After a movie, some crackers, and a morning of attempted work and chores, we finally ended up in the bonus room, which I am trying to dub the Creative Studio, on a Hunter-and-Will-style camp-out. Since Will has joined the Cub Scouts and has already had his first camp-out, sleeping bags are all the excitement in our house right now. Hunter grabbed her sleeping bag, and I came dragging her comforter to set up camp in the open space between the boxes, the ironing board, and the childrens’ library, which desperately needs shelving. I had full intention of napping on that fluffy pink comforter while Hunter did whatever you do when you pretend to camp out. She did not have that same intention.

Five minutes after I got nice and comfortable and nearly to snoozeland, she realized we were within arms distance of my sewing corner. And there was her brand new Janome Sew Mini sewing machine she got for her 6th birthday, perfectly boxed up and sitting amidst the boxes of fabric and craft supplies. And guess who didn’t bring a sleeping bag? The teddy bear. Before I knew it, Hunter had plopped the Janome box right in front of me and was picking tape off the box in preparation for making the sleeping bag she determined we would sew.

As I lay there, half awake, I kept making up excuses of why there was no way we could create a sleeping bag for her teddy bear right then and there, with no planning and no prep, and no idea how to use the new sewing machine. She wasn’t buying it. She knows we will attempt to make anything in our house, and the more complicated the better.

So out came the manual, which I, in my nerdiness, read cover to cover while she unwrapped the foot pedal and AC adapter. (I did, fortunately, get to read in the comfort of my camp-out palette.) The whole time I was thinking, am I really doing this? I can’t even think straight right now, much less think of how to concoct a sleeping bag zipper. And with a machine I’ve never used. I tried to convince her to think of something easier. Maybe something that didn’t need a pattern or a plan. Or something we already had a pattern for. Nope. The afternoon project was definitely going to be a sleeping bag.

We finally agreed on some striped flannel I had just 1/2 a yard of and some light pink flannel to line it. After a quick inspection of her sleeping bag, I determined that this really was quite a simple project. We folded the fabric over her teddy bear to get some dimensions, and then I just started cutting away. I found some quilt batting in my closet too, so it ended up being fluffy like a real sleeping bag, even though Hunter thought it needed to be flat.

I did the prep work, and Hunter did most of the sewing on the new Sew Mini. My new (old) Singer sewing machine table from Bill’s grandmother’s house turned out to be too high for Hunter to work at, so we moved her Mini down to an end table, which was the perfect height for her little self. I was extremely pleased with the Sew Mini, and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to teach a child to sew or just wanting to learn themselves without a huge investment in a machine. It really sews beautifully, and it was fast and easy to learn. The simplicity does mean it lacks a few things that I’ve grown accustomed to on my Bernina Virtuosa, but the Sew Mini truly is a great little machine. I can already see Hunter putting the miles on it.

I’m going to write the sleeping bag up like a tutorial, though a quick and un-photographed one, because it truly was so super quick and easy to make, that nearly any novice seamstress should be able to make one in under an hour. I’m sure there are dozens of tutorials or patterns out there for this very thing, and there are a couple of things I would do differently if I wanted to take more time, but for a quick, one-hour little girl project, this is what I came up with.

P.S. That Singer sewing machine table?  It still has the original sewing machine in it.  Talk about Heir. Loom.  I’ve thought of shabby-chic-ing the table, but I just don’t know.  It’s decidedly full of character and deliciously brown and musty.

Doll Sleeping Bag Tutorial

Material

• 1/2 yard each of 2 coordinating fabrics
• 1/2 yard of quilt batting

Cutting Measurements

• 2 15″ x 22″ Rectangles of fabric, cut with the 15″ side going with the grain
• 1 15″ x 22″ Rectangle of quilt batting

Notions and Tools I Used

22″ Coordinating Zipper, Coordinating Thread, Scissors, Iron and Ironing Board, Seam-ripper, Straight Pins, Tape Measure, Fabric marking pen

Notes

This tutorial assumes a 1/2″ seam allowance, unless otherwise specified.  All seams should be back-stitched at beginning and end, and corners and curves should be cut.  The size could be completely varied; we made this for a teddy bear, and a small 12″ doll fit it perfectly.  It would need to be slightly larger for an American Girl doll or a standard 18″ doll.  This is such an easy project to custom fit.

This would make a great fat-quarter project!!

