a flat bottom), “pinch” one of the bottom corners flat, and sew a seam about two or three inches in from the tip of the triangle.

Trim off the excess:

Now turn your t-shirt right side out, and you have another tote bag!

Sometimes, when you remove the neck or sleeves, you might cut off a design you like.  Simply cut it out, and stitch it somewhere on the bag.  The great thing about t-shirt material is that it won’t fray, so there’s no hemming needed.  Here’s a design that I reattached on one of my bags:

These simple totes are perfect for reusable grocery bags, clothes shopping or beach trips, or anything else you can think of.  I’ll be using several of them as gift bags for thank-you gifts for a few of our boys’ beloved Sunday School teachers:

Tags: tutorial, up-cycle

Nap Mat Tutorial

Call me ambitious… call me crazy… call me pregnant.  I added yet ANOTHER crafted item to my list of things to do or make before Baby comes.  Since Ryder is no longer sleeping in a crib, I wanted to give him a cozy place to lay his little head when we travel.  A quick online search brought me to this beautiful tutorial by Jenny Garland.  And true to form, I just couldn’t follow it step-by-step… so the following instructions are a hybrid of Jenny’s suggestions and what I actually did:

Materials:
~ 1 2/3 yards cotton fabric… this will cover the front, back, and pillow portions of the mat.  I happened to find two coordinating fabrics that couldn’t live without each other.  I got two yards of each because I wanted extra for other projects.
~ 2 yards minky dot (or some other cozy fabric) to make the attached blanket
~ 25″ cotton or nylon belt webbing (like the strap on a backpack)… Jenny calls for elastic, it doesn’t make sense to me to have the carrying handle stretch out.
~ approx. 55″ velcro (I prefer the kind that is NOT self-adhesive because the glue gums up my machine)… Jenny suggests only 40″ of velcro, but I added some to the pillow portion, and substituted button closures for velcro.
~ 1 small pillow form (mine was 12 x 16″)… Jenny simply sewed a “pocket” for the pillow and stuffed it with fiberfill.  I wanted to be able to remove the pillow for washing.
~ 1 piece of 1″ thick foam… Jenny suggests 20 x 40″ but I ended up having to cut mine down to about 19 x 37″ to get it into the cover.

Now the fun begins…

First, cut two 36” squares from the minky fabric. Sew right sides together, leaving an opening to turn.  Turn right side out.  Topstitch around the blanket… I usually use a zig zag when I topstitch.  (I LOVE blankets, and wanted mine to be a bit bigger.  I added two inches, making it 38″ square.  This got me into a bit of trouble because I ran out of fabric.  Never fear!  I simply cut a small strip to make up the difference, and sewed it on.  Definitely recommend following the 36″ suggestion.)  

Tags: nap mat, tutorial

No-Slip Bookmarks

I receive daily updates from several blogs that I follow, and yesterday I got one from MaryJanesandGoloshes with a tutorial for no-slip bookmarks.  I have found that Ryder loves to carry around books… MY books… the ones I’m currently reading.  So I’ve had to forego using traditional bookmarks and resort to folding down the corner of the page I’m on.  Otherwise, the bookmark falls out, and I’m forced to search for the last page I read.  Major bummer!  Needless to say, a creation like this definitely caught my attention.  Plus, it’s so cute, and seemed so easy I just couldn’t resist.  Her tutorial is pretty vague, but I tend to just “wing it” anyway.  Here’s what I did…

Materials:
1 length of ribbon
1 pretty button
1 ponytail holder
embroidery thread, needle

JoAnn Fabric was having a huge weekend sale, and I was already planning on going to gather materials for the million other projects I have on tap.  So I figured I could look for the supplies while I was there.  Luckily for me, everything I needed was 50% off!  I wanted to try to make a few bookmarks so I could have one, and give some away as gifts.  I bought one full spool of ribbon, and found six really beautiful buttons that would all coordinate with the ribbon.  I already had all the other supplies, so this was a very inexpensive project for me.  :)

I chose two different size books from the shelf to try to determine how long to make the ribbon… I settled on approximately 16″.  As it turns out, I was able to use the entire spool of ribbon, and make exactly six bookmarks… totally coincidental.

First, I folded one end of the ribbon over and stitched across to create a finished edge.  Then I looped the same end around the ponytail holder and stitched it down, as close the ponytail holder as my presser foot would allow me to get.  I went over it a couple of times just to add a little strength since it will be pulled on a bit.

