My sewing frustration has peaked!

Well, I decided that I truly, truly HATE pleats (and zippers!!!)

And here's why: after finally attaching the zipper on my 'work in progress' zipper pouch the darn pleats didn't match up causing me to want to rip out my hair (and the stupid zipper) And when my not-so-trusty seam ripper failed to help me out of my situation I gave up on that bag for the moment.

And seeing how I need a gift for my co-worker today I decided to try something a little easier. A lined coin purse! I still had to work with a zipper, but this one didn't hate me so much!

[Here's a tutorial for making lined zipper pouches]

I used left-over fabric from the fat quarter and my black linen-look stash. I sadly had to use a white zipper but I think it turned out rather well. I just guesstimated the size, it was big enough to hold a necklace (still on the cardboard) and a gift card with extra room, we'll say it's on the large end of coin purse sizes.

I think it turned out pretty well. This is the first thing I've made that was lined with a zipper. So now that I kind of know what I'm doing I might think about finishing the pleated bag...or maybe not.

My Work in Progress!

I found a tutorial for a pleated zipper pouch here and decided that I needed to make one, pronto! This one is for a co-worker's birthday. I've been trying to make all of my co-workers something homemade for their birthdays since I got my sewing machine last Christmas, but I digress. I cut out my pieces (which I measured out as 10" x 6") and I interfaced and marked my pleats. Tomorrow is the big sewing day. Since I have a love/hate relationship with zippers I like to do all of my cutting and other preparations before I even think about sewing. Here are some prep-pictures for your viewing pleasure:

I found this purple fabric in the fat quarter section at Hancock Fabrics. The black is a linen-look fabric that I bought at Joann Fabrics.

Rest in Peace, Michael Jackson.

Sad, sad news in the entertainment world today. Michael Jackson passed away this afternoon. I know that this isn't a craft-related post but MJ was one of my favorite entertainers ever so I feel like I need to post a topic about the awesomeness that was Michael Jackson.

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Rest in Peace Michael!

T-shirt Shrug!

Well, this isn't a really big project or anything but I thought I'd post it anyway. I was going out for my best friend's birthday and I needed something to wear over a tank top so I made a shrug! I got the idea for a t-shirt shrug from EVEnl's tutorial at Cut Out + Keep. I just used an old shirt from Old Navy that was too short for me and some ribbon that I got at work. It was a super-easy project. I think it only took me about 20 minutes.

Please excuse the craptastic pictures and my hair. I took these after I came home from the night out!

Book gift card holder!

My co-worker's birthday was the first of June, so myself and my other co-workers went in on a Border's gift card for her. I decided that we needed a fun holder to put it in, and it came to me...A BOOK! a book gift card holder to hold a bookstore gift card! So here it is...

The cover:
Inside with a gift card pocket and a book plate slot:

Showing the 'pages' (sorry it's a tad blurry!):
Ta-Da!!:


I just made it with the cheapo felt sheets and embroidery floss. It ended up with 4 'pages' which is 2 white rectangles folded in the middle. I ended up putting the spine on to hide my shotty stitch work. Overall, I loved it- it was hard to give up, that's been happening a lot lately! =]

Hip/Sling Bag!

So I made a purse last weekend. It was originally meant for my cousin for her birthday but when I finished the style was way more me than her...so I kept it [yes, I'm evil-I know!] So here it is:

Laying flat on the table:

The inside snap and pocket:

Sorry for the not so clear pictures, the polka dots were getting a little trippy when I was taking the pictures!

Oh, and don't worry about my cousin, I made her a cosmetic bag and gave her a gift card-so she's covered!

New Moon! [Nothing at all to do with crafting but I couldn't resist!]

Well, like every other female in the world I'm hooked on the Twilight Saga, so I feel obligated to post the trailer for New Moon (the second installment of the series) that premiered on the MTV Movie Awards tonight. Once again, this has nothing to do with crafting or my crafty blog but I just had to do it! Enjoy! =]

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON trailer