Guest post: Cross body hipster from Vibrant Designs

Today we have my ultimate lifesaver: Julie from {Vibrant Designs} Julie is an absolute GEM, she has saved my butt on so many occasions! She's guest posted for me, hosted giveaways, and reads my very long emails. She is wonderful, I am so happy to have her share this tutorial with you, it's one of my favorites!

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I am so happy to be here at Kittycats and Airplanes today!!  Thank you so much Amie for having me! 

How many of you are avid craft fair goers? {Amie insight: ME!!!} Or you absolutely love a day at the amusement park?  Maybe you simply love walking the mall?  I have the perfect bag for all of those activities and more!  It's small, roomy, lightweight, sits right at hip level, has an adjustable strap...I mean really? Can you ask for anything more 'convenient?' 

This past summer, I used my Crossbody Hipster Bag when I went to a large amusement park.  I was able to keep my cash, cell phone, keys right next to me...on EVERY RIDE!!  I didn't lose a thing.  Here is how you can make your own!

If you'd like to make one for yourself, here are the detailed with full photo instructions.  :)  If you would like to have one and don't know how to sew, I accept custom orders!  These sell for $25 in my etsy shop! {Another Amie comment: what an amazing price!}
Materials needed:
1/2 yd of outer fabric
1/3 yd of lining fabric
1   12” zipper to match outer fabric
Coordinating thread
1/3 yd fusible fleece
1/3 yd of fusible heavyweight interfacing (optional)
NOTE:
*(I interface my lining with heavyweight fusible interfacing just for a bit more added stability. You really don’t HAVE to interface the lining though. Fusible fleece is pretty stiff all by itself!
Directions
1. Cut from the fabric and interfacing...
2 outer fabric (your choice) 8 ½” x 10 ½” or 9 ½” x 11 ½”
2 inner fabric to the same that you choose above.
2 fusible fleece to match the outer fabric size
2 fusible heavyweight interfacing (optional)
2 outer fabric pocket pieces 2” shorter than your outer pieces. So 6 ½” x 10 ½” or 7 ½” x 11 ½”
2 lining fabric pieces 6 ½” x 10 ½ or 7 ½ x 11 ½
2 outer fabric 1 ½” x 44”
Interface the 2 outer fabric pocket pieces
2. Iron your interfacing to your pieces per the manufacturer’s directions.
-Cut a 1” square from each corner of the bottom of all four rectangles and all four pocket pieces.

3. Assemble the pockets (or do one pocket if you prefer)
-With right sides together, sew along the length of the fabric on the side that does not have the squares cut out.
-Turn right side out and iron seam flat. Pin in place and topstitch along the same seam.

-Pin your completed pocket to one of the outer fabric pieces with the raw edges touching. The right side of the fabric should be facing outward. Baste stitch along the bottom to hold pocket in place.

-Measure from side to side of the pocket with a tape measure to mark a middle point on your pocket. Repeat this step one inch above the mark to make another mark. Draw a line using these two marks as a guide, from top to bottom of the pocket piece. Sew down this line creating your two pockets. Backstitch at each end a few times. The more support the better!

4. Assemble the handle
-Fold over about ½” on the long side of a handle piece and press all the way down the length of the handle.

-Do the same for the other side.
-Fold the strap in half length wise and pin in place. The strap is very skinny so this can be awkward.

-Sew all the way down the open side of EACH handle. You should have two long skinny straps.
-As you near the end of each strap piece, gently unfold the end as you see in the series of photos.

fold a short end of the handle piece over ½”.  Sew this seam in place. You only need to do this to one side of each handle as the raw side will be sewn into the bag. Follow these same directions for the second handle piece.
**If you prefer, you can fold and sew the short ends down before you press the length of the handles.  I chose to do it this way because of a lack of time**

5. Attaching the zipper
-You’re going to make a fabric/zipper sandwich. Lay one of your outer pieces right side up. Lay your zipper on top, with right side of zipper facing downward as shown in the photo. Take your one lining piece of fabric and lay it on top of the zipper right side down. Pin all three in place.

-NOW you have a zipper sandwich. You can use a regular foot or a zipper foot but sew close to the zipper teeth. (If you get too close, your zipper gets snagged on the fabric, if you get too far, it won’t catch all the fabric layers…it can be tricky, but just keep at it!)
-Pull the outer fabric and lining fabric away to reveal your zipper on the inside. Pin the fabrics back and away from the zipper, and together. Top stitch along the zipper with 1/8” seam allowance. This makes it look much nicer and holds that outer fabric down. Follow these same steps for the other two pieces of fabric.

