Making Lunch Fun

The kiddos went back to school 2 weeks ago and I wanted to make their lunches fun. If I'm bored making the same old things and packing them in the same old Ziploc bags, then I know they are. So, I started searching Pinterest (my FAV place for everything!) for some cool lunch ideas. In doing so, I found this post about sandwich bags. You can see it here: http://www.thegildedhare.com/2012/07/tutorial-giveaway-reusable-sandwich-bag.html

I followed her tutorial and my bag turned out not so great. So I tweaked it, just a little, and tried again. This time the bag turned out great!

 

I started out cutting my pieces out. I used vinyl coated cotton found by the yard at Jo-Ann's. I used the pattern from the above link and cut out 2 fabric pieces and 1 interfacing piece of each size. I then ironed the interfacing to a piece of fabric so I had this.

 

 

Then I figured out where I wanted the velcro (2" piece) closure to go and sewed it on.

 

I then matched up a short piece and a long piece and sewed a 1/4 inch seam across the bottom and down each side.

 

 

Next, I boxed the corners. To do this, I squeezed the side and bottom seems together, shown below. And yes, squeezed together is a technical term :)

After both corners are done, it will look like this.

 



 

 Once boxed, it stands up on it's own. This makes me smile :)

 

 

I then turned the fabric only portion piece right side out and tucked it into the other portion so that the edges lined up. It was at this point that I realized I had put the velcro on the wrong short piece, so I had to take some time to remove it and put it in the right place. I then sewed up the sides and across the top of the long pieces. I left the top of the short pieces open as shown below.

 

 

 

Then, I turned the whole thing right side out and tucked the interior portion down inside so that all the sides lined up. Then I sewed the opening closed. In this one I just top stitched across and it looks fine. Not as "done" as if I had tucked the edges under, but that's okay.

 

 

And here is what it looks like when closed.

 

 

 Now I only have to make a few more for the other kiddos :)

 

I would love to see pictures if any of you try this!

 

Slow Start

Okay, so I haven't posted every day :) I wanted to gather some of my projects together so I would have a few posts to get started. Since it was a holiday weekend, I spent more time with family than with my crafts. Today I thought I would share my most recent project.

My sister just had a new baby and I wanted to make her something. I have been seeing rag quilts all over other craft blogs and Pinterest, so I thought I would try my hand at it. I think it turned out rather well even if it doesn't look the same in "real" life as it did in my head.

Here it is.

I bought a jelly roll on clearance at WalMart and laid the strips out in the order I wanted them. I was two strips short, so I made the "odd" strips the center and worked the design out that way. Each strip has it's same design as its back.

I put a layer of batting between the strips and sewed down the middle to sandwich the strips together. Then I sewed all the strips together with a half inch seam. After I had all the strips sewn together I squared up the short ends and then sewed a half inch seam down each end. I mainly did this because binding scares me :)

I then sat down to watch a movie and snipped around all the edges. This was the most time consuming part of the quilt. I didn't measure my cuts, I just eyeballed about 1/4 inch distance between. After all the cuts were made I washed and then dried the finished quilt to "rag" the snipped edges.

I think it turned out rather nicely and I hope my sweet niece loves it!


I linked up here:

Another Day, Another Adventure

I have been blogging for several years now, but have decided that in order to continue my easy life as a SAHM of 4 and crafter extraordinaire, I should start a craft blog to showcase my stuff. I follow several such blogs now, and I think that I can do this. I tend to be the "jumo in with both feet before looking" type, so this should be interesting....for all of us.

First, let me introduce you to my peeps. Like I said before, I am a SAHM mom of 4, I have one that has flown the nest, and of course the hubby. In my personal blog I gave them all names, and so I'll use the same here. So, here they are:


Husband - The Y Factor
Son #1 - Soldier Boy
Son #2 - The Instigator
Daughter #1 - The Deviant
Daughter #2 - The Eccentric
Daughter #3 - The Informant


You will no doubt hear many stories about them as we go along here. :)

I hope that you'll come back tomorrow to see what craftiness I have to share with you!