Crochet Zipper Clutch DIY

 

School is coming soon for me! I start in 5 days! So excited! Except that I've only finished one of my back to school projects. Eek! Of course, having my finger out of commission was unfortunate. It's a little better now - I finally stopped using the splint, which means I can crochet again! So, let's all enjoy a crochet tutorial.

I realize this is more of a "How-I-Did-It" than a tutorial since I don't have specific stitch numbers, but hopefully this can help you make one if you so choose.

As school begins, I really wanted a pencil pouch. I have about two dozen pens and pencils I like to bring to school - I love colour choices when I write notes. :-) Of course, the only pencil pouches I could find that weren't too childish were too ordinary.

Snore.

So I sat for days and stared at this thing, wondering what I could do to make it less snooze-worthy. I considered embroidering it, but couldn't think of a pattern I wanted to do. I thought about just sewing some simple buttons onto it, but I didn't have a whole lot of buttons in my stash that I really liked. I almost painted it, but I only have one colour of fabric paint. SO WHAT ELSE IS THERE?!

Crochet of course!! I decided to crochet a little shell for this pouch with some of my scrap yarn. My yarn bin is overflowing, so I'm always looking for good projects to use up my bits and pieces.

As I was making this, I was thinking that this would make a great pouch for anything - pens, paintbrushes, crochet hooks, I could even use it as a little purse! Anyway, let's do this.

This pink yarn has a little sparkle in it, and it's really sort of special to me. It was the first yarn I bought and brought to my Mom's so that she could teach me how to crochet. I also used it (along with a bright blue yarn) to make my first crocheted piece - a super bright scarf. :-)

To start this clutch, chain until it is long enough to wrap around the case and slip stitch into the first chain. Make sure there are no twists in the chain! Keep single crocheting in the round until it gets tall enough to fit over the clutch. Sew one end closed so that it makes a little pouch.

(I ran out of pink before it was tall enough, but I found some sparkle black yarn, so I guess it's a colour-blocked pouch).

The top of the shell should reach to the zipper. That's how you know it's ready.

I crocheted a little scallop edge on the top to add a little feminine touch, but if this pencil pouch is being made for a boy, you'd probably want to avoid this step. :-)

Embellish the pouch with buttons, ribbons, embroidery, whatever you want!

Sew the pouch into the shell with matching thread. I did it about 1/4" below the zipper. I (obviously) did the sewing by hand, but if you're more skilled than I am you could use a machine.

Finished! Stuff it full of your pens, cash, marbles (so you don't lose them!), or anything else you want!

Keep in mind that this could be done with ANY zipper bag. Get creative! Do this over a thermal bag and take your lunch with you (that's actually a really good idea.... I might have to do that)! Do this with a larger bag and use it to keep crayons and notebooks together for you kids, or use it as a first aid kit, or to keep diapers and wipes together in your diaper bag (I'm going to be honest, I don't have kids so I don't know if that's an issue or not, but you get the idea). Possibilities for customization are endless, and those are my favourite kinds of projects.

I have a lot of great projects lined up, so I'm sure I'll be back with more soon. :-)

Finally!

I'm finally done with all of my August gifts! Hooray! Now I can finally get going on my back to school projects. Or I can even read a book (Currently I'm in the middle of Anathem by Neal Stephenson)!

As promised, here are the photos of my finished projects. If you would like me to make a tutorial for any of these just let me know!

A watermelon hat for my niece's first birthday. I miscalculated the size of it (by a lot - this was my first time not using a pattern), so I had to weave some ribbon around the brim to tighten it (I really didn't want to start all over). This way the hat is going to poof so she'll look like Strawberry Shortcake, and she can have the hat pretty much forever since she can't grow out of it.

Total cost: $20 for yarn (I wanted to try my hand using the higher-quality yarn at my local yarn shop).

This is my nephew's fort kit. I made it out of a flat bed sheet, pillow case, clothesline, clothespins, and a flashlight. I sewed a cinch into the pillow case, and crocheted a pouch to hold the clothespins. The Fort Sam sign is just fabric paint on a piece of scrap fabric that he can pin to his fort when he sets it up.

Total cost: $21.

The Kindle case for my sister-in-law. I lined the inside with red satin (the top picture). This is the first time I've ever lined anything I've crocheted. I really hope she likes it - I unfortunately don't know her very well, but I know she likes blue and loves her Kindle. This shade of blue that I used looked so perfect with red (I know, the picture quality really isn't that good).

Total cost: $0 (What I didn't have on hand I was able to get from family members).

My mom's bookmark. I crocheted this out of embroidery floss to make it nice and thin. My mom loves vintage books, and I had one that I had bought to do another craft with, but I decided against that for right now. I love making bookmarks, and I think this is one of my prettiest. :-)

Total cost: $3 (for the book).

