After three years of pitiful neglect, I finally updated my ‘about’ page. It’s now the longest ‘about’ page in the history of mankind.
But it’s also full of photos, so that eases the pain somewhat! And now, for the wreath……..

My jaw dropped the first time I saw the snowball wreath from Anthropologie.   It’s beautiful——of the drop dead gorgeous variety.   And it’s $298.

Then my friend Nester posted about her snowball wreath.  Which is all kinds of awesome.  Just like she is.  I knew I had to find a cheap, easy way to do it.

Side note:  She’s the cornerstone of my internet world.  Hers was the first blog I stayed up until 3am to read ALL the archives from.  I love everything she does.  I love seeing the world through her eyes.  I love  that she works hard but also guards her margin. After our house fire in 2010, she made a video for us that I’ve watched over and over again and has been such a source of healing for me.. And then I couldn’t believe it when she did this for our rebuild.  I adore her and feel privileged to call her friend.   I hope she knows how much we all appreciate her generosity and her willingness to use and share  her gifts.  She’s one of a kind.  And she’s hosting this Christmas crafting shindig, which will inspire to make something beautiful this weekend.  And while you’re at it, visit Cate’s crafty party too.  Let’s just party in glue sticks and yarn and pretty fabric all weekend, whadaya say?

(I recently hosted a 12 Days of Christmas crafting and you’re looking for great tutorials for gift making!)

Now, back to the wreath.  First, you’ve got to make 10 or 12 pom poms.

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 skeins of chunky yarn

1 10 inch string of yarn

10 inch wreath form (or whatever size you wanna make!)

scissors

a piece of cardboard ( I used a 2×4 inch piece but the bigger you make it, the larger the pom-pom.

Place the ten inch string through the slits so that there are equal tails on each side. (When you make the pom pom, you will use the tails of this string and tie them into a tight knot around the wound string.)

From the full ball of yarn, start wrapping around the cardboard. The more you wrap, the puffier your pom pom will be. I wrapped my chunky yarn about 100 times for my snow ball pom poms. If your yarn is normal weight (thinnish) you may need to wrap 150 times to make full pom poms.

Once you’ve wrapped it as many times as  you like, take the two tails from the string that is in the slits of the cardboard and pull them up around the ball of yarn.

Gently slide the yarn off the cardboard, holding the tails up and being careful not to let them slip out from in between the newly formed ball of yarn.

At this step, you now have  a ball of yarn with a string in the middle.  Most tutorials will tell you at this step spread the yarn out towards the ends of the string.  I didn’t do that.  I just tied a tight knot in the string and double knotted it for extra security.

Then insert your scissors through the middle of all those loops you wound and cut right through them.

And tada!  You have a snowball pom pom!

You can give him a trim if he’s got some straggly uneven spots.  We also pulled the ends of the yarn apart a little to make it look a more frayed and cozy.

Now all you need to do is make a dozen of those and  attach them to the wreath.  I used a 10 inch straw wreath form and it took exactly 2 skeins of  yarn to fill it up.  You could hot glue them or just wrap string around them and tie them on.  I chose the latter because I’m a little lazy with my crafts and didn’t feel like firing up the glue gun.

This project took about an hour an a half , cost about $14, and was definitely worth the explosion of yarn and fuzz in my schoolroom.  Actually, the girls did 90% of the work, while I flitted around with a host of other (very ordinary) things, including my collaborative mantel project.  The girls did a great job!

And for all you friends who gave it your all trying to help me with my Christmas mantel, I want you to know that I had paint on my grannie pj’s by 5:30 this morning.

I was mixing paint like nobody’s business.

Check out the coral-ish/pinkified/sal-mon colored mirror here!

This is the LAST DAY of a 12 days series of {handmade} Christmas tutorials.   Can I get a woot-woot?   Make sure to check out the all the projects for 2012, 2010, and 2009!

And I’m hosting myself. Which is why I’m late.  Fancy that.

********************

You know those greeting cards that play music when you open them?  Well, I want to expand on that theme except that I want music to start playing when you open my front door.

What music, you ask?

“Hello, Darlin’ ” by Conway Twitty, of course.

