I've been sewing. a lot. I've been knitting too - I'm *this* close to finishing my Smock - but I've just been feeling the urge to sew lately! (It's a nice change from my first trimester, when I didn't feel like doing anything, especially sewing.)

First up: a yoga mat bag! I'm going to prenatal yoga twice a week, and I almost bought a little bag for my mat at REI, and then I realized that I could make one with some stash fabric.

Amy Butler fabric + yoga mat bag = hooray. I used this tutorial from Bored & Crafty, and borrowed the measurements from Jess's blog post. I just used some ribbon for the drawstring, although I might end up trimming it or using something else later. I lined it with some heavy linen that I had laying around, and it fits perfectly. This was a super quick and easy project!

Next: placemats! We've been eating dinner with friends at our house a lot lately, and we have a nice new-old dining room table from Jacob's parents, but no placemats. I have no idea why - they're probably packed up in our crawlspace upstairs somewhere. BUT! why not just make some?

New placemats make the table look better.

For these I used an Orla Kiely tablecloth half that I'd been saving for the perfect project, some solids from my scrap bin, and some super heavy interfacing. I'm really happy with the way they turned out - even Jacob approved. I used this tutorial to make them. She actually does binding around the edges, and I'd planned on doing a binding with the Orla Kiely fabric but I didn't have enough left over. So, I just decided to sew the right sides together, leave a hole, turn them inside out, and then top stitch. easy peasy!

and finally: my first baby-related project! a diaper bag!

I'm so proud - can you tell?

I love love this bag. It's completely lined in vinyl, has pockets galore, including a back zipper pocket, and is super sturdy.

I used this fantastic tutorial over at A Mingled Yarn, and seriously, I can't say enough about how great it is. I'm not a new sewist, but I'm not advanced AT ALL - I've learned everything from books and the Internets, and friends who are nice enough to help me. The tutorial for this bag is so clear, with great instructions and pictures, and gave me confidence that I could actually make the bag, even when I was scared of all the fabric and vinyl that I was cutting out. hee.

like this moment, when I was like, WHAT AM I DOING.

It's a great tutorial! and it would make a great bag for anything, not just diapers. I mean, who wouldn't want all these pockets in their bag?

pockets!

I was so happy and excited when I finished - I kept parading around the house with my bag, and Jacob was nice enough to keep exclaiming over it. Har.

So yay for sewing! I think I've probably got some more patterns to try out soon...do you have any favorite sewing tutorials?

Posted by Carrieoke at 4:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (31)