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DIY Seed Germination Book and My Seed Starting Setup

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 11:45:00 +0200

It's an exciting time of year if you love gardening, time to start seeds! One of my favorite things about starting seeds indoors is that I get to start gardening now instead of having to wait until it's warmer. This is my 5th year starting seeds indoors and I've learned so much in that time. I've made a lot of mistakes (some more than once!), but I feel really good about my practices and set up now.

I start as much as I can from seed to be able to grow exactly which varieties I want. If I time things right, I can get a good jump start on my garden by being able to plant out seedlings that are ahead of what I could purchase at a nursery. Plus I find it rewarding and fun! I could go on and on, but the main purpose of today's post is to share a tutorial for a Seed Germination "Book" and share my seed starting set up. So let's get into it!

For most seeds I prefer to germinate between wet paper towels. Once the seeds have sprouted I carefully move them to dirt. This allows me to keep a better eye on the germination and use less dirt/six packs. To keep things organized, I like to make a little “book” out of folded paper towels. This is handy when I’m starting more than one seed type or variety at a time, but sometimes it gets messy and seeds can get mixed up!

Last year I decided to sew a line of stitching to make a “spine” and keep the pages completely separate. It took no time and it made things so much neater!

DIY Seed Germination Book

Materials:
- Paper Towels (I prefer the choose-a-size type for this.)
- Sewing machine + thread
- Pencil

Instructions:

1. Layer three to four paper towels halves on top of each other.

2. Mark the center line with a pencil.

3. Sew on the line.

4. Fold in half along stitching.

5. Each spread can be used to start a different variety! Mark each page with the variety and start germinating!

How to Germinate Seeds Using a Paper Towel "Book":

1. Completely saturate paper towel book with water. Ring out excess water.

2. Place seeds between layers of paper towel.

3. Carefully close book and place in a plastic container with a lid. Close lid most of the way.

4. Find a warm place for the container. Check every few days for germination and to make sure it's still wet.

5. Once seeds have germinated, transfer to soil and get growing! Try to move seeds out as soon as a root appears, to avoid it getting too tangled in the paper towel!

My Seed Starting Setup:

I start seeds in my unfinished basement, which is typically around 65 degrees. I use an adjustable wire storage shelf that's meant for kitchen storage. I believe I purchased it from either Home Depot or Target. The one I use is 48" wide.

Each shelf has two simple shop lights that take two bulbs each, for a total of four bulbs per level! I use one warm and one cool bulb in each light. These are just basic bulbs, not specifically grow light bulbs. The lights hang from the shelves with little "S" hooks that fit the chains on the lights. I have a few seedling heating pads to help with initial seed germination. Everything is set up on smart plugs and is on for 14 hours per day.

To help keep the growing environment warm and humid, I have two shower curtain liners installed along the top edge of the shelf unit. They're attached with cheap shower curtain rings! The top is covered with a fleece blanket. I use clothespins to keep the curtains closed. I added this feature a couple years ago and it has helped SO much! And was a less than $10 addition to this setup.

A note on costs: This set up was a bit of an investment upfront. I have four shelves of growing space, which amounts to eight shop lights. Between the lights and the bulbs, it adds up! However, I have yet to need to replace any of the bulbs. I fill these entire set up every Spring, but you may not need or want this much space. If you're new to starting seeds, I would recommend starting small to see how you like it.

A Few Tips and Tricks for Starting Seeds:

- Keep notes. I've been using this notebook to keep track of my seed starting for the last five seasons. I take notes on when I start germinating something, when it sprouts, when I move it up a pot size, and when I plant it outside, and any other detail that could be useful. It's really nice to look back and see what I did in years past and what did or didn't work out.

- Adjustable lighting is really helpful. You want to be able to move the lights close to the soil surface when the seeds are germinating and first sprouting. Being able to move them futher away as they grow is critical to getting healthy seedlings.

- Size up your pot sooner rather than later. This mistake I have made many times and some types of plants are more sensitive to this than others. Keeping your seedlings in a container that is too small can stunt their growth, and it can be difficult for them to recover, even after they are planted outdoors.

- I prefer a seed starting medium that has some organic matter in it. Or I'll add it myself via some earthworm castings. When I size up the pot for the seedlings I switch to a regular potting mix that has fertilizer.

- Before packing six-cells or pots with dirt, wet it. It's nice to be able to avoid disturbing seeds with an initial watering right after planting. I add my seed starting medium to a small laundry tub, add water a little at a time and mix it up with gloved hands. Once it is evenly moist I pack it lightly into my containers.

- I keep a spray bottle of water nearby to lightly spray my seed germination "book", as well as any surface sown seeds.

I hope this tutorial and these tips are helpful to you on your seed starting journey! Here are a few other garden related tutorials I've published over the years:

DIY Felt Grow Bags (with Video Tutorial)

DIY Budget Wooden Tomato Trellis

DIY Fabric Grow Bags

Happy Gardening!

Hello Kitty Patchwork Quilt

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:30:00 +0200

Happy Wednesday! Today I have a recently finished quilt to share, a Hello Kitty patchwork quilt that I made for my daughter!

I started this quilt immediately after the election last year. I was feeling very sad/scared/angry, and needed a comfort project. I've held onto a stack of 5" Hello Kitty charms that a friend gave me for years and decided it was time to use them in a project. I cut some extra 5" squares from my stash of Hello Kitty fabrics to give me enough for this quilt.

For the background I used a polka dot sheet that I thrifted at the Goodwill Outlet. I love the colors! Now I'm keeping my eye out for more polka dot sheets! A checkerboard layout felt like the right choice.

The quilting is really simple, just some straight lines 1/4" on either side of each seam. Nothing fancy!

I really love the backing!! Sometime last year I thrifted a handmade duvet cover made from this incredible off-brand Hello Kitty fabric. We jokingly say it's "hey there kitty" instead of "hello kitty"! I took apart the duvet and now I have a bunch of fabric to play with.

The binding is another thrifted fabric, just a sweet little red and white polkadot. There are a lot of different colors in the charm squares, but red felt like a pretty good choice, since there is a lot of red throughout. The red also went well with the back!

My daughter loves this quilt, which is happy! It was a good reminder for me too that something simple can be so enjoyable to make and use. I'm so glad to have finally used those charms! There were some really cute prints in there, and now we get to enjoy them!

Hello Kitty Patchwork Quilt
Pattern: No pattern, used 5" squares
Fabrics: Reclaimed Bedsheets, stash

Happy Quilting!

February Wrap Up

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 12:30:00 +0200

Happy Friday! I felt inclined to share a little wrap up of February (and January really)! Not sure if this will be a regular thing or not, but thought it might be fun to try out. I miss my monthly report posts and my Friday Favorites. This is kind of a mash-up of those!

What I Sewed:
I just did a big post with all the things I'm working on right now! Check it out here: What I'm Working on Right Now

What I Watched:
We're rewatching All Creatures Great and Small (PBS), which we love. I also watched the Black Doves (Netflix), which was really good. I don't think I've watched any new movies lately, but did recently rewatch Knives Out (Netflix) and Wicked Little Letters (Netflix). Really enjoy both of those!

What I Listened To:
Michael got me hooked on Alive 2007, a live album from Daft Punk. I've been listening to their albums since college, but had never listened to this one. It's so good!

What I Baked/Cooked:
I can't stop making the granola biscotti from Smitten Kitchen Everyday* by Deb Perelman. I make it with cranberries and mini chocolate chips. This last batch I cut out two Tbs of butter and half the granulated sugar. I think with the chocolate chips in there I could get away with cutting the sugar a little further. They're so good with a cup of coffee.

For baby girl I've been making this Protein Banana Bread from Yummy Toddler Food. It's a big hit. I only use a splash of maple syrup and the second batch I added shredded carrot. I make it in mini loaf pans and freeze three of the four loaves. Makes it easy to pull them out as needed!