6. Assembling the Bag.
Don’t forget to unzip your zipper before this next part!
-Pull the outer fabric pieces away from the lining. Pin the outer fabric pieces in place with right sides together. Now pin your lining pieces together. You should have a long rectangle with your zipper in the middle.

-Pin one end of one handle just below the zipper between the two outside fabric pieces. Sandwich the rest of the handle between the two pieces of fabric well within the edges of the bag so as not to get them caught in your machine while sewing the edges down later. Take the other strap and pin it in place on the other side of the zipper between the two outer fabric pieces. Be sure to sandwich this strap nicely between the two outer fabric pieces. As you can see in the photo below, I also angle the strap up towards the zipper.

*NOTE*
(When I pin the straps, I let them fall out the bottom of the lining pieces because this is where I will leave the hole in the lining for turning later)
-Start at the bottom of the lining, about 2” away from the corner. Begin sewing all the way around the bag. I backstitch at the beginning a couple times.
-When sewing over the zipper and handle, I stitch back and forth 5-6 times for stability.
-The bottom, top and sides should be secure now but you should have 4 squares still open at each corner of the bag. Pull the two fabrics away from each other and line up the edges. You should have a straight line instead of a square now. Pin and sew this in place.

-Repeat previous step for the other three squares.
-Trim excess seam allowance from all four corners and along the sides.  Be sure not to clip into the seam itself!!

-Pull the body of the bag, straps and everything through the hole in the lining. Give the bag a good once over for any places you might have missed the fabric.

 If all is as you want it to be, pin the hole in the lining and tuck it into the bag. VOILA!!
A Crossbody Hipster!

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Can you see why it's one of my favorites? Love it! Thanks Julie! :) Come back tomorrow for some more guest posting goodness. 

In case you missed it, the picnic tote

You guys, I've missed you. A lot. I know I've been a lot more sparse this summer, but hopefully I can pick things up and get back into it soon!

Just a few reminders, ALL five giveaways for my 5 for 500 end tonight at midnight! I will announce all the winners tomorrow. If you haven't entered, click {here} to find a link for all of them. Also, don't forget to link up to 3...2...1...craft! right {here}You have until Monday at midnight! This is my "entry," I posted this last week over at {Bugaboo, Mini, Mr, and Me}.

I had so many ideas for her, "Life's a Picnic" series, but I finally settled on a carry all picnic tote. 

I found this gorgeous oilcloth in a restaurant (yes, restaurant!) while on vacation in South Carolina. It was only $7 a yard which is the cheapest I've ever seen oilcloth. I snatched up a yard and have been waiting for the perfect project ever since. It is perfect for a picnic tote because if you accidentally set it in mud, your kid barfs on it, or you spill mac and cheese all over it all you need to do is wipe it clean! Easy peasy. To make one yourself, you will need:

•  1/3-1/2 yard of oilcloth
• 1/3-1/2 yard liner fabric (I used muslin, but you can use anything you want here)
• 1/2 a package of quilt binding
• 3 yards of webbing for handles
• Tape
• Paper clips or binder clips
• Regular sewing stuff: machine, matching thread, seam ripper, scissors, rotary mat and cutter, etc. 

Before we begin, a few tips for sewing with oilcloth:

• Use a denim or heavy duty needle. Your all purpose needle won't be able to handle the thickness. (Regular thread is fine.)
• A nonstick pressure foot is helpful but if you don't have one layer tissue paper on top of your oilcloth.
• This might go without saying, but just in case, don't iron it or wash it. If it's wrinkled or has creases, lay it in a warm place or in bright sunlight for an hour and it will get soft and flatten itself out. Wipe clean with a damp cloth. 
• When designing a project, plan to do as little turning right side out as possible. This stuff is as beast to turn. 
• Lengthen your stitch a little bit. If you use too small of a stitch, the oilcloth might perforate and tear.

It can be a teensy bit tricky, but you'll get the hang of it real fast! Test sew a few small pieces to get a feel for it.

