I’ve had this fun little project in my sketchbook for a couple of months. I wanted a way to use some clear vinyl and some smaller oilcloth scraps that I had hanging around. I loved the idea of using both to make a cute little storage bag. I also loved that the oilcloth would add some color and the clear vinyl would let me see right inside the bag.  These would make great gifts for teachers, party favor bags, cosmetic bags for friends, on-the-go sewing kit, and so many other uses! (I’m thinking that for Father’s Day my dad might get a travel toiletry pouch with some of this awesome wood-grain oilcloth from CityCraft!)

Well, let’s get started, shall we?

You’ll need:

1 – 12″ or longer zipper

1 – 6″ x 8 1/2″ piece of Oilcloth fabric

2 – 3 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ pieces of clear vinyl (I used the 12 gauge vinyl. Not to thin and not too thick.)

Coordinating Thread

*Use a 1/4″ seam for all seams unless I let you know otherwise.

Place your zipper facing down on one long side of the clear vinyl. Stitch about 1/4″ down the edge of the zipper to attach it to the top of your vinyl.

Fold the zipper up and top stitch 1/8″ down the seam. It should lie flat after this. Repeat the process with your other piece of vinyl and the other edge of your zipper.

Place your oilcloth piece right sides up facing your clear vinyl piece. (The right side of the zipper should be facing down, touching the oilcloth.) Attach both long edges with a 1/4″ seam.

Turn right sides out, finger press the seam you just stitched down, towards the oilcloth. Top stitch 1/8″ seam on the oilcloth to hold this seam down and help it lie flat.

Turn inside out one more time, unzip your zipper halfway, line up the sides with the zipper along the top. (Don’t forget to unzip your zipper halfway! Otherwise you’ll end up with a bag that’s stuck inside out after this step!)

Stitch the sides 1/4″ remembering to back stitch at both ends. Clip off your extra zipper, turn right sides out. You’re done!

Happy Sewing,

Erin

This is a fun color wheel clock I made for my mom’s sewing room. It’s a great intro into hand embroidery too if you want to give it a try!

You’ll need:

7″ Embroidery Hoop

1 Clock Kit

1/4 yard linen (or other fabric) I used linen because I liked the texture, but a plain cotton would work fine too.

1/4 yard extra firm fusible interfacing

Embroidery needle

Various colors embroidery floss

Fabric transfer pen or pencil (My favorite is the FriXion Gel Pen. Draw on your fabric, then erase it with the heat of the iron. As with any fabric marking tool, test in an inconspicuous area first!)

Clock Number Pattern (Download the PDF here for free.)

Ready? Let’s begin:

Start off by printing the number pattern. Make sure that it’s printed at 100% and is not scaling so that it’s too large or too small. The little red box in the center should measure exactly 1″.

Place the pattern underneath your linen and use your fabric transfer pen/pencil to trace the numbers onto your fabric. Also mark the center. The center is where the cross hairs are in the red box. We’ll use this marking later to determine where our clock hands will be. (I had to tape mine to the window to make my own light box so tracing was easier.)

After tracing you’re ready to stitch away. Layout your floss colors to make sure you like how it looks before you start. Use your embroidery hoop and fill in the numbers with the floss however you’d like. I used a variety of stitches (including the backstitch and satin stitch.) Try this website if you need a refresher on your stitches. On the left column is a directory to a large variety of embroidery stitches.

When you’re finished punch a small hole in the center where the cross hairs are. Remove it from the hoop and press your clock front to get out any wrinkles left from the embroidery hoop.

Cut out a 7″ circle from the interfacing, center this over the back of your embroidery and iron in place. Poke a hole in the center of the interfacing circle.

Place your clock front into your embroidery hoop and tighten. Trim your extra fabric off . (Leave about 1″ all the way around.)

Tuck the extra onto the back and glue into place.

Insert your clock kit.

I hope you enjoy this!