How awesome would that be?  You walk into my front door and all sounds stop except for Conway Twitty blasting out,

“Hello darlin’, nice to see you, it’s been a loooooong  tiiiiiime.  You’re just as lovely as you used to be.”

Can anybody come wire my house to do that?  Pretty please?

Until then, I’ll just have to make do with my  Hello Darlin’ pillow.

So, next time you come to visit, I hope you feel the warm welcome that only ‘Hello, darlin’ can bring.
This tutorial is an attempt at combining this tutorial for stenciling pillows and this very easy tutorial for making an envelope pillow!
Here’s what you’ll need:

stencil of your choice—mine are  1 1/2 inch stencils by Martha Stewart’s from Micheal’s  (buy  your favorite font, size)

fabric markers—i bought Sharpie’s brand from Amazon.

a pillow cover (blank linen) or just a piece of linen or canvas or cotton fabric cut to the size you want  (directions for mine to follow)

a self-healing mat

a rotary cutter

a pencil

a ruler  ( I have a lip-edged ruler which has transformed my sewing projects.  I LOVE IT!)

Here are a few basic instructions:

Decide on your quote.  Which is easy.  Hello darlin’ cannot be improved upon, can it?   We also made one (or at least Elea did) that says, “You are my sunshine.”

Decide on your spacing.    I made a 20×20 pillow cover for this one and once we cut our material, we just laid out the letters and decided how we wanted the spacing.   We used a ruler to generally keep the letters straight but I’m not a perfectionist so I don’t waste too much precious time ciphering about it.

As a matter of fact, my 10 and 12 year old did all the work—–the tracing with pencil………

and filling in with the fabric markers.

Then you’re ready to make the pillow cover.  This is the easiest pillow cover in all of creation.  I’ve been making these for years but I found Jenny’s tutorial so easy to understand so I’ll adopt her method of doing it from now on.

You’re basically going to cut a long strip of fabric which you fold over the pillow like an envelope and then sew on the top and bottom.

For a 18 inch square pillow (which I used to demonstrate the technique), I like to make my pillow cover a inch or so smaller so it will fit tight.  This works especially well with down inserts, which are much more smush-able when you’re squeezing them into tight spots.

So, for this pillow I cut a piece of fabric 18×42  piece of fabric.

Lay the fabric out so that the longest part is horizontal.   Fold over both ends about a half inch (on the 20 inch ends) , iron them and then sew the edges down.  This makes the ends look more finished.  I don’t know why I did a zig zag stitch here.  I usually don’t.  Just do a straight stitch.

After doing that to both ends, fold the ends in with your fabric right side in, like an envelope.

Once you fold both ends over onto each other, use your ruler to decide how wide you want the pillow to be.  I want mine to be 17 inches wide because my pillow insert is an 18 inch square and I want to have to squeeze the pillow in and then fluff it around, giving it a taut appearance.   If your insert is 20 inches and you want it to fit not-so-taut, then make it 20 inches at this step.  So my ends are folded over, overlapping a few inches with my total width being 17 inches.   Now, all I have to do is sew up the top and bottom of the fabric and we’re done.  You can turn the pillow cover to the right side through the opening where the fabrics overlap.

When you sew up the ends, using a 1/2 inch seam allowance, and then turn it to the right side, it looks like this.

Once you get the hang of these, you can make them in less than 15 minutes.

Here’s how it looks by the Hello Darlin’ pillow.

See how the sides of the pillow aren’t sewn?  That’s where you folded the fabric over.  The top and bottom are sewn, which makes it the simplest pillow cover to make the entire world!

And in case you need a Conway Twitty tutorial……..

This is day 11 of the 12 days of {handmade} Christmas! Hope you’ve enjoyed all the projects so far!  We’re almost done!  Which means I’ve blogged 43 days in a row.  I think I need some kind of prize?  Well, you can ponder what to get me while we carry on with day 11!
We welcome  Christina , from 2 Little Hooligans, today!  She’s a stay-at-home mommy to three littles and stay up til the wee hours of the night crafting.  And we’re so lucky that she was willing to share her casserole carrier with us.  You’re gonna want to make one!

