bspoke

I know I left you hanging yesterday, with a detailed tutorial for a somewhat vague final product. Today I am here to share the rest of the project and more step-by-step directions for making some sweet valentines gifts for your sweetest pals! The fabric tags that I showed you yesterday will make the perfect embellishment for these fun little fabric bags, which I will show you how to make today. Tomorrow, we’ll talk about filling the bags with sweets for your sweets!

I found this fabric at Ikea over the weekend while shopping with my mom. I was immediately taken by the simple striped pattern, and these perfect Valentines colors. I purchased a 1/2 yard, which ended up making 10 bags. I also picked up these coordinating threads at the fabric store and some decorative ribbon for tying off the finished bags.

The first step in making your own bags is to find some cute fabric, and then iron the it, making sure all the wrinkles are pressed out.

Next, you should cut the fabric into 6″ x 8″ pieces. I did this with the fabric folded in half so my sets (front and backs) for each bag were perfectly aligned. I ended up with 10 sets from a 1/2 yard of fabric.

After you have all your pieces cut, bring them over to the iron, and press a 1/4″ hem at the top of each piece.

Now head over to the sewing machine and stitch your hem into place. I used white thread for this, but you may choose to use a coordinating color.

Now it’s time to grab your fabric tags and some double stick tape! Use the tape to position the tag centered on the lower third of your pieces of fabric (towards the bottom and not in the middle). The tape will make it much easier for you to sew the tag into place. You will want to use a long stitch length for sewing these on and bring in the coordinating thread colors for a bit of added interest. This step is a tad bit tricky to do on a machine. I actually had my mom sew the tags on because my sewing skills are not nearly what hers are. She was able to sew around each tag with a nice straight stitch, but if you are not confident that you will be able to do this, you may just feel more comfortable sewing the tags on by hand. Make sure to just sew one tag per SET, so out of your twenty pieces of fabric, only ten should have tags sewed onto the front.

Once you have sewed around the tag entirely, leave the two tails long. Then flip the piece over…

…and pull the tails through to the back using a pin. Once you have the tails on the back side of the fabric, you should be able to tie them into a nice knot that will prevent the stitching from coming undone and also leave a perfectly finished look on the front.

Next you should take the front and back of one set and put the facing, finished sides together. So the tag should be on the inside, and both of the finished hems should be facing.

You may choose to pin, but I dislike it very much, so I just headed over to the sewing machine with my two pieces of fabric matched up and started sewing! I left a decent margin for the seam, probably at least a 1/4 inch all around. Make sure to stitch back and forth at the top, then sew down, across the bottom and up the other side, where you should also sew back and forth to finish the piece and prevent the stitching from coming undone.

Once your sewing is complete, you can turn your bag right side out, and waa-la! You are left with a sweet little pouch… 100% handmade, with love, and perfect for filling with sweets for your sweets!

I’ll be back tomorrow with how-to on filling your bags and putting the finishing touches on them! I leave you with this parting shot taken during the process of making the bags. My mom and I have the same sewing machine, so we both sewed up a storm and worked on brainstorming and troubleshooting this project together. I will be totally honest and tell you that we made SEVERAL mistakes along the way and had to rip seams, repeat steps and back-track a few times. Ah! But, the end result was most definitely worth it, and our trial and error means that you will (hopefully) be able to whip through this project with ease!

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The purpose of this post is two-fold. First of all, I want to give you all a very small glimpse into my creative process, and how I work when I am designing. Secondly, this will serve as the first piece of a three part series on a charming little DIY Valentines project for your sweetheart! I know heart day isn’t for another couple weeks, but giving you this project now will give you some time to make it (if you so choose) before the big day arrives.

Now, about my design process! In the photo above you can see the very beginning of what will later be tags (that are in a PDF for you to download at the end of this post). Here I have typed out a phrase and applied several different typefaces. I am looking for something fun and casual, with a bit of sass to it. I try out a few scripts, some slab serifs, and a couple decorative options.

Here I have taken the different font options and start to play with combing them. On the bottom portion of the page, you can see that I have narrowed it down to two that I like, and have even drawn a small heart to experiment with. The different elements are all on the drawing board, now it’s just time to put them together.

After a bit more playing and tweaking and arranging, I come up with a few different tags that I like, all of which feature two different typefaces and the small heart illustration. I also added a dashed line to give it a bit more style.

You may have noticed that all my designs to this point were in black and white. I always, always start out using black and white (and gray if necessary). Adding color can really confuse things early on in the process, so I wait until I have a good idea of where I’m going before I throw it into the mix. Once I’m ready, I pull out my swatch books and select the colors I would like to add. In this case, I went for a deep mauve tone, a lighter pink, and a lovely oatmeal color.

Next I got back to my document and added the colors. This generally takes some playing, as there are several variables and getting the colors to jive doesn’t happen instantaneously. Once I am happy with the colors, and the layout, the design is completed.

In this case, my next step was to grab a sheet of fabric transfer paper, load up the printer and print off a copy!

I know you’re wondering what I’m up to here, and why the picture above features these backwards words. Well, as you will see later in the process, I have decided to take these cute tags, fuse them onto fabric and actually sew them onto something else (more details on the “something else” tomorrow!). Now, if you choose to do the same, MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE that after you download the PDF and go to print it, you select the option that allows you to print a mirror image. This should be in your print dialog box.

After you have printed off your backwards tags, and allowed them to dry for at least a 1/2 hour, cut them out, leaving a nice border around each.