Instructions

1.  ROUND THE CORNERS After cutting your rectangles of fabric and batting, place the fabric right sides together, and lay on top of batting.  Cut the bottom two corners of all three layers in a rounded shape.

2. SEW TOGETHER With your fabric still right sides together, place the 3 layers on your machine with the fabric side up, and stitch around the entire outside edge, leaving a 3-4″ opening to turn.

3. TURN AND SEW CLOSED Trim the Seam Allowance, turn right side out, and press.  Edge-stitch opening closed.

4. QUILT With your fabric marking pen, draw some quilting lines on the inside of the sleeping bag in any desired pattern.  Our striped fabric came in handy with those lines, and we chose a typical comforter-type pattern of vertical lines that connect, alternating at the top and bottom.  I’m sure there’s a technical term for this.  Stitch along those lines.

5. INSERT THE ZIPPER This is the tricky part.  And the part I would do differently if this were a bigger project.  You’re going to do the zipper one side at a time–pin, sew, then pin, sew.  Place the bottom of the zipper in the center of the sleeping bag, and pin one side of it around the edge of the sleeping bag, with the sleeping bag edge on top of the zipper tape.  This is leaving the inside of the sleeping bag with an exposed zipper tape.  It’s not my usual perfection, but it’s for a doll who won’t know the difference.  Cut a few inches off the top of the zipper (with the zipper pull below where you are cutting).  Be sure to fold the end of the zipper tape down at the top edge before pinning it so your zipper doesn’t fly off.  I left 2 or 3 inches at the top of the sleeping bag zipper free.  Stitch the zipper tape to the sleeping bag with whatever sort of edge-stitch or top-stitch you want.  Repeat on the other side.  I had a regular type of zipper, so when I got to this part, I actually had to hand-stitch the end of the zipper tape.  This would be much easier with a zipper that separates completely (forgive my lack of technical terms here), but then you would have to keep putting it back together for your child.  I opted for the painful one-time hand-sewn method as opposed to the easy-to-insert zipper that creates constant requests to put the zipper back together.  If you get stuck on the zipper, I’m just sorry about it.  Google a zipper tutorial or call my mom.  She’s a zipper expert.

WARNING: If your son sees this, he’ll want one too.  For his teddy bear.  So will the neighborhood kids.  I’m just warning you.  Keep this one hidden.

So much, in fact, that I will probably have to break this post into a series.  Which would be good.  Then you would have something interesting (hopefully?) to read in the coming days, instead of once in a blue moon.

And speaking of blue moons, there is an absolutely amazing yellow moon glowing above the trees of the mountain view from my dormer window.  Mrs. B texted me to be sure I didn’t miss it as I put the kids to bed.

So the moon, and the view, and the so-fun-neighbor who texts me to see the moon and saves lids for my son’s lid collection kick off my totally random list of thoughts running, no sprinting through my mind.

Yes, you read that right.  My son has a lid collection.  During our move this summer, he started collecting lids from our water jugs, which we now no longer need, since the tap water here won’t give you gallbladder disease.  He had to collect other sorts of lids, and it quickly became a game to see how many and what kinds of lids he could collect.  He wants to be in the Guinness Book of World records one day for having the largest lid collection.  So Mrs. B joined the game and has definitely brought the most interesting lids of his collection.

Collecting.  Once again we are collecting Box Tops for Education.  My son’s school made like umpteen thousand dollars last year from Box Tops.  That is simply amazing.  I wish it would make them stop asking for donations from me of both money and extra teacher supplies.  But if that’s what it takes to have such out-of-this-world schools that my children attend, I’ll bring in the donations.  If you don’t mind, stick your box tops in an envelope and mail them to us.  I’ll feel better about not contributing to the classroom ELMO fund.

Since the parents are all broke now from sending in extra Clorox wipes and printer cartridges and math workbook cost supplements, the kids are collecting donations from everyone else for the Healthy Heart Fun Run.  This is Will’s first opportunity to go door-to-door flat out asking people for money to contribute to new technology equipment.  Let me just tell you right now that I HATE FUNDRAISERS.  With a passion.  I hated them when I was in school, and I hate them now, and the only thing I ever want to sell or buy for a fundraiser is Girl Scout cookies.  I love the Samoas and Thin Mints best of all.  But this fundraiser, like it or not, has been a character-building assignment for Will and for me.  Me–because I had to get off my rump and teach him through role-playing, something we rarely do.  And him–because he had to learn how to look someone in the eye, project his voice, speak confidently, make a request to an adult he may or may not know, and then gratefully thank them afterward.  This was a much-needed assignment for him, and he is very much wanting to raise $100 by this Friday so that he can attend the pizza party.  I, however, feel the tug of war between the current school fundraiser and the Cub Scout popcorn fundraiser that is coming, probably like next week.  The good thing about this one is that any amount is helpful.  Cub Scout popcorn, however, is expensive.  But it does at least give the purchaser something tangible in return.

