Hi folks,

I know I've told you that when I'm getting ready for a trip, I like to make a new bag to take with me. Well, when I'm getting ready for company, sometimes I like to make new throw pillows. You might remember this proverb quilt that I posted about last week:I was really intrigued by the idea of letter quilt blocks, so I headed home that night with a project in mind. I don't have time for a full quilt right now, but I do have a big pile of scraps, and I enjoy free-style/improvisational piecing. After a couple false starts....

If seam ripping is required and it's after 10 pm, it's time to quit for the night.

...I woke up in the middle of the night on Friday and thought: Foundation piece it! Last night I finally had the chance to sit down with my scraps and my sewing machine to turn out this pillow.

I made it from scraps left over from the stacked coin quilt I made as a couch throw (you can see part of it there on the left), and once I had the foundation-piecing breakthrough, the pillow came together pretty quickly.

The fabric is Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope from Free Spirit, (with some plain brown cotton from Fabricland). I backed the pillow with a square of the cheater print from her County Fair line.

This is a great stash-buster project and I think it would make a great present for a child who's just learning his or her letters – or for someone who loves unique monograms.

Hi friends,

Remember when it was custom to bring an apple for teacher on the first day of school? That's immediately what jumped to mind when I saw this:

From Craftapalooza, via Whipup.

Visit Craftapalooza to find the tutorial and templates. Via Whipup.

(Also, rickrack? Awesome.)

Have a great day!

Happy Friday!

I don't know about you, but I can't wait to bust out of here for the weekend. I'm hoping for that perfect mix of beach time and sewing...what? A girl can hope, can't she?

In the spirit of yesterday's post, I thought I'd end the week with a round-up of some sewing websites/blogs/forums that I've found handy as I've learned to sew. There's nothing as educational as actual hands-on experience, of course, but a good how-to book or website goes a long way.

• label-free provides sewing resources, hints, tricks and tips for people who want to make their own clothes. Check out the interfacing and sewing-machine needle guides, the links to free patterns, and the book recommendations, all listed in the right sidebar.
• Sew Mama Sew is more than just an online store; check out their impressively active blog and forum for project ideas, how-tos, and handy Q+As.
• The Purl Bee has a great list of patchwork and sewing tutorials (see left-hand sidebar) and a glossary, plus tons of project ideas.
• BurdaStyle is part sewing how-to, part social-networking, part buy-and-sell. Open-source patterns mean you don't have to pay to use them and you can update/alter them as  you please.
• And on a slightly different note, not too long ago Alicia at Posy Gets Cozy asked her readers "Do you sew?" She got almost 1,250 responses, and some of the stories are just great. Reading them is almost as good as sitting down at the sewing machine (except you won't get all those little threads all over your lap!).

Do you have a favourite sewing blog or website? It'd be great if you'd share it in the comments. And don't forget, you've got until 5 p.m. today to enter this week's contest.

See you on Monday, hopefully with another new shirt to share!

Hello, crafters!

It's another rainy May day here in Toronto (blech). While I wait for the sun to reappear,  I thought I'd answer another question from the list I gathered during last week's giveaway. Last week, Jeannine asked:

I want to make a bag out of plastic bags. I have so many plastic grocery bags…so rather than throw them out, I’d like to crochet a bag. How would I do that?

Well, Jeannine, today's your lucky day! I did a little searching around the Canadian Living website, and found you not one, but two, patterns for crocheted carryalls made with recycled plastic bags.

If you're interested in making this project but don't know one end of a crochet hook from the other, you'll probably find this crochet tutorial handy.

Like the idea of recycling yourself a new totebag, but fancy a sewing project instead? Why not try this juice-bag totebag?

As always, I'd love to see what you make with these directions – leave a link in the comments, or send me an email (agilliland[AT]canadianliving[DOT]com).

Don’t forget about this week’s giveaway: Hooked for Life: Adventures of a Crochet Zealot by Mary Beth Temple. Leave a comment on Monday’s post for your chance to win. Entries are open until tomorrow at 5 p.m.

Have a great day!

Hi there,

I just love it when readers write in to tell me about something they've made using a pattern from Canadian Living.Today, let's have a look at the shaving kit that reader Tarryl Brown made for her finacé, using the instructions from the His'n'Hers Travel Mates that appeared in the May issue. Tarryl writes:

"I love your magazine!  You always have great craft ideas, but I never take the time to try them!  I saw this pattern for a shaving kit in May 2009, and decided that it was time!  My fiancé needed a new shaving kit, and I found a piece of camoflauge canvas that worked perfectly!  I've been looking all over for a new shaving kit for him, but didn't find anything that I liked!  He loves it!  Thank you so much for the pattern!"

The shaving kit that Tarryl made.

Tarryl, I'm glad that you liked the pattern - and that your fiancé likes his new shaving kit. It looks great!

Do you have a project from the pages of Canadian Living that you’d like to share? Leave a link in the comments or send me an email, and I’ll post about it here.

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday. Cheers!

Hello!

Chances are that you've got your hands on a copy of the May issue of Canadian Living by now. (It's the one with the fabulous cupcakes on the cover – and yes, they taste just as good as they look!) This issue was exciting for me because it marked the first time I'd ever had a craft published.

Like the best crafts, that travel bag was invented out of necessity and refined over time. Since I moved to Toronto I've been lucky enough to be able to travel to see my family in Niagara fairly frequently. I keep my overnight bag ready, so that when the urge strikes to go for a visit, I can just take the bag with me on Friday morning, then head straight to the train station after work. The one problem? Remembering to pack my toothbrush! That's where this travel bag comes in. It's the perfect size to hold a weekend's worth of toiletries (and a spare toothbrush).

I think I made – and unmade – about five versions of these bags before I came up with something I liked enough to bring to work for show-and-tell.  It took a few more tweaks, such as adding the ribbon tabs near the zippers and experimenting with different kinds of interfacing, before I came up with the published version. (Don't tell anyone, but several of those test cases became Christmas presents!)

These bags are fairly straightforward and easy enough for a novice sewer; it's all straight seams. The one thing that I found difficult to explain was the process of creating the boxed corners. One thing that helped me was to mark the seam line before I refolded the corner, as seen below:

Doing this makes it easier to place and mark the seam line once you've refolded the corner. (The process sounds complicated, but it's like a game of cards: much easier when you're actually "playing a hand.") I found it easiest to fold, mark and pin all four corners at once; it was faster, and I could make sure the seam lengths were even without having to employ my trusty seam ripper.

Once all the corners were marked and pinned, it was quick work to sew and trim the corners before turning the bag inside out and starting to work on the lining.

I've made several of these bags as gifts now, and they're always a hit. Why not give one to your daughter as she heads away for her first sleepover, or make one for your husband's bowling shoes? A bag made up in a pretty fabric then fill it with fancy toiletries would be a nice Mother's Day gift. And while you're at it,  you could sew one for yourself to hold your yarn and knitting needles, so that your commuter knitting doesn't get all tangled up in your purse!

Have you tried this pattern? How did it turn out? Did you have any questions? I'd love to know - leave questions, comments and links in the comments section, or email me with your photos for the Great Results Roundup

Two quick notes:

• Don't forget to leave a comment on Monday's post to qualify for a chance to win a copy of Mother-Daughter Knits by Sally Melville and her daughter Caddy Melville Ledbetter, just in time for Mother's Day. One entry per person, please.
• Can't get enough of Make+Do? Sign up for "Get Crafty," my e-newsletter, set to launch May 11. The first newsletter is full of suggestions for things to make and do as we head into summer. Don't miss it!

That's all for now. Keep crafting!