soft and floppy, two toned crochet basket

 

Supplies:

H Hook
Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Cherry Red
Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Aran

Of course you can use any colors you would like to match your décor. These are going in our office to put pens and things in, so I went with red and white to match.
Abbreviations:

SS: Slip Stitch
SC: Single Crochet
DC: Double Crochet
CH: Chain

You can find how to do all of these on YouTube.

Pattern:

**Make sure you are grabbing both colors of yarn for every stitch**

You can start with a magic ring our you can do a simple alternative to the magic ring:  CH2 and work all your stitches in the second CH from the hook. Do not count the 1st CH you skipped as a stitch.

Round 1: 10 SC into the center of the magic ring or in your CH 2 space. Pull tight.

Round 2: CH 3. 2 DC in each SC around. (20 DC)

Round 3: CH 3. *2 DC in next DC. DC in next DC. Repeat from * around. Join to top of CH 3. (30 DC)

Round 4: CH 3. *2 DC in next DC. DC in next 2 DC. Repeat from * around. Join to top of CH 3. (40 DC)

Round 5: CH 3. *2 DC in next DC. DC in next 7 DC. Repeat from * around. Join to top of CH 3. (45 DC)

Rounds 6-9 (or however tall you want your basket): CH 3. DC in each DC around. Joint to top of CH 3. (45 DC)

Round 10: Drop one color of yarn. CH 4. *Skip a stitch and DC in next stitch. CH 1. Repeat from * around. Join to the 3rd CH from bottom of your CH 4.

Round 11: CH 4. *DC in to each CH 1 space from previous row. Repeat from * around. Join to the 3rd CH from bottom of your CH 4.

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Enjoy.

 

 

Tutorial Tuesday {coin purse}

Ready for back to school? I don't have to worry about it yet, although I miss school sometimes. What better to send your kids lunch money to school with than a cute coin pouch. Great for girls or boys!

Material Needed

1. two pieces of fabric cut to equal size 7 x 9 1/2"

2. piece of batting that is 6 1/2 x 9 1/2" {you won't see it unless you're using see through fabric}

3. zipper that is at least 9 inches long or longer

4. straight pins

5. scissors

6. ruler

7. sewing machine

8. zipper foot for your machine

Cut out your pieces of fabric and batting. I used the same fabric for the inside and outside, but you can do contrasting if you would like. I just used scrap fabric that I had laying around and had enough for both.

My suggestion would be to cut the batting the same length, but not the same width. This will keep it from bulking up the seams.

 Lay your outer fabric wrong side up and place the piece of batting on top of it. Center the batting, it should be about 1/4" shorter on each side. The length should be the same.

 Lay your inner piece wrong side down on top, so the batting is sandwiched in between your two pieces.

Pin it together.

Using a basting stitch {which is the longest stitch on your machine} sew all 4 sides together.
I tired to show the long stitches in this picture, but it didn't turn out too well!

Now for the zipper. Switch your regular foot to a zipper foot. Don't be intimidated. I used to never want to make anything with a zipper but once you do it for the first time you won't be afraid anymore. Hopefully this is an easy way to break you in!

Lay your sewn piece lining side face up on top of your zipper. Make sure your zipper is facing up too. The zipper handle should be facing towards the ceiling.

Line the edge of your fabric up with the top of the zipper.

This is where it might get a little confusing for you. I didn't really take enough pictures to show you either and for that I'm sorry. But I will try and explain it with words the best I can.

Bend the piece you just sewed back so that the outer fabric is facing up. Then fold it in half and place the other end along the edge of the zipper like in the picture. Your zipper should still be facing up. If you have any questions about this, email me and let me know. I can try and explain it or make another and take some better pictures.

At this point, you're going to want to unzip your zipper a bit. Make sure you do this step. If you don't you will end up sewing your purse shut without a way to get it open again.

As you can see in this picture, how the edges are folded under near the opening of the zipper. That's what it should look like if you did the steps above correctly. {if you could understand my horrible explanation}

Top stitch along both sides of your zipper. This will help keep your folds in place.  I didn't take a picture of this part either but I'm pretty sure you know how to top stitch. {If not, let me know and I can do a little tutorial for ya!}

Turn the purse inside out so the zipper is facing the inside. Now, you should decide where you want your zipper placed. You can move it down, up, in the middle, or on the top. Totally up to you. I chose to have my a little off center.