Did I mention that my Eagle Scout husband managed to find himself as an Assistant Den Leader?  I don’t think he meant to do that, but he made a friend with another den leader who really needed help.  That friend’s son happens to be one of Will’s good friends at school.  He has a really sweet family of six.  So sweet, that they invited us to join them and several other couples for Game Day Saturday.

Ah, Game Day.  Saturday was our first Bama Game Day to attend.  Roll Tide.  Did you know that in Alabama, Saturdays during Football Season revolve around Game Day?  Bama flags fly, fans don crimson, and beer flows.  Almost noone watches the game alone.  And afterwards–the camping chairs come out to the lawns while the dogs grill and the police sit watching the main roads.

Shortly after our first Game Day, I “friended” my new friends from the party on facebook, and on one of the friend’s pages, I saw a youtube video of an ESPN Roll Tide commercial.  It taught me a lot about this Alabama culture.  Apparently “Roll Tide” is useful for any expression you need to use it for, not just to root on the home team.  Are you leavin’ your friends house? Roll tide.  Did you pass the test?  Roll Tide.  Is dinner ready?  Roll Tide.  But be sure and say it Bama-style: “Roll Tahd.”  Ha!  Love it.  Now Will tells me with a grin and a wink, “I love you, Mom!  Roll Tide.”

Ah, the many things I love about Alabama.  Sounds like a post for another day.  I guess I’ll let this list come to a close.  But come back tomorrow.  I’m typing the next one “raht now.”

For a day or two I couldn’t quite figure out their mission.  They would go down the street in front of our house, up the trail on Mr. G’s property, and behind Mrs. C’s garden.  It was this mysterious little trip that had me so amused, I really didn’t want to find out what it was really all about.  I knew the mystique of it and the guessing game we played was far more interesting than reality would turn out to be, so I delighted in our not knowing.  But as luck would have it, I happened to be standing on the front porch one evening while dinner simmered on the stove, when down they zoomed through the green grass in our side yard, across the last few feet of our driveway and back onto the street.  I just took to laughing, and they glanced up and saw me up the hill on the big white porch waving at them.

Mr. B pulled the cart over and let Mrs. B out for a little jaunt up our sidewalk, holding Mrs. C’s mail.  I chuckled while she told me how they bought the golf cart when their kids were younger, and now that they are gone, the golf cart needs regular use to keep it from going bad.  So they just use it for their neighborhood errands.  That fact alone is delightful enough–it tells of a Southern lady that takes such good care of her neighbors, she has errands to run from house to house.

After our little visit, I knew that Mrs. B was the mail lady when neighbors are gone, and that Ms. C composts grass clippings–she “saves everything”.  Mrs. B let me know she would visit with Ms. C when next she saw her and would find out where she would like us to deposit our clippings for her compost pile.  I was glad about that, since we had let the first round of clippings compost themselves in the B’s borrowed trashcans (the waste management company took forever getting our cans to us.)  The smell was atrocious, and I was glad they had been away for a beach vacation during that little fiasco.

So now when I hear the put-put-put with an occasional “Ka-POP” of the golf cart, I look up through my kitchen window to see the B’s going out for their neighborhood stroll.  I smile inside and out knowing that my neighbors are all in the good and loving care of Mrs. B.

Perhaps one of the saddest things about leaving Altus was leaving my little corner of the world where I knew my neighbors, and they knew me, and they had watched my kids tricycle around the cul-de-sac–that circle where William learned to ride a bike, where we watched fireworks every Fourth of July, where we stood together with our neighbors watching the sky for tornadoes and hail, and where we brought Hunter home from the hospital for the first time.  So many wonderful things happened there, and our precious neighbors were there doing life right along with us.  That’s how it is with neighbors–they become a part of each other’s lives just by living it together.

