Happy October!

Happy October! This is my favorite month..... pumpkins, mums, cooler weather and dressing up in costumes!

October ushers in Fall colors and Halloween fun! Click here for Halloween tutorials to make fun decorations, cute costumes and fancy treat bags. Even Halloween quilts!

How to Make a Piggyback Pocket

Look at these cute little pockets! I love them. This would be a nice little something different and special to add to your projects.

Click here to learn how to make a Piggyback Pocket.

October Sewing Project - Purse Organizer

You've probably noticed that my posts have been a little scarce lately. The pregnancy and move have left me little time (and motivation) to do much else but eat, sleep, and pack so I was thrilled to get this suggestion for our club sewing project (thanks Lorena). A Purse Organizer for organizing your necessities so that it makes the transition to another purse in your collection easier as you're running out the door. What a great idea! Click here for the purse organizer tutorial.

Sewing Machine Organizer Tutorial

Great idea from our club member Lorena..... (I apologize for the poor photo quality.... I can't find my good camera!)

She made her sewing machine organizer to meet her needs by combining two different tutorials. I love the little basket for stray threads!

Make your own Sewing Machine Organizer with the help of the following tutorials:

http://www.rainydayquiltschool.com/sewing_machine_organizer2.htm

http://www.sewmamasew.com/store/media/blog/SMSPincushionOrganizer.pdf

Sewing Project Ideas

One of our club members put together a list of quick and simple project ideas in case you are in need of sewing inspiration. I added a few ideas of my own too. Click each idea to see a tutorial or pattern.

For Mom's or Mommy's to Be: Great website for patterns and ideas makebabystuff.com

• Burp Cloths
• Nursing Covers
• Changing Pads
• Diaper/Wipe Clutches
• Wet Bag
• Pacifier clips
• Pillowcase dresses

Christmas gift ideas:

• Drink coasters
• Tissue Holder
• Grocery Bag Holder
• Aprons
• Business Card Holders
• Tote Bags
• Cloth Napkins
• Neck Ties

For your Home:

• Iron Board Covers
• Duvet Covers
• Hourglass Pillow
• Dining Chair Covers

Thanks for the ideas Lindsey! If anyone has any project ideas, patterns or tutorials you would like share please email them to me.......I love to see what everyone is working on!

Fabric Pinwheel Tutorial

When we made our pimpin sewing machine covers Lorena adorned hers with a little fabric pinwheel.

I loved it so much that I "borrowed" her idea and supersized mine.

These would be great to adorn bags or little girl's dresses too. Here are more pinwheels (the designer actually calls them yo yos) in action....

Click here for the fabric pinwheel / yo yo tutorial.

Nap Mat Tutorial

One of our members made this super cute nap mat for her little girl who is headed to Mother's Day Out.

Click here to check out the nap mat tutorial she used. (Thanks for sharing Lorena!)

Fabric Frog Tutorial

My cousin is expecting a baby boy and she chose frogs as her nursery theme. I made this cutie for baby Camden and plan to attach a little blanket for a frog "lovey".

Click here for the Purl Frog tutorial I used to make this little guy.

Dining Chair Slipcovers Tutorial

One of our club member mentioned that she was looking for a dining chair seat slipcover pattern or how to. I came across these 7 slipcover tutorials and thought they were fantastic! I'm motivated to make some myself! I think this is a great idea to dress up your folding chairs too.

Click here for instructions on how to make 7 Simple Slipcovers.

Bags and Totes and Sacs Oh My

One of our members requested some suggestions on making a simple tote bag. I thought the following links would do nicely....

Top 7 Tutorials for Making Your Own Shopping Tote

Hobo Bag from jcaroline

Market Bag Tutorial

Total Tote from Simplicity

Water Resistant Tote / Beach Bag

Pleated Tote Bag from artsy crafty babe

Free Tote Bag Patterns and Projects

Lots and Lots of bag links from Henrietta's Handbags and Purse Patterns I did notice some of the links on this site no longer work but there were so many to choose from!

If you have a favorite bag or tote pattern please share it with us!

Turn Fabrics into "Oilcloths" Tutorial

I wanted to make a beach bag but couldn't figure out how to make it water resistant then I came across this tutorial: Turn Fabrics into "Oilcloths" on Burdastyle.com. So COOL and looks EASY!By the way, if you don't know about Burdastyle.com check it out. The website is great for project inspiration and they have lots of free patterns too.

Bare Minimum Diaper Tote

For when you don't want to carry the full on beast of a diaper bag...Bare Minimum Diaper Tote.

It holds a changing pad, baby's diapers, wipes, ointment and lip gloss for Mommy (because a girl can never be without her lip gloss:-) Click here for the Diaper Clutch tutorial that I used to make this tote. I made mine a little bigger and added a wrist strap.

Infant Car Seat Recovering Tutorial

This is so cool!

My infant car seat was a hand me down so, while I was very grateful for it, the pattern was not what I would have chosen. What a great idea to recover the seat! Click here to get more information on the Infant Car Seat Recovering PDF Tutorial available for purchase on Etsy.

Storage Basket Tutorial

Oh my, these are the cutest!

I think I'll have to expand my obsession for making bags into all things storage related to include these. LOVE THEM!

Click here for the Storage Basket Tutorial

Reversible Drawstring Bag Tutorial

OK, so I think I'm going to nickname myself the bag lady.... I seem to be obsessed with making bags of all sorts! I had these adorable home sewn baby shoes to give as a gift and wanted to present them in lovely wrapping representative of the gift inside. No store bought packaging seemed to do the little homemade shoes justice so I thought I would sew a gift bag that could also be used afterward in the baby's room for storage. I used the following tutorial......

Click here for the Reversible Drawstring Bag Tutorial

The bag is a nice size to store toys, pacifiers, diapers, bibs, etc (I have a similar bag that hangs off our changing table where I keep diapers and ointment for easy access) and I like how the pretty coordinating fabric lining peeks out the top.

Next time I think I will add a little pocket to the front in the coordinating lining fabric to hold a gift card!

Shoe Bag Tutorial

There are endless goodies to sew for girls but I was trying to think of something to make for the men in my life and it came to me... Shoe Bags! We are frequent travelers in my family so I thought shoe bags for keeping the dirty soles of shoes away from clothes in a suitcase would be welcome gifts for guys AND girls.

I found an easy shoe bag tutorial and thought I would share....

http://blog.betzwhite.com/2009/02/shoe-bag-tutorial.html

Obviously I will need a bit more manly fabric than is pictured here for the guys and may need to expand the bag's measurements to accommodate big shoes that go along with 6 foot + statures but the basics should remain the same.

HAPPY SEWING