sewing the msq fancy zip travel tote (with an add-on!)

How do you feel about sewing zippers? They honestly make me so nervous that I don't think I've ever (until now) sewn one on a machine. I've hand sewn them, but that's different. But Missouri Star Quilt Co. sells Fancy Zips that have cute little designs and they go on the outside, and that felt less intimidating to me.

Now, let me start by saying that I'm an MSQ Partner, which means they send me things and I have an affiliate link, and sometimes I get to offer special discounts or giveaways from them. So this project is fully thanks to them, even though I chose all the materials and the pattern.



I got a pack of Fancy Zips first, then I found their Fancy Zip Travel Tote. I think they have a video for making this too, but I got the printed pattern. I prefer written instructions with photos or illustrations because that's how I learn and process things.

Then I found this SUPER cute cheater print with hexagons. This is from Riley Blake's Bloomberry line by Minki Kim. I love it. And the lining is from the Spring Gardens line (which I got much earlier this year).



One of the things I read about this pattern is that zipping and unzipping was a little harder because you need to hold the bag in some way while you do that. So I had an idea!

Since the outside would be all hexagons, what if there was a little hexagon tab at each end? And what if I added a face to make it very much "me"? Never mind that I was already sewing a zipper like this for the first time. I wanted to make the project my own! And I did.

Just to be clear, I had to sew the zipper twice. And it's still a little funky. First I sewed too close to the edge and then I sewed not close enough. Or maybe the sewing was in the right spot, but the fabric edge wasn't.

At any rate, I made the thing and I love it and I'm so glad to have the little hexagon tabs. So I'm sharing them with you here so you can add them too!



First, thread-baste four 1-inch EPP hexagons.

These linen hexagons were actually prepped like this on my Happy Hexagons templates and just sitting in my EPP box. Yay, past me!



Remove the paper templates, and if you want, stitch a face on one or two of the hexagons. I used my classic little smiley.



Next, stitch two hexagons together, back to back. Do this again with the remaining two hexagons. I used three strands of embroidery floss and running stitch.

Set aside the hexagons and start making the travel tote, following the pattern instructions.



After sewing in the zipper, but before you sew the ends together, place a hexagon between the layers at each end of the zipper. The front (face side) should face the zipper, with the top of the hexagon aligned with the raw fabric edges.

Finish sewing the bag, following the instructions as written.




And now you have a Fancy Zip Travel Tote with happy little tabs to hold while you open and close it! There are still times when I end up grabbing the bag a bit to finish zipping, but that's mostly due to my sewing issues. Seriously. Why is machine sewing still so hard for me? Ha!

It's okay. I also still love it. Especially when I can make a cute bag like this!



And for me, the real test of a pattern (sewing or otherwise!) is "would I make it again?" The answer is yes. I absolutely would make this again. I'd make this for gifts and I'd try modifying it in other ways too. Not to mention, I have more of these zippers to use!

If you'd like to make one, head to Missouri Star Quilt Co. (affiliate link), where you'll find all the materials you'll need. Search for "Fancy Zip Travel Tote" and you can choose between the printed and digital versions, and check out the video showing it coming together!

What would you carry in your super cute tote?

project // mickey balloon felt ornament

Get ready to unlock a memory with this new felt pattern! We're stitching Mickey Mouse balloons!

This year I've been sharing patterns for making felt ornaments that have Disney snacks and treats, and while this one isn't a snack, it could be a treat, right? Not all treats are edible!

Truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of balloons in general, but there's something special about Mickey balloons. Well, I think probably any balloon at a Disney park because they just seem iconic for the happiest and most magical places on earth.



On a recent trip to Disneyland, my sister was especially enamored with the balloons and kept pausing to take photos and videos. So I also snapped a photo with my felt version!

If you notice, the Mickey balloons they have now are not traditional latex balloons. Instead, they are plastic/mylar, with the Mickey shaped part inside an outer clear balloon. AND THEY LIGHT UP!!! Even more magical!

