TUTORIAL : How to make a (super adorable) USB Flash Drive case

Yes, you are in the right place.  And yes, this is not a recipe!  It's sewing-related!!!!

Remember this? Can't believe it's been more than two and a half years and still no tutorial.  I must really apologize for my lack of commitment to that promise.  To my readers who originally came here for the sewing, I am so sorry that you have found no sewing activity here for so long!

Since it's the school holidays, I made this plan to finally make the tutorial.  It seems I got too excited to sew, that yesterday, in between breakfast and lunch, I finished the whole thing!

Isn't that absolutely adorable?

This is in fact a one-sitting kind of project.  It's pretty easy.  However, I would still recommend it for people who have some sewing experience particularly in bias binding and sewing over multiple fabric layers and around curved seams.  I have had no practice in tutorial-making for sometime now so I might be making unclear instructions here and there that beginners will find hard to understand. Still, if you are new to sewing and are interested to make one of these cases, just consider it a challenge!

HOW TO MAKE A USB FLASH DRIVE CASE

Materials:

fabric scraps

small piece of fusible fleece

small piece of plastic

25" long two-inch wide bias tape**

one 2" long velcro

one key ring or swivel hook

**It is best to just make this yourself as you are only going to need a small length.  If you don't know how, learn from here.  You need to cut 2" wide strips.  Keep the tape open for now (no need to fold it).

Procedure:

1.  Download the pattern from here.  Print it out in Actual Size.

2.  Cut out the pattern pieces then use them to cut out your materials.

     A: Cut two pieces from outer fabric for the flaps .

     B: Cut one piece for the lining.

     C: Cut two pieces from fusible fleece.

     D: Cut two pieces from plastic.

     In addition, cut three 2"x 2" squares from outer fabric.

3.  Iron on fusible fleece to the back sides of the flap pieces.

4.  Take one of the 2" square pieces,  Fold it in half to create a crease then open again.  Fold two opposite sides towards the center crease then fold again to end up with a 1/2" wide strip. Iron.  Do this for the other two 2" squares.

5.  Take one of the strips and stitch along the two long sides, about 1/8" from the edges.  Insert your key ring (or swivel hook) then bring the raw edges together to make a loop.  Sew the raw edges together.

6.  Center your key ring loop on the straight side of one of your flap pieces.  Baste.

7.  With right sides facing (with key ring loop inside), sew the two flaps together.  Sew right where the end of the fusible fleece is.

8.  Open up your flaps, right side up.  The seams will naturally fold towards one side (in my case, downward), in the opposite direction of the key ring loop.  Topstitch very near the center stitching where the two flaps were sewn together, catching the seams at the back.

9.  Insert the remaining two 1/2" wide strips (from step 4) into the straight edges of your plastic pieces.  Topstitch close to the inside edges.

10.  With wrong sides facing, baste together your assembled flaps and lining.

11.  Position your two plastic pieces on the two ends then baste.  If you are having trouble with sewing over the plastic, stick a small piece of magic tape on the underside of your presser foot so it will move smoothly.

12.  Position your velcro 1" from the top of the curve on both ends. Stitch along the long sides of the velcro.  Cut off the excess velcro, following the shape of the curve.

13.  Fold one end of your open bias tape 1/4" in, then fold the whole length of the tape in half lengthwise and iron flat.

14.  Pin your bias tape to the plastic side of the case, aligning the raw edges.  Using a 1/4" allowance, sew the bias tape all around. (I did not find pinning necessary but I sewed very slowly.) When you reach the end, overlap the tape by about 1" then cut off the excess.

It doesn't really matter where you start sewing.  However, if you have a preferred front flap for your case, start sewing the bias tape on what would be the back flap.

15.  Turn the bias tape over to the other side.  If it seems too tight, trim a bit off the seam allowance.  Iron this if you need to but just remember there's plastic underneath!

16.  Slipstitch the bias tape by hand, making sure you are concealing the raw edges and any stitching.

Yay!  That's it!  Now put your flash drives into the plastic pockets. Secure with the velcro closure.

You can attach this to your bag, use it as a keychain or hang it somewhere near your computer.  Never misplace your flash drives again!

