Changing mat to diaper bag!

Here's the main reason why my blog has been a little quiet this spring and summer. Talk about a project that ballooned into something much, much bigger than first expected! And after all that work, I didn't even get any decent shots of the crisply ironed thing before giving it away. When I managed to get a hold of it again, it had already been put to good use for a couple of weeks... So here it is, in all its wrinkly goodness, a changing mat that folds in on itself to become a diaper bag!
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My SIL asked me very nicely if I would like to make one of these for her daughter, my first niece. How could I refuse? The only problem was, I couldn't find any recipes or detailed photos anywhere, even the great internet came up empty-handed. Say what now?? Oh well, I can't resist a good puzzle anyway. So I started designing one myself, and this is what I ended up with.
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The side panels with the pockets fold in from each side - note the pockets stuffed full of tiny diapers and wet wipes...
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Completely folded up, it looks like this. A little ironing accident left me with just small pieces of fabric for the closing flap, so it looks tiny on this large bag... Oops. In fact, the bag is full of these little mishaps, and my relatively poor sewing skills are evident lots of places. But it's made with love! And considering my minimal sewing experience, I'm more than happy with the result.

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A little D-ring holds a couple of clasps that can hold for example a keyring and a strap with velcro attatchment for an extra pacifier, like here, or anything really. Just a little detail I thought might be nice. The middle section covered in this medium brown fabric, where the baby is actually lying, has an extra layer of batting as well as a water-proof sheet - just in case of little accidents. ;)

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The two bottom pockets on either side has zippers, the other two are open. The construction of this part of the bag was truly a labour of love. I had pages and pages and pages of notes and hand drawn cross section schematics of all the layers that had to be combined at this point. The fabric and batting layers of the main section had to connect to the pocket lining and side panels, as well as the zippers and bias tape - an preferably look okay as well. Quite a tall order. Imagine my satisfaction when I found a solution to do all that in three seams! Not such an achievement for an experienced seamstress, but I took it as a great victory. :)

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Before sewing in the zippers I gave them a little end piece made from the flowery fabric. A little detail, originally intended to simply prevent the zipper pull from coming off, that turned out to have the added benefit of creating a convenient, elegant and sturdy finish between the zippered pockets and the open ones. That cute lining fabric reminds me of soap bubbles - but as it had a slightly yellow tinge that crashed with the other fabrics, it had to be slightly hidden, as pocket lining.

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To prevent the side panels from sagging out to the sides when the bag is closed, I attatched large snaps in the corners. They do the trick quite nicely. Due to all the layers and the frequent transitions from few layers to many, I couldn't machine sew the bias tape on from both sides as I wanted to, it looked just awful. The only solution was to rip out everything, machine sew the outside, and hand sew the bias tape on the inside. Not as sturdy, but looking much better than the first attempt.

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The handles are simply sewn on to the outside of the bag. I had originally intended to make one adjustable strap, but I think deciding on two straps was the better choice. Also, you can see that I added a large ric rac ribbon under the bias tape on the outside of the bag. Unfortunately, most of it is hidden when the bag is folded, but this detail made a great difference! The flap holds the bag closed with two large snaps. And that's it really! Thanks for the order, dear SIL, I loved the challenge! But nobody can get me to make another one, haha. ;)

Happy National Day!

Happy (Norwegian) National Day!

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I'm off to watch the parades, proudly wearing my tsumami kanzashi brooch.

