boxy pencil case.

i'm a teacher now. which is weird to say. but, so far, awesome. there are still a lot of things about being a teacher that i'm not very teacher-like about. one of those things is being prepared for class. not really in a lesson plan sense, but more in a remembering all of those pesky school supplies sense. so i figured making a sweet case for all of those things that i forget on a daily basis may help me out there (probably not, but it's a good excuse to make something).

i used this tutorial, which was super clear. it took an embarrassing amount of head scratching though to figure out how to make it (faux) leather bottomed (i blame that glass of wine with dinner). if you're interested, i'll try to explain it here.

the tutorial starts with a outer fabric piece 13.5 by 17 inches, so to make it leather bottomed i cut the leather 9.5 x 13.5 inches and then the two grey cotton pieces 4.375 x 13.5 inches. lining up the 13.5 inch sides, i sewed a grey fabric strip to either side of the leather with a quarter inch seam allowance. with these dimensions, the leather is actually over-sized by a quarter of an inch, but i didn't press the seam flat. rather, i rolled the leather a bit and top stitched it where it meets up to the cotton. this takes up the extra length. i wasn't actually sure this would work out, but it did for me. once pieced, you could always trim the whole thing back to 13.5 x 17 if it's too big.  

sorry if that doesn't make sense...

i was really glad to use some more of the spoonflower fabric i designed. i've been hoarding it for awhile for special projects. this is the same woodland print as margot's tiny backpack, but in silver.

the bag is lined with some sweet buffalo plaid flannel, which i now have more than five yards of thanks to a bit of an impulse purchase (and a really good deal!). i also bias bound the seams with some vintage mustard yellow bias tape that i got at a thrift store. mustard yellow goes with everything.

i'm still pretty terrible at sewing with bias tape, but i think i'm getting better. i think part of the terribleness is that i pick really tricky projects to do it on--ones with super bulky seams. i also still can't figure out interfacing. when i use the heavier stuff, i find that the fabric looks nice and smooth when i i start, but by the time i've sewn it up it's all wrinkly. maybe that just means i should use a lighter weight interfacing. all in the name of progress i suppose.

the finished bag is a bit giant. roughly 4.5 x 4.5 x 9 inches. more than enough room to carry all of my school supplies. probably enough room to carry a guinea pig, or a small rabbit. that would make for an interesting class...

tiny pocket tees.

it was seventy degrees here on sunday. in february. crazy. it's the kind of weather that makes you cautiously optimistic for spring. cautiously, because this sunday it's not supposed to get above thirty. alas, weather, you toy with me.

so, the other day, in anticipation (or wishful thinking) of warmer weather, i jazzed up some plain margot tees with some ridiculous tiny pockets.

this is a project i've been meaning to do for a long time. it's quick, uses only the smallest bits of fabric and makes something plain just a little special.

the whole process was quite zen. cutting out tiny bits of fabric, ironing down teeny edges while trying not to burn my fingers (maybe that part was less zen), pinning and sewing in place. i even tried to sew zen--nice and slow, keeping the lines straight and the seam allowances small. slow sewing is not typically how i roll, but i've been trying to be a better person.

the only process shot i got was of these pressed, pre-sewn on pockets looking all dapper. the fabrics make me happy. the llama pocket especially. i finally found a use for that sample swatch of spoonflower fabric i designed. hooray llamas.

the finished pockets are rougly 2.75 inches wide and 3.25 inches from top to the bottom point. this makes for a slightly oversized pocket on a sized two-t shirt, but that's what i was aiming for. i particularly like the pointed pocket style. i think it's extra cute.

i did find that slightly heavier weight fabrics made the whole process a lot easier. the floral print was a light weight cotton, so the seams did not want to stay pressed and the pocket was difficult to place. the llamas and the yellow folk fabric were heavier, like a light weight canvas, and were so much easier to work with. if i were to do this again i would probably use interfacing or at least some spray starch with light weight fabrics.

now i want to put pockets on all of my tee shirts, sweatshirts, and tank tops. all of the pockets. you should do it too. we'll take over the world with pockets.

monster letters.

finally, a post that isn't a sewing post! crazy, i know. don't get used to it, i've got several more sewing projects in the queue.

a couple of years ago i made my nephew a pretty swell set of wooden memory tiles using different animals i had designed (i should maybe post about those...). i came across them a few weeks ago and thought, i should make margot something like that. before my brain could come up a with a new design idea though, i came across these amazing monster alphabet tiles designed by the swell folks at the caravan shoppe. perfection.

i used the pages sized for 2.25 by 1.5 inch tiles (which are the perfect size for margot) and had them printed on card stock at office max, as recommended in the file. i'm super glad i did this too, as it's much better quality and saved me from endless warring with our worthless color printer (we are not friends). and since i am extremely fortunate to have a fab lab in my neighborhood, i just laser cut the wooden rectangles out of a quarter inch sheet of oak plywood. i put the polka dotted backing paper on the sheet of wood before cutting out the tiles. i count this as a stroke of genius, since applying the monsters took much cutting and gluing and almost cost me my sanity. i think it was worth it though. sanity is overrated.

margot is only somewhat impressed by them. so far her favorite thing to do is wait until i have them neatly lain out on the coffee table and then flail her arms, slinging them to the far reaches of the living room. i must admit, i does make quite a nice ruckus. she also thinks they're pretty tasty.

i had a couple of issues with the file, but they probably aren't issues that a sane person would have. for one, the pictures of the finished product on the website show a nice white background. when you buy the pdf though, what you get is the peach color shown in the digital rendering. i wasn't a big fan of the color, so i brightened the background before printing. also, the size tile i used only had images for a 'scrabble alphabet'. so tiles that only appear once in scrabble--j, k, q, x and z--only had the uppercase letter. since i wanted to make a full uppercase and lowercase set, i had to photoshop the missing letters from the other tile sizes. not a huge deal, but i did forget the lowercase z, which makes me pretty sad.

minor issues really. i totally recommend these monster letters. they're a nice way to get professional design quality while still having that sense of diy accomplishment. seriously, who can resist that little j? too cute. now i'm eyeing their olliblocks zoo printable. i see the most adorable fridge magnets ever in my future (says the crazy lady who still has an uppercase set of letters to finish).

on a completely unrelated note (or maybe as a logical followup to the previous crazy lady comment), all of these close up of our coffee table are giving me an itch the refinish it. i've had this coffee table since high school. my dad bought it for me for four dollars at a yard sale (yeah, i was the kid in high school who thought a coffee table was a great present). i think it's time to give it some love. orange much? oy.