sewing – Craft Leftovers

A Place to Mend in May

Gather up those textiles you’ve been meaning to work on and join me for some creative social fun. Bring any projects to work on, ie.. […]

Free Pattern | Reusable Grocery Bag Made for your Bike Basket

Fantasizing about riding my bike to the grocery store is a lovely image. A bit of a fresh air, get my legs moving, a handle […]

fabric - Home Redress - howto - journal - patterns & tutorials

Repair a Vintage Project Basket

Special thanks to a Facebook message that let me know the pattern link was broken for the Vintage Project Basket. Now that it’s fixed, let me share with you this project that still has a home in my studio.

Uncategorized

Free Sewing Pattern: Shop ‘n’ Ride Tote

Love this tote and re-reading this post had me thinking… where did that bag go! It would be excellent to pack my lunch in. This […]

journal

Grandma Mini Sewing Box

I’m still in love with this little box, but can’t find it anywhere. Maybe it’s time I make a new one. I brought two posts […]

thrift kitchen

Shop n’ Ride and Eat! Free Sewing Pattern

Last week I told you about my search for a new lunch box. I took a look around with *cough* what’s on hand before I […]

book review

A Bag for All Reasons by Lisa Lam

I can’t recommend Lisa’s A Bag for All Reasons enough. With great step-by-step instructions and clear photos, the author takes you through everything you need […]

round up

Nine Quilting Projects To Build Your Skills

I’ve been working on a quilt pattern for the new issue of the Craft Leftovers Zine (out in the next weekish) and was combing other […]

round up

Round up: 6 Reason’s to Love Coletterie!

It was a funny thing, I was collecting up sewing articles and patterns to post a round up about and I realized that 6 out […]

mal quicky

MAL Quicky 2.1: Ready Set Go!

After taking into account comments, twitter, and facebook The Fickle Sense Circle Skirt has it! When this was picked I was a little worried I […]

mal quicky - round up

MAL Quicky 2.0: Sewing Skirts Next Week!

After the last (and first) Make-a-long Quicky challenge, many readers said they would have loved to participate if only they had known it was happening. […]

book review

Book Review: I Love Patchwork

Ever since I Love Patchwork: 21 Irresistible Zakka Projects to Sew by Rashida Coleman-Hale came out, oh, 3 years ago, I’ve been drooling over it. […]

journal - patterns & tutorials - round up

Crafting for those in Need: Pencil Clutches

I’m part of a really great local arts group called Ames Collaborative Art, we like to call ourselves Ames C.art. Each month we get together […]

Crafty Business - journal - wips

Mend it Better: Coming Soon!

I didn’t even know it, but my book is officially up on Storey’s site as “coming soon!” as of last week. Thanks to @staciemakedo who […]

redress - wardrobe redress

Wardrobe Redress: Dress into shirt!

I snatched up this dress at the Salvation Army a couple months ago while picking out things for my book’s photo shoot. It was plain, […]

fabric - howto - journal - patterns & tutorials

How to: Make a Replacement Pet Bed Filler

When we got Jak last month, I thought I was being oh so smart by getting a dog bed with a removable cover. The theory was that I could just take off the cover, give it a wash, and be good to go again. Well, that’s true except in the case of accidents where the whole thing gets soaked through. Next time I’ll make sure to get a cover that’s water proof as well as removable. Ah well. Hopefully we have dealt with the last of the pee issues.

Time to pull out the sewing machine and make my own. It was surprisingly easy, so I thought I would share this with you, just in case you have a pet with a bed that needs a new inside.

journal

Be a part of my first book: Creative Mending!

To submit your best example of a creative mending technique, please send:

a close-up photo jpeg of your finished work (a scrap piece of fabric is fine—it doesn’t need to be a full piece of clothing or finished object)
along with the submission form (click here to download the word document)
to inquiry [at] creativemending [dot] com
by January 20.
Multiple examples of interesting work are very welcome!

fabric - journal - patterns & tutorials

How to: Make an Ironing Mat

While the ironing board is a great craft room tool, it’s often a bit big and cumbersome. Sometimes I just need to press a little something while sewing–all nice and quick. I keep my cutting mat on my sewing table, so I wanted to make an ironing mat that would fit right over it and protect its rubbery surface.