Next, I threaded a needle with embroidery floss (at “full-strength”… I didn’t pull it apart), and knotted the ends together.  I ran a basting stitch approximately two inches from the end of the ribbon, and pulled tight to gather it up.  Then I slid the button onto the thread, and fastened it to the ribbon, and tied a knot.

The last thing I did was trim the raw and of the ribbon just for decoration.  You could use some sort of anti-fray glue if you wanted, but I didn’t.

It only took me about 45 minutes to create all six bookmarks.  Now I just have to decide who to give them to!  :)

Random notes… There are only four pictured because there are two each of the clear jewels.  I did the turquoise one first, and happened to have turquoise thread in my machine already.  It was kinda fun to have the contrasting thread… something to think about.  Since I didn’t want to change my thread color every 30 seconds, I simply used black for the remaining five bookmarks.  Also, it would be super-fun to use brightly colored and/or contrasting ponytail holders as well… but these were ones I already had in my stash so I put them to good use.

Tags: tutorial

Quick & Dirty Update, Plus Quick & Easy Tutorial

I’d like to start this entry by welcoming myself back to the land of the living.  I’m now in the second trimester of my sixth pregnancy (reached 18 weeks a couple days ago), and I’ve finally begun to resume a relatively normal life.  I can now walk past the fridge without wanting to lose the last morsel I ate, workout without wanting to pass out, and even make it through an entire day without a nap (although I still take advantage of naptimes to catch some zzzz’s when I need them!).  I have also reacquainted myself with my trusty sewing machine, and have MANY projects to complete before this baby arrives.

So… since I’ve sorely neglected my blog for the last few months, here’s a quick and dirty update of life in the Barr household:

In May we had our first ultrasound.  There’s nothing like the night before an event like this.  My heart beats a million miles a minute all night, and sleep… what’s that?  Miraculously, we saw a strong heartbeat right away.  First hurdle crossed!  Ryan ran his longest distance up to that point… the Soldier Field 10-miler.  Ryder and I did the 2-mile walk.  It was really fun to see Ryan cross the finish line (which was the 50-yard line in the stadium where the Bears play)!

In June, I turned 30, and Ryan ran his first 1/2 marathon.  I also saw a new movie… in the theater… with girlfriends… for the first time since WAY before Ryder was born.  :)  Other than that, I spent lots of time at the park with Ryder and friends… while trying to survive morning/noon/night sickness.

We had two more ultrasounds in June.  One was an “emergency” because I was having some bleeding.  The same thing happened with Ryder, and strangely, the only pregnancies I’ve ever bled with have been the successful ones.  Luckily, everything was just fine.  The second one was part of the first trimester screening they do to check for Down’s Syndrome and other problems.  Once again, everything came back normal and boring.  We LOVE normal and boring!!!

One thing that wasn’t normal and boring was a major storm that hit our area.  Ryan was at school (of course!), and I was starting to get nervous about the color of the sky, and the severity of the winds, lightning, and thunder.  Even though there was no tornado warning, I gathered the dogs and Ryder and headed down the basement, just to make myself feel better.  I figured we’d just watch TV for a while, and it would be no big deal.  Boy was I wrong!!!  As soon as everyone was downstairs, I ran back up to grab a bowl of water for the dogs… and the power went out.  With one tiny flashlight, and my cell phone, I headed back down to my terrified toddler and nervous pups.  Ryder was so scared, he stayed velcroed to my hip for more than 30 minutes, and he was absolutely silent (something that NEVER happens).  Just before the lights went out, he had picked up a Wii-mote… and he hugged that silly thing as if it was his dearest friend.

After about a half-hour, he finally released his grip in exchange for a sippy cup and stuffed doggie.  We snuggled for a bit, and then began to sing some of his favorite songs.  That seemed to help him relax a bit (and me too!), and soon I realized that the storm was lightening up a bit.  We still had no power, but I figured it was getting late, and I should try to help Ryder feel as normal as possible.  By the light of our trusty flashlight, he had a warm bath, and went to bed without too much of a fuss.  I settled down on my bed to read, and after a while, I noticed a really bright light shining through the window.  To my relief, it was the SUN!!!  About an hour later, the power came back on… and so did the A/C and the sump pump.  Whew!  By far, the worst storm I’ve experienced, and the scariest 30-minutes of my life (while down in the basement trying to keep my family safe).  Glad it’s over!!!

