new winner!

hiyall!

welp, Saturday came and went and no word from Ms Bookworm. no worries! I have drawn another winner!!

congrats to Vesuviusmama!! Please email me your snail mail addy at Erzebatbat@aol.com

I will pop your prize in the mail later this week as soon as I get your addy!

Ms Bookworm, if and when I hear from you I will send you a consolation prize too!

mean while....back at the bat cave....I been busy with a recycling and re purposing project.

I been buying colorful CHEAP vinyl bags from the department stores. this one was only 99cents!

there is 1/2 yard of oilcloth!! that stuff is expensive!! to order online the same amount would be $6.

took the bag apart, saved the handles to make key fobs and wrist let handles. 

coupon holders! loyalty card/gift card holders!

I took the measurements off of a business size envelope and  sub cut the bag into strips and re cut into rectangles. created a template for the pointy top. carefully sliced a opening near the top to tuck in the pointy top for security. for the loyalty card holder I found a really good template online. if yall would like me to do a tutorial on these, holla and I will.

Keep On Stitich'n On!

(mauh) Liz

we have a winner!!!

hiyall!

we have a winner! I got BMB to pull a name right before we left to go car hunting. He was late and we were in a hurry so I didn't get a picture of him pulling a name. drum roll please......the winner is.....BOOKWORM!!!  please send me your snail mail addy with in 48 hrs.

If I don't hear from you by Saturday night, I will draw another name. Congrats!

got my new to me car today. its a 2006 Honda Civic!  fully loaded including a moon roof! I have to retrain myself to use a automatic shift again. I have been driving a 5 speed on the floor for so long.......

Again, Congrats to BOOKWORM as the winner and I look forward to your email.....btw....its Erzebatbat@aol.com  please put 'I am a winner' in the header so I don't delete ya!

Keep On Stitch'n On!
(mauh) Liz

giveaway closed! winner announced tomarrow!

hiya,

just a quick note, giveaway is closed and I will be annoucing  the winner tomorrow. all comments have been printed out, cut into strips and placed into a basket. I will get Beloved Monkey Boy to pull the winner right  before we go car shopping for me. the clutch in the ol' rez truck has blown up and its too costly to repair....ack....got to have a car note again (UGH). good luck to all who have entered! thank you for all the wonderful compliments and support!

Keep On Stitich'n On!
(mauh) Liz

another purse tutorial!

hiyall,

I guess by now yall have figured out that I am a purse whore. that's right I said it.....a purse whore! most women love and adore shoes, not me...PURSES are my thing! don't like buying them ready made, I like designing, creating and wearing them. once again, Pinerest came thru with another freebie pattern for a cute ass little wrist let! you can find the original pattern/tutorial right here: http://randomactsofpiece.blogspot.fr/2012/09/fortune-cookie-purse.html

its so stinkin' adorable and easy you will want to make bunches of them! most excellent instruction and lots of pictures. found the blog last night and today I made a couple. of course this dingbat likes to put her own twist on it! I even incorporated some recycle and re purposing into it (cheeseyassgrin).

you will need the following supplies.

~2 fat quarters (this will make 2 purses using a 10.5 in template or one 12.5 in template and enough left over to make a matching coin keeper).

~a piece of scrap batting the same size as the FQ
~one zipper. the size depends on your template.
~one piece, 1/2 in to 3/4 in wide, 18 in long of heavy duty gross grain or belt webbing. sub cut into one piece 5 inch and one piece 13 inches.
~matching thread
~large bore needle 16 or 18
~zipper foot, optional

take your FQs and batting, layer and machine quilt any which way you want. I did a all over large meander using off white cotton thread. it worked out well. I then took a plastic paper plate holder that measured 10.5 across as my template and traced 2 circles to make 2 samples.

find the center and split in half

 

insert zipper like you normally would. I wanted to show you the big difference between using a reg foot and zipper foot. the circle on the left was done with a reg sewing machine foot. the one on the right was done with a zipper foot. IMHO there is a huge difference. when you want to top stitch your zipper down you need that extra little bit to be able to stitch down completely. if you click on the picture you can see details.

take the short piece of handle strap, center it over the zipper on one side, pin and stitch down. repeat for the larger piece of strap.  I used a piece of nylon handle strap from one of those inexpensive shopping bag that I bought with a recycling project in mind when I saw them. that will be another blog post! open zipper 1/2 way, carefully fold in half, aligning straps and stitch using 3/8 of an inch seam allowance. zig zag edge to give it a polish finished and prevent unravelling. carefully turn inside out and zip it up!