What I Read:
Currently reading The Way of Kings* by Brandon Sanderson. The only books I read last year were by Brandon. I started the year trying to read a couple other random books in my library, but ended up going back! This is the first book of his Stormlight Archive series. I do love reading series, because I don't have to decide what to read next for a while. These books are long, so I should be set on reading material for the foreseeable future!

What I Knitted:
I've been working on a new Astra hat! This is my third one, I previously knit one for myself and one for Michael. This pattern is really enjoyable to knit and it's beautiful too. I'm using some Spun Right Round yarn that I purchased in the last few years, along with a yarn that has been in my stash since 2017! I'm just about to start the decreases, so I don't have much further to go.

What I Crafted:
I started junk journaling the last few months. I don't always have time to work on it every week, but it's been really fun. I've always collected cute little bits and bobs from traveling, shopping, etc. This has been a fun way to use them in something. I was really inspired by Martina Calvi's new book The Art of Memory Collecting*. It was also a good excuse to join the Hello Kitty and Friends Sticker subscription from Pipsticks!!

What I Thrifted:
2025 has already delivered some great thrifting finds. Last weekend I found a queen sized quilt at the outlet. I've also found some great kid's books lately and vintage sheets.

What I Played:
I've been playing the new Stardew Valley update (v1.6) on my Switch, which has been really fun. It's a game I just keep coming back to!

I'll leave you with a Dusty cat photo!

Have a Great Month!

*Note: Any links marked with an asterisk in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click through and buy something, I make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

Warm Cool Giant Log Cabin Quilt

Wed, 26 Feb 2025 12:30:00 +0200

Happy Wednesday! Today I am excited to finally share my finished warm cool giant log cabin quilt!

I started this quilt in May 2024. I had been holding onto a bunch of 2" vintage sheet strips that were leftover from when I used to make wrapped wreath kits. I don't sell the kits anymore, but you can still find the free tutorial here: Wrapped Wreath Tutorial. That was back when I had my vintage sheet shop on Etsy, so I probably cut the strips around 10 years ago! I thought it was time to try to use them up. I wasn't able to use all of them in this project, but I made a good dent.

Pretty quickly I decided to make a log cabin quilt. I made a few test blocks playing with color placement before landing on this warm/cool arrangement. I've wanted to make a warm cool log cabin quilt ever since I made my warm cool half-square triangle quilts back when I first started quilting! That was my first sew along, which I ran in 2011. You can find it here if you're curious: Warm Cool Quilt Along

I made four large log cabin blocks primarily from the strips I already had cut. I added in a few where needed to achieve a good balance of color and pattern. Especially for the longest strips on the outer edge, I needed to dip into my stash. The quilt finishes around 50" square.

I really enjoyed playing around with giant log cabin blocks again. I still love the Giant Log Cabin Jelly Roll Quilt I made with Carolyn Friedlander's fabrics a few years ago.

For the quilting, I did a repeat of the quilting design I did on my Vintage Bear Paw Baby Quilt. It's wavy lines in both directions, so you end up with kind of a wavy grid! See my tutorial for how to do this wavy quilting here: How to Quilt Wavy Lines with a Walking Foot (video!)

I've had this backing sheet in my stash for such a long time! Easily 15 years. I have been saving it specifically to use as a backing and this seemed like the right quilt. I actually forgot until I pulled it out that it was a fitted sheet, so I really couldn't have used it on anything much bigger than this. Meant to be! I love the hearts. It reminds me of the backing sheet I used on this quilt. I had to choose a striped sheet for the binding, right? I went with blue for this one!

I used one of my custom woven labels to finish it off.

This quilt was a joy to work on. I loved using up long stashed materials that had been languishing. Since finishing it late last year it has gotten lots of use on our living room floor as a play mat!

Warm Cool Giant Log Cabin Quilt by Jeni Baker
Pattern: No pattern, used 2" wide strips
Fabrics: Vintage Reclaimed Bedsheets

Happy Quilting!

What I'm Working On Right Now

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 12:30:00 +0200

Happy Friday! Thgouht it was high time to share what I'm currently working on, and a few small finished projects. So far in 2025 my sewing time has been sporadic, but I've still managed to work on a few things.

I've continued to work on my soft and subtle Candyweb Blocks! I was originally just going to make four blocks, but ended up deciding to make nine instead. So I'm working away on those. It's been easier ever since I organized my scraps a little better!

Speaking of scraps, I've made some more of these fun arched log cabin blocks. I'm not sure if I ever shared a photo of these blocks here. I made 16 (I think?) right after baby girl was born and then set them aside. I decided to make more and have been slowly adding to the original 16! I'd love to make a whole quilt. We'll see, this is going to be a long term project for sure.

Last Fall I found this vintage ornament panel at the Goodwill outlet and immediately snatched it up. I love finding these stuffed ornaments, so it was extra fun to be able to make some! I think my favorite of the bunch is the tree.

I started a new Christmas quilt in December, when I had nowhere near enough time to finish it! I realized when I was cutting out drawstring bags for the sew along that I had collected a good amount of holiday fabric scraps. So I chopped all of those up along with some smaller yardage. I got the blocks made and then stalled. Last month I pulled out the blocks and got them sewn into a quilt top. I made this using my free Tesselation quilt pattern, although I made the blocks smaller to fit my fabric scraps.

I finally was able to try out Alison Harris' Diagonal Seam Tape. I picked it up a while back and kept forgetting to try it. Loved using it on this project! It saved me SO MUCH TIME. Not having to mark all those squares was awesome.

I'm making a schoolhouse block quilt! I've been seeing these traditional blocks pop up lately and decided to try making one myself. I couldn't find a pattern that was exactly what I wanted, so I drafted this one myself. It makes a big block, 18" finished. I made one block using vintage sheets and pretty quickly decided I wanted to make a whole quilt! I've got twelve blocks made and I'm in the process of adding sashing right now. Can't wait to get this top put together.

I don't think I ever shared this project! After I made a slipcover for my adult size Ikea Poang chair (see that post here), we picked up a children's size for baby girl. Of course I had to make a matching cover for her chair too. I think it turned out so cute!

We had a nice little snow storm recently and got around 6 inches of snow. This meant I had to do some snow dyeing! I still have a stash of white cotton towels, so I dyed a few of those. Always so fun!!

Last but not least, a little crafting project. My friend Jacey gave me this laser cut sweater ornament a few years ago (okay more than a few!!) and I never stitched it. I've had it hung up in the package on my bulletin board, and I figured it would look better if I actually embroidered it! I think it turned out pretty cute.

Happy Making!

Vintage Sheet Lined Drawstring Bags

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 12:37:36 +0200

Happy Monday! Today I want to share the collection of vintage sheet lined drawstring bags I made last year!

When I was first diving back into my vintage sheet stash early last year, I realized I have made almost no lined drawstring bags from sheets. This inspired me to make a bunch! I ended up making a rainbow of bags in a few different sizes. A common thread between them is that I used a floral sheet for the exterior main and then a stripe or gingham sheet for the accent. Each bag has a coordinating lining from a low volume sheet. All of these bags were made with my Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern.

First up, pink! This print was a fitted sheet that we used on our futon that we used as a couch in my first apartment and then in our apartment in Madison. It was finally time to cut it up! This is a snack size bag.

Orange is next! This is one of my all time favorite sheets. It took me SO LONG to cut into it. Like I'm talking probably 10 years. It's just so pretty!! I finally did and this is the first thing I made. This is an artist size bag.

Yellow! This was the first bag that I made in this series. I really love this floral sheet. It's a big design so it doesn't always play well chopped up into small pieces. This was a great way to show it off! This is a project size bag.