This is the pattern I used. A 15"x18" rectangle with two 3"x3" squares cut out of the bottom. Cut two pieces from your oilcloth and two from your liner. Also cut out pieces for any pockets or add ons you might want. 

I used four foot pieces one inch webbing for my handles. This ensured that the handles were long enough to put my arm through and sling the tote over my shoulder. I measured in 1 inch from the squares but feel free to place them wherever you like. 

TAPE the webbing down. DO NOT pin oil cloth! It leaves little holes that will not "heal" and will leave unsightly marks. Use tape, paper clips, binder clips, and and other means possible to keep things nice and secure. 

Sew up each side of the webbing using 1/8" seam allowance. (Check my little black lines I added in.) Leave 1 1/2 inch at the top for your quilt binding. 

Once you've sewed the handles on both pieces, paper clip your pieces right sides together. 

It actually holds really well! The only bummer is you can't sew through paper clips, so you need stop and pull them off when you get to them. Sew across each side and the bottom with a 1/4" seam allowance, but don't sew through those squares. 

Those squares will create the flat bottom to your tote! Gently press the corners to each other. 

Like so. Flatten it out to get a straight line. Make sure everything is lined up and paper clip together. Sew down using 1/4" seam allowance. 

Gently turn it right side out, try your best to not crease the oilcloth. Then, repeat all that stuff you just did for the liner. Though you don't have to sew handles onto the liner, make sure you sew on any pockets you want BEFORE you sew it all together. 

Place the liner inside the tote, wrong sides together. (You should see your pretty oilcloth on the outside and all your pockets on the inside.) Line up the side seams, and paper clip your quilt binding over the raw edges at the top of your bag and sew. If you've never sewn with quilt binding or bias tape before, check out it this awesome tutorial from {Angry Chicken}. I also have another tutorial {here} using the same method. 

And that is it! A super easy picnic tote to bribe your honey to take you out. 

A peek inside mine. I added several pockets and an elastic holder. 

It's roomy enough to hold your blanket, sandwiches, chips, napkins, silverware, a bottle of wine (peach cider in my case!) and a lot more! Big enough to hold it all, but not so huge that you look ridiculous carrying it. 

Picnics are a lot less lonely when your date isn't the photographer. :) Ah well, life's a picnic!

Linking up {here}

Nautical Bag {a tutorial}

To all my US friends, Happy Fourth! We've got a day filled with family, BBQ, fireworks, and Bocce ball. The thunderstorm isn't invited. In honor of our Independence Day, I thought I'd post a red, white, a blue craft. 


Ok, ok. 


It's a repost. But, I made this bag a year ago, and it was posted on my family blog before I even had a craft blog, so I'm going to count it as new k? And don't mind the more horrible than usual photos, this was like my third tutorial. Oh, and anything new I added is in {} k?

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I saw a great bag at DownEast Outfitters (same place where I got the $10 wedding dress!) For some reason I couldn't find it on their website or anywhere else I checked online, so you'll have to deal with horrendous pictures from inside the dressing room. 

I loved the idea of the bag, but there were a few things that I didn't like about it. The fact that it was black striped (the name "sea striped bag" seemed like it had to be blue!), the ropes weren't "ropey" enough...

the pleats at the bottom and the strange, metallic/ silvery liner with a weird green zipper.

But that's the beauty of doing it yourself, you can make it how you want it! And that's exactly what I did. Here's the final product!

I looooove how it turned out! It was a serious pain in the butt to make (trial and error and I are very good friends now) {ADDED: I had only sewn a few things before this, looking back it really wasn't THAT hard I just had no idea what I was doing} but the end result was worth it!  It's blue striped, pleat-less, with nice "ropey" straps.... 

And and has a nice, clean white liner with pockets for everything I need!

Now here comes the fun part! I'm going to walk you through how I did it! {Yeah, 3rd tutorial remember?}

You will need:

• 1/3 yard of blue striped, home decor fabric (it took me forever to find this, but I finally found it at Ikea!)
• 1/3 yard white liner fabric
• 
  
• scrap of red home decor fabric (this will be your base)
• 1 1/3 yard (4 ft) of soft rope (I found mine at Wal*Mart by the trims)
• 1 package red quilt binding
• Fabric glue (like Fabritac)
• Usual sewing notions (sewing machine, thread, scissors, pins, seam ripper, etc)

Gathered your materials? Let's get started! *Note: I used a 1/4" seam unless otherwise stated.

