A Boxy Tutorial

I love these boxes, they are great for DVD's, toys, TV controls, anything that needs a place but doesn't always have a place. My oldest daughter has "Open Market" at school on Friday so I thought I would make her a couple of these for her goods, and then she can sell them if she wants.  I know a couple of her friends love Little Pet Shop toys and I've hoarded this fabric long enough, so it's the fabric I used for this tutorial.

I hope my tutorial helps you and if you want to share a picture, be sure to! I would love to see!!

So what you'll need:

•  fabric (1 or 2 coordinating) **The fabric size will depend upon how big of a box you want to use. I used about 1/2 yard of fabric for my box that is a 6" cube.**
• measuring stick (I love my clear ruler)
• scissors
• fabric pen/pencil for marking
• thread/sewing machine
• iron
• decor weight fusible interfacing (I buy mine from Hobby Lobby)

For these sake of easy, I used 6" through out, for my box.  What you are basically going to do is make a big fat + sign, each end will be 6", each perpendicular line will be 6"

When you've measured all 12 lines, cut out the fabric. I like to use the fabric as my guide to cut another piece of fabric (your coordinating fabric) that will make up the interior of the box.  I like to place right sides of fabric together for this process so I know that all the sides will match up perfectly.

Next is the fusible interfacing step. Depending on the fabric you use, you might only have to fuse on side. If you are using a light weight cotton, you might need to use interfacing on both interior and exterior fabrics. 

Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric.

Once you've finished interfacing, place both fabrics right sides together,

Pin rights sides together,

And sew, you will leave on side open but stitch the other 11 sides.  I like to leave a top piece open for ease of turning.

In the picture below, you can see the one side I left open is the top of the kitties head (left side of the picture)

Now, ever so carefully go in at the 4 corners and make a tiny little snip with your scissors so the fabric is easier to work with.

Then go around and cut each corner off as close to the stitch  as you can. This will make a nicer angle when you turn the fabric right side out.

Using the one open end, start turning your fabric right side out.

It'll be a little wrinkled so definitely press it

Now fold in the open end

Press for a nice crisp line,

Stitch it closed.

 

You'll start with one side, make sure the tops and bottoms meet up and then you are going to top stitch this.

You can go back in with a zig zag stitch or just leave the top stitch.

In this picture, you'll see 2 sides already connected.

Once you've connected all 4 sides, I like to go in with my iron and gently press the bottom to form the box.

And there you have it friends, you box is ready to be filled with toys, controllers, or whatever else you have that needs a spot! Remember to share a pic if you make this box...and pass along :)

Much Creative Love to you all,

♡ ąℓexąnʠяą

Anchors Away

It felt good to have a little bit of art time and a little bit of sewing time today. I came up with a new sketch for another zippered something, tote, pouch, clutch? Haven't decided yet.  But, I think the sketched bird is going to look very cute once I finish him up on some fabric. 

Today, though, I concentrated my efforts on an anchor slouchy tote. I've had this anchor in my mind, I have wanted to try it on a chevron piece for a while. I sketched out my vision, fingers crossed that it would turn out something like my vision.

Got the girls off to school, not without incident. Miss M. forgot her homework at home and we had to make a mad dash back home to find it.  Once the little and I got back, I got him all settled and we worked together on some art. Me with my paints and fabric, him with the markers and paper.

You'll see my new zipper install that I love! Anyone want a tutorial on it? I'm sure there are a bunch of tutorials out there about it. I absolutely LOVE how finished it looks with that little added rectangle of fabric.

Anyway, tomorrow is brew day for hubs. He's been waiting ever so patiently for his first day of "creative" play for months now.

So enjoy my picture process and be sure to leave a comment if there is a tutorial you'd like me to put together for you.

Have a wonderful evening, my friends!

♡ ąℓexąnʠяą

 The start to the design. First penciled in, then I used a black fabric marker to make it more bold and then the acrylic paints.

The completed anchor, heat set and ready for some sewing magic!

Here, I've installed the zipper on one side and you can see the rectangle of fabric that I've been talking about. When you attach all the sides, you either let that area go upwards in the stitch or downwards, and your finished product is much more professional looking.

I wanted to add a touch of femininity so I took some funky Batik paisley fabric and made a large bow. It looks off in this picture because I had it pinned down so as not to interfere with my zipper stitching.