Green is next! This one didn't photograph well, but it's lovely in person! A classic retro green sheet for this bag. This is an everything size bag.

Blue! I searched for this sheet for years! I've had the orange colorway in my stash for a long time, and it's been in many projects. It was only recently that I finally found the blue, it's so good! This is an everything size bag.

Last but not least, purple! This tulip print is such a nice purple. I love that is has both warm and cool purples in it, it makes it so versatile. It matches the purple stripe so nicely. This is a project size bag.

I had so much fun working on this series throughout the year. I was a little nervous that the sheets wouldn't make good bags, since they're often a bit lighter weight than quilting cotton. I thought about interfacing them, but I didn't want to compromise their softness. Luckily, my worries were quickly dashed, they're plenty sturdy! There will definitely be more vintage sheet drawstring bags in my future!

Pattern: Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Fabric: Reclaimed vintage bed sheets
Notions: Cotton twill tape, nylon paracord, round wooden beads, beehive wooden beads

Happy Sewing!

2025 Crafty Goals

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 12:30:00 +0200

Happy Tuesday! Today I wanted to share my 2025 crafty goals. This post is going to be short and sweet, because I don't have many this year! I am anticipating my craft thing being pretty limited in 2025, so I want to keep my goals reasonable. I'm sprinkling in a couple of work goals too, because why not! We'll see what this year brings, I might not be able to complete any of these goals. Trying to be open to all the things that this year may hold.

My word for this year is PLAY. I want to play in my working, hobbies, and with my young daughter. I hope that bringing a playful spirit and attitude to even hard things will make this year better. Without further ado, my goals for this year:

2025 Crafty Goals

- Use up more yardage than I bring in for both fabric and yarn.

- Finish up 1 or 2 long-term projects in progress.

- Release 2 new patterns.

- Destash fabric and yarn I don't think I'll use.

- Make a mini Making Backpack.

- Host another quilt along! Hopefully things Spring, keep your eye out.

- Work on a pair of colorwork mittens.

- Try a new craft! I already have supplies to try out marbling, natural dyeing, weaving (with a simple flat loom), bleach dyeing, etc.

- Continue to experiment and make things with repurposed textiles.

- Finish a crochet project.

If you're looking for some advice for making crafty goals, I wrote a post about my general approach to crafty goals a few years ago, you can find it here: Tips for Making and Keeping Crafty Goals.

Happy Making!

My 2024 Garden and 2025 Garden Plans

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 12:24:49 +0200

Happy Thursday! Today I wanted to spend some time looking back on my 2024 garden and looking forward to my 2025 garden plans! See past gardening posts here.

In 2024 I started lots of things from seed: all of our tomato plants, pepper plants, strawflowers, marigolds, and a few other bits. I love starting my own seeds. It's a good excuse to start the season early, and I can choose exactly what varieties I want to grow! It's taken some trial and error to figure out a good setup but I feel pretty confident at this point.

On our driveway garden this year we kept things pretty simple. We grew four cherry tomato varieties (Sungold, Sunsugar, Cherry Bomb and Chocolate Pear) and three pepper varieties (Anaheim, Sweet Banana and Serrano). We also had our fig tree, dahlias, lantana and strawflowers. For the veg I was able to use all seed from the year before, which was nice! I needed to use some of them up. My favorite tomato is Sungold, which did well this year. The Chocolate Pear was one I'd gotten for free with a seed order a few years ago and just thought I'd try out. It ended up being a surprise hit! Very prolific and didn't crack. I put a bunch in the freezer for soups. Peppers did okay, the Serrano is always the most productive for us in containers and that didn't change this year!

For 2025 we're going to skip peppers altogether, we just didn't eat them much last year. For tomatoes we'll definitely grow sungold, but beyond that I'm not sure yet! I might try another new red cherry, or maybe a currant style tomato! I had a currant tomato in my community garden plot in Madison one year and it had SO much fruit. Might be fun to try that again.

My perennial patch in the front yard did really well again! We even had a little bunny visitor for a while.

On the topic of perennials, I started a bunch of Candytuft from see this year. We've had a white Candytuft plant for years and it's done super well. I was constantly seeing seed packets for a pink/purple/red Candytuft mix, but never plants. Finally I broke and bought a packet of seeds! They were really easy to start and soon I had some purple! I hope to start even more this year.

Of course I grew strawflowers last year. I ordered a wide mix of seeds from Select Seeds and they did fantastic! I think it was one of my best strawflower years. I planted them at the bottom of the dahlia patch on both sides and I was constantly picking flowers. I'll always have these in my garden. I'm hoping to use up leftover seed from last year in 2025.

Another thing I grow every year without fail is marigolds! I just love them, especially the giant ones! I've been growing the heirloom yellow Mission Giant Marigolds for a few years and in 2024 I discovered Burpee had a hybrid orange Mission Giant! I couldn't help myself, I had to try them out. Unfortunately they weren't quite up to par with the yellow. First off, the yellow are heirloom, so I can save my own seeds at the end of each season. The orange are hybrid, so they won't be true from saved seed. More importantly, they just weren't quite the same blooms as the yellow, many looked like a regular giant marigold, without the frilly Chrysanthemum style of the yellow. They also had really weak stems, near the bloom, so they were quite floppy. I really wanted to love them, but I'm going to stick with the yellow and a regular giant orange this year!

I think the biggest success in my garden in 2024 was my dahlia seedling patch! I started seeds from Floret Flowers called "Cancan Girls" that were all taken from their anemone breeding patch. The last few years of growing dahlia seedlings, I've really want to try getting some anemone style dahlias, but haven't had any luck. Well this packet of seeds hit it out of the park! I ended up with more anemone dahlias than I could save!! Above are a couple that I really loved. Hopefully the tubers survive their winter storage!

One new thing I tried this year in both the dahlia seedling patch and the main dahlia patch was Hortonova netting. You place a few different levels of netting horizontally for the plants to grow up into, instead of staking each dahlia individually or corralling them with twine. I was a bit skeptical that it would work, but it was AMAZING! Easy to install (especially with two people), held up my plants all summer/fall, and was easy to remove and save at the end of the season. I was honestly blown away. Very excited to use this in years to come!

The main dahlia patch got a real upgrade this season! Our neighbors got a chip drop and had extra, so I was able to mulch the entire dahlia patch with wood chips!! It was so nice and it really kept the weeding and watering to a minimum this season.

Overall this was not a good dahlia year for me. I'm not sure why exactly, but my patch struggled. I had a bunch of plants that barely bloomed or didn't bloom at all. I still had plenty of blooms, and a few fun new varieties too, so not a total loss!

I haven't bought any new dahlia tubers yet this year, and I may not buy any. I have such a great mix of tubers already, and I'm really enjoying growing seedlings too. I collected seeds from my patch (which I still need to process!) and will hopefully be starting some of those this year.

Megan Dean was probably my favorite new variety I grew last year, a beautiful white/purple.

The other new variety I grew was Blyton Softer Gleam, which was beautiful!

That's a wrap on my 2024 garden! My love for gardening continues to grow each year (haha!), and I can't wait to get out in the dirt again this spring.

Happy Growing!

2024 in Review

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 12:30:00 +0200

Happy New Year! It's time to officially wrap up my creative year for 2024. This is my 16th year writing these wrap up posts, see previous years here.

This year was definitely different compared to years past! As the year went on (and baby girl dropped from 2 naps to 1!), I had less and less time to pursue creative endeavors. Despite this, I actually made more things than I initially thought. It wasn't until I sat down to start working on this post that I realized I actually made a lot of things this year. More than last year for sure! Certainly there have been stretches where I made more or less. I would say what I struggled this most with this year in terms of creativity was consistency. There were times where I would sew every day for weeks and others when I went weeks without sewing at all!