I was most concerned about moving away from our comfortable little circle of neighbors.  You never know what your new neighborhood will be like.  Will there be someone creepy next door?  Will there be good wholesome friends for my kids down the street?  Will it be safe to go for evening walks?  You know how it is.  You find out every possible thing you can about the house you’re buying, but when it comes to researching the people in the neighborhood, there’s only so much you can do besides just flat out moving in and getting to know them.

When I prayed and asked God for this house, one of the things on my list was for him to give me a best friend that lived in the neighborhood.  Now, the jury’s still out on that, because I haven’t met everyone yet.  But I have totally fallen in love with all of the people that I have met in my neighborhood so far.  I have thought many times in my life that I want to write a book, and I have actually started one or two, but.  If I ever wanted to write a book about people, I would write it about these folks.

Bill and I marvel and laugh each day about the wonderful, funny, one-of-a-kind personalities of those that live around us.  I seriously feel like I am reading a book each time I listen to stories about Mr. G who thinks he owns the neighborhood, just because he used to own all the property it is built on, and each time I gaze out of the window over my kitchen sink to see Mr. B sitting in his nightly perch with his cold drink, and each time I notice Ms. C carefully tending her garden and deck.  Mr. D mows for Ms. C, Ms. C recycles for the whole bunch, since she “doesn’t get her money’s worth” of the recycling can, and Mrs. B knocks on my back door to remind me when it’s trash day or to offer to carry my empty water jugs to Ms. C’s blue bin.  It’s just like a story, I tell you.

I really hope to spend some time blogging in a little more detail about my neighborhood, because it is so delightful and full of humor.  We still have a few homegrown tomatoes and jalapenos left from Mr. S and Mrs. P who brought them over to us the week we moved in.  (We might be the only folks in B’ham who don’t have our own tomato garden.) And the day the firetrucks came (another story here, perhaps?), which was the same day the cable guy brought our internet and the moving crew came to help us with the last truck full, Mrs. L came to see if everything was alright, and to tell us that Mr. B is on staff at a local church and that the whole neighborhood are “Christian people, and most of us go to church.”  She was just precious.  I keep hoping to venture down to her “2-story brick around the corner” to visit soon.

So many fun details here are just a story waiting to be told.  If you are a lover of the Jan Karon Mitford series, then you know why I love my neighborhood.  It is it’s own Mitford.  Perhaps that’s why Mitford is so well-loved–it is a character study in small-town life.  I always thought Altus was a southwestern Mitford, and I could have written a book there too.

I don’t know if I’ll ever have time for a book, but I’ll aim for a blog post every now and then to give you a peek into my quaint little neighborhood.

Back to the South

Birmingham is a beautiful place, and the people have been warm and welcoming.  It feels strangely home to both Bill and me, despite the fact that neither of us have ever lived in the state of Alabama.  We both claim the deep south as home (I–Lousiana, and he–South Carolina), and we keep finding subtle yet definite signs that we are back “home”.  Things like fireflies, tomatoes grown by every neighbor, smocked dresses on little girls, barbecue chicken, front porches, flowers by the thousands, summer rain showers, trees towering above the rooftops, and beauty at every turn all join together to give us the distinct feeling of coming home.  Between our new house, which is much bigger than our old one, and the general Southern charm, we feel like we are on a perpetual vacation.

One of the first things we did, after unloading 2 moving truck loads up the hill and into the 2-story-on-a-basement home, was to purchase 2 white rocking chairs from Cracker Barrel so that we could fully enjoy our new Southern lifestyle.  No more folding out camping chairs in the driveway to watch the kids ride bikes in the baking sun.  No siree.  Now we watch them from our rockers on our porch up the hill, thank ya Lord.  And when all the fixer-upper projects are done, Bill will be making me a new swing for the other end of the porch, just like the one he built that we left for the new owners in Altus.  I look forward to completing the front porch atmosphere with hanging ferns and big pots of flowers.  Then I will truly think I died and went to heaven.

Our New Home

The home we found is quite a story of God’s provision.  Back in April I had taken an exploratory trip to Helena to verify our sense of God’s calling that we were to move this location.  I house-hunted with my mom after visiting the schools and meeting with principals, and I was hard-pressed to come up with the “right” home that suited all of our needs yet still stayed within our desired price range.  We put an offer in on a big dream-home-to-be that was unfinished, figuring we would finish it ourselves, as long as we could get it low enough.  We didn’t get it.  Someone bid higher.  Then, a week later, we put in a contract on a home a little smaller than our Altus house that was a beautiful home in a good neighborhood, even though it was a bit small.  T-H-R-E-E days before the closing, two crazy random things happened with the appraisal and survey, and we opted not to buy the home.  That left us with about 5 weeks to find a home, get a contract on the home, secure the mortgage, and close on it before our scheduled move date.  All from over 800 miles away.

