From one pair of kids jeans and some stash fabric ... 1 of 20 :)

A few days ago I hit the thrift store and picked up 20 pairs of kids jeans for a buck a pair.  My intention was to chop and upcycle into zipper bags :D  Chopping and upcycling has now commenced!  I cut up the first pair, saving as much "yardage" as I could.  I don't save seams, I don't save zippers, I don't save snaps - I just save the easy stuff - the fabric sans seams, the pockets (if they're easily removed), the buttons (if they're regular buttons) and the waistband elastic (if it's easily removed).  I know all the parts can be saved and used - I've seen the pins - but I'm not that fond of raw edges and frankly, I think some of the projects made with seams and other bits, are rather ... ummm ... not to my taste *ahem* :D  Here's what I finished up with the denim from one pair of jeans:

Basement photography is awkward!  These are pictures of the same bag, taken within seconds of each other, believe it or not.  On top is the front of the bag, embellished with some of the waistband elastic stitched on :D  In the middle is the back of the bag, with the size tag added :D  The last picture is a close-up of the tag - this zipper bag is now officially a size 16 :)

Here's the next bag - I embellished it with some aliens/spaceship ribbon, and added a zipper pull of the planet Saturn :D

 Here's a bag with one of the jeans pockets attached to the front (it took me quite a while to remove the pockets from the jeans - they're really FIRMLY stitched on!) - the back has another piece of the waistband elastic stitched on :D

 An earbud pouch!  Zipper pull is a scorpion charm from Ebay.  Coincidentally - while I was taking the photo of this bag, I was watching the show Scorpion on TV, haha.  Love that show!

 Here we have a front zip pouch, with the 2nd back pocket stitched on to the front :)

 A two-fer :)  On the left is a Magic Pouch (a tutorial I found recently, and liked so much that this is Magic Pouch #6 to come out of the suddenlysandra Novelty Pouch Factory :D).  On the right - a birdy bag from the book Zakka Handmades by Amy Morinaka :)

Last, but not least, a pirate bag made with a small (about 7" x 7") pirate panel I found in stash - I don't even remember where I got it.  I backed the panel with batting and then quilted it to make the front, then used denim embellished with skull ribbon, for the back.

And there we have it --- 8 little denim bags made from one pair of jeans, some stash supplies and a denim needle :D  I'll be chopping up the next pair of jeans soon, and have picked out a few different projects to work on.   All of these bags, by the way, will be going to Blue Hills - I really wanted to concentrate on bags suitable for boys because I send them a lot of girl stuff - boys definitely need equal representation :D

A tactical error was made :D

Yesterday I posted some pictures of the project I had just started working on.  I did get it finished, and it looked quite lovely, IIDSSM :)

The front

The back

The lining - the funny looking wet spot (no comment :D) on the left is Fray Check I added to make sure the zigzagging didn't come free - it's still wet in the photo, LOL)

Zipper pull #1

Zipper pull #2

Looks great, right?  YES IT DOES!  However, I forgot to account for directional fabric in a project that would get turned upside-down half the time - every time someone wanted to access the 2nd zippered side, which is on the bottom >:(  So - when someone turns the bag over to get into the bottom zipper, they will see ...

Yep - upside down flamingos!  *sigh*

This certainly isn't the end of the world, but I can't give that bag to my friend to use as a prize in a wedding shower - it's making me crazy just looking at the picture, lol.  So ... I did a new bag that I'm much happier with, and my friend will get this 2nd bag instead :)  Same Magic Pouch design, same linings, but a different print on the outside, and with directionality accounted for :)  This time around I did different zipper colours - blue, and pink :D

Blue zippered side

Pink zippered side

Lining, with label stitched on :)

And now I'll be able to sleep at night :D  I'll donate the first pouch with the other bags I make - it's still a gorgeous pouch, so hopefully the recipient won't be bothered with the upside-down flamingos when she uses it.  Note to self:  account.  for.  directional.  fabrics.  :)

These are Magic Pouch #'s 4 & 5  (yes, I'm keeping track!) and I'm nowhere near finished making them - I have 2 more kitted ready to stitch :)  The recipient of the 2nd pouch - the Mother of the Groom - just called and loves the pouch, so I feel grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!  :)

Here's what I'm working on now ...

One of my friends is going to a wedding shower coming up this weekend (she's Mother of the Groom) - I decided to make a wee gift for her, as a prize for one of the shower games.  Can you guess the theme of the shower?  ;)

Magic Pouch #4 under construction :)

These are the charms I've picked out for the pouch :)

A Magic Pouch and a fishy bag :D

  It's a good day for sewing - it was pouring rain this morning so I couldn't go out for a walk - I headed down to the dungeon and got a couple of projects finished :D  I cut them both out yesterday and got them prepped for construction, so all I had to do was sit down and sew :D  That's my idea of a great way to start the day!

Up first is my 2nd fish drawstring bag :)  I posted my first one here .  As with my first one, I changed up the backpack pattern and made it as a drawstring bag, fully lined, with no raw edges.  This time around I took some photos during construction because someone *grins and looks @ Barbara* asked how I did it.  Will post them separately - sometimes housework has to come first, despite my sincere belief that it shouldn't :D

Here's a close-up picture - the fabrics are from the same line (from Fabricland) but in slightly different colourways.  I bought a meter of each, with the intention of making several bags - a miscut ensued and I think I can only get one more bag out of the leftovers, LOL.  Measure twice, cut once - it's not just for construction workers, haha.  At least I have pretty scraps to use up now!  ;)

The other new-to-me project that I completed recently, was a Magic Pouch.  I enjoyed the first one so much that I immediately made a 2nd one - they're posted here.  This morning I whipped up a 3rd one, using some sweet Laurel Burch fabric :)   This time around I used 2 different coloured zippers, and batiks to match (I had everything in stash).  Here are the prints I used ...

... and here's the finished bag.  This time around I accounted for the directional print by turning the back upside down so that when the bag is flipped to access the 2nd zippered section, the print will be right side up for that side.  This is the turquoise blue side ...

... and this is the purple side.

I couldn't figure out what setting to use on the camera to get a close-up of the tiny little zipper pull - this was as good as I could get.  Those are little antique brass charms from Ebay - I got them in several colours.  This one is pink with purple, and the other side (I tried and just couldn't get a proper photo) is blue and green, I think.  This bag is a birthday gift so I got it shipped off this morning :)


Both of these bags will be posted to the Taschen Sew Along for June - the theme is animal bags ... and I think these qualify :D  The fish bag has been uploaded to the June New to Me linky party @ Celtic Thistle Stitches :)

Magic Pouch - a rather awesome design :)

Now that the warm weather has arrived, I'm spending more time in my basement dungeon sewing room - it's nice and cool down here - just right for sewing ;)

Kitchen curtains for DS2's kitchen - requested by him so that the sun wouldn't shine in the window and block his view of his television in the next room, LOL.

A new to me pattern, and one which is highly recommend :)  This is a Magic Pouch - free tutorial available here @ Craftsy :)  Once you learn how the technique of getting a zipper on both ends (and no raw edges - bonus!) you'll be able to make similar bags in any size you want :)  

Pokemon pillowcase for my off-to-Waterloo-for-university-in-the-fall neighbour Daphne :)  Sorry for the bad picture - the ones I took outside were faded because the sun is shining so brightly (YAY!) but the ones in the dark basement are rather dull!  Pokemon fabric (and the cuff fabric as well, actually) are from my trip to Joanns last month :D

Close-up of the Pokemon print :)

The Magic Pouch will get posted to June's New to Me linky party @ Celthic Thistle Stitches  :)