Now it’s July.  We’re still frequent visitors to the many parks around the area, and have the tans to prove it (relatively speaking).  After injuring his pinky toe pretty badly, Ryan had to take a hiatus from running and kettlebells and decided to trying biking instead.  He is now the proud owner of a really fancy time-trial bike… ya know, the kind Lance Armstrong rides in The Tour.  Once the marathon is over (in October), his training regimen will also include swimming so he can begin to prepare for an Iron Man competition.

A couple of weeks ago, Ryan flew to Santa Barbara for a series of business meetings.  That same day, his youngest sister Michelle flew out to visit Ryder and me.  We introduced her to Portillo’s, showed her the best parks around, and had a really fun time playing together.  We also went shopping for my bridesmaid’s dress for her upcoming November wedding.  A couple days after she arrived, the rest of the family showed up as well (my in-laws and Ryan’s other sister, with her one-year old daughter Tirzah).  The house was full of people, love, and laughter.  Together, we drove to Michigan to celebrate Grandpa Barr’s 90th birthday.  His actual birthday is in September (same day as Ryder’s), but we partied a bit early.  It was so much fun to see everyone again, and even more fun to watch Ryder and Tirzah interact.

While the family was here, I happened to have some doctor’s appointments scheduled.  During one of those appointments, we found out that we’ll be having another little boy!  I’m scheduled to have a repeat c-section on December 22, and we hope to be home by Christmas morning at the latest.  I’ve tried a million times to explain to Ryder that there’s a baby growing in Mommy’s tummy, but he just doesn’t get it yet.  :)

Speaking of Ryder… he’s definitely not a baby anymore!  He’s fearless at the park… climbing walls, sliding down the tallest slides, and swinging (well, being pushed in the swing) higher than any other kid around.  He’s not the biggest almost-2-year-old I’ve ever seen, but he’s certainly growing at a good clip.  (He still wears 18mo. clothing, and some 12mo. shorts!)  And he’s talking non-stop.  We can’t always decipher what he’s saying, but he usually gets his point across pretty effectively.  He’s picking up one or two new words everyday.  His favorite activities include playing with his best girlfriends, twin sisters Lainey and Kamden; swinging at the park; and being chased around the house by Daddy in the evenings.

Last week, we transitioned him from a crib to a twin bed with much success.

And now, the tutorial… a Placemat Purse.  I saw this idea online somewhere, and even though I don’t have any girls, I do have nieces.  It’s a very easy project, and takes very little time and money to complete.  Unfortunately, at the time I made this purse, I wasn’t thinking about creating a tutorial.  So I don’t have step-by-step pictures.  Luckily, I think it’s simple enough that you’ll get the gist from the final product.  Next time I make one, I’ll try to remember to fill in the gaps with pictures and update.

Materials: one pretty placemat, two pieces of (approximately) 7 inches of coordinating grosgrain ribbon.  Note: choosing a placemat with interfacing or quilting in it will give your purse a nice weight, and enough body to stand up on its own.  The ribbon handles aren’t the sturdiest in the world, but since this was intended for use by a toddler, I figured she wouldn’t be filling it with too many heavy items.

Step 1: Fold placemat in half , right sides together.  The fold will become the bottom of the purse.  (Note: I chose to cut of a bit of the width, once folded because I didn’t want it to be quite so long horizontally… you can do the same, or leave it as is.)

Step 2: Sew up the two sides… I usually use 1/4in. seam allowance.

Step 3: Create a gusset.  (This is where pictures would be helpful!)  With the purse still inside-out, pull the sides apart, and pinch one of the bottom corners flat.  Sew straight across, creating a triangle shape (you can make it as big as you wish).  Repeat on the other side, then trim close to seam.  Turn purse right-side out.

Step 4: Sew on straps.  The first time I made this purse, I used my seam ripper to undo two one-inch spaces in each side where I could insert the ribbon and re-sew the seam.  This made it look as if I’d sewn the whole thing from scratch  :)

Front

Back... Shows gusset

The second placemat purse I made was quilted.  I simply sewed the ribbon to the inside of the top edges.  Then I sewed another strip of ribbon around the entire top of the inside of the purse to cover up where the straps were attached (before sewing the sides together).  I also gave this one a wider gusset.  Like the first one, I cut off some of the width to make it boxier instead of short and long.

