6 Hours Sewing

I've found a lot of fun projects lately, so gave some a try today. First, I repurposed an old pair of jeans into a new bag. Sorry I can't remember where I saw the idea.


Next up, this fun little bag which took me ~10 minutes. The tutorial I found says it's "no-sew" but I serged the raw edges first so it wouldn't fray. You can definitely skip that step. When I finished, my daughter wanted one, and she chose the fabric left over from decorating her room. I also made 2 others, one for a friend, and one for my younger daughter, who wanted it to be a doll carrier for her "baby." All 4 took me less than an hour from start to finish, including choosing the fabric, cutting it, serging, and tying them all together.


And see this cute little shirt she's wearing? We cut off the sleeves that came past her fingertips, and made it more "summery". The best part was getting the shirt for free. Our church holds a clothing exchange each summer. One day, everyone brings all the clothes they and their family have outgrown, and the clothing is sorted, folded, and put out on tables by the church leaders. The next morning, we come get any clothes we need. I outfitted both my girls with pants, dresses, and skirts for the next year, as well as found a shirt and tie and a pair of shoes for my oldest.


One last thing, I wanted to share this newest favorite sewing staple. I found this sticky roll of measuring tape at the fabric store, and knew it would come in handy. This is what I have left after putting 3' on my sewing table (handy for cutting elastic when I'm in the middle of a project), 3' on my cutting table, and 4' on my craft table.

And yes, I did say 6 hours of sewing. But in addition to the bags, I also cut off and hemmed 3 pairs of pants (for my shorty youngest), cut off another pair of pants and made them shorts, hemmed the sleeves on that white shirt, and sewed another shirt together I've had cut out for a few months. Too bad my girls both went through growth spurts - the shirt won't fit them for long.