Sweet Pouch Exchange & Extras

I was happy to join into Roslyn of Sew Delicious's Sweet Pouch Swap. 

I used the tutorial from Pink Penguin to make the pouches.

This is the pouch I am sending to Tasmania!
After I had this pouch all sewn up, I realized that it matches the Peggy skirt I made for B from Roslyn's pattern!
Not sure how I managed that one!

I also made a pouch for Grandma Robin. I love the bright colors of this one!
I alternated the fabric on each side of this pouch, hope she likes it.

I made a couple of pouches that match my cape, more or less just because.

 I used the tutorial from Pink Penguin, mostly. 

I made the lining as large as the exterior so that there is more room for the pouch to puff.

Not really having access to the flex frames, I used a cut up metal tape measure instead. 

I've been wanting to make a pouch with just such a closure and this
finally gave me the motivation to actually try it. 

The metal tape measure really does work very nicely and at $6+tax for 

the 25' tape it is a pretty cheap supply.

Of course B needed a pouch for herself so I took some pink jean scraps
 (from an alteration for my niece),
embroidered on the lavender butterfly and sewed up a quick pouch for B. Now to make one for D- poor guy gets left out.

Well, I need to get these pouches mailed out - the one to Tasmania and the others to the Grandmas.
Hope everyone is well and hoping I get over this cold/flu/ick sick quick.
I will be back another time with my first time sewing an Ottobre pattern!
Blessed Be, Alyssa

Quick Easy Gifts

Just a quick post of some quick gifts that I have ready to give. 

With my Silhouette Cameo I was able to embellish a bunch of the cups I got at the Dollar Tree. Mostly I just put the recipient's name but I did do a little extra on a few of them. I then filled the cups with candy. 

For my husband I used this snowmobile design from the Silhouette store. I also cut this design out of the heat  transfer vinyl I purchased in November but forgot to buy a plain long sleeve t-shirt the other day to get it applied so hopefully I can get to town to pick up a shirt before Xmas!

The earrings I "purchased" from Laci on WhoopdWhoop. I got enough pairs for my nieces, mom, sisters,  sister-in-law, and a couple teachers at school.

I also cut the The Oliver Corporation decal from vinyl and carefully layered to imitate the Oliver tractor shield. If anyone is interested in having this studio file please comment with your email and I will email it to you.

So here are a couple ideas for quick gifts.

Blessed Be,

Alyssa

Skinny Jeans!

So, I went jean shopping last week - spent a bad 1hr+ trying on jeans at Target with the kids - pure torture for all involved! Honestly the kids did pretty good considering but still not fun for any of us, except that I found that I could go down a size in my shopping!! Yippee!! In the end I could not find the style I wanted in the size I wanted so it was all a waste of time. But to get to my point, I decided to take a look at my local thrift store and got lucky, I found two pairs of jeans that fit. One pair will need just a bit of altering in the waist but I will make do with a belt for now, this pair is at least the correct length, I can wear sneakers or sandals!

The pair pictured below needed more altering. These were too long with a boot/flare cut that I would rather were tapered/skinny. These are stretchy jeans so I thought it would be perfect for

a "skinny" style.

Original leg -someone let the hem out.
I put on the jeans, marked about where I wanted them to be.

I cut the outside seam since it doesn't have the nice top-stitching.
With the front & back not being even it did make it a bit more difficult
but I just ended up putting them on again and marking again.

I serged the side seam, a couple of times to get it smooth and even.

Once I had one leg done (except the hem) I basically just traced it with chalk on the other leg and serged - much quicker the second time :)

I tried the jeans on again, marked where I wanted the new hem, cut off the

extra 2", folded over 1/2" and another 1/2" to enclose the raw edge.

I then hemmed with a dark blue thread - which is hard to see in the picture :)

I am thinking I should distress the hem just a bit to give them a more natural finished look, I know I've seen tutorials around the suggest using sandpaper and such to make hem look more like you expect it to.

Well, not a tutorial but maybe inspiration for someone? Plus I only spent $11 on two pairs of jeans when I was considering spending $28 on one pair, a savings of $17! More money to spend on sewing & craft supplies (a plus since I am headed to Mankato this weekend to see family - ps Mankato has the nearest JoAnn's).

I hope everyone has a good night.

Blessed Be,

Alyssa

Thrifty Finds

Just a quick post to show what I found at the thrift store yesterday. I got 1972 Singer Sewing Book - Revised Addition (love the '70's cover work); 1989 The Busy Woman's Fitting Book by Nancy Zieman & Robbie Fanning; 1970 Simplicity 8990 Size 3 Girl's Dress & Pants pattern. Plus I only paid $2.25 for these!
I also found some fabrics that I couldn't pass up :)
I hope everyone has a good weekend, I am going to get something accomplished in my sewing room.
Blessed Be, Alyssa