The overarching theme for my makes in 2024 was repurposing. I really enjoyed making things from my vintage sheet stash and other salvaged or thrifted materials. I made pouches from towels, bags from aprons, and a coat from a quilt! I look forward to continuing to experiment in this way in the future.

I didn't track my projects or yardage this year. I think I would like to at the very least keep a running list of finished projects in 2025, but we'll see. So instead of a rundown of everything I made in 2024, I'm just going to share my favorites! And check in with my goals at the end.

Time to look at some of my favorite projects from the year!

My favorite quilt finish: Soft and Subtle Vintage Sheet Plus Quilt

My favorite lined drawstring bag finish: Vintage Sheet Lined Drawstring Bags

My favorite bag finish: Upcycled Towel Zipper Bag

My favorite home decor finish: Ikea Poang Chair Slipcover

My favorite garment finish: Quilt Coat

My favorite craft finish: Dried Strawflower Wreath

My favorite knitting finish: Fuchsia Colorwork Mittens

My favorite thrift find: Thrifting a White Singer Featherweight 221K

This year I shared 7 free tutorials here on my blog and hosted two sew alongs:

- Plus Quilt Sew Along
- 2024 Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along
- 2024 Stash Tracking Worksheet
- How to Quilt Wavy Lines with a Walking Foot (video!)
- Jeni's Best Chocolate Cookies
- Book Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial
- Wreath Quilt Block Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
- Tips for Sturdy Lined Drawstring Bags
- Tie-Dye Twill Tape Tutorial

Let's check in with my 2024 Crafty Goals:

My #1 goal: When I do have time to make, spend most of that time playing. Work on whatever will make me the happiest in that moment.
I feel like I kept pretty true to this goal. Sometimes I got sidetracked by what I thought I "should" be working on, but for the most part I just made things for fun.

Try to use up more yardage than I bring in for both fabric and yarn. I'll track my yardage each month to help me stay on target. I'm less worried about this goal, I feel confident that my buying habits are in check after many years of tracking.
I did not track my yardage this year, but I didn't buy much. I only bought 3/4 yard of "new" fabric, and even that was from a 10 year old collection! I mostly brought in thrifted fabrics. I made one yarn purchase from Eat Sleep Knit during their black Friday sale, and just two skeins.

Finish up 1 or 2 long-term projects in progress.
I finished one long-term project, the Indigo June Baby Quilt. I also used up old leftovers to make the Leftovers Quilt and the Minny Muu Patchwork Baby Quilt.

Sew something with my vintage sheet stash.
Probably 75% of my sewing this year was with my vintage sheet stash! It really made me happy to work with my sheets again, so I leaned into it. I made three large throw size quilts, three baby quilts, a bunch of lined drawstring bags, a couple pillows and two chair covers.

Finish my colorwork mittens (I'm so close already, this should be a quick win!).
I finished these right away in the beginning of 2024! Hooray!!

Restart my art practice. This one is already in progress, I'm taking this class at the moment and feeling so inspired.
This was a big focus for me in the beginning part of 2024, but I ran out of steam a bit as the year went on.

Crochet more amigirumi.
Nope! Didn't work on any crochet amigirumi this year. I made some granny squares though!

That's all for now! I'll be back soon to share my 2024 garden wrap-up post and some 2025 crafty goals.

Happy Sewing!

Year End PDF Sale + January Break

Thu, 26 Dec 2024 07:00:00 +0200

Happy Holidays! I wanted to pop in quickly to share that I'm having an end of the year sale on all my PDF patterns! An automatic discount of 24% will be added at checkout on all the PDF patterns in my shop, as a farewell to 2024. Sale starts today, 12/26/24 and ends on 12/31/24. Thank you for all your support in 2024!!

It was a challenging year and 2025 is looking to be no different. I've decided to do a hard reset and take the month of January away from social media and blogging. I'll be back in February with my 2024 wrap-up post, 2025 goals and a few projects that didn't get shared this year.

Happy Holidays! Happy New Year!

Tie-Dye Twill Tape Tutorial

Wed, 11 Dec 2024 12:30:00 +0200

Welcome to the fourth and final week of the Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along! Today I have a dyeing tutorial for you!

I'll be updating the Sew Along Page each week with all the posts so that you can easily catch up or reference these posts after the sew along ends!

I hope you'll sew along with us! Sew from the tutorial or the patterns:
Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern

This week's task is finishing our bags! Tackle those drawstring casings, make fabric ties or prep twill/paracord ties. Pull ties through the bags and finish them off with a simple knot or some fun beads! A few posts you might find helpful this week:

- Marking the drawstring casings can be time consuming, especially if you're making a lot of bags. I have a video tutorial for an alternative marking technique that is my go-to method. Find it here: Alternative Method for Marking the Drawstring Casing

- If you're like me and you don't have a free-arm on your sewing machine, I have a video tutorial for how to sew the drawstring casings. Find it here: How to Sew a Drawstring Casing Without a Free-Arm Sewing Machine

- Using beads and want to take them to the next level? I have a tutorial all about how to customize unfinished wooden beads. Find it here: How to Customize Wooden Beads with Paint, Stain, and Dye

- You've made your bags and now you're ready to gift them, why not use some reusable gift tags too! I share five different ideas for tagging your bags in this post: Reusable Gift Tag Ideas for Drawstring Bags

- Working with Paracord can be intimidating if you've never used it before, I've got a post that breaks down the basics for you: Tips for Working with Paracord

- I also have a similar post for using cotton twill tape for ties: All About Cotton Twill Tape and How to Use it for Drawstring Bags

A couple years ago, I remember seeing some beautiful hand dyed ribbon in a gift shop here in CT and snapping a photo of it. Unfortunately I can't find the photo, but I still remember the ribbon. It looked like it had been splatter painted with dye! It reminded me of confetti and I just loved it. I've been wanting to try to recreate it ever since. This tutorial is full of my process and experiments along the way. I am really happy with the different looks I was able to achieve. These dyed twill tapes add something a little extra to each bag.

If you're interested in custom dyeing your own twill but prefer a solid color, I would recommend using the method used in my Dyeing Webbing for Custom Bag Handles Tutorial.

Tie-Dye Twill Tape Tutorial

Skill Level: Beginner
Tie-Dye Twill Tape Tutorial Materials:
- 100% Cotton Twill Tape
- Fabric Dye (RIT or Procion Dye)
- Salt (if using RIT Dye)
- Soda Ash (if using Procion Dyes)
- Small Bucket
- Plastic Tub or plastic wrapped work surface
- Wire rack (optional)

1. In order to keep the twill tape from fraying throughout this process, I went ahead and cut my twill to the length I would need for my drawstring ties, and finished the ends by folding them over and stitching them. This keeps things nice and neat throughout the dyeing and washing process. If you're not sure which bag sizes you want to make yet, or you want to dye a longer length, I would still recommend finishing the ends in some way, even if it's only temporary.

2. If you're using Procion dyes, soak twill tape in warm water. Add around 1/4 cup of Soda Ash per quart of water. Let soak for 10-15 minutes. Squeeze to remove excess liquid.

If you're using RIT dyes, soak twill tape in hot water. Add around 2 Tablespoons of salt per quart of water. This doesn't need to be exact. Let soak for 10-15 minutes. Squeeze to remove excess liquid.

3. Arrange twill tape in a plastic tub or a wire rack. You may choose to scrunch it up or lay it out flat.

4. If you're using Procion dye, sprinkle dye powder lightly on twill tape. Let sit for a couple hours.

If you're using powdered RIT dye, sprinkle dye powder liberally on twill tape. Let sit for a couple hours.

If you're using liquid RIT dye, carefully drip dye onto twill tape. Let sit for a couple hours.