For all my fellow weegies it's probably a little late to start to make one for today,

but I'm sure some of my other readers have enough time to make one

for their own National Days? :)

DIY knife display

My dad has a few nice knives, some of them inherited and really old, and he would like to put them on display somehow. The idea of using an old pair of denim trousers and a belt was something he had come across somewhere, so I have noone to credit, unfortunately. He trusted me to find a way to execute this idea and I must admit I struggled with it for a long time... But one day I remembered a deep-edged canvas I bought on sale a long time ago (with something completely different in mind) and in three days the whole thing came together in a flash. And it was a big hit!
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I ripped out the seams holding the belt straps and relocated them close to the back on each side and one in the center for added stability. I looks more like actual denim trousers with that one belt strap in the front too. The single knife doing the modeling here is actually one I've made myself. It's not the most amazing piece of craftmanship, but considering that I was only twelve when I made it, it's not bad at all! In fact, I really love it - and it's not a part of his gift, no way. :)
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The denim fabric is stretched over the canvas and nailed to the wood frame. The corners were tricky, as there is a little bit of stretch in these trousers and they stretch more one way than the other... As a result, they are slightly bulky, but because of the thick belt there was little point in getting them completely flat anyway. I settled for the best I could do.
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Here's a side view showing how the belt is buckled behind the frame. I stitched a piece of trouser leg fabric to the top of the trousers so I had something to cover the top edge of the canvas with - that allowed the waist line to line up with the top of the canvas front. As an unexpected bonus, it made finishing the top corners really neat and easy.
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This piece of jewlery wire passes through the belt buckle and is attatched to the inside of the wood frame at the top and bottom. This pulls the buckle forward, "into" the frame, thereby preventing it from pushing the canvas away from the wall.

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I'm linking up to the Strut Your Stuff link party over at Somewhat Simple! (Button in side bar.)

Autumnal biscornu pincushion

Having celebrated the birthdays of both my parents this weekend, I can finally show you some of the stuff I've been working on lately! This bicornu pincushion was a gift for my mother and should suit the colours of her new sewing room (which used to be my room actually - no going back now!).
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This is the smaller cousin of my first biscornu pincushion (follow link for fully illustrated tutorial!), made from two 3,5" squares of fabric. I just love how the simple squares come together to form this fascinating shape...
- Not sure which side I like best! Perhaps I should have made some custom-made pins to go with it...?

Lining a fabric opening (tutorial)

When it came time to cut the openings for the handles in my denim firewood tote, I encountered a major obstacle. My original plan was to simply fold back the fabric and topstitch it in place, but that turned out to be a very weak and flimsy technique. Not only did it look bad, but the corners would definitely have frayed badly already after its first use. No, it was time to find a more sturdy solution! I vaguely remembered having seen a tutorial on something suitable ages ago, but only had a very vague ide of how it would look when finished, and no idea at all of how to get there. After an hour searching for it on Google with no luck, I spent another hour with pen and paper to figure it out for myself. There's just no stopping me when I get these ideas stuck in my head. ;) And I did figure it out! :D So although there is a tutorial out there (and it's probably written better than mine), I thought I'd make my own, just in case anyone needs it. Maybe mine will show up on Google. ;) It must be said that I am an amateur sewer and really have no idea of what I'm doing here. You have been warned.
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You need to start by marking, on the wrong side of the main fabric, where you want the opening to be. You can see my white lines in the picture below. Cut a piece of lining fabric larger than that. How big you want the lining to be depends on how much of the lining that needs to be visible in your finished product. Mine was about twice the width and height of the opening. Center the lining piece over the opening and pin in place, right sides together. (What you see in the picture below is the wrong side of the main fabric, and the right side of the lining fabric is visible through the hole I cut as a part of my discarded Plan A.)

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Sew a rectangle along your lines (refer to picture above). Then, cut into both fabrics in a 45 degree angle towards the corners (refer to picture). My opening is not square, so I did a straight cut across the center, to connect the angled cuts. As mentioned before, you can see that I had already cut a hole in my main fabric as a part of my discarded Plan A, but that's not nescessary. Lines are all you need. Go as far as you dare to the corner, but be careful! If you cut too close, the fabric will unravel - or even worse, you'll cut the actual seam.
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This is the fun part (and the one it took me a while to get my head around when planning this thing): turning everything inside out! Grab the lining fabric and pull it from the right side through the opening...
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...keep pulling and turning...
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...and turning, until all the lining fabric has been brought to the reverse side. You are now looking at the right side of the lining fabric and the wrong side of the main fabric! And now you can see the size of my lining piece. You may have to do some small additional snips towards the corners if they are very bulky - just be careful to not cut too close, or to cut the actual seam! You will now have two layers of fabric with angled cuts hidden under the visible part of the lining.
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Pin in place, pulling the lining well back. I pin from the wrong side, but will sew on the right side, so I take care to ensure that all pins are accessible through the opening.