Hope you will have fun making this simple project!

2009 Desk Calendar Download - Yipee!

I made this calendar shortly after I wrote my previous post and managed to finish at 12:30 am this morning! The effort is well worth it (I hope!). Again, I used prints from A Print a Day for each month's image. Here's just three of them...

(Click to view larger images)

The calendars are JPEG files. My suggestion is to have them printed as 4" by 6" photos and then use a clear plastic photo frame to display them. This would make a pretty, practical and inexpensive Christmas present (under $5), don't you think?

Download the calendar from here. Please let me know if there are any errors or if you are having problems downloading, ok? I was understandably getting sleepy while I was making this....Enjoy!

"Finish it your way" Quilted Patchwork Bag Tutorial

Another project, another tutorial. This is my new quilted patchwork bag...(once again not mine but will go into my handmade Christmas presents pool...sigh)

Full view

Inside

Bottom corner with dart

You might say this bag style is quite common. That's probably true...but what makes this one unique is the patchwork and the special touch and hard(er) work that comes with it. Being able to use up fabric scraps is an added bonus. I chose a floral motif for my fabrics. I did not bother to combine colours though. It seems any combination comes out nicely once sewn together.

The reason for the title of this post is this --- This tutorial is open-ended. Whilst I will be guiding you through most of the steps, the way you will do the final bag assembly will be up to you, not me. For my particular bag, I chose to do a zippered top. You might want to leave the top open, as in a simple tote, or close it with a magnetic snap or button loop. You might even want to add a flap. The final bag assembly will vary according to your preference.

Of course, before embarking on this sewing project, I recommend that you have at least some experience with bag-making. Or else, you might get a little lost towards the end!

Finished bag size is approximately: 12 1/2" at the top, 12 1/2" high, and 14" at its widest point. Pretty roomy.

Requirements:
* assorted medium-weight printed cotton fabric scraps
* medium-weight plain cotton fabric scrap, measuring no less than 7" by 15"
* fusible fleece and fusible interfacing enough to line main bag and lining
* matching thread
* your choice of closure, i.e. zipper, magnetic snap, button, etc.
* basic sewing skills, some experience in bag making recommended

How to:
1. PATTERN: Download the pattern here. Print at 100% then cut out pattern pieces. Glue pattern pieces onto cardboard then cut out once again. Use these as your templates.

2. CUTTING YOUR FABRIC: With the use of your prepared templates for tracing, cut the following:
For pattern piece A - cut 12 strips in assorted fabrics (you can choose to cut 2 of each kind if you want to make the front and back of your bag uniform).
For pattern piece B - cut 2 strips first then reverse the template before cutting 2 more (there should be 2 strips each for right and left side of bag).

3. CREATING YOUR PATCHWORK: To create your bag panels, first determine how you would want to layout your fabric strips. Piece the strips by stitching them right sides together along the long edges. Start with the left side of the bag using the strip with the curved left bottom corner, then continue with 6 different straight-sided strips. End with the piece for the right side. Do the same for the rest of the pieces for the other bag panel. Open all seams and press flat.

Pin one bag panel to your fusible fleece. Using this as your pattern, cut out two pieces of your fusible fleece. Iron on to the wrong side of your fabrics.


Quilt your bag panels by stitching down on both sides of the seams, about 1/4" away from the seam.


4. HANDLES: Cut two 4" by 30" strips for your handles. You can choose to cut from one fabric only or join different fabric strips to make the required length. I used two different fabrics for mine.

Cut two 2" by 29 1/2" strips from your interfacing. Center your interfacing to the wrong side of your handle fabrics, such that 1" on both long sides and 1/4" on both short sides will remain uninterfaced.

Fold the long sides to the center, then fold again in half to end up with a 1" wide handle. Stitch down the long sides, about 1/8" from the edges.

5. TOP BAND: Measure the upper edge of your pieced bag panel. Using this length, cut 2 pieces from your plain fabric, 3 1/2" wide. Cut the same size of interfacing. Fuse your interfacing to the wrong side of your top bands.