In the process of writing this tutorial I experimented with a number of different dyes to see what kinds of results I could get! I know not everyone has access to Procion dyes, so I like to test out RIT dyes too since they're so widely available. Below you will see the dyeing results of two different brands of Procion dyes and two different types of RIT dyes. Each one resulted in a different look!

Dharma Trading Co Fiber Reactive Procion Dyes

These dyes are my personal favorite for any kind of dyeing. I especially love them for ice dyeing and they worked really well for this application too. I love how the dye colors separated as it sat on the twill. This dye is intensely pigmented, so the amount you use makes a difference! I did two experiments with this dye:

For this twill I used a black dye which separated into a rainbow very nicely! I set it on a wire rack and tried to use a small amount of dye powder. The result is a beautiful watercolor effect.

For this twill I used the same black dye, but used quite a bit! I also dyed this twill in the bottom of a plastic tub, so the colors stayed a lot more intense. If you want to easily achieve a multi-colored look, this is the way to go in my opinion!

Jacquard Procion MX Fiber Reactive Cold Water Dye

This dye is what I started using when I first got into dyeing. It can often be found at art supply stores and even some craft stores. The biggest difference between this dye and the Dharma for this application is that the colors don't separate out. So if you'd like a multi-colored look with this dye, you'll need to apply multiple colors.

For this hot pink twill I dyed it in the bottom of a tub. Look at those nice speckles!

This was another set of twill done with the Jacquard dye, this time in black. I dyed it on a wire rack and again it resulted in a more watercolor look.

RIT All-Purpose Powdered Dye

The RIT powder was really interesting to work with. It was less powder-like than the other dyes and more like a salt consistency. The results are more on the subtle side, and look more like a mottled solid dye.

RIT All-Purpose Liquid Dye

This was the only experiment I did with liquid dye. I dipped an old toothbrush in the dye liquid and used it to gently "splatter" the twill. This resulted in a very subtle twill. It may be hard to believe, but I actually used the color Wine here, which is supposed to be a very dark burgundy.

As you can see, there are lots of different effects that you can acheive depending on the method you use and the dye. Dyeing is such a fun thing to play with, and you never really know what you're going to get!

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial! I can't wait to see your bags! Please share them with me on instagram @jenib320 + #lineddrawstringbag or via email (jenib320 @ gmail.com)!

Don't forget to pin this post to your Pinterest for future reference!

Happy Dyeing!

Tips for Sturdy Lined Drawstring Bags

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 12:30:00 +0200

Welcome to the third week of the Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along! Today I'm sharing my Tips for Sturdy Lined Drawstring Bags!

I'll be updating the Sew Along Page each week with all the posts so that you can easily catch up or reference these posts after the sew along ends!

I hope you'll sew along with us! Sew from the tutorial or the patterns:
Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern

Before we dive into the post, let's talk about our to-do list for week 3 of the sew along!

This week's main task is sewing, hooray! Sew your bags through step 10. If you're making a lot of bags and you're short on time, I highly recommend making them assembly line style. A few posts from the archives you might find helpful this week:

- I recorded a video tutorial that covers making the bags from start to finish. It's a bit long, but it's meant to be comprehensive! It covers everything from cutting to finishing. Find it here: Lined Drawstring Bag Video Tutorial

- If you need a little extra guidance when it comes to the gussets, I have a video for that too! Find it here: How to Put a Gusset on a Bag Video Tutorial

- Want to try something different with your gussets? I shared a tutorial for exposed gussets last year that I think is rather cute: Exposed Gusset Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial

- Check out this post that will help make your drawstring casing openings extra tidy: Tips for Tidy Drawstring Casing Openings

Tips for Sturdy Lined Drawstring Bags

For this week's post I wanted to share some tips and ideas for making your drawstring bags extra sturdy. Most of the bags I've made throughout the years have been made with quilting cotton, and I'm happy to say they've held up great. But sometimes it's nice to make something that feels a little more hardwearing and structured. And you all have had questions over the years about adding interfacing or even quilting. So I finally did some experimenting and this post is the result! Let's get into it.

Using Canvas or Home Dec Fabrics

Probably the most straightforward way to make a sturdier drawstring bag is simply to use a thicker fabric. I've had great luck using mid-weight canvas fabrics for both the Exterior Main and Exterior Accent. I would avoid using super stiff canvas fabrics for the Accent so that the drawstring still closes easily.

Using Canvas, Waxed Canvas or Cork for a Bottom Accent

One of my favorite ways to make an extra sturdy drawstring bag is to use a thicker fabric for a bottom accent. This is one of the variations included in the Expansion Pattern. Since the drawstring is not on the accent, it allows you to use a heavier fabric. I've made a few bags using cork fabric as the bottom accent, which worked really well!

For this post I experimented with using a waxed canvas for the bottom accent. I love the resulting bag. I paired it with a home dec fabric for the exterior main and the entire bag has a really nice weight to it.

Adding Interfacing

Interfacing is a great way to add some extra structure to light-weight fabrics like quilting cottons. If I'm going to use interfacing I prefer something quite light for the accent, like SF101 by Pellon. For the exterior main I've used SF101 with great results. If you'd like you could use something thicker for the exterior main like fusible fleece.

Quilting the Exterior Main Pieces

This is something I've had questions about over the years and now I can finally give you a good answer! Quilt away dear readers, adding quilting to the exterior main makes for a great sturdy bag. I layered quilting cotton and quilt batting (with no backing fabric) and quilted it with some wavy straight lines. I added light-weight interfacing to the Exterior Accent on this bag, so that the texture would blend well with the quilted Exterior Main.

Finish Raw Edges

If you plan to wash your drawstring bags, I would definitely consider finishing the raw edges of your fabric. My preferred way to do this is to serge or zig-zag stitch the edges of all my cut pieces before I start sewing. This way you can assemble the bag as usual you don't have to stop to finish seams as you go, with the exception of the cut edges of your gussets.

Topstitch Seams

Adding topstitching to the seams on the outside of your bag not only adds a visual detail, but can help make your seams extra sturdy.

Tips for Washing Your Drawstring Bags

I would exercise great care when washing your bags. My recommendation would be to hand wash only and hang dry. Since the bags are constructed with 1/4" seams, you could have a seam fray open during a trip in the dryer.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial! I can't wait to see your bags! Please share them with me on instagram @jenib320 + #lineddrawstringbag or via email (jenib320 @ gmail.com)!

Don't forget to pin this post to your Pinterest for future reference!

Happy Sewing!

Wreath Quilt Block Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 12:30:00 +0200

Welcome to the second week of the Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along! Today I'm sharing a tutorial for a Wreath Quilt Block Lined Drawstring Bag!

I'll be updating the Sew Along Page each week with all the posts so that you can easily catch up or reference these posts after the sew along ends!

I hope you'll sew along with us! Sew from the tutorial or the patterns:
Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern

Here are a few to-do items for week 2 of the sew along!

The main task for this week is cutting! Finalize those fabric choices and cut out all the pieces for your bags. Here are a few posts from the archives that you might find helpful:

- If you're not comfortable using a rotary cutter, or just want to streamline your process, you won't want to miss my post about making templates for cutting out your bags. Find it here: Making Templates for the Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern

- Looking for ways to dress up your bag? Check out these tutorials: How to Use Trim or Ribbon to Embellish Your Drawstring Bags and Adding an Exterior Pocket.

- Take your eco-friendly wrapping to the next level by upcycling a button down shirt! Find my tutorial for that here: Upcycled Lined Drawstring Gift Bags + How to Cut up a Button Down Shirt

Almost every year of the Sew Along I share a tutorial for a holiday themed quilt block to add to the front of a drawstring bag! This year I decided on a Wreath Block! This block is really simple to make, it's a basic Shoofly quilt block, with the colors arranged to look like a wreath. I think it all comes together when you add the bow, but of course you may choose to leave it off! You could also add a ready made bow or other embellishment like buttons or a patch.