Cut two pieces of Insul-Bright to the following sizes: 30″ X 15″ and 37″ X 12″
Cut two pieces of fabric slightly larger then the 30″ X 15″ and 37″ X 12″ pieces of Insul-Bright.
You don’t have to be too picky on cutting out the fabric pieces because you will be trimming them later. I just find it quicker to sew the pieces together this way and trim the fabric off later. Plus it saves you time from having to cut out the pieces of fabric to the correct size.
Gather the 30″ X 15″ piece of insul-bright and the two pieces of fabric that you cut out to go along with it. Take the two pieces of fabric and lay flat with right sides facing and now place the Insul-Bright on top of the fabric like shown.
Sew all around pinned pieces using the edge of insul-bright as your guide. Leave a 3″ opening for turning right side out.
**note: I changed the foot on my machine to H at this point. It is a plastic foot that glides over the Insul-Bright instead of getting caught up on the material. I didn’t do this on my first casserole carrier but did it on this one and it made a huge difference. Change foot back once finished sewing directly on the Insul-Bright.**

Trim excess fabric except where the opening is, you want to leave that section a little longer so that when you turn right sides out it will tuck and sew shut nicely. Don’t forget to square off corners. Now pull fabric out through opening.

Iron and push out corners so that they are nicely pointed. Now top stitch around the entire piece of fabric.

Repeat with the 37″ x 12″ of Insul-Bright and fabric pieces.
Pieces should look like this now.

Lay the pieces out on top of each other making a cross like pictured below.

Make sure the 37″ X 12″ piece is on top.
Line them up straight. The right side of the 37″ x 12″ piece sticks out about 10″.
And measures 9″ up from the bottom.

Mark on the bottom piece of fabric where the top piece of fabric is positioned on it. Make sure you make marks onto the top piece of fabric where the bottom piece is positioned underneath it as well. This doesn’t mean anything now, but it will help in later steps.
Now place a casserole dish in the center of the two pieces and fold closed. Fold the 37″ x 12″ piece close first then fold the 30″ x 15″ piece closed next.

Now you are going to feel for the top of the casserole dish and make a mark on the fabric where the top of the dish is. This mark will tell you where to stop sewing when attaching the handles.
See my little mark? Now take a ruler and extend that mark the entire length of the fabric to show where the top of the casserole dish is. Repeat on the opposite side.
Set aside for now.

Now it is time to make the handles.
Cut four pieces of fabric 40″ X 2 1/2″. Cut two pieces of flannel or batting the same size. Layer with the flannel on the bottom and the two pieces of fabric right sides facing on top of the flannel.
Sew together on both sides, the entire length of the pieces. Flip right side out, iron and top stitch.
Handles should look like this.

Time to attach the handles you just made. Gather the 30″ x 15″ piece, this is the piece you will be attaching the handles to.
Remember the marks you made earlier when you used the casserole dish as a guide? well, this is where those marks you made from the top of the casserole dish come in handy. See them on the picture above?
You will want to line up the handles as pictured above. Make sure they are evenly spaced and about 3″ in from the edge. Make sure the middle of the handles are in the middle of the piece of fabric. You don’t want lop sided handles.

Sew the handles on. Use the top stitch that you did on the handles as a guide, and stitch right on top of those stitches again. Do not sew past the marks on the fabric showing you where the top of your casserole dish will be. You want to make sure you sew straight lines. These will be seen on the bottom of the carrier.

Pieces should look like this now.

Now it is time to attach the two pieces together.Line the pieces up again like you did when you first made the cross. Remember the 37″ X 12″ fabric is on top and the fabric with the handles is on the bottom. Pin in place.

Do not sew directly on the marked lines. Sew in a little about. See where I made my stitches? Again, I wanted to make sure my stitches lined up with the stitches on the bottom piece. These stitches will be seen from the bottom. It will just make it look neater on the bottom of the carrier.

Time to attach the Velcro. Lay carrier flat, place casserole dish inside and pin Velcro in place where you want it.

Play with the pieces and see where you would like them most. Here is where I placed mine. I placed it in about 2″ from the edge. I used a 2″ wide Velcro so that I can use this carrier for two sized pans.

Time to finish the handles. I prefer to make little padded sections to attach the handles together.