So Bill set out for the second house-hunting journey, with a truckload of our belongings to put in a storage unit while he was at it.  While he was on the way, I began to pray, in a way that I had not before, truly calling out to God to open up His storehouse and provide for us a house that met our basic needs without requiring us to rent a storage unit or give up all of the things we love to do and have been gifted with.  Remember, we made this move at His divine direction, so we felt that He would surely provide what we need to accomplish this plan.

First of all, we plan to both work from home.  So we need an office space big enough for the both of us.  Second of all, we cook several meals a week, so we need a kitchen big enough to do more than just turn around in.  Third of all, we have a lot of stuff, which is because we do a lot of stuff, and we needed a place to keep it and do it.  Sewing, crafting, woodworking, welding, photography, you name it.  Skills require tools, tools require space, and we were both willing to give it all up to go where God leads.  But really?  Is that what He wanted for us?  “If that’s what You want, that’s what we’ll do.  But pleeeeze let us continue these gifts you have given us in this new place of service.  You own the cattle on a thousand hills, so you must surely have a house that will suit us and that we can afford.  And like, today…” This was part of my prayer.

Apparently God was listening.  Perhaps He had been waiting ALL ALONG for me to really start believing that He had a house pre-selected for us and to just flat out ask for it.  I didn’t just ask for the “right house”.  I spelled it out in a 35-point list of the features that I believed our house required to meet our needs.  As audacious as that sounds, there weren’t luxury items in those 35 things, like granite countertops or grandiose light fixtures.  The list was really pretty basic, with things like: a pantry; a dining room; a laundry room; a fourth bedroom or office; a workshop or basement etc.  I added a few extras like the front porch, fresh paint, and great neighbors, but I didn’t go overboard.  And I have to tell you, this house I am sitting in, complete with 33 things from that list, came on the market the DAY Bill traveled to Helena to look for houses.  It was a foreclosure, so it had the space we really needed all packed in to the budget we had allotted.  I still have to pinch myself to find out if it’s for real.

Not only did God provide for us this great house, He put it right in the middle of tons of sweet of neighbors, in the school district we wanted, and with freshly-painted trim, doors, walls, new carpet and hardwood floors on the main.  Now, we have had plenty of work to do to bring the rest of the house up to par, but the space is here, and the house is darling and perfectly situated on the top of a hill with a mountainous view.

Project People

I distinctly remember writing one of my very first blog articles, some eight years ago, about the fact that I am not a Project Person.  Well, folks, I wasn’t then, but after 11 years of being married to Bill McKelvey, I have to suck it up and claim myself as a project person.  It took me a long time to admit it, but I have completely become what I thought I would never be.  (Never say never…)  So, this house is perfect for us project people.  Some of Bill’s projects thus far have included: replacing the condensate pump, running a gas line to the dryer, rebuilding several toilets, removing the broken storm door, servicing air conditioners, replacing the fan motor on an a/c, and installing a gazillion blinds.  My projects?  Scrubbing tile, cleaning windows, painting inside stinky cabinets (one of those not-so-nice surprises), and of course unpacking 5,000 boxes.  There’s a whole lot of overspray left over from the painting crew, so we have some elbow grease yet to expend in places we wouldn’t have realized.  And several appliance installations await, since the appliances were complete bombs.

Needless to say, it’s been a big-time challenge to move into a house needing so much work, but we have felt so very grateful to have this house to work on, that we have enjoyed most every minute of it.

Looking Forward

We visited a big, fancy church today.  We didn’t realize that’s what it was–we just sort of took a stab at where to visit.  It turned out to be wonderfully welcoming, and the people took us right in and helped every member of our family get connected right off the bat.  It is very odd to answer the questions of what brought us to Birmingham, seeing as how we don’t yet really know, other than that God led us here and we like it.  The pastor’s sermon had three main points–God is Good, God is Great, and God is Gracious.  And the statement I took home was that God will give us the grace to do the next right thing that He has called us to do.