Sew a 1/4" seam along the two edges. Make sure you sew over your zipper a couple times {neatly} so that your zipper doesn't slip or fray after you cut it.

Trim the excess off of your zipper and you seams if you don't want a lot of seam showing on the inside.

Snip your corners so you have nice crisp points.

This is what you should have before you turn it right side out.

Flip it right side out and poke your corners out. I use a pen that is retracted. {you know a clicker pen} But you can use whatever you want.

And there you have it. A cute coin purse for you littles to take with them to school. Or an extra change carrier if you're like me and never spend your change. Then it ends up bulking up my wallet, so I carry one of these and it doesn't do that! You also have enough space in there to carry an ID or credit card if you don't feel like carrying around your purse or wallet.

Tutorial Tuesday {Make-Up Brush Travel Case}

This project cost me $0 at the time. I had everything I needed laying around the house. There's always something you can do with those extra scraps of stuff laying around. I never throw any fabric or interfacing away because you never know what you can make out of it!!! {thanks Pinterest}

Materials Needed:

1. 3 pieces of fabric that are 10x11inch –contrasting, coordinating or all the same

{I used contrasting because I used scraps that I had}

one piece for lining, one piece for the top, and one piece for your brush pocket

2. 1 9.25×10.25 piece of interfacing {whatever kind you have on hand...I had fusable so thats what I used. I would suggest using a lighter weight interfacing than I used because it was hard to roll up at the end}

3. 16-17 inches of ribbon {I used bias tape because it's what I had on hand. If I made another one, I would definitely buy some good ribbon}

4. Scissors

5. Ruler

6. Iron

7. Straight Pins

8. Sewing Machine

Cut out all your necessary pieces of fabric and interfacing. Like I said in the materials needed, I would use a smaller guage than what I used because it was hard to roll up the fabric at the end and it also made the pockets a little tight.

Then fuse (iron or sew) the interfacing onto the back of what will be the inside of your case. You should have a little bit of extra fabric hanging out the side. My pieces are sort of "pieced" together because I didn't have one big piece.

Iron your pocket piece in half. The measurements should now be 5x11

Now it's time to mark out where your pockets are going to be. As I say in all my tutorials...please, please, please don't use black sharpie to draw your lines on. I just do this for tutorial purposes only! I also used a zig zag white stitch so you could see where I had stitched.

Your measurements will be 2" for the big pockets {one on each end} and 1" for the smaller pockets. Remember to leave a 1/2" seam allowance on the outside edges so you will measure in a total of 2 1/2" from each side if you start your big pockets on the outside. I suggest this because its easier to roll the smaller brushes up in the middle.

Line your pocket up with your inside lining piece and pin in place

Stitch your along your pocket lines. You don't have to sew around the outside edge, because you will do this when you sew the whole thing together. That way you won't have two stitch lines at the end.

Time to add your ribbon which will hold the case closed. It doesn't really matter which side you put it on. Take your outside piece and place it right side up. Fold your ribbon in half and place the folded edge on which ever side you want it on about 4" from the bottom edge.

Then, place your lining piece pocket side down facing the right side of your outside piece and pin in place.

Use 1/2" seam allowance and sew your pieces together. Remember this should be sewn inside out.

Again, I drew the seam allowance on so you could see where it should be.

Leave a 3 or 4" gap at the top of your case so you can flip it right side out when you're finished. You don't want to have an inside out case. :) Snip your corners before you turn it right side out so you don't have bulk underneath.

This is what you should have after your flip it around. As you can see in this picture my interfacing made it a little bulky.

Tuck in your open edges where you flipped the case right side out.

Iron your piece flat 

Top stitch the whole way around the case using 1/4" seam allowance.

Fold down your top pice about 2". This will allow the tops of your brused to have a little more protection while traveling.

Sorry this isn't very well lit. My sewing room has a total amount of 0 natural light so the lighting is less than ideal.

Sew the top of the fold about 1/4" in.

Fill 'er up with your brushes. I don't have enough to fill the whole bag {umm...why?} so I spread 'em out a little!