I pieced everything all together and then it was time to decide on the handles. My lovely friends Paurenia and Lori, on QJB suggested rope and I was thinking right along the same lines.  So I got out my rope that has been packaged up ever so neatly and got to work on the handles.

I wanted a strong stitch but I didn't want to knot it and have that bulky somewhat unsightly look so I thought, why not a macrame knot for a more finished appearance, and strong hold too.  Tapered off the macrame and braided to the other side so it's comfortable on the shoulders.

 

The final product was together and ready for pictures and ready to be listed to the world on Etsy.  

MIA

You know what happens when your husband comes home after 2 1/2 months away?? Things like daily blog posts, sewing, beading, cleaning all take a back seat to some much needed quality family time!

My hubs came home on Saturday night. Since then we've got stuck in the rain in Honolulu, celebrated the little guys 3rd birthday, took pics near Hanauma Bay, took the kiddos on a 2 mile walk to Makapu'u Point Trail and just relaxed out back in our little slice of tropical paradise.  But not to worry, I haven't given up creating completely.  I've been busy with a few bracelets and this morning, I finished an original art piece on a zippered flap clutch which I also listed on Etsy. 

What I learned from making this zippered clutch is by adding 2 little squares of fabric on the ends of the zipper, the finishing job to a zippered pouch is MUCH more professional that that weird angled finish I would get without it.  So, I'm going to be making a tutorial within the next couple of days about adding this so called fabric squares to your zippers!

Until then, I hope all you lovely people have been well and happy. Keep creating!!

♡ ąℓexąnʠяą

Interrupting this regularly broadcasted facebook update...

I am ashamed to admit this, but much to my dismay, I cannot post anything on Facebook this morning. I figured I didn't write here yesterday so this is my back up plan! Haha.

Tuesday was a wonderful day, a busy day, which is always good when you want time to pass a little more quickly. A friend from Japan and her daughters came to the house, we had lunch together and we had a little bit of crafting time. Crafting time is always fun for me, but it was fun to actually "teach" a little bit of what I know. Maybe I'll make this more of a routine.  Perhaps with a tutorial for everyone once I figure out how to post videos. Of course, I first need to figure out how to make a video that wont want to make you run to the bathroom to hurl your food from being so motion sick!!

I thought I was pretty good at video taking but after taking a home tour video for another friend I realized I am quite inexperienced with the whole video thing.  I'll keep trying, I never give up!

Anyway, while I had my crafting time with friends, my friend mentioned something to me about my things coming out a bit more artistic and I really started thinking about it.  I think what helps me is that I am really not super organized. That's weird right? But I truly think this helps. For instance, with my beads, I LOVE them, all of them but basically, they are all jumbled up together in a big bowl. This isn't a bad thing for me because what happens, is that I can see how the beads work together before I even start stringing them. For others, those who are more organized then me, maybe this is a frightening nightmarish way to do things, but it works for me. What is important about being creative is that you find what works for YOU.

I did decide, however, that I needed to be a tad more organized. So yesterday, I took some Mochi ice cream containers, some baby food plastic containers and went to work. To stay true to my "chaotic jumbled this works for me mess", I separated by color only.

After a day of fun in the sun with the kids yesterday, I sat down at my jewelry table, my mental haze lifted, and went to work on this piece...which I am trying to upload to Facebook and I just cannot right now.   We'll see what today brings!! Until then though, stay creatively blessed!

♡ ąℓexąnʠяą  

Soaring High

 I've been so inspired by the music of The Piano Guys this morning. I would love to see them in concert some day but it doesn't appear that Hawaii is in their schedule for quite some time. Their music just gives you a sense of freedom, and passion. I wanted to recreate those feelings this morning and I thought a little bit of artwork on fabric might help express those feelings.  Took out my fabric, my paints, my pens and went to work.

I came up with a dragonfly zippered clutch. I used the colors of spring, the colors of hope and inspiration. Diluting the paints a bit I was able to get a watercolor and dye sort of effect.  I just cut the fabric and see what it turns into after the design. It ended up being a 7.5" x 11" x 2" clutch.

V is sitting at the table creating her own design now. A sweet little bird on one side, flying away on the other side. I'll share pictures when she is finished.  And now, I need to prepare for a fun crafty afternoon with friends.  So until tomorrow, have a beautiful afternoon, evening, night, where ever these words should be expressing themselves in this world.

Ready to create, coffee, paints, pens and a bit of warm sun shine seeping in.

 The design and the color.

The finished product