Since this was intended for use by a toddler, I chose not to include any buttons, snaps, or magnetic closures.  But you could certainly add something like that if you wish.  Please feel free to email me or send me a FB message if you have questions.

Tags: tutorial, update

Pants on the Ground… a Toddler Belt Tutorial

My 18-month old son is still wearing 12-month pants… and even some of those are too big in the waist.  We really only have a couple of pairs that fit well, and the rest, we just tolerate.  I’ve tried buying the ones that come with that hidden adjustable elastic, but even those are too big.  My goal was to just make it to summer when length wouldn’t matter and I could buy smaller sizes that would fit him properly, but he’s growing taller already.  So I had to do something…  I remembered seeing something like this on the internet a while back, so tonight I set out to create my own.  To my surprise, it worked AND it was relatively easy!

Supplies: one length of 1-inch cotton or nylon strap, grosgrain ribbon (7/8 or 1-inch), “one-piece design” sew-on velcro (it sticks to itself, there are not two different pieces).

Please note… It’s a bit tricky for me to write tutorials.  Since I dislike pinning and measuring, I tend to “just do it” and not pay too much attention to those types of details.  This makes it difficult for the end product to be replicated exactly.  Hopefully there’s enough information here for you to try it on your own, but feel free to ask questions if you have any.  The following measurements are perfect for my son, and will allow for him to grow a bit more.  Please measure your own child and adjust the lengths of these materials accordingly.

Also please note… The ribbon used in the following tutorial photos was only 5/8″ because I had a hard time finding attractive “boy” ribbon.  I would highly recommend using 7/8 or 1″ for a cleaner look.

I cut my strap to 23″, and folded over the ends about 1/4″ and secured them with a zig-zag stitch.  I literally went back and forth over it about 5 times, just to be safe   Make sure that you fold both ends to the “wrong” side.  There really is no “wrong” side on a strap, but you’ll create one when you fold the first end over.

Next, attach one end of your ribbon the wrong end of your strap, and secure with a zig-zag stitch.  I cut my ribbon about 1 1/2″ longer than my strap.

Fold the ribbon over the edge, and pull the ribbon and strap taught, wrapping the ribbon around the other end… secure the second end with a zig-zag.  DO NOT sew the main part of the ribbon to the strap yet.  You will have created a full loop (for now).

Now it’s time to attach the velcro.  I used two 8″ strips.  Sew the velcro to the wrong side of each end, using a straight stitch.  Just be sure that you keep your ribbon out of the way.

All that’s left now is to secure the ribbon to the “right side” of the belt.  I used a straight stitch and sewed as close to the edge as I could possibly get.  When I was going through all three pieces, I kinda had to muscle the belt through my machine because the teeth on the velcro were holding tight to the feed dogs.  Again, I would recommend using wider ribbon than this, and when you do, the strap will be less visible.

Now insert the belt, velcro side up, through every belt loop…

Center the belt, and then fold each tab back on itself, sticking the velcro together on each side.

From the back, the ribbon will not show.  (Please forgive the beet stains… lol)

Front view… If I had used wider ribbon, those seams be hidden.

Here’s the view from the sides, using a wider ribbon… a much cleaner look.

These are awesome because there are no uncomfortable buckles to mess with.  You won’t have to remove the belt for diaper changes, and your potty-trained kids won’t have to stress about getting them undone and re-buckled by themselves… but their pants won’t be on the ground either!  You’ll be saving money as well because A) this is an inexpensive project, and B) you won’t be wasting money on those cute outfits you couldn’t use because the pants didn’t fit.

Ryder wore ill-fitting pants all day today, and they continually ended up around his ankles (literally).  So while he was napping, I ran to JoAnn’s (don’t worry, Ryan was home!) and picked up the materials.  Before dinner, I whipped one up, and we tested it out by going out to dinner.  His pants stayed put!!!  I was teasing Ryan that I was glad Ryder was a boy because this project was so easy (and so rewarding!) that I’d make a million of them with all the cute ribbon that’s available.  But it’s much harder to find great ribbon for boys, so I’m forced to just make what we need. 