Roll it up and tie it with a bow or sailors knot. There you have it! :) Safe travels for the brushes!

If you have any questions, or need something further explained please email me!!

theordinarywifeblog{at}gmail{dot}com

This might be a perfect project for our Homemade Craft Swap! Check it out!

Tutorial Tuesday {Beach Towel Beach Bag}

This might be a little late since summer is almost over! Maybe just in time for that end of summer vacation?!

Materials Needed:

1. Beach towel {size depends on how big you want your bag}

2. Scissors

3. Marking tool {disclosure-I'm only using sharpie for tutorial purposes, please don't use a sharpie on your project}

3. Ruler or measuring tool

4. Sewing Machine

Ok. Another disclosure...this is an old tablecloth that my husband's granny gave me. It was stained up and I didn't want to use it for our table so I decided to make a bag out of it. You want have to do some of the steps that I'm doing if you just use a regular towel.

I traced one of our normal beach towels to get the desired size that I wanted. I think it was like 60x20 or something like that. When I got to this point I realized that it was going to be a little too big for me so I cut it down to about 50x20.

Fold your towel in half and decide if it's the size you like. If you have kids, keep in mind that they might be carrying it too and you don't want them to be dragging it on the ground {even though its super easy to wash} or sagging so you don't want to make it too oversized.

At this point I had to hem the tops of my bag because I didn't use a regular towel that has that hard hemmed edge on it. You can skip this step if you're using a regular towel. If not, I will explain here how to do it.

To hem, use your straight edged ruler and mark down 1/4". Iron flat. Fold over again another 1/4" and iron flat. Pin and sew. Sew close to the edge closest to the inside {fabric} so you make sure you get your inside fold when you're sewing it.

I also wanted a pocket on the inside of mine. If you don't want want to make your bag super easy, just skip this step.

Figure out how big you would like your pocket to be. Mine is 5"x7" which is big enough to fit my iPhone and keys and maybe a few dollars.

Hem the edges of your pocket following the same steps as above for hemming. You want to have a nice finished edge on your pocket so make sure you do this step if you're putting one in.

Pin your pocket evenly in the middle of your bag. Your measurements might be different than mine, but I pinned mine 6" from each edge and 4" from the top.

Sew in your pocket. Make sure you only sew 3 of the sides leaving the top open. {hence the pocket}

 Pin the three unfinished sides of your bag together and sew. I used 1/2" seam allowance on each side. If you want to make sure your lines are straight, you can draw your seam allowances on to your fabric. Just make sure you use something that will wash off or not be visable when you sew over top of it.

Now for the straps

My straps measured 20"x 2 1/2". You can adjust the length and width to your desire. As you can see in the finished picture that my straps aren't too long but long enough to carry the bag on your shoulder. You will need for pieces of material that are 20"x 2 1/2". You can either cut two pieces of material that are 20"x 5" and fold them in half or use scrap pieces to make them. I used scrap pieces.

Pin your pieces together right sides together {wrong sides facing up}. Sew your strips of fabric together on the long sides leaving the ends open. This will allow you to be able to turn them right side out when you're finished. For this I used 1/4" seam allowance

When you're finished sewing all the long sides together, flip your pieces inside out so the right side is on the outside

You should have two pieces that look like this. Long tubes really.

Once you have them flipped right side out, you will need to top stich down both long edges of your straps. Again here I used 1/4" seam allowance. This will give you nice finished edges for your straps. 

Measure in and down to where you want your straps to be. The outside dot is 2" from the edge and the inside one is 4" and 4" from the top. Make sure you make the marks on both sides of your pocket. Again...don't use black sharpie I just did it for demonstration purposes! If you used 1/4" seam allowances for your straps, you should have a 2" wide strap now so it will fit perfectly between the dots.

Sew the straps on to your bag. You can pin them in place if you would like so you make sure they don't move. Sew your straps on in a pattern like in the picture. This will make sure your straps are on there nice and strong. I didn't show this in the picture, but make sure when you get to the bottom of your srap that you tuck the unfinished edge under so you don't have uneven ends like in the picture.

And there you have it...a nice strong beach bag that you can wash all of the nasty sand out of. Now...if only I went to the beach all the time. Ok, ok...a pool bag then right?

Splish Splash!