 

To make the padded handles, cut four pieces of fabric and flannel (or batting) 6 1/2″ X 3″

Layer them like so, with 1 piece of flannel, 2 pieces of fabric right sides facing, and the last piece of flannel on top.

Sew sides together, leaving ends open.

Turn right right side out and iron. Fold ends in about 1/2″ and iron again.

Slide ends of handles into the middle of the padded handle. Make sure the handles are evenly lined up. You don’t want a lop sided carrier!

Pin and sew in place on the ends of padded handle.

The fabrics are pretty thick at this point and I had a hard time sewing through all the layers until I switched needles. I can’t remember the last time I changed my needle, it’s actually kinda embarassing.

Cut two pieces of fabric 5″X 2″

Sew together the two pieces of fabric, right sides facing. Leave a 1 1/2″ opening for turning right side out.
Turn right side out through opening, iron and top stitch.

Sew the Velcro on. Make sure the Velcro is sewn on opposite sides and ends like in the picture above. The hook on the bottom front and the loop on the top back of piece of fabric.

Fold spoon holder in half and mark where the center is. Now measure 1/2″ away from the center on the right and left sides. These marks will be where you want to sew the spoon holder onto the carrier. This way it will keep the spoon from wobbling too much.

You are finished!

**This tutorial is for personal use only! If you are going to link up and use my pictures, please link back to this post and don’t forget to give credit where credit is due! **

I hope you will find some time to sew one up. I would say it takes about 3-4 hours from start to finish to make one of these. You will have a little extra fabric and Insul-Bright left over, so sew up some matching hot pads or oven mitts to go along with the carrier. If you make one using this tutorial, please email me a picture or add it to my flickr group, I would love to see it.

This is day 9 in a 12 days series of {handmade} Christmas tutorials.  You can find all the projects here!

Welcome my friend, Julie, from Less Than Perfect Life of Bliss, today as she shows us how to make a felt scarf!  Julie is beautiful, talented, with a wonderful family and especially wonderful parents, that I adore.  Her dad is a great preacher and was the first person to ever share the gospel with me and he will always be special to me for that.  Her mother,  Denise, is precious and blogs at Counsels of the Heart .  Julie’s sister, Amy,  has a great crafty blog that I’m sure you’d enjoy.  Talent seems to run in the family.  Thank you, Jules, for sharing with us today!

I’m genuinely honored that Edie has invited me to be a part of this series this year and I can’t wait to show you how to make this felt scarf.  It’s a quick and easy project, no matter what level of crafty you are.  

DIY Felt Scarf

Start with 1/4 of a yard of 72″ wide felt, and cut approximately 8″ off of one end.

Then, simply sew a couple of buttons onto one end of the “scarf” and carefully cut some button holes into the other end.

At this point, you’ve spent less than 10 minutes on a great little neck warmer.  Just wrap it twice around your neck, button it up, and you’re done!

Then, just hot-glue them on in layers, overlapping them as you go, using the same technique as you would for a felt flower pillow.

To make the center, fold 2 of the petals in half, placing a dot of glue in the fold to hold it together, then stand them up and glue them into the center.

For this look, just button the scarf in the back and pin the flower on the front!

I hope you like this as much as I’ve enjoyed sharing!  It’s a great little idea for a simple, homemade Christmas gift. And since each of these only cost about $3 to make, it’s great for any budget.  

This is day 8 of a the 12 days of {handmade} Christmas tutorials.  The landing page where you’ll find all the projects can be found here!

My name is Ruth and I blog at Farmgirl In My Heart.  I am thrilled to be here on Edie’s blog,  sharing one of my favorite things.    

Today we will be working on a crochet ear warmer.   The cold days will be here rapidly, for some of us they already  are.  Ear warmers work for those who are not hat people. They are everywhere recently.  These are quick and easy to crochet and make fantastic gifts.  You will need a basic knowledge of crochet stitches to work on this project.  The stitches required for this project are chains(ch) and single crochets(sc).  Both  are beginner stitches and you can find basic crochet tutorials on You Tube and Google.  Lion Brand and Red Heart yarn both have Learn to Crochet tutorials on their sites.

and in the last stitch of the
same row.  When you are finished there
should be 7 sts.