I feel like I should get one of these for myself at some point. But do I really want to carry it around all day? Do I want to try and bring it home with me? Maybe I should stick to felt.



So now, let me tell you how to make this. For these designs, I don't have a full tutorial, but rather, a little overview of the process. They basically go together like my other felt ornaments.

First, this is wool blend felt from Benzie Design (affiliate link). I cut the circles with my Circles and Scallops die, also from them, but you can use the circle templates in the PDF with plain or decorative scissors if you'd like. Or add the balloon to another project entirely!

I cut the pieces with freezer paper, and I embroidered the face through the paper before carefully tearing it away.

The pieces are layered and stitched down to the front circle with a tiny whip stitch and two strands of embroidery floss. The knot of the balloon is tiny, but you can get it stitched there!

Next, I embroidered the string. For this, I used tracing paper for the pattern and stitched through it, then tore it away.

To assemble the ornament I used running stitch around the edges, then I filled in with a second round of running stitch so it looks the same on the front and back.

DOWNLOAD THE MICKEY BALLOON ORNAMENT PATTERN

More snacks and cute Disney patterns to come! I'm working on them even now!

pattern // finding nemo cross stitch

If you love Finding Nemo and cross stitch, you've found the right place. Because today I'm sharing something a little different and also very much who I am and what I love. Disney, crafting, and free patterns are very much my vibe.

I'll start by saying the pattern I have for you is kinda big. As in, there are about 12,000 stitches. It makes a design that is a little over 14 inches wide by 4 inches high when stitched on 14-count fabric. That's sort of a weird size, yes, but that's because this wasn't originally a cross stitch pattern.

Back in the spring, I had this idea for making a giant mural that lots of people could work on together. It would feature Finding Nemo characters because the disability ministry at my church would be presenting Finding Nemo Jr. It needed to not be messy (no paint!) and it also needed to be a size and shape that would allow for lots of people working at one time.



I was inspired by the murals they have at EPCOT during their Festival of the Arts, because they work on a paint-by-number grid of sorts. Which I saw and thought "I can do that because it's like a cross stitch pattern!" Instead of paint or stitches, I opted for squares of colored cardstock.

So it started out looking like this.

And while I was confident it would work, I really had no way of knowing for sure until it was in progress and eventually finished. In fact, shortly after it got started I found a few mistakes in how I set it up to print. Thankfully, I could fix them.

But the real magic for me was watching people work alongside each other. Most had never met, but they chatted and worked together. Sometimes adding a single square, and sometimes working for a long time to fill in an entire area. Take a look:







Even a therapy dog paw-sed to help! And I think people had a good time doing this. I know that I did!



When the weekend of the musical production was over, we had to move the mural (which, by the way, measures 16 feet long and 5 feet high). It's still hanging out and looks pretty good, but soon it will end up in the trash. But I knew that it could live on as a cross stitch pattern.

There's pretty much zero chance that I'll be stitching this any time soon. Maybe someday though, because it was so special for me to work on this project. In the meantime, you can visualize what the finished cross stitch version will look like by taking in the finished mural:



Slight changes have been made to the pattern, such as using symbols instead of the numbers for the mural. I also added in one color and updated the colors to what I think will be better for DMC floss shades.



I don't have estimates for how much floss you'll need, but I can tell you that it's a lot of DMC 958 for the background!

Now, how about that pattern! It's shown on one page so you can see it all together, but the real chart is spread out over six pages so you can actually read it.

DOWNLOAD THE FINDING NEMO CROSS STITCH PATTERN

This is, as I said, a bigger pattern that I typically design, but it was too fun not to share. It would make my crafty Disney heart swell to see folks stitch it up, so be sure to tag me or email me so I can see photos if you do!

project // rainbow stuffie (a stitch squad bonus pattern!)

