Crayon and Notebook Wallet

Hey everyone! I have been such a slacker with the blog lately! I'm sorry! I finished this project a couple of weeks ago and I just couldn't get myself to write the post about it. Those of you who have blogs yourselves know how much work it is to write a tutorial and for some reason I have been in kind of a funk lately! But I am resolving to get out of that funk starting tonight!! Crafting is supposed to be fun right?! I plan on finding some fun new inspiration and jumping right back in!


Tonight though, I am going to show how to make these adorable Crayon and Notebook Wallets!! A friend of mine found a photo of something similar and asked me to make a few of them for her kids for Easter. I was happy to make these for her.



You will need:
(2) pieces of fabric for the main part that are 6 1/2 inches by 13 1/2 inches
(1) piece of Iron on interfacing for the main part that is also 6 1/2 inches by 13 1/2 inches
(2) pieces of fabric for the notebook pocket that are 4 1/2 inches by 6 inches
(2) pieces of fabric for the crayon pocket that are 3 inches by 6 1/2 inches
(1) piece of coordinating fabric for the decorative strip on the front that measures 4 inches by 6 1/2 inches
(1) piece of sew on velcro that is 3 inches long
(1) Button

Now be aware, I made these wallets to fit this specific notebook. So if your notebook size is different you will need to adjust the sizes a bit.



To begin, iron the interfacing to the back of one of the main pieces of fabric. Then, take your fabric for the decorative strip and fold both sides into the middle and iron down. Flip it over, place it on the good side of the other main fabric about 2 inches in and pin down.



Sew a seam close to the edge down both sides.



Now we are going to start sewing the pockets. Take both pieces of fabric for the crayon pocket and place them good side to good side and pin. Sew a 1/2 inch seam down one of the long sides. Take both pieces of fabric for the notebook pocket and place them good side to good side and pin. Sew a 1/2 inch seam up the long side, around the top and back down the other long side.



Iron the seam down on the crayon pocket.



Now flip both inside out, push seams out and then iron. For the Crayon pocket sew a finishing seam down the same side you already have a seam. For the notebook pocket, just sew a seam along the top short side that already has a seam.



It is time to start sewing it all together. Take the main piece of fabric with the interfacing on the back and place it good side up. First pin the crayon pocket onto the right side with finishing seam facing the left. Does that make sense? Then pin the notebook pocket in very center of the fabric. Be sure that the unfinished side lines up with the very bottom. This will leave a small gap at the top.



Sew seams about 1 1/2 inches apart horizontally through the crayon pocket. This will create the slots for the crayons.



You will need to now sew a seam very close to the edge on both long sides of the notebook pocket.



Now check to make sure that your notebook will fit.



At this point its time to figure out where you would like the velcro placed. I folded my fabric around the notebook and marked where I wanted the velcro.



Remember, one side of the velcro will be sewn to the right side of one main piece of fabric and the other to the left side of the other main piece of fabric. Pin it down and sew around all 4 edges of the velcro. I sewed around it twice to make sure it was really secure. You could always wait to sew the velcro on after you have the entire wallet sewn together but I wanted my velcro seams to stay hidden and not show through on the back side.



Ok, place your two main pieces of fabric good side to good side. Be sure that the velcro is on opposite ends. Pin and sew a 1/2 inch seam all the way around leaving a small 2 inch opening so that you can flip it right side out.



Flip right side out and iron. Sew a finishing seam all of the way around being sure that the fabric from the small hole is tucked in.



Thats basically it. Sew your decorative button on the outside, fill it with crayons, and let your kids enjoy!! XOXO
Linking to:
Under the Table and Dreaming
DIY Home Sweet Home
Skip to My Lou
Beyond the Picket Fence
Someday Crafts

Colorful Kitchen Rug

Hey everyone! I finally found some time to finish this new rug for my kitchen! I bought the fabric months ago but haven't gotten around to making it until now! Aren't the colors to die for? I love it! It ties my living room colors in with my kitchen! Plus I plan on making some placemats with the left over squares soon, completing the look. My kitchen floors are tile and during the winter it's freezing! Plus, as usual, tile is very hard! I tend to stand in front of my counter a lot doing dishes, cooking and of course crafting. By the end of the day, my feet are killing me!! I love this rug because its very soft! The backside is a terry cloth towel and I also added a little bit of thin batting on the inside.