You'll need to figure out what you want the base of your bag to be. (The original bag was round, but I though an oval would look better.) I found a small storage basket with an oval base and traced it with my disappearing ink pen. 

Cut out your base and then find the circumference, but don't worry, you don't need a calculator or equations! Just use your measuring tape and lay it along your traced shape. Easy peasy! Keep that number in mind, you'll need it when you  make your pattern. 

This next part is a little confusing, I hope it makes sense! My oval had a 27.5" circumference, so I added a half inch to get 28" (Remember we need to add the half inch for 1/4" inch seam allowance on each side). Since the bag has two sides, each side of the bag needed to be half of my 28" (14") at the base. I wanted the bag to be symmetrical, so when I was making my pattern, I folded a piece of freezer paper in half and drew my pattern, making sure that the base of my bag was 7". That way, when I cut out and unfolded my pattern, I would have a perfectly symmetrical bag with a 14" base! Phew...does that make sense?

This is what my pattern ended up looking like. I added in my measurements to help give you an idea of what the dimensions of my bag are. Cut two pieces from your striped fabric.

Next, you'll need to repeat all the the steps with your liner fabric (though this time, you don't have to figure out all of the math or draw a new pattern! Huzzah!) You should then have six pieces of fabric: one red base, two blue striped pieces cut out from your pattern, one white base, and two white pieces cut out from your pattern. If you want any pockets on the inside, make sure to cut those out too!

Pin your blue striped pieces with the right sides together and sew up the sides with a straight stitch. Sew another zig zag stitch right next to your original stitch for added strength.

Then, pin your base on! This can be tricky, but just be patient and make sure everything lines up. {This is my inexperienced sewer talking again.} Sew around the base, and then again with a zig zag stitch.

See? This helps make the bag stronger.

Moving onto the liner! If you want to add pockets, now is the time to do so. I cut out two 8x10 pieces out of my liner fabric, folded them in half (right sides together), sewed around leaving a few inches to turn, turned them right side out, and pressed flat. 

Pin your pockets onto the right side of your liner and make sure it's all straight and even.

Sew around the sides and bottom of the pocket. Now, this is much easier if you do this BEFORE you assemble your liner. A friend called me while I was working on the bag so when I came back I jumped right into sewing together my liner, completely forgetting about the pockets. Oops!

Next, repeat the assembly process with your liner. Sew the sides together, and then add the oval base to the bottom. You should now have two bags, one made out of your blue striped/red fabrics, and one made out of your liner!

Now we've got to add the rope handles! You need two pieces of two foot long rope (or shorter, if that's what you like!) Slightly fray out the bottom to make it easier to sew through and pin it on the wrong side of the "pointy" part of your liner. Sew across the rope several times and test it to make sure it's secure. Repeat with the other side of the rope on the same side of the liner, and then do the whole thing again with the other rope!

This is what you should have right now. A liner with handles! Now we get to assemble the bag!

Put the liner into the striped bag with the wrong sides together. When you look inside, it should look like the inside of a purse, with no exposed raw edges (except for the ones at the top.)

When it's all lined up (take extra care lining up the raw edges at the top of the bag, this is where it counts) pin the bag together. I pinned farther down because I wanted the bag to stay together, but I also wanted room to pin on the quilt binding.

This to me was the trickiest part of the bag (this was my first time using quilt binding, and I've only used bias tape once!). Use your quilt binding to hid the raw edges all around the top of your bag. (You'll need to cut different sizes and different angles, don't try to use just one continuous piece!) Pin in place. 

Sew along your quilt binding, hiding the raw edges. I loved that I didn't have to do any turning right side out with this bag!

You're almost done!! I didn't use all of my quilt binding so I cut four 2 inch pieces to cover the part where the rope meets the bag (if you're like me, it's a little bit messy! But you seasoned sewers might not need this step :) I used fabric glue to secure it on the bag, then wrapped it around the rope, folded under the raw edge, and glued in place. Do it again three more times.

AND YOU'RE DONE!!! Fill it up, and go out there and flaunt your beautiful new, Nautical Bag! This would make a great gift for any lady (including yourself ;) in your life wanting a little more summertime!

{Hmmm, not so bad for an early tutorial! I will also add that I STILL use this bag, and although it does look a little beat up it's held up wonderfully over the past year. Enjoy!}