Do you ever have a day where you could use a rainbow? Me too. Instead of waiting for one, make your own! And in this case, you can hand sew your rainbow and give it a cute face too.

Along with being a fun way to make a smiling rainbow, it's also a bonus pattern that goes along with the August Stitch Squad box! If you've never heard about Stitch Squad, it's a new subsription box for crafty kids and tweens. And I had the privilege of desgining these weather stuffies!



Inside the box it has everything you need to make them, plus a bunch more super cute stuff. There's still time to get this box, but it will change to the next one (with a new craft technique) soon.

BUT, if you have the Weather Stuffie box, you might just want to add to the cloud, lightning, and raindrop so you also have a rainbow. And you probably have almost everything you need to make this bonus pattern.

Depending on how you cut the fleece the comes in the box, you should have enough white, aqua, and yellow to make the rainbow. You'll just need some pink (or another color) fleece. I bought 1/4 yard for under $2 on sale.

Making this rainbow is a little more complicated than basic stuffies, but it's not that much different. Are you ready to make one? Let's do this!

Here's what you'll need:

Small amounts of pink, yellow, aqua, and white fleece*
Pencil
Scissors
Sewing clips
Sewing thread
Needle
Black felt
Black and white embroidery floss
Stuffing

*You can actually use any color for the back. White is just a suggestion.

DOWNLOAD THE RAINBOW STUFFIE PATTERN PDF



Print and cut out the pattern pieces, then trace them onto your fleece. Do this for all the pieces except the face.

I made the top bow pink, the middle yellow, and the bottom aqua. The back hafl-circle piece is white. But you can mix it up and use any colors for your rainbow!



Fold the top and middle pieces in half to find the exact middle and then clip them together like shown. The right sides of the fleece should be facing each other.

It looks weird now, but it'll get where we need it shortly.



Bring the ends of the yellow down to match up with the ends of the pink. Keep the right sides facing each other. Use sewing clips to hold them. Then clip the sections between the middle and the ends.

Hand sew along the clipped edge with back stitch about 1/4-inch from the fabric edge.

There will be some areas where it seems like there's more fabric on one edge than the other. That's okay! Just keep sewing, but keep the clips in place until your stitching is right up to it.



Follow the same process to add the blue bottom section of the rainbow. When you're done, it should look like this!



Cut out two eyes and a mouth from the felt. I used freezer paper to cut mine out, but you can cut the paper templates and hold them onto the felt with a tiny dab of gluestick. It will peel right off when you're done cutting them out!



Stitch the face onto your rainbow with whip stitch on the edge of the felt.

You can also use white embroidery floss to stitch a little twinkle on each eye.



Place the rainbow front on the half circle back with the right sides of the fleece facing each other. Use sewing clips around the edges.

Sew around the edges with back stitch and doubled sewing thread. I suggest starting on the bottom edge so the opening is in the blue area.



Turn the stuffie right side out and add some stuffing inside. Don't add too much because it can make the rainbow a funny shape.



Sew the opening closed. I used ladder stitch for this.



And your rainbow stuffie is all finished!

I'm pretty sure that when things are feeling hard and you're stuck with a day that's gray and lonely, hugging a rainbow will help. Even just a little.




By the way, this rainbow uses hand sewing because that's what the August Stitch Squad box is all about. BUT, if you like using a sewing machine, you can use that to sew this together too!

And if you're a Stitch Squad member, hello! I'm so glad you're here and I hope you have fun making all your weather stuffies!

project // felt ornaments with my benzie deep-etch dies

I wanted to do some Christmas in July projects, and it wouldn't be complete without felt ornaments, right? I make a lot of this kind of thing and I'm not stopping any time soon. The ornaments I'm sharing today use some of the deep-etch dies that I designed with Benzie, plus the Cozy Quilt Blocks pattern I have in my shop.

