Tuesday Tips: seam rippers

Today's tip is one you don't realize is true until you have a problem! 

Make sure you replace your seam ripper on a regular basis. The blade can become dull from use. Also be aware that there are different size tips for seam rippers. I recently replaced mine, only to find that the new one I'd bought was larger than my old one. A search on Amazon for seam rippers shows different sizes as well, so be careful when shopping online or in-store.

If you're like me, you spend a lot of time with your seam ripper, so take care of it and it will take care of you!

Mend It Monday: Leather Belt

I'll never get used to people calling me "ma'am". It happened a few times this weekend and it just about breaks my heart every time. I'd rather be a "miss" forever. I heard someone say once that you're always 20 in your head, and that's probably true. But thank goodness my closet isn't the same as 20 year-old me anymore! I dressed so lame when I was in college. What a waste.

For example, I never wore belts like this wonderful leather one that I adore:

I LOVE this belt. Especially since I paid around $5 for it at a consignment store at the beginning of the summer. I've worn it a lot, and the little triangle-shaped "cap" on the end was starting to come loose from the braided strands.

Sorry I don't have any in-progress photos, I thought I might need to wear the belt and hurried through the repair! 

What worked for me was to gently pull out all the strands from the cap, then to sew a straight stitch across them. I cut off the excess, wiggled the end back into the cap, and then zig-zagged over the edge.

This repair was much less painless than I anticipated. I was afraid I might have to dig out some Elmer's glue, since I've seen glue used with leather a lot. I did have an old, needs-to-be-changed needle on my machine, so I wasn't afraid of dulling it further with the leather (or faux leather, whatever this belt is). 

We were pretty busy over the weekend, so this was all the sewing I did. How about you?

Project Runway rehash!

2013 is the year of television Armageddon. My beloved Office went off the air, Dexter is winding down its final season, and Breaking Bad is starting its last season this Sunday (!!!). Those are all in my top 5 favorite shows ever. To make matters worse, my husband and I have been rewatching LOST for the first time since it went off the air 3 years ago, and we're finishing it tonight. I predict swollen eyes and a headache in the morning.

But at least I still have Project Runway! And I guess the universe knew I needed more Heidi Klum (who doesn't??) by putting her on my TV three times a week with America's Got Talent.

What was I talking about? Right. Project Runway. Sorry. I'm a little off today because it's AB's half birthday. She's 18 months old and it's making me feel weird. This week she started walking around the house wagging her finger and saying "no no no". My little baby is now a toddler! Sniff.

But on with the show! Spoilers to follow...

Things I loved:

Braden's psychic powers. And his proposal was sweet, if not...odd. I think it's the first proposal I've ever seen where the proposee wasn't even there.

Top Gunn. Hehe.

I was fascinated by Sandro and Zac's exchange on the runway. It was like seeing someone talk back to a teacher in high school or something. So much secondary embarrassment but I couldn't look away!

I kind of also loved Ken being blunt with Sandro. He WAS "out of order" and did need to shut up. My husband was watching with me and he wondered why there weren't any burly security guards like with all other reality TV. I guess they aren't necessary on a fashion design show haha.

Things I hated:

Nobody mentioned Ken's bow tie tattoo?!

I know they HAVE to do this early in the season, but it's a drag when they only focus on a few designers each episode. We've barely heard anything from half these people.

Tonight's reason why I love Tim Gunn:

His critique with Kate was cute, they were so collaborative and I think he'd be an excellent instructor.

Favorite garment:

I think I liked Kate's the best (Rate the Runway photos here). Something about HER still rubs me the wrong way, but I liked her color palette, the pleating on the blouse, and the subtle inclusion of the tie motif.

Least favorite garment:

So many of these were so bad. So bad. I actually thought Sandro's was the worst, so I suppose it's fitting that he r-u-n-n-o-f-t (O Brother Where Art Tho reference anyone?).

Best line of the night:

"I wrote 'Octopussy'." -Zac

I think it was Sandro's time to go (obviously he agreed) but Miranda was wrong, I think Sue might have been out instead of her if there had been an elimination. How did she Sue spend $400 on jersey?? I guess I'll assume it was silk? By the way, you MUST visit the Mood website and look at the Shop the Look feature. I've found it to be a great learning tool to see the garments on TV, then look at the fabrics online. Check it out and happy weekend! Hubs and I have a fancy party to attend tomorrow, and I can't wait until next week to share the dress I made.

There is a beautiful dress available today on Craftsy for Free Pattern Friday. Go here to see it!

Produce tote

Let's wrap up Bag Week with my first ever bag project!

