Sewing Tutorial: Travel Caddy

This is a great way to keep your things organized when on a trip, and being made of fabric and foam stabilizer, it compresses nicely for packing and is also machine-washable. It's especially useful when there are multiple people in the same room, to keep your things from spilling into each other's.

Want to try to guess my favorite color?

SUPPLIES

1/2 yard of fabric (I used cotton quilting fabric)

1/3 yard foam stabilizer (I used Pellon Flex-Foam 1-Sided Fusible Stabilizer)
Iron

DIRECTIONS

Wash and iron your fabric. Cut six pieces:

-One 9 inches by 30 inches (Piece A)
-One 9 inches by 4 inches (Piece B)
-Two 9 inches by 8 inches (Pieces C)
-Two 8 inches by inches (Pieces D)

Cut five pieces of foam:

-One 4 inches by 30 inches (Foam A)
-One 4 inches by 4 inches (Foam B)
-Two 4 inches by 8 inches (Foams C)
-One 7.5 inches by 7.5 inches (Foam D)

Fold Pieces B and C in half horizontally ("hot dog style") right sides together, so that Piece B  now measures 4.5 inches by 4 inches and Pieces C now measure 4.5 inches by 8 inches. Sew down both short (4.5 inch) sides. Turn the pieces right side out and press them.

Sew Piece A right sides together at the short (9 inch) side, making a long circle. Fold in half horizontally and right side out, making your circle 4.5 inches tall and about 29.5 inches around. Press to make a nice edge where the fabric is folded.

You're now going to make several creases around Piece A to use as references. The first creases will be on the seam you just sewed and directly across from it. Then, match those creases up and use them as your new middle, allowing you to press new creases equidistant from the first set. Iron two more sets of creases in the middles of these first four, for a total of eight. You also need to iron a crease in the middle of one Piece C.

You may want to mark these creases with
disappearing ink or tailor's chalk

The construction gets finicky here. Line up Piece B with the crease in Piece C and fold Piece C over Piece B--it should nearly completely envelope it. Open Piece C so that you're only sewing one layer of fabric Sew along the crease to firmly attach Piece B to Piece C. 

Both layers of Piece B are being sewn, but only one layer of Piece C,
the layer closer to Piece B.

Now match up the other seamed edge of Piece B with the seam on Piece A, where you sewed it to make a tube. Fold over as you did in the previous step and sew Piece B to Piece A--again open Piece A so that you only sew the layer closer to Piece B. With the creases you ironed and the pieces you've sewn together, should now have a box with three compartments.

Like an unsettling jack-o-lantern

Next, sew the remaining Piece C to the outside of your box. Line up the seamed edges of Piece C with the creases that are at the top corners of the picture above, fold them over Piece C as in the previous two steps, and sew. This creates a place to hold a phone, tablet, or book.

Another off-putting jack-o-lantern!

Now for some easier sewing. Center Foam D between Pieces D, with the fabric rights sides out. If the foam is fusible, give it a quick press to hold it in place and make things easier for yourself. Sew around the perimeter.

Now it's time to insert the rest of the foam into the fabric: Foam B in Piece B, and Foams C in Pieces C (the As will be in a bit). It will probably be a little too big, but it's better to trim some bits here and there than have it too small. 

Zig-zag the raw edges to enclose the foam.

You could use a serger here, but I'm not skilled enough
to trust myself to not cut off important parts.

Now insert Foam A into Piece A. Before you cut any excess foam, sew a straight line along the corner creases--this ensures not only that the foam stays in place, but that you don't cut off too much.

Now sew Piece A closed. I just did a straight line rather than a zig-zag, because I'm use my serger for the last step.

Finally, using either the widest zig-zag your sewing machine has or a wide flatlock stitch on your serger (my preference, as this also cuts off the excess fabric and foam as you stitch), attach Pieces D to Piece A.

Trim any loose threads, and it's done! It's a finicky pattern, but now you have an easy way to store your things on the vacation you deserve after plodding through the steps.

Sewing Tutorial: Reversible Tote Bag

This tote bag is a great way to show off contrasting fabrics, and, at around the size of a grocery bag, a convenient carry-all.

SUPPLIES

2/3-1 yard each contrasting fabrics (I used cotton quilting fabric)
2/3 yard batting (optional if you want a thinner bag, or have thicker fabric)
Threads matching your fabrics
Cutting tools

DIRECTIONS

Cut the fabric and batting:
-15x33 inch rectangle: one of both fabrics, one of batting
-7x12 inch rectangle: one of both fabrics
-3x15 inch strips: two of each fabrics, two of batting (you could skip these for a narrower bag)
-3x100 inch strip: two of each fabric (that is; sew together a few strips)

You should have two large rectangles, two small rectangles, four small strips, and two long strips, in contrasting fabrics; and one large rectangle plus two strips in batting. For directional fabric, cut the fabric with the pattern running the same way on the long sides.

Fold the two small rectangles in half right sides together and sew the smaller (seven-inch) sides together--to themselves, not to each other. The two won't be connected. Turn right sides out. Move the seam just a bit to one side and iron a crease opposite it. These will become pockets with the seam hidden along the bottom edge.