6. ASSEMBLING THE BAG PANELS: Pin handles to bag panels as shown below. Center handle ends to the second strip (on your patchwork) from each side. Baste in place.

With right sides together, align the long edge of your top band to the upper edge of the bag panel, sandwiching the handle. Pin in place, then stitch layers together 1/4" from the edge. Do the same with both panels.


Open your fabric. This is what the right side will now look like.

Press the seams (where your top band and pieced panel joins) downward.

Topstitch close to the edge, making sure you catch the seams on the other side. Again, do the same with the other bag panel.

7. LINING: Pin one bag panel to your lining fabric. Using this as a guide, cut out 2 lining pieces.

Use lining pieces to then cut out your interfacing. Iron on interfacing to wrong sides of lining pieces.

If you'd like to put in a simple or a zippered pocket on your lining, do this now.

8. DARTS: The darts will give your bag bottom a bit of depth. To make a dart on a bottom corner, you will need to do the following:

Fold your bag panel diagonally such that one side edge will line up with the bottom edge.

Mark your dart by measuring 1" on the folded side and 3/8" on the curve. Lightly draw a diagonal line as shown. Stitch the dart in place along this line. Do the same for all curved corners of both main bag and lining panels.

This is how the corner will look like after stitching the dart.

Now comes the fun (?) part....How do you want to close your bag?

It's up to you now. Just some general suggestions:
If you want a zippered closure like mine, you can assemble the main bag and lining as you would a simple zippered pouch. If you don't know how to, click here to learn.

If you want some other kind of closure (like magnetic snaps), you would have to sew around the main bag and lining separately first, then assemble it as you would a basic lined tote or purse. See this for a sample.

Whatever you choose, just make sure your darts line up correctly. Please email me for any questions. I am happy to help. Good luck with sewing!

So that you, too, may be smitten

Some nice people have asked me to make a tutorial for the small messenger bag in my last post. I don't want to keep anyone waiting and so I whipped up something quickly...not a full tutorial though as that is really not necessary. The bag is just a downsized version of the original, larger one, of which a detailed tutorial is already available here. What I have are instructions on how to use only 3 fat quarters to make this smaller size. I have complete illustrations on how to cut each piece. Don't worry...additional notes are included on some modifications that you have to do. If you have made the larger one before, this one will be a breeze, I assure you. And if this is your first time, then I assure you, too, that this project is not as complicated as it seems. In fact, it's quite easy.

Download the instructions now and get sewing! I will be making another one myself so I will be sewing along with you. For any questions, feel free to email me.

Please post photos of your bags, if you can. I would be happy to see them!

Have fun.

More Free Stuff!

I had finalized my angel pattern today but instead of selling it, I have decided to share it for free. While it may seem generosity to you, to me, it is a great (and fun way) to learn and gain more crafting experience. I value comments and so hopefully, someone out there will be interested enough to try out this pattern, as well as the others I had previously posted here and be so helpful as to give me feedback.

This is my Little Angel...



One of my sons commented that she did not look like an angel...but a mum...because she had lipstick! To be honest, I wasn't too happy with the face. But I couldn't be bothered to repeat the pattern and the embroidery. Besides, you can always change the facial features if you want to.

For those interested, the PDF pattern and instructions can be downloaded here or via the 'Free Downloads' button in the sidebar. Enjoy!

Some Great News...New Tutorial and New Shop!

My husband returned from his vacation last Tuesday. So did the camera (hooray!). And so for the past couple of days, I've been busy taking photos and finalizing patterns and tutorials.

Good news number 1 is that the Journal Cover tutorial is finished! Here is the second one I did, "in-the-making" photos of which, you will find in the tutorial...




UPDATE: The free PDF download is no longer available. It has been modified to make it even more understandable and easier to follow and will be made available as an eBook for a small fee in my Etsy shop, Simple Things. Thank you!

Good news number 2 is that the Etsy shop "Simple Things" is now officially open. My first listings include 5 of my bear softies. I'll see how it goes from there. Please, please support my shop! You can click here or the link on the sidebar to view the shop.

It's really getting pretty late and I'm very tired...I just wanted to finish all these before I retired to bed. Goodnight!