God called us to move to Alabama.  It has been a moment by moment faith journey.  Uncomfortable? Yes.  Uncertain? Absolutely.  Scary?  A little.  But God is good.  And He has the power to work His grace throughout our lives.  That’s all I know at this moment. The next right thing for me to do is to go to bed.  And the next right thing after that, besides take care of my family, is to paint some stinky cabinets.  And sooner or later, He will reveal the next right thing for us to do, that will hopefully have a paycheck attached to it.  Until then, we have only to trust.

Recent Websites by Main Street Studio

The last few months have found me very busy here in the studio, and I’ve even trained my handsome husband on website setups to help me stay ahead of the game.  If you check out my work website, SitesOnMain.com, you’ll find a series of posts that I’m rolling out over the next few days that show the websites we’ve launched over the past few months.  I’m sorry to say that I seldom keep up with my work and personal blogging, but I am aiming to do a better job at that.

Main Street Studio

You will also find that I’ve changed the name of my company slightly.  I have to be honest, though, and tell you that I’m not exactly sure if it’s going to stay that same name.  We’re considering some lofty goals here in the studio, and we’re trying to determine the best name for the company that encompasses all that we want to do.  “Main Street Studio” leaves the door open for more than just “web development”, but I just don’t know at this point.

I thought I’d share with you a few of the sites we’ve built lately, and then I want to tell you about our new line of websites we offer.

Perhaps the site I identify with the most is ReannaLily Designs.  Jen Eskridge, a pattern and quilt designer (and now author!), hired us to give her tired site an overhaul.  I didn’t take a “before” screenshot, but I think you’ll enjoy her new e-commerce site!  I got a little carried away visiting her links and reading her blog, and the whole project resulted in a sewing spree of my own.  And not only that, but her referral at a quilting forum brought in Dena Mehling of Trail Ridge Design, LLC, my very first out-of-state client who was a complete stranger.  Dena and I are in the process of building out her e-commerce site.  If you visit it now, you’ll see the before in action.

Some of our other projects:

• Studio One Altus
• AAA Portable Toilets of Altus
• Underground Construction Equipment
• Kincannon Funeral Home
• Mark Me Paid
• McMahan & Vernon Attorneys at Law
• and some others we can’t officially tell you about.

Entrepreneur Websites

And then I have one other bit of news I mentioned earlier.  We are now offering Entrepreneur Websites, specially designed to accommodate the needs of starter businesses that want an affordable website that packs a professional punch.  Now, to be frank, I believe our Small Business Websites are still in the entrepreneur price range.  But for those that need an even lower start-up cost, we’ve opened up a new option with the Entrepreneur Websites.  With the basic entrepreneur template, we customize the background with a color or image and make the menu bar match.  Then we can design a custom header or use one that you create.

As always, Main Street Studio is available to customize your website to the hilt.  If you desire a fully custom built solution, we can do that for you.  But in this economy, we’re finding that people would rather save their dollars where they can, and we are aiming to provide the same professional websites to those who want to maximize their advertising budgets.

According to the meat market employees, we’re “waiting for our truck to come in.”  Yeah, aren’t we all, buddy?  With more snow falling today, I’m not feeling too hopeful.  Unfortunately, empty shelves aren’t an unusual sight in our small-town Wal-mart.  But this.  This has potential for becoming a real situation.  Good thing it’s gonna warm up to 22º today!  If the roads don’t clear from here to civilization, we may end up eating Tuna Fish and Spaghetti O’s next week.

I jest, because I am prepared.  But the hospital has gone four days without a truck.  You can only get creative for so long.  Let’s be thankful this storm is on its way out!

It has been so long since we burned real firewood, that I don’t have all the necessary arrangements for storing and carrying such elements. I quickly realized I would be vacuuming every single day if I didn’t do something about it. Bill asked me if I could whip out a carrier for the wood out of some black duck cloth and using an old car seat strap for the handle. While I was proud of his resourcefulness (he can do some serious business with a sewing machine), I did not feel inclined to sew anything with black canvas and seatbelts. So I set out on my journey to find a tutorial online for making a firewood carrier.

I found a great little tutorial from Noel Home, but read in the comments that it needed to contain something to catch the crumbs. I thought the dowel rods were a great idea, and if I had some on hand, I probably would have opted for that approach.  But since I didn’t, I designed one with just some simple handles and a crumb catcher.  I happened to have just purchased some adorable fabric with no project in mind, so I paired it with some burlap I have waiting to be fashioned into a valance for my kitchen.