Rows 76-82: Ch 1, sc across
evenly, turn. 

and crochet in the following
one.  You can see the space this
leaves.  That is the completed
buttonhole.

Rows 84-86: Ch 1, sc across
evenly, turn

This is day 7 of a 12 day series of handmade tutorials. All the projects are listed on this landing page!

Howdy to all of Edie’s wonderful readers! I was so excited to be invited to fill in one of these 12 Days of Handmade Christmas spots, so thanks for having me. I’m Heather and I blog over at Lark & Lola {my small craft biz blog} and Last Day Ago {my family blog}. I’m a Colorado native, married to my high school sweetheart, and raising two little girls. There is a long history of artists and creators in my family, so it’s no surprise that I spend most of my spare time making things with my hands. I hope you enjoy this tutorial for sewing your own tablet/Kindle cover!

Cheers,
Heather

diy kindle cover tutorial

You will need:

1 – 17″ x 5 3/4″ fabric piece for the outside (I used a laminated fabric for mine)

1 - 17″ x 5 3/4″ fabric piece for the inner lining

2 - 17″ x 5 3/4″ pieces of thin, but medium stiffness fusible interfacing

1 – 8″ x 5 3/4″ fabric piece for holding the Kindle in place

1 – 8″ x 5 3/4″ piece of fusible interfacing

You will also need elastic. I decided to try clear elastic for mine (like the kind used in bras and other delicates), and it seems to have worked out well. You could use regular white or black woven elastic, too, if you feel more comfortable with that.

(Post edit: almost a year later, the clear elastic has held up beautifully!)

And of course the basic sewing supplies: a sewing machine, marking pencil, measuring tape, pins, thread, etc.

If you are not making this for a Kindle Fire, you want to size what would be the 17″ x 5 3/4″ pieces by measuring 1/2 inch seam allowance on three sides of your tablet. Then at the top you will add about 3/4″, the length of your tablet again, and 1/2″ at the end. (Or, more simply, 2 times the length of your tablet plus 1 3/4″  and 1″ wider than your tablet.)

For the Kindle/tablet holding piece, simply cut a piece of fabric that is 1/2″ longer and wider on each side of your tablet.

So you will end up with 6 pieces of fabric which will become your Kindle/tablet cover.

Start by fusing each piece to it’s matching interfacing.

For the 8″ x 5 3/4″ piece, trace the size of your Kindle to help you press the edges evenly when your turn them in.

I attempted rounded corners for this piece (I’m a novice, don’t forget.)

And pressed it like so:

Now you will need to cut four lengths of your elastic, about 5″ each. (If you use the clear elastic like I did, be sure to pre-stretch your elastic.)

This is the way in which you want to sew your elastic onto each corner of the Kindle holder, making a loop that will come out on the right side of your fabric.

It’s hard to see, but if you look close in the photo above you can see the elastic angling out toward me. Start by sewing on one end, then bring it around the front, leaving just a little extra slack (as opposed to running it around the corner straight up against your fabric) , and sew the other end onto the other side of your corner, also at an angle.

Do this on all four corners, creating elastic straps that will hold your Kindle in place.

Once you have those in place, pin the Kindle holder piece to your lining fabric, leaving 1/2″ on three sides, like so:

This next little bit is optional, you can simply use an elastic strap if you like, but I wanted a ruffled strap for my Kindle cover, so I took a strip of fabric, about 3″ wide and 20″ or so long.

Fold the strip in half lengthwise, and sew 1/4″ or so along the edge, then turn it right side out:

Flatten your strip, placing the seam in the middle (this will be the backside of the strap.)

Now sew 1/4″ seam down each side, creating a tube in the middle.

Run a piece of elastic through the middle tube portion, using a safety pin to guide it through.

Stitch one end of the tube shut, being sure to get the elastic in place. Now figure about how much elastic & ruffle you want your strap to have, don’t make it too tight. Snip off any excess of the strap and stitch the other end shut, being sure to catch the elastic in your stitch. The ruffle effect is created by the fabric being longer than the elastic.