thread large loop thru small loop and there ya have it.....the fortune cookie purse! it is kinda small but I think any pre teen or little girl would like this. I would recommend using a 12.5 template or large template. this would make it slightly bigger for an adult. still have those left over jean legs from the pocket purse? guess what else you can do with them? go ahead guess! (giggle)

Keep On Stitch'n On!
(mauh) Liz

Giveaway extended to April 24th!

hiyall,

Just a quick note to let ya know that the giveaway deadline has been extended to April 24th (my 1/2 birthday). Found a couple of other things to stuff in the pouch!  Be sure to make a comment on this post to be entered ! http://erzebat.blogspot.com/2013/03/tutorial-and-give-away-picture-heavy.html  I need an email addy so I can contact you! Please tell a friend!~

Been working on a new baby quilt pattern. A long time ago I was a member of  little quilting group . So long I forgot the name of our little group. It has since disbanded and we have gone on our little quilty way. One of the exchanges we did was to fill a little metal lunch box with some our favorite quilting things. We drew names like a secret pal and gave the box to that person. Mine was filled with these amazing little 1.5 by 3 inch rectangles in glorious spring pastel colors. I had no idea what I was going to do with them but I knew if I waited long enough they would tell me. Well, after so many years they finally talked to me and no I was not on any recreational drugs.........

 French braid baby quilt! After doing a lot of math, I came up with how many columns and how long to make them.


                          
   lots of soft pinks, yellows, lavenders, greens, blues and purples

I decided I needed 6 columns of braids mixed with 5 columns of a tone on tone print. 6 braided strips are done, just waiting on the material I have ordered to work on it some more. I thinking this will be a fabulous quilt when I get it done. I have a possible Gran Niece coming in Oct. This will be perfect for her. If it is a boy, I got something else in mind.

until next time

Keep On Stitch'n On!
(mauh) Liz

Tutorial and a give away! picture heavy!

hiyall,

today I am doing a tutorial and a giveaway! a couple of my readers had questions about how to construct the jean pocket bag. Took a couple of days to get it together I finally came up with a tutorial. to see larege details click on the pictures. Bare in mind I am not a professional blogger so my instructions maybe clear as mud. Any questions you can email me at Erzebatbat@aol.com , please put 'Q on jean pocket purse' so I wont delete ya (dingbatgrin)!

 get a pair of old jeans. I prefer using men's jeans. the material is thicker and wears evenly. I find that thrift stores are the bestest place to go because of the economical value and availability. this is a pair of Levis.


remove the back pockets, leave at least one inch of material all around the edge. next remove 2 of the belt loops, these will be the loops to run the cross body strap thru. remove the zipper. take your time with this step. you will find that the zipper in men's jeans are the perfect length along the top edge of the pocket. if you use ladies jeans, the zipper will be too short and you will need to buy a 7 inch jean zipper. last part, carefully remove the inseam welt. cut close to the edge, it will fray with use but that is ok, it adds character to the purse.



this is what you should have when you are done. 2 back pockets, 2 belt loops, one zipper and one inseam welt. save the rest of the jeans for later projects. oh yeah, cut out the watch pocket too! put it to the side, once you get 2 of them you can make cute little coin purse the same way you are making this pocket purse.

I highly recommend using a heavy duty sewing machine needle size 16 or 18.  these are larger bore needles with  a slightly larger eye. since you are going through thicker than normal fabric the needle will glide thru the fabric much easier. normal tension on the bobbin is fine, loosen the tension on the top dial just a tad. a zipper foot is real handy but not necessary.
trim the top of the pocket to 3/4 inch and flip the little red tab over to the pocket and pin down. I like having the little red tab as part of the overall purse design. insert the zipper like you would on any garment or bag. you can top stitch along the top of purse if you like but I don't. another option is to zigzag the edge of the zipper to the each of the pocket from the inside which I don't either (grin).

 time to attach the belt loops. these are the 'carriers' of the cross body straps. please pay attention to the position of the loops in the pictures. this helps reduce the thickness of the layers. using a 3/8 in seam allowance, stitch loops to one of the pockets.