Happy Sewing,

Erin

The best part about this project is that it’s an easy project to start out with knits on.  I don’t have a serger either, but in the pattern I’ll show you a few different stitches on your regular sewing machine that will work on knits!  Have fun with it!  You can download the full pattern and illustrated instructions here for free.

Happy Sewing,

Erin

Inside this little house folder is an entire packet of information to welcome your new neighbor!  It’s got 5 illustrated pages of information that you can customize to your specific town or city!  There’s places to put your local grocery stores, favorite craft stores and places for important information such as the nearest hospital, closest library, and trash day!  You don’t need any specific software to type in your custom text, just Adobe Reader (which is free).

Love Copics?  Want to color your own?  I also have a B&W version!  (This is also a great one to get your children involved with!  Just print and have them color to their hearts content!)

You can find the downloads in the shop.  The fully colored and illustrated one is here and the B&W version is here.  The project sheets are $5 each.  You can use them as many different times as you’d like and save so once you take the time to fill it out once, it’s ready for the next neighbor as well!  Happy Crafting!

To keep things quick and simple I used the pattern on the fabric instead of creating my own applique patterns.  All you need is some fabric, iron-on interfacing, (I used Heat and Bond.) fabric scissors, and some coordinating thread.  Iron on the Heat and Bond to the back of the material following the instructions on the package.  Cut out around the shapes you’d like to use leaving about 1/8″ border around the images.  Center them on your onesie, iron on, then stitch around the edges.  Usually I’d do a zig-zag stitch, but this time I used a straight stitch so the edges would be a little frayed.  I liked the tree in the print, but created my own.  Just cut out some circles and the trunk, iron on, stitch, and you’re done!  Voila:

A cute set of onesies for my friend!

Erin

Tile Transfer Art

Fat Quarter Accent Pillows

Father’s Day Shirt and Tie Project

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway! See the post here for the details!

Lots of you requested a way to add or change the sentiments so I’ve made an extra special PDF for you! This PDF is exactly the same as the $3 one, but has text boxes in place of the sentiments so you can add whatever you’d like it to say! This kit is only $5 in the shop! You can print and change the text as much as you’d like! All you need is Adobe Reader. No other special software is required to type in the text.

This would be a great kit to buy if you’d like to use it for a birthday or thank you gift as well!

What if you’re dad isn’t and argyle and herringbone type of guy? Here’s a sneak peek of another kit which will be released tomorrow for the handy dad!

And how about this? We’ll do a giveaway because I LOVE doing giveaways! Here’s what you’ll win! You’ll get the Custom Classy Dad Kit, and the Custom Tool Project Tin (tomorrow’s release) and I’ll send you two tins to make some with! That’s almost $20 worth of product!

How do you enter? Leave a comment below letting me know what other types of kits you’d like to see me create. How easy is that?

Want more entries? Do any combination of the following to get extra chances to win:
1. Blog about the giveaway on your blog. (Leave me a separate comment with your blog post.)

2. Share it on Facebook with your crafty friends. (Leave a separate comment telling me you did so.)

3. Tweet it. (be sure to add @eschlosser to your tweet so I see it!)

4. Talk about it in your favorite crafty forum. (Leave a comment telling me you talked about it.)

If you leave me a comment, and do all of the above you can get up to 5 entries!

I’ll pick two winners Saturday so be sure to enter by Midnight, Friday June 5th.

Happy Crafting!

1. Download template here. Find a wood grain image online that you like. I like to look at Wilsonart Laminates , or Treefrog Veneers. Once you find an image that you like, right click on the image and save it to your computer.
2. Print the wood grain image on photo paper or cardstock, then print the templates onto the wood grain. (Any other pattern will work too!)
3. Then follow the directions on the template to finish up!

If you’d like to do the graduated sizes like shown above, just print at different percentages. Try 85%, 100%, and 120%.

Stay tuned this week for another Father’s Day Wood themed downloadable gift set!

Happy Crafting!