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Topstitch as close to the edge as possible. If you look carefully, you'll see that I've offset my needle all the way to the left, enabling almost the entire presser foot to rest on the fabric and both feed dogs to grab onto the fabric. You might find it easier that way, instead of having half the presser foot floating in the air... I did a second topstitch seam outside the first, just to make it match visually to the rest of the tote. Also, if you have have to sew across french seams, like I had to here, I strongly recommend hand feeding the needle over the thickest parts.

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This is what it should look like from the wrong side. See the little wrinkle in the bottom right corner? That's the reason for topstitching on the right side. ;)

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Ta-daa! Flip over and admire your finished result! I'm so proud and satisfied with this, you have no idea. :P It looks twice as good and must be at least four times stronger than my first plan!

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A closer look at the details. You can just spot the lining fabric in the opening.

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And here are my two openings, ready for the handle to be inserted.

Denim firewood tote

This was a christmas gift for my dad this year! I've finally managed to write up this post - and there are quite a lot of images here. That's just how it goes when I'm very pleased with what I've done! :P I haven't sewn much in my life, so completing this project felt really relly good. Even so, it is a fairly simple thing, this firewood tote. Basically, it's just a long piece of fabric with a handle in each end... Trust me to complicate something so simple. :)
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I've made other stuff from old jeans before - like this wrench case for my dad, and a Scripture cover several years before that... All my jeans get worn out in one particular place, while the rest is still in virtually pristine condition. Incredibly frustrating, right? So it feels so great to use something I would ordinarily throw away!

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After I had started working on it, I came across Laura Wilson's version of the same principle. The dimensions of her tote are radically different from mine, because it was made to carry a completely different type of firewood. Her construction is also different - I believe mine is slightly more complicated, but significantly stronger.
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I thought I'd share a little bit about how I made this tote. It is by no means meant to be a full tutorial - there's no way I have the necessary sewing skills to make enough sense in a tutorial. Also, I made this up as I went along and that's no good starting point for a tutorial. ;) (Also, please forgive the colours of the pictures being all over the place - they were taken at different times of day and in wildly different lighting conditions and I haven't done a very good job at matching the colours in post processing.)

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Basically, what I've done is to cut up the legs of two jeans, giving me eight rectangular pieces of fabrics. I sewed four of them together on the short sides to make a circle/loop, and then did the same with the other four pieces. The picture above shows the two circles pinned together along the long edge, gving me one wide circle of fabric.

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The seam you find on jeans is the flat-felled seam. I've done something closer to a french seam, which is significantly stronger, especially when anchored by the two topstitched seams you see here. I did my own version of it, of course... *lol* Skipped one step and added another - because I wanted two seams to be visible from the front, rather than hiding the seam on the wrong side, like in the video. And obviously, there's no way you'd find me pressing these seams! Hah! *rofl*

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Sooo many layers... You can see the short-side seams are slightly off-set, because there's no way they would go through the sewing machine if they lined up. I hand-turned the sewing machine over these, every time. That's a good way to give yourself an aching arm, trust me. But this way, I only broke one needle! *lol*

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Aah, now this thing right here, that's one of the things I really struggled with. But the result was so worth it! I made two holes like this, cut into the fabric at opposite sides, where the handles would go. My initial plan was just to cut a hole, fold the edges back and stitch in place. That turned out to be a really lousy plan... It was ugly and flimsy and would have frayed badly after the first use. Time for Plan B - which was to line the opening with a separate piece of fabric. Not such an easy thing to figure out for a novice sewer. But I triumphed and have actually written up a tutorial on this thing, ready for you in a day or two just follow this link!
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And there you have it, when folded at the middle they make the perfect space for a hand. After making the openings I put the fabrics right sides together and stitched down both sides. Then I turned it inside out through one of the handle openings and topstitched down each side near the edge for added strength (this seam is only just visible on the left side in the photo below).