The long strips are the handle. Check them against each other to be sure they're the same length. Fold in half lengthwise and iron to make a crease. Unfold and line the edges up along that crease; iron again. Repeat along the length of both strips--this hides the raw edges in the middle.

Lay one large rectangle of fabric on top of the large rectangle of batting. Line up the contrasting pocket three inches from the shorter edge, centered. Sew on with contrasting thread: in this example, black rectangle, red pocket, and black thread.

For the handle, lay the long strip three inches from the long edges of the rectangle (the raw edges that are folded to the middle should be facing the rectangle). Start the narrow end on what will the bottom of the bag (16.5 inches from shorter edges). Pin the handle so it loops around the entire rectangle as shown.

Overlap the narrow edges about an inch so you can hide the raw edges. Using contrasting thread, sew only the parts of the handle that are on the rectangle, stopping about an inch from the edges. Repeat for the other side of the bag.

Center the 3x15 inch strips in the middle of the long edges of the rectangle and sew them on. Repeat for the other side.

Sew the long edges together, making a bag shape. Repeat for the other side. You now have two inside-out bag shapes, one with batting. 

Put one inside the other, right sides together with handles tucked inside, and sew most of what will the top of the bag, leaving room for turning. You can choose whether you'd prefer the pockets to be opposite sides of the bag or back-to-back with each other. Be careful not to sew over the handles. 

Turn the bag right sides out. Top stitch along the top of the bag, again being careful to not catch the handles. Use one of your thread colors in the bobbin and the other in your needle thread, so that threads either match the fabrics or contrast, as desired.

Now finish sewing the handles. Begin where you left off when you attached them to the larger rectangles, using contrasting thread in the bobbin and the needle thread, and continue around the handle. 

To keep the layers of the bag together, stitch along the seams you used to attach the 3x15 strips to the large rectangle--either on a sewing machine or by hand, whichever is easier. (For a narrow bag, just sew a straight line at that middle point.)

Trim the loose threads, and you're done!

Sewing Tutorial: Omma's Seat Belt Cushion

Sometimes, no matter how you position them, seatbelts rub up against your neck or shoulder the wrong way. For me, it's the ones at work (I drive school buses); for my cousin, it hits her chemo port. When I found out my cousin had cancer, I wanted to do SOMETHING to help, and a dear friend told me that her mom had used a small pillow to protect her port from the rubbing of the seatbelt. Perfect; a quick project to make things more comfortable. This project is named for my friend's mom.

In this example, the side with the hearts goes against the area you want to protect

SUPPLIES

4 charm squares

Velcro: about half an inch by an inch and a half
Polyfil

I think it took longer for me to pick fabric than make the project

DIRECTIONS

Sew the Velcro on your strap charm squares, about an inch and a half from one edge (from here on referred to as "the top"), and centered between the two sides. Repeat for the other strap.

Fold the strap charm squares right side together. so that the two edges are touching, and sew along the edges (i.e.; NOT the top or bottom). Repeat for the other strap.

Now, move that seam you just sewed so that it's centered. The Velcro should be laying flat opposite that seam. Sew the top. Repeat for the other strap.

See that seam from the last step, now in centered in the middle?

Turn both strap pieces right side out. 

Now you're going to layer all four pieces of fabric together. Lay one pillow charm square right side up. Attach the Velcro pieces to each other, and lay over the center of the pillow charm square (it doesn't matter which side is up for the strap). Lay your second pillow charm square right down, matching its edges with the first pillow charm square.

It'd be smart to pin the layers, but I like to live dangerously

Sew around the perimeter, leaving a space for turning and stuffing. The strap pieces will stick out a bit from the edges; this is fine.

Trim the excess fabric, turn right side out, and stuff loosely.

Top stitch around the pillow charm squares to close the hole and give it a nice finished look.

And you're done!

Sewing Tutorial: Charming Hot/Cold Pack

 Here's another project to use up charm squares: a simple pouch filled with rice or similar grains that can be used as an icepack or heated and used at a hot pack.

The red and panda packs are six charm squares each; the blue one is eight with the "extra" two squares cut in half and sewn in between the full-size squares.

SUPPLIES

Six to eight charm squares

Rice, fennel, or other grain--about half a cup per section

I used rice for this one, and fennel for the others pictured above

DIRECTIONS

Sew the charm squares for each side together into a strip. You should have two strips of equal length when you're done.

One strip done, one nearly there.

Put the strips right sides together, and sewn around the perimeter. Leave room for turning--this will also be how you put the grain in.

Turn right side out when you're done.

Now, pour about half a cup of grain into the pouch, and work them down into the far end, opposite where you left the opening for turning. You'll be sewing the first section closed next, so don't overfill it--needles don't like going over hard grains, and will revolt by breaking.

You'll also be top stitching around the perimeter. Don't overfill!

With the grains between two charm squares, sew along the seam between the two charm squares (or wherever you've decided to close off the first section).

See how the section is loosely filled? This is about how it should look.

Repeat for the remaining sections. Finally, top stitch around the edge, taking care to close the opening. Now it's ready to soothe an ache!