I’m still trying to figure out the best way to share a tutorial/pattern on my blog without having to turn it into a pdf, and to make it as quick and painless as possible.  I’ve opted for a “gallery” for this one, and the “captions” are the instructions.  The pictures are only small generated thumbnails, and if you click them, you will get the whole image.

So here it is…the tutorial.

Global Warming Wood Carrier

Material

• 1 1/3 yards Burlap or indoor/outdoor fabric
• 1/2 yard coordinating fabric

Cutting Measurements

• 2 40″ x 22.5″ pieces of main fabric
• 2 4″ x 22.5″ pieces of coordinating fabric
• 2 15″ x 2.5″ strips of each fabric, cut with the grain
• 2 crumb catcher pieces of each fabric (download printable crumb catcher template here)

Notions and Tools I Use

Coordinating Thread, Scissors, Rotary Cutter and Mat, Transparent Ruler, Iron and Ironing Board, Seam-ripper, Straight Pins, Tape Measure, Fabric marking pen

Notes

This tutorial assumes a 1/2″ seam allowance, unless otherwise specified.  All seams should be back-stitched at beginning and end, and corners and curves should be cut.  While the carrier would look best top-stitched around the crumb catcher as well, I opted to leave this step out of my project, and therefore did not include it in these instructions.

Instructions

We always stock up on crayons at Target during the Back-to-School madness. This year we bought a gazillion boxes for 20 cents each. Pair that with a dollar store coloring book and a handmade crayon pouch, and you have less than $2 in a gift with at least a $10 value. So this Christmas I have perfected my crayon pouch to actually hold a box of 24 crayons, box included, and I’ve made it reversible to give it even more of a flair. I’ve made three of them for some children in our extended family, and Hunter even ran the gas pedal for one of them. She loves to sew!

So without further ado, here is the tutorial.

Reversible Crayon Pouch

Materials

2 – 12.5″ x 5″ Rectangles of Fabric
2 – 14″ pieces of cord or ribbon, 1/4″ to 1/2″ wide

Notions and Tools I Use

Coordinating Thread, Scissors, Ruler, Iron, Seam-ripper, Fray-check or Flame for Heat-sealing ribbon ends

Notes

This tutorial assumes a 1/4″ seam allowance, unless otherwise specified, to cut down on the amount of tedious work throughout the project.  It leaves you with very little trimming to do.

Instructions

1. Fold long edges of the first rectangle over 1/4″ and edge stitch each fold at both ends for 2″.  (This just holds the fabric down in the channel where the ribbon will run through.)
2. Fold in half crosswise, right sides together.  Measure and mark 1.25″ from the top raw edge on each side.  Sew from the fold up to your mark using a 1/4″ seam allowance or less, and back-stitching at least twice at the marked end.
3. Pull the bottom corners out making triangles, and sew across them with a 1/2″ seam allowance.
4. Repeat Steps 1-3 for the second rectangle.
5. You now have two pouches.  After trimming off threads and the triangular seam allowance, turn one pouch right side out and insert into the other pouch, making sure you have right sides together.
6. Sew across the top of each of the two sides (front and back), sewing the pouches together.
7. This leaves you with two openings where the ribbon channels will be.  Turn the pouches right side out through one of these openings, and push the inner pouch down inside of the outer pouch and iron.
8. Using a 5/8″ seam allowance, sew across the top edges of the front and then the back, creating a channel for the ribbon.
9. Now it’s time to thread the ribbons through the channel.  Insert one ribbon into the front channel, then across through the back channel.  Insert the other ribbon in the opposite direction.  Tie the ends together in a single knot, and when you pull the knots, it will cinch the bag closed.
   
   
10. Seal the ends with either fray-check or by heat.  If using a flame to heat-seal, just hold the ribbon very near, but not in a flame, and as soon as you see the ends melt over, remove from heat.  This is a very quick and easy way to seal your ribbon ends.
11. Now–insert a box of crayons, and you’re ready to wrap it up!
    

You can change the dimensions on your fabric and make this pouch any size or shape.  It would make a really cute purse if it were made wider and given a larger bottom by using a larger seam allowance on the triangular seams, and long shoulder straps instead of shorter ribbon ties.  You can also fold the top over before cinching it closed to let your inside fabric show at the top.

Happy sewing!