Dave's niece's ponchos - one for her and one for her new American Girl doll. I had originally planned to make them other matching accessories (like hats and scarves), but I ran out of time. Oh well - that just means I have a lot of time to make those for Xmas - maybe a whole winter set? :-)

Total cost: $0.

Some other fun stuff that's been happening lately:

My mom had a bunch of pots that she wanted to get rid of, and this is the one I got. I replanted my cactus that I got from Walgreens into it. I also discovered that repotting a cactus without gloves HURTS. Even in places where you think there are no spines there are painful spines.

My mom found a craft book that she had bought in the '70s. This is such a cool book, because it's like vintage squared - the book is about crafts that were big in the 1900s-1930s. It actually has a lot of really cool embroidery patterns in the last couple of chapters - I'm excited to try them out!

Well, that's all my fun stuff going on. Until next time! :-)

DIY Hardcover Needlebook

It's Monday and I'm done with work (hooray!). I have a great big pile of projects that need to get done before Wednesday in front of me (I have 3 projects to start and one to finish), but I like to procrastinate, so.... here we go. :-) I'm sure I'll be just fine. I'll post pictures of them when they are completed, and I might even add a tutorial for one of them. We'll see.

August is a hectic month for me. It is my mom's birthday, my sister-in-law's birthday, my nephew's birthday, my niece's birthday, and Dave's niece's birthday all at once. It's also back to school time, so I have to get all of those crafts started and finished.... Eep! So this year since I'm totally broke they all get handmade gifts - mostly crocheted, because I have a huge stockpile of yarn. If yarn could ever be used as currency I'll be sitting pretty. :-)

In my procrastination, I decided to quickly do my second tutorial. Over the weekend I wanted to make a needlebook (needle book? One word or two?), and as I love hardcover books more than paperback, I decided that my needlebook had to be hardcover as well. It's only right. I will admit, the pins and needles are a little trickier to get into the felt, but it's so cute that it's totally worth it. This project took me a long time to make, but I had to work out the measurements and kinks, so it will probably take you less time. I also hand-sewed the entire thing, so if you decide to use a sewing machine it will take no time at all.

Feel free to leave a comment or email me at littlecraftyfox@gmail.com if you have any questions! Keep in mind I am fairly new to the photo tutorial world, so any helpful hints you may have would be fabulous! I apologize in advance for the poor photo quality. I'm not a photographer (obviously). :-)

So here we go!

First let's look at the supplies you'll need....

1. An old cardboard binder (I have been madly in hate with this one for so long. Finally I get to get it out of my house).

2. Felt. You'll need two rectangles that measure 6" x 9.25" each. (Have you seen the cool patterned felt they have out there now?? Possibilities are endless!)

3. Ribbon to match your felty colour scheme.

4. Scissors (of course).

*Not pictured (mostly because I'm lazy)*

5. Needle and thread (Easily thread the needle using your handy-dandy Wine Cork Needle Threader! :-P)

6. Any embellishments you would like (fabric paint, buttons, embroidery floss, etc).

**I had all this stuff on hand, so total cost for me was $0!!**

Let's get started!

1. Cut one of the covers off of your binder. This can be a little tricky since the cardboard is thick, so you may want to use something stronger than scissors.

2. Cut two rectangles that measure 3.75" x 5". Set them aside.

3. Cut 21" of ribbon and stitch it onto the felt you are going to use as the outside cover of your needlebook (or I suppose you could glue it). Make sure you match up the middle of your ribbon with the middle of your felt so that the extra ribbon is even.

4. Embellish the cover any way you like. You can use felt pieces, embroidery, crochet appliques (like me! I used this pattern to make my flower out of embroidery floss), fabric paint, beads, or pretty much anything else you can think of. Just be certain that you are really happy with how it looks before you continue with the project. Trying to decorate the cover after you continue gets a lot harder (as I discovered).

5. Pin the two pieces right sides out (as in you will not turn them inside-out after you're done stitching) and sew three sides together using either a matching or contrasting thread. I recommend sewing the two sides and top of the felt, leaving the bottom open. I used a basic running stitch.

6. Slide the two cardboard pieces into the felt pocket and stitch up the bottom.

7. You're so close!

**At this point if you would like to add pages to your book now would be the time to do it. Cut felt that is 8.5" x 5.25" and run a quick stitch around the edge. Add pockets, elastic, buttons, pouches, whatever you want to those pages. Then pin it to the inside of your book and do the next step through all layers of felt at once. I was going to put a page in mine, but I'm a beginning embroidery enthusiast, so I don't have many pins and needles that need organizing. :-)

8. Sew along the outside of the cardboard that is inside the felt. This creates a good foldable middle for your book.

9. Fill your book with all manner of pins and needles! (As you can see I wasn't kidding when I said I don't have many pins and needles that I use!) I crocheted another flower and stuck it into the corner of the inside as a little extra bit of happy. :-)

All finished!