Here’s what it looks like in action

Tags: tutorial

TP Troubles… Problem Solved

Ryder, bless his tiny trouble-making heart, has recently become very interested in toilet paper.  It started out harmlessly enough… he would gently touch the roll, and sometimes unroll it a little bit before moving on to something more exciting.  That quickly progressed, and now, he grabs the end and strings it all over creation.  OR, he unrolls it a bit, and then shreds it into a million pieces… but not before making sure to ingest some of it.  When we try to shoo him away, he bats his eyes, and holds it up to his nose, making a cute little snuffling sound as if to say, “But Mama, I just needed to blow my nose!”  (Blowing his nose is a new handy skill he picked up after being a veritable snot factory for the last several weeks.  I say “handy” with a grain of salt, because sometimes he blows without a tissue, and sometimes he uses it as an excuse to TP my house.)

Several months ago, I suggested to Ryan that we invest in one of those toilet paper “locks” so that he wouldn’t be able to unroll it at all.  He totally shot me down.  Fast forward to yesterday, and now it’s a grand idea.    However, I decided that it would be much more fun (and probably cheaper) to try to construct something myself.  So I did!

I checked my ever-growing fabric stash, and found a bit of leftover hand towel from my Hooded Towel project (thanks to Beckie at Infarrantly Creative).  It doesn’t match my bathroom at all, but at this point, it’s totally function over form, ya know?  I grabbed a new roll of TP from my stash in the garage and measured the length and circumference of it.

I added a 1/2 inch to each measurement because I intended to fold over the edges and use 1/4 inch seam allowances.  However, it dawned on me that using thick terrycloth might make that a little tricky, and not so attractive.  I decided to use an overcast stitch on my machine instead, just to keep the three raw edges from fraying.  (This was a trick I discovered while working with all that fleece over Christmas!)  A zig-zag stitch would work too.

Then I sewed on some velcro… One two-inch strip on the “flap” part (with the pre-finished edge), and one that was approximately eight inches to accommodate an ever-shrinking roll of TP.

It’s not the fanciest or most attractive thing I’ve ever made (and apparently I still need to trim a few stray threads!), but hopefully this will do the trick… at least until he figures out how to get this thing off!

Tags: tutorial

Super-Easy Table Runner… My First Tutorial!

I enjoy changing up a few decorations here and there according to the seasons and holidays, but I’m not the type to go all-out.  And I DEFINITELY don’t like the jinky-junk decorations that just clutter up the countertops and become bait for my curious 17-month old.  Well, my mom came to visit this week and brought a really fun project idea along that was perfect for my decorating needs.  (The original idea came from a Utah State sewing class, but I tweaked it slightly.)  It only requires four seams and about 15 minutes.

Supplies:

1/2 yard “feature” fabric (12″ wide)

1/3 yard coordinating fabric – for back and border (18″ wide)

coordinating thread

iron/ironing board

First, wash and dry your fabric, clean up frayed edges, and make sure the fabric is cut squarely.  Then, with right sides together, sew up one of the long sides.  (I HATE pinning and tend to avoid it at all costs.  If you feel the need, pin the edges together before you sew.)

Sew up the other long side, matching the edges.  This will form a “tube” and will not lay evenly like a pillow case.

Turn your tube right-side-out, and center the feature fabric in the middle.  Your backing should create a nice little border on either side.  Press…  (Sidenote: Lesson learned from my first tutorial… I need to wash my ironing board cover!!!  LOL)

Next, with the “right sides” (feature fabric side) together, sew up the short ends.

Trim the corners, and then all you have to do is flip the ends right-side-out so that they come to a point.  Press the triangles on each end flat, and…

Voila!  You have an adorable (and reversible!) table runner.  To reverse it, simply flip it over, and turn the triangle “pockets” on each end inside-out.  You may need to press the ends again to make it lie flat.  The table runner will now only show the backing fabric.

The way I see it, the possibilities are endless!  You could attach tassels to each end, or sew on some cute trims.  You could use pre-quilted fabric, or anything else that tickles your fancy.  Try one for each season and holiday.  They fold flat for easy storage too!  (Tip, next time you buy linens that come in those handy zippered plastic bags, save the bag and use it to store things like this!)  This is also a great project for using up your fabric stash, and would make an awesome hand-made gift for friends and family.  I’ve already got a huge stack of fabric pairs just waiting for me to sew ‘em up…

Try it, you’ll like it!  (And let me see it when you’re done!) 

***UPDATE***

I finished up my pile o’ fabric, and this is the result (in seasonal order, of course… and enlarged to show detail)…  I still have some gaps to fill in, but this is a great start!

Tags: decoration, table runner, tutorial