Now you’re ready to sew it all together. Place the lining and cover pieces right sides together and pin it in place. Remember to tuck your strap (or elastic) inside, don’t pin it sticking out and around like I show in this picture! (Sometimes my mind has to work at figuring out how these things come together.) Simply tuck the edges of your strap piece in between and up to the edges, making sure it will be stitched with your seam. I placed by strap across the bottom about 1-2″ up from the bottom (on the same end as the Kindle holding piece with the elastic, of course).

Before stitching, take a moment to check your tablet/Kindle to get a good idea of how much seam allowance you should have. If you have a lot of excess, now is the time to trim it down. I wanted my cover to fit my Kindle pretty snug, so I stitched about 1/3″ seam all around.

Be sure to leave an opening at the bottom so you can turn your cover right side out!

Another optional bit: Before top-stitching, I used my Kindle to check for the crease, and added pins where the crease started and stopped.

Using the pins as a guide, I marked 3 straight lines down the middle crease, and I stitched along each line. I find this helps the cover fold well.

Like so:

Now it’s the moment of truth! Check your Kindle to make sure it fits in your cover nicely. Hopefully it does, just like mine:

I have to say, I’m glad I chose the clear elastic. It seems to hold up pretty well and I find it less distracting to my eye than the 4 white elastic strips would be.

You should now have a pretty little Kindle (or tablet) cover!

I love how well it fits my Kindle, and it’s so much more my style than any other Kindle cover I saw for sale.

The nice thing about the strap is that I can flip it over to the backside to hold the cover back when I’m using my Kindle.

And it’s ruffled. Ruffles are always a plus.

If you decide to use this tutorial to make your own tablet cover, please share pictures when you’re done!

This is day 7 of the 12 Days of {handmade} Christmas tutorials! For an overview of all the projects, click here!

Friends and family gather together this time of year. Bring out your best and celebrate with some sweet treats. Embellish a platter perfect for entertaining your guests.

 Embellished Christmas Platter

Wouldn’t this be a fun platter for any celebration…birthdays, graduations, etc.?

What to Gather:

Platter or cupcake stand

Graphics (or coordinated die cuts)

Coordinated ribbons in various widths

Twine or string

Hole Punch

Glitter, optional

Embellishments (see sample for ideas)

I’ve gathered some vintage graphics for us to use for this project, courtesy of Graphics Fairy.

Right click on jpg below, save and print on highest quality setting. Print on cardstock. This graphic is 8×10. Print two copies for this project.

Or download the PDF here: Download 12dayspostcards

This 3 tiered platter came from Target, but you can find them almost anywhere. Cupcake tiered stands are perfect for decorating, too. Especially a 4 tiered one. I love how this Target platter has the rod iron ring at the very top, which will be fun to hang everything from.

After printing your graphics, adhere to cardstock or patterned paper.  Adhere one graphic on the front of the cardstock and one on the back. So they are 2 sided, because they will be seen from all angles.

Hole punch each graphic at the top and bottom.

Thread twine, string or ribbon through the holes. Knot the twine after stringing it through each hole to keep it secure. Space the graphics out so they will cascade down the side of the platter.

Add glitter here and there if you like.

Make two of these graphic streamers…one will cascade down the left and one down the right. Leave extra twine on the top for securing to platter.

While waiting for the glitter to dry, tie various ribbons to top of platter.

Clip 1″ pieces of garland and hot glue to ribbon, on both sides of the ribbon. This makes a fun accent.

I added a string of bells to one side of the platter. Evergreen or any holiday pick would be great here. A red strand of ribbon was hung on each side of the platter.

Before you guests arrive, fill up the platter with sweet treats…appetizers, hot cocoa fixin’s…whatever!

It makes a great centerpiece, or focal point amongst smaller dishes or trays, too. Are you starting to get hungry?

I’m smiling now because I know my family will love this! This will be their favorite project I’ve made for this E-Workshop…I just know it.

Tell us your favorite Christmas homemade candy/treat for a chance to win a free E-Workshop!  We’ll pick five winners.  It’s your lucky day!

Note to bookclubbers—I haven’t forgot about you!  The Antigone post is up today, courtesy of my darling friend, Michele.  I’m hoping to add a short video introduction to Plato to that post later today!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE Plato’s Republic.  Don’t be scared.  This is a good one.  Start reading today, if you haven’t already.