I thought it would be fun to see all the block tutorial bags together! Here are the corresponding tutorials:
- Present Quilt Block Drawstring Bag Free Tutorial
- Patchwork Star Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
- Gingerbread House Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial

Wreath Quilt Block Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial

Sewing Level: Beginner Friendly
Finished size: Approx. 10" tall, 7" wide, 3" deep

Wreath Quilt Block Lined Drawstring Bag Materials:
- 3 Fat quarters (18"x21")*
- 1/8 yard for wreath
- 1/8 yard for bow
- 2 yards of 1/2" twill tape, or 1/8 yd fabric
- Coordinating thread
- Hand-stitching needle
- Acrylic ruler
- Large safety pin
- Water soluble pen

*This tutorial is written for using a non-directional fabric for the Exterior Main.

Looking for supplies? Check out my Pattern Supplies and Resources post.

Wreath Quilt Block Lined Drawstring Bag Cutting:
From Exterior Main Fabric:
- Cut (1) 9”x10.5” piece
- Cut (1) 1"x10.5" top piece
- Cut (1) 2.5"x10.5" bottom piece
- Cut (2) 6.5"x2.5" side pieces
- Cut (1) 2.5"x2.5" square
- Cut (2) 3"x3" squares

From Wreath Fabric:
- Cut (4) 2.5"x2.5" squares
- Cut (2) 3"x3" squares

From Bow Fabric:
- Cut (2) 1.5"x21" strips

From Exterior Accent Fabric:
- Cut (1) 4”x21” strip
- Subcut into (2) 4”x10.5” pieces

From Interior Fabric:
- Cut (1) 12.5”x21” strip
- Subcut into (2) 12.5”x10.5” pieces

If using fabric for ties:
- Cut (2) 32”x2” strips

If using twill for ties:
- Cut (2) 32" pieces

Wreath Block Lined Drawstring Bag Instructions:

*Use a 1/4” seam allowance unless otherwise noted*

1. Using a marking pen or a pencil, draw a diagonal line across the wrong side of a 3" Exterior Main square. Place 3" Exterior Main square and a 3" Wreath square right sides together. Stitch 1/4" on both sides of the marked line. Press and cut apart on the marked line to create two half-square triangles. Press seams open. Repeat with remaining 3" squares to make a total of 4 half-square triangle blocks. Trim half-square triangles to 2.5” square.

2. Arrange half-square triangle blocks made in step 1 with the 2.5" Exterior Main square and the 2.5" Wreath squares into three rows of three blocks. Sew blocks together in each row. Press seams in one direction, alternating direction every other row. Sew rows together. Press seams open. Wreath Block should measure 6.5"x6.5" unfinished.

Now it's time to add the borders to the Wreath Block.

3. Sew the two 6.5"x2.5" side Exterior Main pieces to either side of the wreath block. Press seams away from block.

4. Sew the 1"x10.5" top Exterior Main piece to the top edge of the block. Press seams away from block. Sew the 2.5"x10.5" bottom Exterior Main piece to the bottom edge of the block. Press seams away from block. Trim piece to 9"x10.5" if necessary. This is the Exterior Main piece for one side of the bag.

Optional: You may choose to add lightweight interfacing the completed patchwork. I would recommend something like SF101 by Pellon, and interfacing both Exterior Main pieces.

Refer to the free tutorial or the everything size in the lined drawstring bag pattern. Follow steps 1-8, then return to this tutorial.

5. To make the wreath bow, place two 1.5"x21" Bow strips right sides together. Sew along all four sides, leaving a few inches unsewn for turning. Turn tie right sides out, press well. Topstitch around all four sides, closing the opening. Carefully tie into a neat bow.

If you'd like, you could make the ends of the ties pointed or rounded. Trim to shape before sewing them together.

6. Turn bag right sides out. Hand-stitch the bow onto the wreath block, using the opening in the interior of the bag to reach the wrong wide of the bag exterior.

For the remaining bag construction, refer back to the free tutorial or the everything size in the lined drawstring bag pattern.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial! I can't wait to see your bags! Please share them with me on instagram @jenib320 + #lineddrawstringbag or via email (jenib320 @ gmail.com)!

Don't forget to pin this post to your Pinterest for future reference!

Happy Sewing!

Book Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 12:30:00 +0200

Welcome to the first post of the 2024 Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along! Today I have a new bag size to share, the Book Lined Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial!

I'll be updating the Sew Along Page each week with all the posts so that you can easily catch up or reference these posts after the sew along ends!

I hope you'll sew along with us! Sew from the tutorial or the patterns:
Lined Drawstring Bag Tutorial
Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern

Here are a few to-do items for week 1 of the sew along!

The main goal for this week is to get your bag plans mapped out. Figure out how many bags you'd like to make, which sizes and choose fabrics. Here are a few posts from the archives that you might find helpful when tackling this:

- My tips for choosing fabrics, specifically for drawstring bags. This post includes a bunch of sample fabric pulls too. Find it here: Tips for Choosing Fabrics for Drawstring Bags

- Guidance for making drawstring bags for wrapping gifts. There are also some gift ideas for each size, to give you an idea of what would fit in all the different sizes: Tips For Using Drawstring Bags to Wrap Gifts

- There are a few other bag sizes outside of the tutorial or pattern, you don't want to miss then! The Wine Bottle Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial and the Knit Drawstring Shoe Bag Tutorial.

- Still looking for fabric combination ideas? I'd recommend checking out my Lined Drawstring Bag Pinterest Board as well as the #lineddrawstringbag hashtag on Instagram. You'll find lots of finished bags to take inspiration from!

I'm so excited to share two bag sizes with you today that would be great for books! Books make such a nice gift, I thought we could all get some use out of a bag tailored specifically for wrapping books. I'm sharing two different bags today, one that fits larger novels and another that fits small paperbacks.

The Large Book Bag is 15" tall x 9" wide and fits hardcover books around 9.5"x6.5", as well as larger trade paperback books around 9"x6". The inside usable height of the Large bag is 12.5".

The Small Book Bag is 12.5" tall x 8" wide and fits medium paperbacks around 8"x5" as well small mass-market paperbacks around 7"x4". The inside height of the Small bag is 10.25". Both bags fit books that are of moderate thickness.

If you're worried that your book won't fit, I suggest making a test bag! You can always add height (the same amount to the Exterior Main and Lining) if you need to. A good rule of thumb is if the book is shorter than the Exterior Main height measurement, it has a good chance of fitting. If your book is particularly thick, you may consider adding a little to both the height and width of the pieces to accommodate it.

Book Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial

Sewing Level: Beginner
Finished size: Large - 15" tall 9" wide, Small - 12.5" tall 8" wide

Book Drawstring Gift Bag Materials:

	Small Bag	Large Bag
Exterior Main	1 Fat Quarter	1 Fat Quarter
Accent	1 Fat Quarter*	1 Fat Quarter*
Lining	1 Fat Quarter	1 Fat Quarter
Ties	1/8 yd or 1 5/8 yd twill	1/8 yd or 1 2/3 yd twill

*1/4 yard cut could be substituted

- Coordinating thread
- Acrylic ruler
- Large safety pin
- Pencil

Looking for supplies? Check out my Pattern Supplies and Resources post.