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I cut two pieces from a broomstick handle and sanded down the edges. The handles need to be strong enough to carry some weight, but thin enough so you can comfortably get a secure grip on both handles at once. The topmost double seam holds each handle in place, while the bottom double seam secures all the fabric layers in this area - including the lining of the handle opening.

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Always sign your work! ;) I freehanded the letters and embroidered my name using double thread. I actually did my whole name, but have removed my last name from the pictures. All done, now go present it to your dad/mom/family member/friend and bask in compliments. :) If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments and check back later, and I'll try to answer them there. Keep in mind that I'm not an experienced sewer, so take any advice at your own risk... ;)
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I'm linking up to this week's Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple (button in side bar), and Fabric Fun Thursday at Cheap Chic Home.

Fabric party bunting (and I'm back online!)

I'm back, baby! ;) Modem recieved and installed, and I can finally reconnect with the blogging world. Now this is the last post from my birthday party, I promise. It has been severly delayed by more than just the modem trouble, but here it is at last: my fabric bunting! I had a short bunting that was displayed over the entrance (making it easier to identify our cabin among the rest), and a longer one that ended up inside in the end, because of the danger of rain... I've seen bunting all over the party blogs and have always wanted to have a go myself.
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The construction is nice&simple. I folded the fabric right sides together (in order to get identical pairs), marked triangles using disappearing fabric marker and a ruler, and cut along the lines with pinking shears. No edge finishing needed! They fray a little at first, but then stabilize and now look charmingly worn. I then put two pieces wrong sides together and sewed a zig-zag seam ca 2 cm away from the long edges. When I got to the short edge I sandwiched my ribbon inbetween the fabrics and sewed right on top if it it to secure fabic to ribbon.
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Knowing the bunting would be displayed against brown stained walls, I chose to skip the brown/kraft colours in the banner, and use only pink and green fabrics. Well, I have a colour scheme and I'm sticking to it! ;) I was lucky enough to have some fabrics I picked up at 70% off, so this bunting didn't cost much in the end.
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The rest of the links to my party stuff are as follows: Invitations - tzumami kanzashi decorations - table centerpieces

Tsumami Kanzashi party decorations

All the cabins in our area are built in the same style. So how to make our own easily identifyable for my guests? Personalise the entrance of course! Many of my friends have seen me making other kanzashi flowers before (sunflower brooches and National Day brooch), and instantly recognised my work. That's actually really flattering, I think. :)
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I made a whole stack of flowers! It was a nice activity for the quiet times during night shifts. Some of them were simply laid on the tables as decoration, and a couple were attatched to the door handles (to identify the bath rooms).
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They look a bit wonky now, having been stuffed into a bag and brought home... For a tutorial on this particular folding technique, check out this excerpt from the book Kanzashi in Bloom.

