Finished Projects Archives -

Aeroplane Bag Finish

July 14, 2014 by Tsoniki Leave a Comment

I have been making so many quilt tops that I really wanted a good finish. I have a few bags that I want to make so I decided to just get to work. One of them is the Aeroplane bag. I mostly wanted this so I had something to carry my sewing machine in, even though I have only taken it to a couple of places and don’t see myself taking it anywhere else. I just jumped into my fabric and started cutting the pieces I needed. I ran into a problem because I didn’t have any thick stabilizer. I went to three stores here but none of them had any. Luckily for me, my husband happened to be in California when I was cutting my fabric so I sent him to JoAnn’s before his flight back here.

I went from just that picture – the part of the main panel and the straps – to finished in a day. I sewed alllllll day long. It was awesome. I was tired by the end, it was after midnight.

I still have a little bit of hand sewing to do, around the zippers. And then I am all done! I love this bag. It was very easy to sew. The hardest part for me was coming to the end and being sure that the outside main panels lined up correctly. I did have to take out the seams on one side of the zipper and resew to get it lined up a little better. This is a great bag, I can’t wait to need to take my machine somewhere, but I will probably use it on one of our vacations as well.

Woven Ribbon Pillows

January 11, 2010 by Tsoniki 2 Comments

Mom and I made TONS of things for Christmas. It was awesome. Of course, we were so busy I didn’t have time to post. And if you are going to sew or take pictures, well sometimes the sewing wins. 😉

Or the weaving is going to win!

Mom wanted to make these pillows for a girlfriend of hers. It took us a few hours of cutting and weaving the ribbon, when we were done we ironed it to a piece of interfacing and sewed them shut around the pillow form. The ribbon and pillows were bought on sale so this is a great inexpensive project and gift.

We had to be very careful ironing though, one of the ribbons – just one! – was the type that melted even using the silcone iron protective sheet. We took it out and you couldn’t tell the difference, but for sure next time we won’t use the shiny ribbon – not glitters, but the slick shiny kind. We figured the protective sheet would work to protect against melting, but it didn’t.

First Crafts of the Year

January 3, 2010 by Tsoniki 2 Comments

I have been SO crafty over the past few months! I’ve made baby blocks for a friends new baby, crocheted a baby blanket, did the beadwork projects for my class, sewed pillows, made ribbon pillows with my Mom, helped Mom make a table topper for my niece as a wedding gift, helped make a table runner for my sister in law for Christmas – and the list goes on! Oh and we can’t forget the Christmas ornaments I made for a handful of friends, as well as for my brothers and their families.

But for the first craft of the year – I made myself a crochet hook holder. I’ve been wanting one for quite a while and finally got around to it. We spent the night in Seattle when we dropped Chris off at the airport, and I came home and immediately cut the fabric for it. It took a few hours because I couldn’t grasp the idea of the instructions – and of course after I finished the project, the instructions are very easy to follow along with.

One mistake I made is putting the flap on the left side (as you can see) because in the instructions it says to put the flap in between the inside and outside fabric, on the top right side. Well they meant the top right side after you were finished – not the top right as it was laying on the table. So my flap ended up there. But it still worked just fine!Â There are 12 pockets for hooks, as well as a larger pocket on the right side for scissors. The flap makes it so the hooks don’t fall out and it closes with a cute button.

The button I got from my Mom’s stash and was a quick add. This project is from the Sew Darn Cute book – there are several things in here we are going to be making over the next month or so. My Mom already made a handful of needle books from it, and Alice is going to make headbands for a few of her girlfriends.

So that was the first craft of the new year! Actually, the first after Christmas craft as this was done a few days after Christmas. I also embellished a crochet hook (need to get a picture of that, I thought I had one but guess not!) and worked on baby moccasins that day. Living with my Mom has really opened me up to being able to sew and be even more crafty then I used to be. It helps that I went back to school and the kids are in school. Before we would have full days and while my own schooling keeps me busy, I have lots of free time when everyone in the house is gone so I can get a lot done.

First Machine Quilted Quilt

August 7, 2008 by Tsoniki 4 Comments

A few days later and I am still on a high about finishing this.

The first thing I’ve ever machine quilted! This is a baby quilt kit from QuiltCetera and it took me one afternoon to put it all together. The hardest part for me was arranging the pattern, and that was just me deciding where I wanted each block to be. I had two pieces of each fabric and then the pink tags to put together too. I didn’t notice until I was sewing the tags to the quilt that the material matches! I mean it’s the same pattern just pink or purple. I loved that so I made sure to match a tag to a block.

Really the big news is that this is machine quilted. I just got my new sewing machine I think last summer. I didn’t use it too often but when I did I just did standard straight line sewing, even though it came with a wide variety of feet. So I did a quick google search to figure out which was the walking foot because my manual is still packed away somewhere. A few minutes later and I was machine quilting!

The back turned out great because you can really see the diamond pattern that turned out.

I need to give it a quick washing and pack it up to be mailed. It’s a gift for a friend of mine who just had her first baby not quite a month ago. We also have a couple of onesie outfits and a toy for her.

Making the quilt felt so good. It took the better part of an afternoon, including taking a break here and there for whatever. I loved that in the chaos that is the house and is the etc room I was still able to complete something. I moved the sewing machine to the temporary kitchen table and we’ve been eating in the living room. Chris is gone at school right so we have a little bit longer that we can get away with that. We are also getting a new table next week!

I ordered some material to make more blankets like these for my newest nephew (due this fall) and a friend who is having twins soon. I can’t wait to machine quilt again, it was so fun and easy. I’m sure it would be tough if I tried to do something really big but for baby quilts, it’s perfect.

A New Crafty Podcast

November 14, 2007 by Tsoniki 2 Comments

I was hoping I would have more of the baby blanket done by now, but I was too busy working on my new craft podcast!

I would love it if you head on over to the Crafter Cast website and take a listen. The first show is all about me – the crafts I enjoy, making handmade gifts and our trip to Atlanta this weekend. I was so nervous but I know I sound good. Next week I’ll be sharing more about the trip to Atlanta and handmade holiday gift ideas for boys – the one thing I am having a hard time with!

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