One of the things I love about the dies that I've made with Benzie, but also with their others, is that you can use them in lots of ways. I started with ornaments in mind, then have made felt food, a frame, a needlebook and pincushion, and more. But today I'm coming back to ornaments, but combining elements in different ways. And that's what you can do too!



I made two kawaii quilty ornaments, and two that are much simpler, with a tiny bit of sparkle. Each version has an ornament cut with the Squares and Scallops die (affiliate link) and the Hexagons and Scallops die (affiliate link).

If you want to make the quilty ones (and plenty of other blocks too), grab my Cozy Quilt Blocks pattern. All of the square blocks will fit on the square ornament I'm showing today, and the hexagon/diamond blocks will fit on the hexagon ornament.



The deep-etch dies work with a manual cutting machine. I use a Sizzix Big Shot, but any that use wafer-thin dies will work. I didn't think I needed one, but I make so many things with this now!

In addition to the dies and die cutter, you will need:

Wool Blend Felt
Embroidery Floss
Freezer Paper and Iron (for quilt ornaments)
Sequins (for simple shape ornaments)
Scissors
Craft Glue
Stuffing (for simple shape ornaments)



We're going to start with the quilty ornaments.

Cut out a front and back piece with the two largest hexagon dies. On freezer paper, trace six diamond shapes from the Cozy Quilt Block pattern (remember you can use other designs too). Iron the freezer paper to your felt.



For the square version, cut a front and back piece using the smaller set of square dies that have the stitch markings. Trace the pattern pieces you want for the quilt block onto freezer paper and iron that onto your felt.



Cut out all the quilt block pieces and peel off the paper.



Arrange the quilt pieces on the front ornament piece and use a tiny dot of glue to hold each piece in place. It's much easier to stitch them down if you do this.



Use two strands of matching embroidery floss to stitch the edges of the felt. Come up between the pieces or around the edge and go down through the felt piece you're attaching. Keep your stitches tiny and evenly spaced!



Embroider the face with three strands of black embroidery floss. I just freehanded mine, but the Cozy Quilt Blocks pattern has tips for this.



Stitch the front and back of the ornament together with running stitch, using the tiny holes as a guide. I usually use three strands of embroidery floss for this.



To add a hanger, anchor a length of embroidery floss with a knot hidden between the front and back layers of felt. Make a loop that's as long as you like, then anchor it at the other side. This creates a wider hanging loop.




And there you have two quilty ornaments! My pattern has these on circles, which I also like, but I think they look so cute on different shapes too. It's a fun way to mix it up.



Now let's make some simple shape ornaments. These are inspired by vintage geometric designs.

For the square, which is actually going to be a diamond here, use the smaller set of square dies that have the stitch markings, then all the rest of the smaller scalloped squares. Cut them out in alternating colors.



For the hexagon, which I'm calling a geometric rose, use the largest hexagon scallop die, and all the rest of the plain hexagons. Cut the scallop piece from green and the rest from whatever color you want for your rose.



I also grabbed some sequins for this because to me, vintage felt ornaments always have some sparkle.



Stack up all the scalloped squares. Thread a needle with three strands of coordinating embroidery floss and come up through the center. Thread a sequin on the thread and make a french knot through the middle. Don't pull the knot too tight or it will pull through.

The traditional way of attaching sequins is with a seed bead in the center, and you can certainly do that if you'd prefer.



Stack up the plain hexagons, rotating each one a little bit. Stitch a sequin through the center, then add more sequins around the open spaces.



Layer the front and back of the simple shapes ornaments and stitch around the edges with three strands and running stitch. Leave a gap to add a tiny bit of stuffing. This shows off the loose edges of felt and makes them more dimensional, but the stuffing is optional. Sew the opening closed.




Add a hanger at the corner of each and they are ready to display!






Which ornament will you be making?

Yes, it's a little early, but this is a great time to get a start on Christmas crafting. Plus, you can enjoy this sort of decoration any time of the year. I especially love hanging a single ornament on the wall near other framed art or embroidery. It's a perfect little accent!