To begin choose your fabric. I used 4 different patterns cut into 4"x4" squares. The pattern of the squares I just kind of played with until I liked it. 6 squares across and 12 squares down and I used an old terry cloth towel for the backing.



Sew your squares together in rows using a 1/2 inch seam, good side to good side. Be very careful to keep your 1/2 seam exact so that your squares will match up as close as possible. Now flip the row to the back side and iron down all of the seams.



Line your rows up in order (I'm a bit OCD and I label all of my rows) and then start pining them together good side to good side.



You can do this one row at a time but I choose to sew them in pairs and then sew the pairs together. I hope that makes sense!



Here is the front side all sewn together.




Flip it over to the back and once again, iron all of the seams down. This will help it lay flat.



Now right here, I decided to add a thin batting because I wanted it to be very soft. You don't have to do this. But I didn't want the edges to be super bulky so I cut the batting about an inch smaller all of the way around.



Because of this I needed to secure the batting. I took a light colored thread and hand sewed one stitch in the middle of all of the light colored squares and knotted it on the inside.



Next cut your terry cloth to fit exactly and pin to the good side of the front.



Sew a 1/2 inch seam all the way around. Leaving a small opening so that you can flip it inside out.



Flip inside out, push corners out, iron and then pin the opening closed.
Now sew another finishing seam all of the way around. This part was pretty tricky! Terry cloth is really bulky so I wasn't able to sew it as close to the edge as I wanted.



At this point I was going to sew lines through the whole thing to give it a quilted look and hold it all together better because I knew I would be washing it a lot. The problem was that my sewing machine didn't want to pull the terry cloth through. So I needed to flip it over so that the terry cloth was facing up. But then I couldn't see the lines. Anyway, I just threw that idea out the window and did more single hand stitches on some of the squares. Make sure the knots are knotted on the terry cloth side because it totally hides them.



So what do you think?? I love it! Its not perfect. Terry cloth stretches quite a bit so some of my edges are kind of wonky but I'm just going to be stepping on it right?! My kids saw it after they woke from their naps and just wanted to lay down on it! Karissa kept saying "night, night!" XOXO

Linking to:
Beyond The Picket Fence
Someday Crafts
Fireflies and Jellybeans
Skip to My Lou
DIY Home Sweet Home
Keeping it Simple

Simple Necklace

Hey all of you! I hope you are all doing well! I know its been a while! Our family has been suffering with some nasty bug going around. Our poor twins started it with fevers for 5 days straight and terrible colds and coughs and then they passed it to the rest of us. We just haven't been able to completely get rid of it. So needless to say, I'm a little exhausted and stir crazy. I decided I needed to change it up a bit. I've been doing so many sewing projects lately and I hope they haven't bored you! Today I wanted to show you a necklace that I made for my sister. She had asked me to make some simple turquoise stone earrings for her. These are the beads I had left over. I put them together in a very simple pattern, added some beautiful antique brass chain and tada!! I would also like to try making some fun statement necklaces. Maybe with some fringe or lace going on!! Anyway, hope you like! I'll be back soon!

Scripture Cover

Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone!! I'm not much of a NFL football fan but this is one game that I enjoy watching! I did sew during most of it though, so I'm sure I missed quite a bit! By the way, congrats Raven fans!

Today, I finished the Scripture cover tutorial for you like I promised in the last post. They are so much fun to make plus they can dress up pretty boring looking scriptures! This tutorial is for the regular sized Quad scriptures.