Book Drawstring Gift Bag Cutting:
All cutting measurements are listed as height x width

	Small Bag	Large Bag
Exterior Main	(2) 10"x8.5"	(2) 12"x9.5"
Accent	(2) 4"x8.5"	(2) 4"x9.5"
Lining	(2) 13.5"x8.5"	(2) 15.5"x9.5"
Ties**	(2) 28"x2"	(2) 30"x2"

**If using twill for ties, ignore the 2" measurement and simply cut to length.

Book Drawstring Gift Bag Instructions:

For bag construction, refer to the free tutorial or the lined drawstring bag pattern. The depth for both bags is 0, so you can skip steps 6-8 and proceed to step 9. If you need extra guidance on the construction, please refer to the video tutorial.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial! I can't wait to see your bags! Please share them with me on instagram @jenib320 + #lineddrawstringbag or via email (jenib320 @ gmail.com)!

Don't forget to pin this post to your Pinterest for future reference!

Happy Sewing!

2024 Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along Schedule

Wed, 13 Nov 2024 12:32:20 +0200

This year's Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along starts in one week! I wanted to share the schedule for the sew along so that you know what posts you can expect from me starting Wednesday, November 20th! If you'd like to break up your bag making across the sew along, I'm also sharing a schedule for making that you can choose to use if you'd like! I'll also be sharing my progress on my personal bags throughout the sew along! Here are the posts I have planned for each week:

Week 1 - November 20th
Tutorial post: Book Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial (new size!)
To do: Plan your bags! This week your task is to decide how many bags you'd like to make, what sizes, and pick out fabrics.

Week 2 - November 27th
Tutorial post: Wreath Block Drawstring Bag Tutorial
To do: Cutting! Now's the time to finalize your fabric choices and cut out all the pieces for your bags.

Week 3 - December 4th
Tutorial post: Tips for Sturdy Drawstring Bags
To do: Sewing! Sew your bags through step 10. If you're making a lot of bags and you're short on time, I highly recommend making them assembly line style. This isn't quite as fun, but it's definitely more efficient!

Week 4 - December 11th
Tutorial post: Tie-Dye Cotton Twill Tape Tutorial
To do: Final touches! Tackle those drawstring casings, make fabric ties or prep twill/paracord ties. Pull ties through the bags and finish them off with a simple knot or some fun beads!

Each week's post will go up on Wednesday! I'll update this post and the Sew Along page with the links as we go. You can find all of the previous year's sew along posts on that page too!

Participating is easy, we'll be using the #lineddrawstringbag hashtag on Instagram to share our progress. Not on Instagram? That's okay! Feel free to sew along and if you'd like, share your bags with me via email!

Sew from the free tutorial, the pattern or the expansion pattern! Both patterns are on sale, 20% off through 11/25/23. Prices are already marked down. Shop here:

Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern

Don't forget to pick up some supplies too!
Cotton Twill Tape
Nylon Paracord
Round Wooden Beads
Beehive Wooden Beads

Happy Sewing!

Announcing the 2024 Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along!

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 11:27:39 +0200

Get your sewing machine ready! It's that time of year, our annual Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along is almost here! Using drawstring bags to wrap your holiday gifts is a great way to reduce the amount of single-use wrapping paper you need. Every year is an opportunity to build up your stash of bags and use up some of the beautiful fabrics you probably have kicking around your fabric stash!

A handmade gift bag can really take a gift to the next level, especially when it's tailored to the recipient or gift. Within our immediate family, we keep reusing the same bags year after year. I love pulling my older bags out and adding new ones to the mix. I hope you'll sew along with me and make a few bags this year!

When:
The Lined Drawstring Bag Sew Along will officially kick off on Wednesday, November 20th and will run for four weeks!

Where:
Each week of the sew along I'll publish a blog post with a new tutorial. There is a dedicated sew along page, which I'll update as we go along. It's a great place to find all the posts from previous year's sew alongs, there is so much good information and inspiration there, so be sure to check it out.

How to Participate:
Just like in years past, this sew along is going to be casual and no-stress. Participating is easy, we'll be using the #lineddrawstringbag hashtag on Instagram to share our progress. Please tag me @jenib320 too, I love sharing your projects throughout the sew along! Not on Instagram? That's okay! Please join in the sew along and if you'd like, share your bags with me via email! (jenib320 at gmail.com)

Patterns & Tutorial:
Sew from the free tutorial, the pattern or the expansion pattern! Both patterns are 20% off today through 11/15/24. Prices are already marked down.

Shop Patterns:
Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern
Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern

Shop Notions:

Don't forget to pick up some supplies while you're at it! The shop is stocked with lots of different cotton twill tape options, nylon paracord and wooden beads. I also put together a new Lined Drawstring Bag Notions Kit, to make it super easy to pick up a few supplies!

Lined Drawstring Bag Notions Kit
Cotton Twill Tape
Nylon Paracord
Round Wooden Beads
Beehive Wooden Beads

I also have a new color of Nylon Paracord in the shop, black!

Thank you for your continued support. Can't wait to sew bags together!

Happy Sewing!

Remaking Every Bag in the Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern

Tue, 29 Oct 2024 11:30:00 +0200

Happy Tuesday! Today I have a fun parade of drawstring bags to share! I'm celebrating five years since I released my Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern! To mark this milestone, I decided to challenge myself to remake all the bag variations included in the pattern.

I've been working a lot with vintage sheet fabrics lately, so I also challenged myself to use only my quilting cotton and canvas stashes. I wanted to especially focus on using up leftovers and precious saved fabrics. It's nice to have some constraints sometimes, rather than having endless options!

There are 10 main variations included in the pattern, plus techniques and ideas for taking each variation a step further. I made one variation twice, so I ended up making a total of 11 bags over the course of this month. Without further ado, let me show you the bags I made!

Find the pattern in my shop here: Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern.

First up we have the Peek-a-boo bag! This is one of the simpler variations, but it's really cute. I love having the lining fabric peek through at the top of the bag. These prints have been in my stash for many years, I was happy to finally use that floral print in a project! This is a Project size bag. I used antique ruler twill tape to finish it.

The Mini Accent bag is next! This variation plays with the proportion of the accent and the exterior main. I used an old Heather Ross linen, I've had it so long I don't even remember what collection it's from. I haven't used that purple lining print in probably 10 years, still such a good one! This is an Everything size bag. It's finished with 1/2" natural twill tape.

On to the Bottom Accent bag! Of all the variations in the pattern, I've probably made this one the most. Instead of having the accent at the top of the bag, it's at the bottom! I love this sheep print by Ellen Luckett Baker so much! I made a bag (Sheep Maker's Tote) with the mustard colorway back in 2016. This is a Project size bag. Finished with nylon paracord.

Next up, two Patchwork bags! I had two stacks of 2.5" squares that have been kicking around my stash for a while and I decided to use them both up during this challenge. For this one I used all strawberry prints! My friend Jacey gave me a mini charm pack of strawberry prints years ago and I'm so glad I finally used them in a project. I love strawberries so much! The accent on this bag is a thrifted quilting cotton. This is an Everything bag. I finished it with nylon paracord and beehive wooden beads.

For my second Patchwork bag, I used the leftovers of a couple different Carolyn Friedlander mini charm packs. I made another patchwork bag with her fabrics a few years ago, which you can see here: February Monthly Report. This one features a lot of wovens that coordinate with her collections. I used a bright green solid leftover from my Large Keep Turning Quilt. This is an Everything size bag, and I finished it with black ruler twill tape.

Next up, a Foundation Pieced bag! I dug into my low volume scraps for this bag, in particular my cream based fabrics. The exterior main pieces have a muslin foundation, and the possibilities in terms of design are endless! I've made a bunch of string block bags using this same technique. For this bag I did logcabin-ish piecing. This is an Everything size bag, and I pulled out my hot pink nylon paracord to finish it!

The patchwork bags are fun, but can be a bit time consuming. Enter the Easy Going bag! This bag uses only two fabrics, one for the exterior and one for the interior. I've had this purple Alice in Wonderland fabric from Kokka for ages. I'm happy that I finally used it! This is a Project size bag, and I finished it with 1/2" natural twill tape and 1" wooden beads.

