Plastic Grocery Bag Holder

How do you manage grocery bags from the grocery stores? I usually try to reuse them, but oboy, keeping them can be a "messy" job? Here is a simple grocery bag holder I designed to "contain" these ugly plastic bags! I used new Japanese fabric that I purchased from my recent trip to Taiwan.

Kitchen is the best place to hang it!

Folded up when not in use. 

I just love these fabrics so much! The colors, patterns...

This was super easy to make. I assembled two different pieces of fabric into one rectangular piece that measured 16"x12". Then I double folded and stitched the shorter sides (i.e. top and bottom) of this piece, and sew along the 16" side (i.e. the longer side) turning the fabric into a tube. This is when I attached my new label! Once I had the tube, I inserted a 6" elastic into the hem created on the bottom, and created a loop on the top so it can be hung. That's it! Easy! Now I can put all those ugly wrinkly looking grocery bags into this tube and pull it out from the elastic side when I need it. 

If you make one, I would love to see it! Let me know if I can help with the process.

Custom Made Label

Gosh! What a crazy week... so glad Friday is here! I was super excited when the mail carrier got here today, check out what he brought me.

I finally had some labels made by gutenTags. If you are thinking about having customized labels made, I highly recommend Cassie. She was so patience with me and was extremely funny and easy to work with. So what do you think? Quite cute, huh?!

Back of the label.

I attached my very first label onto this grocery bag holder (pictures shown above) I made my aunt. I designed it and it looks beautiful in her kitchen. I will do a post on this project shortly.

PIQF 2011

Gosh, what a crazy busy week! I took Friday off work and headed over to PIQF at the Santa Clara convention center.  I am so thankful that this location is only 10 minutes from my house so I can attend this event easily. I had an amazing time there admiring all of the beautiful quilts I saw. These quilters are really so talented, and I thank them for allowing PIQF to display their beautiful work. Here are some of my favorites from this year's convention.

By Kim Butterworth | San Ramon, CA

By Nancy Prince | "Keeping You in Stitches"

Beautiful handwork by a Japanese quilter.

I got some hard-to-find tools, such as YLI hand quilting threads, Japanese taupe fabric, Little House piecing pins, Capital T paper piecing templates, etc. I am thinking to go back to the convention again tomorrow if I have time, but I doubt it. 

See ya next year, PIQF!

Easy Fabric Covered Button Hair Tie

My least favorite day of the year is slowing approaching.... when the sun sets today, no food or drinks will be allowed until the sun sets again tomorrow night. Anyone else out there following this tradition for Yom Kippur? It's so horrible! Anyway, I have the next 24 hours planned so I can be "distracted!" Meanwhile, I want to show you something I made today.

Remember the cute dress for a little girl I finished yesterday? I decided to make the recipient matching hair ties so she can wear them with the dress. I think she will be one very happy girl sporting off her lovely dress and pony tails?

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These were so easy to make! I put together an easy fabric covered button tutorial for you. 

STEP ONE

 

Gather your supplies: fabric scrap, hair tie (duh!), scissor, marker, and upholstery cover buttons. I got mine from JoAnn's fabric. They are cheap, about $4 a pack. Each packet contains the following four tools (shown below) that you will need to make fabric covered buttons. I don't know what these four things are called, so I will just refer to them as tool "A," "B," "C," or "D."

STEP TWO

Use your marker and trace a circle twice the diameter of tool C. This is when you want to think about which part of the fabric you want to cut out for the button.

STEP THREE

Cut the fabric, and place the fabric right side down, over the white mold (tool A). Then, press tool C into tool A (the white mold) with tool B (the blue cap); see picture below. 

STEP FOUR

Remove tool B (the blue cap), this is what it should look like. 

STEP FIVE

Place tool C (the flat metal thing) into the white mold, and use tool B (the blue cap) again to push everything together; it helps if you place everything flat on the table (see image below).

STEP SIX

 Simply remove tool B (the blue cap) and press the bottom of tool A (the white mold) to remove your finished button. 

That's it! These are addicting, I think I may have to make a few more. 

Cute Dress for a Little Girl

You know how sometimes you see something super cute and just feel like you have to make one too? Well, that happened to me this weekend. I was reading Fuzzy Cut's "Another Little Dress and a Big Race" post and fell in love with the little dress she made using Leila & Ben's pattern. I purchased the pattern on Monday, bought the fabric on Tuesday, and finished making it in just two hours tonight; that's what I called sewing on steroids! 

These colors should go well with the girl's complexion.

 

 These floral pattern and colors scream S P R I N G to me, too bad winter has arrived.

This dress was so unbelievably easy to make! I hope the recipient likes it. By the way, I really need to get some labels designed and made so I can put them on my finished products... Any recommendations?

Baby Shower Favors

When it comes to favors I am always the first to volunteer. I enjoyed making wedding shower favors for my own wedding. Not sure if it's the design process or the massive production that I enjoy. This time, I get to design and make baby shower favors! This was my first time, but I am quite happy with what I put together.

Pink baby bottles with smarties and adorable labels made by me :)

I ordered these pink bottles from BeauCoup. I received updates about my order, and it came in two days. I will definitely order from BeauCoup again. I purchases the punches and pink card stock from JoAnn's Fabric today.

If you are reading this and know the special guest of honor, please do not spoil the surprise for her. 

By the way, this is my 100th post! Wow.... thanks to those of you reading my blog, it feels great to know you are out there reading this. Thank you! :)