Biscornu pincushion (with tutorial)

Every aspiring seamstress needs a decent pincushion. Right? So in my desire to start sewing more, I decided that a pincushion was not only a necessity, but also a nice and small starting project. -

I first saw this kind of pincushion on the blog Bridges on the Body and was absolutely fascinated by this fairly complex shape that was created by just two square pieces of fabric. How could that be? On a side note: Yes, there are women out there who make corsets, in this day and age. And yes, there are other women who read their blogs with great interest. Yours truly included. ;) Take a look at Bridges on the Body and prepare to be amazed!
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This particular shape is called a biscornu, meaning "irregular, quirky, complicated, bizarre". And quirky it is... Originally, they were made with linen or other embroidered fabrics, but I decided to go a bit more modern and used two pieces of fabric from the Sunset range by Paintbrush Studio. The trick to this pincushion is that the two squares are sewn together, not directly on top of each other as usual, but with a relative 45 degrees rotation. That's it! Sounds easy enough, right?
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Materials needed:

Two squares of fabric in desired size

Matching thread

Sewing needle (and, if you like, a longer needle for attatching buttons)

Disappearing fabric marker

Stuffing

Two buttons (not pictured)
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First, mark the middle point of each side, on the wrong side of both squares of fabric. You can just about make out my lines on the light fabric in my picture. Layer them, right sides together, in the following manner: The middle point of the light fabric should line up, not with the edge of the of the dark fabric, but a little bit to the side of it (refer to picture). This little distance is your seam allowance! You'll see that the middle point of your dark fabric matches up with the seam allowance distance on your light fabric in the same way (refer to picture).
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This is what it should look like before you start your first seam!
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For the very first seam, start just right of the middle point of the light fabric, and sew to the middle point (right arrow). This means that you are stopping the correct distance from the edge of the dark fabric (left arrow). The reason for making just this little seam to start with is to secure the first corner of the biscornu while leaving a gap in the side for turning inside out and stuffing.
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Then comes the tricky part. To keep sewing along the light fabric without going past the edge of the dark fabric means that you'll have to turn the fabric 90 degrees and align the last half of the light edge to the first half of the next dark edge. Not making any sense, am I? ;) It makes a lot more sense when you're sitting there, trust me. There's really only one way to turn in order to continue. I've added two white arrows in the picture to try to clarify it: each corner meets the side of the opposite fabric. Corner meets middle, middle meets corner and so it goes.
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So, continue to sew along the side until you reach the middle point of the dark fabric (arrow), that means you should stop just short of reaching the edge of the light fabric (refer to picture). Again, this is your seam allowance at work.
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Turn 90 degrees again, and line up the middle point of the light fabric to the seam allowance point of the dark fabric. Is it starting to make more sense?
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Sew until you meet the middle point of the light fabric. Do you see? On the last seam you stopped at the middle point of the dark fabric and near the edge of the light one - now it's the opposite.
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OK, now it's getting funky. All this turning is making the fabrics fold and curl in surprising ways and it's not always easy to align the fabrics. Go on, you can do it!
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Just keep sewing and turning, and the shape of the finished pincushion will start to reveal itself.
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When you turn the last corner, don't sew all the way over to your starting point. You'll want to keep an opening for turning your pincushion the right way out and stuffing it, while still securing that last corner with a few stitches. I went back over my original seam once more at this point to strengthen it.
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Look at that! Turned the right way out and stuffed, we're nearly done! See how both corners next to the opening are sewn and secured, so all that remains is to close the opening in a straight line using a ladder stitch. I learned a little trick a while back - don't use big wads of stuffing, it distributes unevenly and creates lumps. Instead, tear little tufts of stuffing and put in a little at a time. I've stuffed mine quite full, but make sure not to overstuff it, because you want your buttons to be able to make that signature "dent" in the middle.
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So for the buttons: I just tied four strands of thread to the black button, pushed the needle through to the other side, went through the white button and back down to the other side again. Tighten the thread and bring the thread between the two buttons a few more times. To secure the thread I simply tied the two ends together under the button using a few tailor's knots, and squirted a drop of glue on the knot for good measure.
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Ta-daa! One finished biscornu pincushion! I'm fairly pleased with this one, especially considering my lack of experience in this area. Now, on to sewing bigger things! I have so many projects lined up that I don't know where to start...

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If you made it all the way to the end of this looong post, thanks for reading! :)

See you tomorrow!