You will need: (2) main pieces of fabric that measure 19 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches, (2) pieces of iron on interfacing also measuring 19 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches, (2) pieces of fabric, I used contrasting fabric, for an inside sleeve that measure 8 1/2 inches by 5 1/2 inches, (2) more pieces of fabric for another inside sleeve that measure 8 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches, (2) pieces of fabric for a pocket that measure 3 inches by 5 inches, (1) long piece of fabric, also contrasting, that measures 19 1/2 inches by 4 inches, and lastly (1) long piece of iron on interfacing that measures 2 inches by 19 1/2 inches.

To begin, iron the interfacing to the back side of both pieces of main fabric. Now take your long strip of contrasting fabric and iron the long piece of interfacing straight down the middle of the back side. Next draw a line down the center of the interfacing.

Fold up the bottom of the fabric to the line and iron.

Then fold down the top part of the fabric and iron it down. This makes the fun contrasting strip that will run down the middle of the cover.

Pin the strip of contrasting fabric down the center of one of the main pieces of fabric and sew a seam as close to the edge as you dare down both sides. Place both pieces of main fabric together so that you can cut the ends of one side toward a point. Measure 16 inches up and make a mark. Measure 2 1/2 inches in at the top and make a mark. Now take a ruler and a roller cutter and line it up and cut the angle. Do the same thing to the other side. This will make the flap that wraps around and buttons.

Next we will make the sleeves and pocket for the inside of the cover. Place them all good side to good side. The pocket you will sew a 1/2 inch seam all the way around leaving a small opening so that you can turn it inside out. Both sleeves you will only sew a 1/2 inch seam down both long sides.

Flip them all right side out and iron. For the pocket you will now sew a half inch seam along the top only. The smaller sleeve you will sew a 1/2 inch seam down both long sides. The larger sleeve you will sew a 1/2 inch seam down only one of the longer sides. Sorry you can't really see it very well in this picture.

Ok so now we are going to start putting the whole thing together. Take the other main piece of fabric (without the strip down the middle) and lay it face up. Pin the larger sleeve on the left side with the seam side on the right. Pin the smaller sleeve 4 1/4 inches over and then pin the pocket about 1/2 inches away from that with the seam side pointing up. I placed the pocket a little lower than center because I wanted to make sure that when you put pens in it they wont stick out of the cover.

Now sew your pocket on. Sew a seam as close to the edge as you dare all the way around the 3 sides that don't already have a seam.

Take the two main pieces of fabric and place them good side to good side and pin.

Sew a 1/2 inch seam all of the way around leaving a small opening on one of the angles so that you can flip it right side out. Flip it right side out, be sure to push out all of the corners really well and iron.

Sew a 1/2 inch finishing seam all of the way around the scripture cover.

You are almost done! Now slide your covers inside the sleeves and wrap it around. You need to mark where you would like your button placed.

I can't remember where but I found this neat trick when sewing on the button but its great!! Slide two toothpicks under the button so that there is a slight gap. This will make it easier to button the cover. Then place scotch tape over the button to hold it in place.

Sew the button on but make sure not to push the needle all of the way through the sleeve on the other side. You don't want to sew through the sleeve otherwise you won't be able to put the covers of your scriptures in. Now just pull the scotch tape and toothpicks off. Put your scriptures back in and measure where you will need to have your button hole.

Cut your button hole, seal it with fray check, and then sew around it. I will be honest, before this I had never sewn a button hole! I had no idea how to do it!! So I searched Youtube and found this great video on how to hand sew them. I'm sure it would be easier and faster to do it with your sewing machine but I was chicken so I did it by hand! It looks pretty good right!! I'm pretty proud.

Thats it! Such a great way to dress up your scriptures! Plus the nifty little pocket is so nice to have to! I hope this has all made sense! If you have any questions please let me know. Thanks so much for reading! Linking to: DIY Home Sweet Home, Skip To My Lou, Under The Table and Dreaming, Making The World Cuter, Keeping It Simple, Project Inspire, Todays Creative Blog, The Shabby Nest, Fireflies and Jellybeans