Step 4:  Place florist foam inside of the clay pot-you may have to trim around the edges so it fits snug in the pot.  Once florist foam is secured stick a skewer in the middle.

with moss-this is messy!!

This is day 1 of 12 Days of {handmade} Christmas tutorials.  Bookmark the landing page for the whole 12 Days of {handmade} Christmas series and check daily for updates!

 Welcome to 12 Days of  Handmade Christmas!

There’s no rest for the weary.  I just finished my 31 days to a heart of hospitality and here we go again!  But I have some awesome projects lined up for you to help us all embrace a more meaningful, less commercialized Christmas.  This is day 1 of 12 Days of {handmade} Christmas tutorials.  Bookmark the landing page for the whole 12 Days of {handmade} Christmas series and check daily for updates! I’m so excited that my adorable friend, Camera Jan, blogger at Just Imagine Heaven, and homeschooling MOTHER OF 6! is gonna start the series for us.  Here’s how it happened.  She and Heather both brought these AH-mazing large zippered make-up bags on our trip to Texas.  I instantly coveted them and made her promise to do a tutorial so I could make a few for Christmas presents and of course, one to keep for myself!  I have some perfect fabric for this occasion and can’t wait to find a little time to sneak up to the sewing room.  And make sure you check out the great projects from 2010!   Welcome dearie!  Thank you for being so willing to share your hard work and creativity with us!  Mwahhhhh:))))

My sweet friend, Edie (Long live Texas!) has asked me to do a little tutorial for my super versatile cosmetic bag. With Christmas just around the corner y’all better get started on these ASAP. They will make wonderful gifts!

Often times I have things in my head that I would love to make, but then I’m stuck without a pattern. I’ve been thinking of making an EXTRA large cosmetic case for awhile now. They’re fabulous for travel or even just to carry things in a diaper bag or even to keep in a glove box. You never know when it might come in handy. With a few friends’ birthdays coming I figured it would be the perfect time to get moving on this project. I began browsing Pinterest with no success, so after a little trial and error I came up with this pattern.

I have a friend that loves buntings, so when I saw this fabric I couldn’t passs it up. That fabric, on top, will be used for the outside of your bag. The bottom, green fabric, will be on the inside.

What makes this bag unique is that I’ve lined it with vinyl, so it’s easy to wipe clean or you can use it for wet things and the outside won’t get wet..

For the vinyl I just used this iron on stuff. Thermoweb Heat’n Bond Iron-On Vinyl -17″X5 Yards Gloss
It’s pretty dreamy and easy to use. Now I just want to iron this vinyl to everything because I have 6 kids and it would make cleaning a lot easier.
I love it!Here’s where things may get a little tricky, so hopefully I don’t lose you and I don’t confuse myself. First, you will want to iron heavyweight interfacing to the wrong side of your bunting fabric. It will give your bag more stability. (This step is not pictured.) Next, lay your outer fabric right side up and your zipper face down on top of it.

Then take your lining fabric and lay it face down on top of the zipper, which is also face down. Then you are going to sew along the edge of the zipper. This is where a zipper foot really comes in handy.

After you’ve sewn these pieces together, open it up and this is what it looks like.

Iron your fabric along the zipper, but be careful not to get the hot iron on the vinyl. That could be detrimental to the project.

Now repeat the above steps with the other fabric pieces and other side of the zipper.

This is what it looks like when both sides have been sewn. If you turn the bag over you will have the green pieces laying right side out. Got it?

Carefully edge stich along the zipper on both sides, making sure the vinyl undernath is not part of the edge stitiching.

Open the zipper halfway. Don’t forget this step or you’ll be sorry later.

Now lay your bag so that the right sides of all fabric pieces are facing inward. It should be green on green and bunting on bunting. Pin the edges together. Then sew along the outside edge with a 1/2 inch seam allowance. Be sure to leave about a 2 inch opening at the bottom center of the green fabric. That is where you will be turning the bag inside out.

Clip all four corners.

Here’s another tricky part. This is how we make the bag stand on its own. At the corners of the bag, on all for sides, match the side seam with the bottom seam. It should form a triangle.

Smash it down and sew along the edge with a 2 inch seam allowance.