This bag is even easier! This is the single fabric Easy Going Bag. You only use one fabric for the entire bag. I choose this funky stripe from a friend. This is a Snack size bag and I finished it with some yellow measuring tape twill!

This variation is super fun (in my opinion!) the Backpack bag! Turning your drawstring bag into a drawstring backpack requires only a few minor alterations. I made it using Halloween fabrics because I think it would be an excellent bag for trick-or-treat. As your bag of candy gets heavier, you get to wear it on your back instead of carrying it! This is an Artist size bag, and it's finished with black nylon paracord.

Another Halloween themed bag, this time a Quilt Block bag. I love adding quilt blocks to the exterior main on drawstring bags. I've released a new block bag (almost) every year during the lined drawstring bag sew along (this year's is going to be so cute!!). The pattern includes instructions for adding common square quilt blocks to your bags as well as instructions for adding a custom sized block to the bag front. For this bag I used a leftover spooky block. This block is a free pattern, you can find it here: Paper Pieced Coffin Quilt Block. This is a Project size bag, and I finished it with black twill tape.

Last but not least, a bag with a Centered Design! There are instructions for laying out an embroidery or appliqué design on the exterior of a bag, as well as centering an existing design. For this bag, I centered a leftover screen print that I had in my stash. I had printed it on white fabric with white ink, so I dyed it before turning it into the bag! The back of the bag is a piece of fabric that I ice dyed.I'm thinking about printing panels of this print (and the sewing version) again, maybe this Spring? We'll see! This is an Artist size bag and I finished it with black ruler twill tape.

That's a wrap! I'll be back to announce the dates for this year's sew along later this week!

Patterns: Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern, Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern
Fabrics: Stash
Notions: Cotton Twill Tape, Nylon Paracord, Round Wooden Beads, Beehive Wooden Beads

Happy Sewing!

Dried Strawflower Wreath DIY

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 11:48:07 +0200

Happy Friday! Today I want to share a recent crafting project that I finished, a small wreath made from dried strawflowers!

One of the hobbies that my grandmother enjoyed was making dried flower arrangement. She bought a lot of the dried flowers that she used (I remember going to a craft fair with her at a school to buy some!), but she liked to grow her own strawflowers. She had a great garden, and the strawflowers fascinated me. Right on the plant, they are dry and crunchy like straw. So different to most flowers!

I started growing strawflowers in my own garden five years ago. I go about this two ways. I nearly always buy a pot or two of short strawflowers from a local nursery to grow on the driveway in a pot. The bulk of what I grow I start from seed. Strawflowers need a long time to get going, so I start my seeds in very early March. They are a time investment for sure!

This has been one of my best years for strawflowers! I have a couple plants that are easily 8 feet, which is so cool. I harvest flowers a couple times a week. It can be a challenge to figure out the right time to cut them, since they continue to open after they are cut. I cut mine while they're still mostly closed. This shoe box sized tub is flowers I harvest just this season!! The seeds I grew this year came from Select Seeds and Johnny's Seeds.

I like to use simple grapevine wreath forms from the craft store. A straw form might be easier now that I think about it, maybe I'll try one of those next! This wreath is around 6".

I like to used hot glue to affix my flowers to my form. I'm using a battery operated hot glue gun (which I LOVE), but it is a little overkill for this project in terms of heat.

I started by adding flowers to the front of the wreath, and then slowly building up the sides.

It's so fun digging through all the flowers and finding just the right size/color for the spot I'm filling. I found these two while making this wreath and they might be my favorites. The colors are just so good!

All done! I don't know how many flowers I ended up using to finish this, but it did take me a few days. I am so happy with how it turned out. I've made a few of these wreaths and I can confidently say this is my best one! I bought some tiny wreath forms a few years ago, I'm excited to cover those too!

Here is a view from the side, it looks like it's encrusted with flowers. :)

Strawflowers are one of my very favorite flowers to grow and they're so fun to craft with. I highly recommend trying them out in your garden next year! Even if it's just a pot from your local nursery!

Happy Crafting!

Vintage Sheet Pillow Cover Projects

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 12:01:28 +0200

Happy Friday! Today I want to share a few recent pillow covers that I made using my vintage sheet stash!

Lately I've had good luck finding nice feather pillow forms at the Goodwill Outlet. Since they can't be washed, I seal them in big black trash bags and let them sit in the summer heat in our garage for a month or so before running them through the "sanitize" setting on our dryer. Once this group were ready to come into the house, I set about making covers for them! I had two 20" forms and one 24".

For the first 20" pillow form, I decided to make a pillow using the Woven Quilt pattern, which can be found in my book, Patchwork Essentials: The Half-Square Triangle. This one is made completely from scraps! Honestly, I'd love to make an entire quilt like this!! I really love how it turned out, so scrappy and happy. I used the wide hem of a sheet for the back, which worked pretty well! It gapes a little bit, could probably have made the two halves overlap more, but that's okay. It still works!

For the 24" pillow form I really wanted to use the pillow cover I made when I released my Giant Vintage Star Quilt Pattern. Unfortunately, at the time I could not find it anywhere (I've since found it, yay!). So I decided to make another one! I had just thrifted the background sheet, which is what I used as the starting point for this pillow. For this one I put in a simple zippered backing.

Last but not least, this pillow cover was a fun experiement. I wanted to make something that used up some more of the wide sheet hems. I put a foundation for the front and then sewed the sheet hems onto it, overlapping them to hide the raw edges. The result is pretty different from what I normally make, but I like it all the same! And I used up a couple hems, so win-win!!

Baby girl is climbing all over everything right now, so it's nice to have a few more pillows to add to the mix. Our couch is constantly surrounded by pillows since her preferred way to get off of it is headfirst! Haha. Also, I just love making pillow covers. They're not too time consuming, you can experiement, and they really liven things up in my opinion! These were a lot of fun to make.

Happy Sewing!

Vintage Quilt Rescue

Tue, 08 Oct 2024 11:45:14 +0200

Happy Tuesday! Today I wanted to share a recent quilt rescue project I undertook!

I've made it a habit to go to the Goodwill Outlet near us in the mornings on the weekend. Digging through the bins of linens and books is a great way for me to check out for 30 minutes or so. It's kind of chaotic, but different from my everyday chaotic, so I can really disconnect for a bit. I've found some incredible things there lately, including a few vintage quilts. I have a really hard time leaving those behind, despite the fact that we have a home full of quilts! Knowing that their next stop is a landfill just hurts.

That's how I ended up bringing home this little quilt! It's a small throw that was in pretty good shape considering. The main issues with it were the binding had mostly disintegrated, and it had almost no quilting holding it together. I knew it wouldn't take much to get this quilt back in working order.

The first thing I did was remove the binding and fix a couple small holes. In hindsight, I probably should have taken the time to replace the batting since it was all balled up in some places. But, we're working with very minimal crafting time over here, so! I knew it needed a decent amount of quilting to make sure it all continued to hold together. I went with a simple diagonal grid. I followed the lines of the patchwork, so the quilting is a bit funky, but that's okay.

Unfortunately, the old binding was not salvageable. Time for new!

All done! It's not a dramatic transformation, but I do think that it's life has been extended.

Other than the fun colors and prints in this quilt, my favorite thing about it is how soft it is. These fabrics have been washed so many times, it's extremely soft.

The back is a plain blue, you can really see the quilting on the back.

I loved the scrappiness of the old binding, but I really didn't have the right solids to recreate it. So I went with this nice woven stripe that's been in my stash forever. I believe it was also thrifted, which is nice!

It felt really good to bring this quilt home and give it a little tender loving care. It is now living a happy life as a car quilt. I keep it in the car to use as a quilt to use in the car, so take out at the park. I hope it has many more years of use in it now!

Happy Quilting!