Friday, February 28, 2014

Ruffled Tote bag for Kimmie

Tell me this isn't just the cutest, girliest bag ever?!  My friend Kimmie sent me a picture of a ruffled tote (ya know the one on Pinterest where they bought a canvas tote from Michaels?) and asked if I could make it for her, naturally I said, "of course!" I did tell her that I wanted to make the bag though and not get a cheap store bought, if I'm putting my time and effort in to something I want it to last!!  I made a couple of adjustments to mine... 
First off, of course I made the base of the bag.  It's roughly 14" x 14" x 3.5" (close to the same as the store bought tote), I also lined mine (see below) and it has a layer of fleece/batting and some interfacing... I wanted the bag to have a nice "shape" as well as a little bit of solidity (padding).  I also made my ruffles differently, while I'm in favor of the whole "shabby chic" look, I wanted Kimmie to be able to wash this and not end up with a hot mess on her hands ;)  So for my ruffles I cut the fabric strips to 5" wide and then folded in half (if you look up her ruffles the underside is finished as well).  To cover the raw edge of the top ruffle I made a small band and sewed it on, next time I will likely just make the top ruffle bigger (5 3/4") and then tuck the raw edge under and sew on.  I had so much fun making those fabric rosettes!  I went a little crazy and made a few "extra's", I'm sure I'll find a use for them ;)  On PILLOWS FOR THE COUCH!!! lol The Male population in my house would so NOT appreciate PINK or FLORAL rosettes on the couch pillows (they have no taste!). 
Kimmie really LOVES pink, so while I wanted to add some other colors I made sure that pink kind of dominated the show.  LOVE these stripes!  While this bag is for sale in my Etsy store (customizable to your tastes), if you choose to make one yourself and have questions, please feel free to email me!  I'd love to help!  Wait until you see the wallet and change holder I made for her! Stay tuned.
For the bag, all of the fabrics except one (the 2nd from the top) are from the Scrumptious line by Bonnie & Camille!  I fell so in love with this line I bought extra's and will be starting this quilt with them this weekend!!!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

My Burlap Wreath

Still getting caught up with some of the goodies I've made lately.  We needed a new wreath for our front door.  Our Christmas wreath needed to be retired and I really wanted to have something for all year.  This one is VERY simple looking, but I made my 14" wreath and then instead of gluing the decorations on I just used some twine to hold them in place.  Now, after Christmas I can just take them off and change the look whenever I want :)  LOVE it!!!

Here's a close-up of that pretty, sparkly spray we picked up from Michaels.  Oh and the ribbon is wired, just so the bow stays fluffy :)