Obviously you can see that I tried to decorate my book even more after I had stitched the book together. I had to use fabric paint because I couldn't sew anymore, but I still like it. :-)

If you use this tutorial to make your own, please post a link to the picture of your finished product! I would so love to see it!!

And because I can....

This is my cat Oliver. He loves to hug and play fetch (not kidding). I think it's hilarious that he plays fetch, so I decided to offer some photographic evidence (it's blurry because he wouldn't pose for me). He will play until he gets so tired that he collapses and pants - it's so great. :-)

Enjoy your week!

DIY Wine Cork Needle Threader (Or My First Tutorial)

Happy Saturday to you! I have the day off today, and Dave is working, so that means I've got lots of free time to work on my projects. Next in line is a needle book. Woo!

Today marks the day I make my very first tutorial. As it is my first, I hope it is clear. I really like the photo tutorials that really walk you through what to do so that I know what I'm doing is right. Please leave a comment and let me know if you like it, what I can change, etc. It would be super helpful!

After I saw this tutorial for a felt needle threader, I decided to try it out for myself (by the way, I'm in love with that website - that girl is amazing). However, after trying it out, I decided I needed a little more solid handle. So after lots of thinking and searching through my desk and junk drawer, I found the perfect thing: the Cupcake wine cork I had been saving for something awesome (though I didn't know what). There was already a hole in it from the corkscrew, so that just made it even more perfect. So exciting! Making this classy needle threader was super easy and took almost no time (if you ignore glue drying time). Enjoy!
**Side note: Apologies for the poor quality photos! D:

*          *          *

Supplies Needed

1. Wine Cork

2. Needle Threader

3. Scissors

4. Tacky Glue

5. Masking Tape

6. Paint (Whatever colour you want!)

**I had all these supplies on hand, so total cost was $0!!**

1. Cut the top half of the needle threader off. I also cut the corners off of the bottom just to round it out. NOTE: Don't try to just pull the wire out of the threader. I tried and completely broke it. Luckily I found another threader in my portable sewing kit. Phew!

2. Fold the top of the threader (is it made of aluminum?) in half so it will fit in the hole made by the corkscrew. If there is no hole made by a corkscrew (how did you get it out of the bottle?!), you could always drill one, or if you don't have a drill (like me) you could use a hammer and nail, I suppose. Just please be careful!

3. Fill the hole in the cork with Tacky Glue (or really whatever kind of glue you choose. Tacky Glue has never let me down in the past).

4. Gently push the threader into the hole.

5. Let it dry. Mine took hours to dry - I ended up having to finish it the next morning. To see if the glue was dry I tugged on the wire a little (very gently!) - if there was any give it wasn't ready yet. Also, I found that as it dried, the glue sank down and there was still an indentation. Don't be afraid to put more glue into the hole if you need it - you want it as flush with the top of the cork as possible.

6. After the glue is COMPLETELY dry, use the masking tape and tape off the edge of the cork. It's okay if it isn't perfect, that just makes it individual and special. :-) I decided not to tape off the wire because it is so thin and fragile.

7. Carefully paint an even coat onto the top of the cork. I used Berry Wine from Folk Art - I really love that brand. It seems to come in any colour I need.

8. Let it dry. This only took about an hour. NOTE: I ran my fingernail along the edge of the paint, and it is more than easy to scrape off if you make a mistake. You could always skip this painting part, but I think it looks better painted.

You are finished, my friend!

If you use this tutorial to make your own, please post a link to the picture of your finished product! I would so love to see it!!

Enjoy your weekend!

And so it begins

I've wanted a blog for a long time. I love visiting crafty-type blogs, so why not start one of my own? So over a bowl of my man's chicken spaghetti (which is one of my very favourite meals he makes) and my cat sleeping by my side I have decided to do just that.

WELCOME TO THE BLOGGING UNIVERSE, ME!

Thank you, me.

I have a lot of great crafty ideas, and I want to share them with the world. What better way to do that than with the interwebs? I may not have the most professional-looking blog, but I'll evolve. I'll get there. I BELIEVE IN ME.

Expect posts about crochet, embroidery, poor man's projects, and who knows what else. I'm not a professional crafter (more like an enthusiast), and I don't have a store or anything (yet), but there's still time.

**Side note: Once upon a time, I started this blog on a Wordpress account. After much neglect of that blog, I figured it'd be much, much easier to move my Wordpress posts to a Blogger one, since I use many of Google's other products already. Thus my Blogger adventure begins!