Next, you should lay them out on a white piece of frabric so they are all almost touching. If you wanted to, you could technically just iron the whole sheet of paper onto one piece of fabric. I didn’t have a large enough piece, thus the smaller clipped tags. I should mention here that using a smooth, tight-weave fabric is highly preferable. I learned by trial and error that rough, textured fabrics or anything in a color does not work well. Once you have all your tags laid out on the fabric, follow the directions for your iron-on transfer paper by applying the hot iron until the transfers are fused to the fabric.

Once you peel away the paper, you will be left with an impression of the design on the fabric.

The next step is to use pinking shears to trim all the way around the tag. This will prevent fraying, and give a lovely finished look. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering what to do with these cute little fabric tags with the pinked edges. Not to leave you hanging, but you’ll need to check back tomorrow! For the time being, you can download the free PDF of the tags here. Use these however you please!

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The first project for “cabin fever week” is for all of my readers who have a four-footed member of the family, a sewing machine, and about 15 minutes. Making your own dog collar is really, really cheap, easy and super quick too! It’s so fun, you might just end up making a whole wardrobe of collars for your pooch. Read on for the easy step-by-step instructions for making a DIY dog collar!

:: step 1 :: gather supplies ::

You will need only a few things for this project, all of which can be found at your local fabric or craft store.

1″ nylon webbing*
1″ ribbon in a fun pattern
1″ plastic clip
1″ plastic slider
1″ D-ring
thread

*You can use 1/2″ nylon and ribbon if you have a smaller pup or kitty. The length you get will depend on the size of your pet. The easiest way to determine how much you need is to measure their neck, and then get 1.75 x that amount.

:: step 2 :: sew ribbon on nylon ::

For this step you will want to use a fairly small stitch (I used 2.0 on my machine, but I’m not sure what that translates to on other machines), and make sure that your sewing machine is set to a bit heavier fabric setting with a decent weight needle. I set my needle to the right side so that I could get as close to the edge as possible. I hate pinning, so I just held the ribbon in place and stitched down one side, across the end, up the other side and across the other end.

:: step 2 :: sew clip onto one end ::

Next, you will want to unclip the buckle and then slip one end of the ribbon/nylon through it. Make sure to leave at least 1.5″ – 2″ extra tail of the ribbon/nylon. Then simply stitch back and forth several times, close to the clip, locking it in place. See image below for a better visual on this.

:: step 3 :: sew in D-ring ::

Here you should slip the D-ring onto the ribbon/nylon so that it is next to the stitched-in clip. Sew back and forth several times again next to the D-ring to lock it in place.

:: step 4 :: add plastic slider and clip ::

This step is a bit more confusing, and takes some thought. You will need to take the other unfinished end of the ribbon/nylon and feed it through the plastic slider, then through the other side of the clip. Then bring it back to the plastic slider and loop it through a second time, under the first loop. Does this make sense?? No? Okay, now just look at the picture above. It is worth a thousand words.

:: step 5 :: sew slider into place ::

This is the final step, and it’s also the trickiest. You will need to grasp the tail end of the ribbon/nylon and fold it back on itself to lock the plastic slider in place, and then take it to the sewing machine….

…and arrange as necessary so that you can easily reach the end of the ribbon/nylon. You may need to remove the “deck” from your sewing machine (can you tell that I have no idea what the terms are for these things??) to allow yourself more room. Also sliding the clip down will help. Once you are able, sew back and forth several times to secure the plastic slider. Congratulations, you are done!

:: step 7 :: present to your pup ::

Oops, forgot one very important step! Once you have finished your collar, size it accordingly, and place it on your lucky dog’s neck. They will wear it proudly, as you can see Emmy is doing above!

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I hope that these directions made some sense to you! I appologize for my lack of knowledge on the correct terms. Hopefully the pictures tell the story for you. Please don’t hesitate to email me at bethany(at)bspokeblog(dot)com if you have any questions on this project!

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Hello, and happy Monday to you all! I’m back from a full weekend, and have several snippets of topics to share with you today. My parents arrived in town on Friday afternoon, and we thoroughly enjoyed our time together, despite the rainy weather. My mom and I did some shopping on Friday evening, and I took her to West Elm for the first time. You all know how much I love that store. Well, like daughter, like mother. She fell for it just as hard as I have. It was fun to have some girl time together to shop and chat while the boys did their own thing (fixed Zack’s car and other macho activities).

We also hit up Ikea, as my mom is in the process of finishing off her amazing craft room and needed a couple more pieces of furniture. For the first time, I entered their fabric department. Let me tell you, it was all I expected and more! They have so many amazing fabrics, and all at great prices. I scooped up 1/2 a yard of an adorable striped material, which you will be seeing featured in a great little project later this week.

On Saturday, we holed up inside the house and let the (freezing) rain pour down outside. Mom and I set up shop in the dining room and sewed up a storm together! It was the perfect way to spend the day. This is truly the time of year that cabin fever can start to set in. Winter already feels like it’s been here forever, and we are still staring down at least two months more of cold and snow (or, freezing rain). With that being said, this week I am going to be featuring some fun projects and crafts you can do at home to keep from going stir crazy. I know many of you might be lucky enough to live in warmer climates, but for all those who are living in a cold climate and starting to catch cabin fever, the next few days are my contribution to keeping you sane!

Another fun bit of news from the weekend… while out and about, I picked up the most recent issue of Minnesota Bride. Emmy Lu is featured in this publication twice!! One small article about our Designer+DIY stationery, as well as our Chicago invite featured in their “Vintage & Vogue” invitation section. You can download PDFs of the pages here if you’d like to check it out for yourself.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekends and had a chance to relax. I’d love to hear about any projects or crafts you tackled! I will be back tomorrow with the first project for “cabin fever” week!

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