Bari J.

14 days of LillyBelle. Day 10... Drawstring Gift Bag.

14 days of LillyBelle. Day 10... Drawstring Gift Bag

Off to a cocktail party in a few hours... bringing the coasters I made earlier this week along with some wine. Today I made a LillyBelle gift bag to bring it in.

I think I'll make a bunch of these to have on had as the holidays approach. They are super easy for a lot of impact. Plus, of course, you can make them in any size... great for shoe bags, lingerie bags etc etc... just re-size.

Here's how I made this one...

Supplies Needed:

Fat Quarter of fabric

1/4 yard contrast fabric

Safety pin

Serger (optional)

Cutting:

Main fabric: 16 1/4" x 14"

Contrast fabric: 4" x WOF

Step by Step:

1. Serge or zig zag stitch all four raw edges of the main fabric.

2. Fold the two 16 1/4" sides and 1 - 14" side in 1/4" toward the wrong side of the fabric. These will be the side seam and the bottom of the bag. Do not fold in the top edge.

3. Edge stitch along the inside edge of the 1/4" folded fabric to hem.

4. Mark 2 1/4" down from the top of the fabric.

5. Fold the top edge toward the wrong side of the fabric along the 2 1/4" mark.

6. Using a 1/4" seam allowance, sew along the top folded edge.

7. Edge stitch along the serged/zig zagged edge. You've just created the casing for your drawstring.

8. Fold the fabric in half lengthwise so the side seams meet, right sides together.

9. Sew the side seam and bottom edge using a 1/4" seam allowance.

10. Turn and press.

Make the drawstring:

1. Fold the fabric in half lengthwise, right sides together and press.

2. Fold each short raw end in toward the long folded edge at a 45 degree angle creating a pointed end. 

3. Sew the raw edge and angle closed leaving a 4" -5" opening to turn. Turn and press.

4. Edge stitch the seam edge, closing the opening to finish.

5. Place a safety pin on one end of the drawstring and draw through the casing.

4. Turn the 

Art After My Own Heart

Tea cups, tea pots, tea bags, tea anything is my latest obsession. I know I've said it before.

So, when I came across Kimberly Shaw Graphics, I was immediately in love. Last week Kimberly commented on my Dancer at the Tea Party bag on Flickr. This, of course, prompted me to click back to see her photos. I am so glad I did.

Kimberly is a wonderful artist who has turned that art into an incredible business. Among other beautiful items sold in her store, you'll find her paintings on greeting cards that are sold with a tea bag inside. How perfect is that???

Below is a photo that is in Kimberly's Flickr stream... here she shows us a bit of how her paintings are created which I, as someone not blessed with this particular talent, find really fascinating.

Doesn't that make you want to give watercolors a go?

Last Minute? That's My Middle Name.

Joelle Hoverson, you are my hero. Your new book, Last Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts is my new guide to gift giving. Last minute is how I survive. Everything is last minute.

But this morning I woke up in a panic (nothing new, but none the less)... Suddenly I remembered what I forgot..."What am I going to give to the school principal? What about the teacher's aides?"The list went on and on. The more I thought about it, the more people got added to the list.

Sweet relief. I rifled through my books, quickly whipped out my new handy-dandy edition of your book and got straight to work.

I decided on sets of coasters ... 'cause they were cute. Yes. But admittedly I chose them mostly because they were in the 2 hours and under section and I could chain stitch them to save time.

Three sets of coasters and several hours later...

Whew! Done. Thank you! They're all getting coaster sets and Martha's famous egg nog recipe... (I really like that you added the suggestion of adding a recipe to the mix. Nice touch.)

Yum...

Ooooooh. This is good. I can taste it now.

I keep meaning to order one of these as a gift. Go Cake Go delivers cakes right to your door. I have to admit I gave thought to figuring out how to fed-x my own cakes, but I decided that would be far too much work. It's like when you see something lovely, and you think, "I can make that." But you never do. And, now you don't have that pretty necklace, do you??? Plus as an added bonus, delivered with your cake is an on-line party. I'm thinking this is definitely something to check out.

Cha-yum-yum! "Let them eat cake."