Drawstring Dust-Bag Tutorial

So last week I gushed about my new yellow Filofax Original, and how I just had to come up with a dust-bag for it. Today, I'm sharing the super easy drawstring bag you can make as well, of course the Filofax is optional ;) 

The finished bag size is 13" x 10", a perfect fit for the A5 Filofax! 

Cutting

Bag fabric (2) 11" x 15 1/4" 

Fabric Ties (2) 32" x 1"

1. Cut your fabrics out as above.

2. Along the longer side of your fabric bag piece, measure down 2" from the top. Cut 1/2" into the fabric. Repeat for the opposite side, and again on the other fabric piece.

3. Fold and press 1/4", and then again to enclose the raw edges. Repeat on opposite side and do the same for the other fabric piece.

4. Sew very close to the edge to secure in place, remembering to back-stitch at the top and bottom, repeat as before.

5. Fold over the top edge 7/8" and press. Now fold over the top edge of the bag piece to meet at the point of the side slits.

6. Place your bag pieces right sides together and pin in place. Sew 1/4" around the edge. Do a little back-stitching to the top for extra strength.

7. Trim your raw edges with some pinking shears to keep it neat. Now for the fun part of turning your bag inside out!

8. Now for the fabric ties. For these, I've basically made them in the same way as Jeni does in her lined drawstring bag tutorial - only these are thinner. Take your fabric strips and fold and press the short ends over 1/4" and sew to secure. Carefully press them in half lengthwise (wrong sides together).

9. Now open them out flat again and press the raw edges to the centre line you have just created. Fold in half again, enclosing the raw edges.

10. Stitch a strain line very close to the edge of the fabric ties, being careful to catch both sides of the fabric - it can be a little tricky!

11. Take a large safety pin, and poke one end of the fabric tie into the bag casing - come full circle to the beginning again.

12. Now starting with the other side, repeat by poking the fabric tie all the way around and back to the start. You'll know you've done it right when you are able to pull the handles and it tightens the bag! Tie a knot in either end of the bag handles. 

Done! Now enjoy your newly made dust-bag! Or drawstring bag to tote around whatever you need. Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll do my best to help. xo 

Fabrics used

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Le Creme Swiss Dot, Riley Blake

Yellow stripe, IKEA

Liberty Tana Lawns

Aren't these the prettiest fabrics you've ever seen!! They are gorgeous Liberty Tana Lawns; below are a mix of classic and new season prints. They have such a beautiful feel to them, like no other fabric. I was kindly gifted them to work on a Valentines project, so I've decided on a fabric envelope and handmade card. Watch out for a finished version and tutorial soon ...

Filofax Original, A5

Yippee! Last week I got my brand spanking new Filofax A5 Original! Now this post may seem completely alien to some people - getting way too excited about an organiser! but rest assured there are ALOT of other Filofax and planner nerds out there, trust me... 

This is my first Filofax, but I got into using a planner last year when I had the Martha Stewart binder system. I felt I needed something to help me on track with things as I increasingly kept forgetting important dates while trying to keep up with the shop/blog/day jobs/house projects etc. and I need the physical element of 'writing things down' to help me remember, I couldn't cope with just an iPhone for organising myself?

The MS one worked great, and really got me into being more organised (most of the time) but the downside was that I bought it off Ebay as it's a U.S. only product and I couldn't get hold of the 2014 refills so I figured it was high time to switch it up to a British made Filofax so I could update my refills easily. Hooray!

The other reason I updated my MS binder was it got dirty, I mean *really dirty* from being thrown about in my handbag, so the first thing I did after setting it up - with DIY'ed dividers I will add ;) and generally admiring it for a little while, was make a dust-bag! 

Since the organiser is such a vibrant yellow I felt inspired to do a bit of a Kate Spade homage with stripes and dots in bright colours. I think it sets it off really well. I came up with the bag pattern myself as I wanted it to be a perfect fit for my A5. I took some photo's along the way and I'll share a little tutorial on the blog very soon. 

Here's to a organised 2014! How will you be staying organised and on track this year? xo

Scrappy New Year!

New year, new quilt, that's what I say! Since my Scrappy Trips quilt this time last year (wow, where did that go?) I've felt another urge to sew up something scrappy and bright. I think it must have something to do with the new year and new beginnings perhaps? I may make this an annual tradition; January = scrappy quilt of sorts >.<

What I've been plotting is a rather large scale Irish chain - very much like this one. Though I'm not quite sure how big I plan on going! 

So... the blocks you see above are completely wrong! I drew up the design, pieced about 8 blocks or so, laid them out and realised I completely ballsed it up made a mistake! The white centres were too big so it didn't make the correct pattern. I can happily tell you since taking these photo's I have corrected the mistakes and I'm back on track ;) hey I guess these things happen to the best of us!? Once I've got the plans down 100% I will share it on the blog if you want to join in too. On the plus side, I've made a nice dent in my scrap pile.

Now I know I already have another Irish Chain quilt in the works, if you read my blog you may have remembered... well it's currently in the sewing room taking up far too much space. I'm tackling quilting it and it's going, well, slowly. very, very slowly actually. It's the biggest quilt I've done so It's quite a workout to wrestle it through the machine!

What are your sewing plans for the new year? Adding another project to the works, or finishing off quilts which have been laying around for months ... like I should be! xo

Quilty Fun Sew Along and Blog Tour: Week 8 | Trees

Hello, hello! and happy new year! I'm back with the next stop on the Quilty Fun sew-a-long and book tour. There was a little break for Christmas festivities just after Pam's Cups blocks on week 7, but I'm back with week 8 to share with you my Tree blocks! You can find the PDF cutting instructions for these blocks here. 

These were a real pleasure to stitch, Lori's book is just delightful. Full of all the bright and happy projects you would expect from lovely Lori :) It features the famous Row Along Quilt; which we'll be making for this blog book tour, and ten coordinating projects (one of which I've made already!).

It's all laid out in such a clear way, so it's easy to follow and not get lost. The spiral bound cover is also super practical and saves me valuable space on my sewing table - I wish more quilt books can follow suit ;)

It was great to read more about Lori and her work in the intro section, and how she started the Bonnet Row Along for her local church group as a beginner's quilt course, so they could practice the blocks over and over again, so clever! Oh, and the photo's - amazing. It's such a treat to see those beautiful vintage pink and aqua sewing machines up close!

GIVEAWAY

Now are you ready for a giveaway?! Fat Quarter Shop are kindly giving away two sets of the Bee In My Bonnet Ruler Sets, and a pack of the new Alphabitties! 

To enter, simply join us in our quilty fun and upload your tree blocks to the to the Flickr group. The winners will be announced on Monday 13th January on the Jolly Jabber blog.

You can purchase the Quilty Fun book here. Happy quilting folks! xo