Okay. No earths are shattered with this bag, I get that. It's pretty darn simple. But it's also exactly what I wanted, so there are plenty of bonus points for that!

I do about half my shopping at Aldi's, a discount grocery store that cuts costs by not providing bags. For my regular groceries I have reusable totes I bought ages ago at Wal-Mart, but I hate throwing my produce into the same bags as the cream cheese and eggs. I needed a bag specifically for produce, and this one works perfectly!

If you remember from yesterday, the bag is from the book Bag Bazaar:

The exterior fabric is a woven cotton from a thrifting purchase. The interior...well, that's the fun part!

The directions in the book called for two woven cottons, but nothing in my stash was particularly inspiring me. I realized I had this amazing fleece print (from Jo-Ann's) and that fleece would be the perfect cushy interior for a produce bag! I used double-fold bias tape for the straps (also thrifted).

I used the bag this week and it was perfect! This is a great little project that can be customized in so many ways, with applique, embroidery, whatever your heart desires.

I have a slight avocado obsession, and now I can carry them home without bumps and bruises. Yay!

It's Thrifty Thursday again (OMG where does the time go?!?). This week, you can grab the Winter PJs pattern from Peek-A-Boo Pattern Shop for only $4! I have this pattern myself and it's great! I'll be sewing it up soon when the fall weather gets here.  You can see my review here. If you also purchase the Summer PJs, use the code "dream" to save $3 off!

Bag Bazaar and Hip Handbags

As we all know by now, I like to read a lot when it comes to learning new sewing techniques. I browsed a lot of handbag books and found that they generally fell into one of two categories. Either they had great bags that I liked and little information on making them, or there was great information and the bag styles weren't exactly my type.

I've got one of each of those to review for you today. And if you know of a good book that combines style and substance, please let me know in the comments!

Bag Bazaar featured a ton of bags that I'd like to try (and one that I did!). There were cute little clutches and useful projects like a garment bag. Templates were provided for the bags with shape, and any that were rectangles or squares gave dimensions for cutting. There was a short section at the beginning that covered bag-making techniques like gussets and box stitching.

The reason I picked up this book was because I'm looking for the perfect messenger bag. When I was in college I had a denim one with two front pockets, and I took that thing everywhere. I was an English major so I only had to carry notebooks and paperbacks. Sometime over the last few years, two apartments, and one house, it disappeared. Sad face.

This is close to what I want, but is perhaps a bit too fancy. I don't want feet on the bottom or too much hardware.

The bag that I did make was this shopping tote:

It's probably the most simple bag in the whole book, which is what I wanted. All the details will be in tomorrow's post!

Hip Handbags is a fun read. It's laid-back and feels like you're just reading an email from a sewing buddy. Aside from that, there is SO much creativity in the book. The author gives a few basic designs, then shows how each one can be customized for different looks. The patterns are provided scaled down and you can easily scale them up with graphing paper, because the proportions are given (no copier needed!).

There was also a thorough discussion of fabrics, notions, and techniques for bag sewing. Again, this was done in a conversational manner so it was a breeze to get through these parts. But the author didn't leave it with a how-to and patterns to create from scratch. There is also a great gallery of embellished store-bought bags, with before and after photos. 

The only drawback to Hip Handbags is that it may be a touch dated (published SO LONG ago in 2005) or maybe the styles just weren't to my taste. Regardless, the inspiration is definitely there and I'm so glad I grabbed this one.

Tuesday Tips: newspaper handbag muslin

GET IT?!?! OMG a visual pun, when will it ever stop? 

We'll continue this week's bag theme with a bag-related tip. If you're drafting your own pattern and want to work out the proportions or construction order, you can do a practice run with paper and a stapler. Cut the paper and use the staples like thread.

Make notes as needed (like pocket placement, shown below), disassemble the "bag" and then you'll have your pattern pieces!

What do you think of my new messenger bag? Tres chic, no?

Bag week begins!

A few weeks ago I hit a wall, mentally, with garment sewing for myself. I worked my way through it by making my husband's Negroni shirt, and I also started researching bag sewing. For someone who's never done it before (me) it can certainly be intimidating! Luckily, there are plenty of resources for learning. Today, I've rounded up a few of my favorite tutorials for making your own bags!

Click on the photos to go to the original sites.

All these tutorials were found on Pinterest (check out my "sew this" board for more!). If you'd like to pin these yourself, please pin responsibly and use the original sites.

Later this week I'll go over some books I've been reading, and my first bag project! If you're more of a visual learner, Craftsy has two FREE bag making video classes, plus a paid class specifically about leather bags. The cover photo for that class makes me drool! Have you made any bags? Any favorite tutorials to share? Let me know in the comments!