open up the zipper 1/2 way and fold the pockets, right sides together, and match up the corners. start with the top of pockets on one side. then repeat to other top corner. work your way to the lower corner, pin in place, then pin in between top and bottom. about 3 pins. repeat on other side and the bottom point.

 stitch a 1/4 inch seam around the pocket. I used my zipper foot but you can use the edge of your reg foot and get the same result.

 time to trim the fat (sort to speak). take a clear ruler, lay it on top of the pocket at the seam you just stitched on the quarter inch mark. trim excess off all sides. leaving a 1/4 inch edge.

time to switch out feet. I now have put my reg foot back on the machine and zigzagged along the edge to give it s slightly polished edge.

 carefully turn pocket inside out, poking out corners and flatten out edges. you might want to loop a piece of ribbon thru the zipper tab. may make it easier to open and close the bag. hand tack both ends of the zipper. this will prevent the zipper from separating from heavy use.

take one end of the inseam welt and push through one of the loops. tie a knot in the end. this will prevent the cross body strap from slipping out. repeat for other side. tada!!!! you now have made a 3 pocket side pouch purse. its a handy dandy size for when you want to take just a few things with you. will hold a cell phone quite nicely regardless of size. zipper pocket for security. machine washable but I don't recommend it if you have embellished it heavily.

you can embellish your pocket purse any which way you want. my 'signature' embellishment (which anyone and everyone can use) is the fusing of scrap fabric leaves in a circle. I use heat bond heavy duty. follow the manufacturer's instructions. hand sew a large button in the center. I gave these as gifts and sold them. they are a hit!  later blog enters will show you what to do with the left over jeans.  if you go back thru the blog you will see where I used jean legs to make aprons and purses.

now for the giveaway!!!!! I am giving away this 3 pocket purse that I made for this tutorial! minus the embellishment. I want YOU to do that. there maybe some surprises in the pockets if'n ya be the winner!

gonna keep it simple. comment on this post and share with your friends. that's it. wont make ya jump thru hoops. I will pick a winner on April 15th (tax day, snicker-snort-snort) so you will have plenty of time to spread the word.

thanks for your patience with this rather long post!

Keep ON Stitch'n On!

(mauh) Liz

say wha??? part 2

hiyall,

blogger wont let me publish more than 6 pics at a time so I will have to do this in parts. reckon 9 months was too long between posts? (snicker-snort-snort-snarf)

 after making a doz pocket pouches I finally made one for myself

 the first pocket pouches I made from beloved monkey boys jeans. got the idea from something I saw on Pinerest. of course I had to ut my own twist on it with the fused flower petals and large button in the center

 with the some of the left over jean scraps I made this purse for me. I have been heavy into recycling and repurposing jeans. gots all sorts of ideas from other blogs and Pinerest.

 again, Pinterest came thru with some adorable baby bibs. since my friends have reproducing like frick'n rabbits I have made tons of these to give. I call these cowboy up!

 full size bibs and business tie bibs. stinkin' cute aint they?

 all these bibs have velcrr closures. if you make any for yourself, I recommend SEW IN dots. the sticky ones will mess up your needle.

this is Charlie's quilt. I call it, black and white with a little bit of bright. this pattern is my go to pattern for baby quilts. its a Disappearing None patch made with 6 in blocks but a charm pack will do nicely. approx 42in square.

Dumplings! cute little zippered pouch. a free pattern from Keykalou!

http://keyka.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/08/lets-make-dumplings-free-zip-pouch-tutorial.html

once you get thru the first dumpling, the rest are easy! save this link, it is no longer avaible on her blog. I had to dig deep in order to find it again.

Keep On Stitch'n On!

(mauh) Liz

say wha?????

hiya,

bet yall thought I fell of the face of the earth? huh?huh?huh? almost did. ever get into a funk and not want to do things you really and truely enjoy? yup, that be me. not sure what happened but for many months I had moments time I couldnt even think about picking up a needle and embracing my passion. I did have moments of creativity and I ran with it like a bat out of hell enjoy the picture show!


this is a table runner I sent out as part of a online swap.



this is what I recieved love the colors!

shadow quilting on the table runner

                                                                                          repurposed jean car trash bags

recycled jean pocket side purse















                                                                                                     they were popular I had orders for them!

                                                                                                        
Keep On Stitch'n On!
(mauh) Liz