Handmade Holiday – Personalized Zip Bags

Posted in Finished Projects, Sewing Accessories by lorimillerdesigns

Last month at my Modern Quilt Guild Retreat, my friend Vicky gifted everyone at the retreat with a personalized zip bag. She tried to personalize the fabrics she chose to match each gals personality too. It was so thoughtful and so cute. It was a wonderful idea and I am not too proud to say that I stole it. I thought it would make great holiday gifts for all of my sewing friends and family. I have a huge stash of sewing themed prints that I have picked up along my travels. It does not take much fabric and who doesn’t love something homemade?!

Here is the bag that Vicky made for me. It features a see thru vinyl zip pocket and on the back there is another pocket.

The pattern is an embroidery pattern where the bag is sewn entirely in the hoop! It is made by Lisa from Pickle Pie Designs.

I have an old Bernina 630e Embroidery Machine and I was able to squeeze it in the mega hoop that I own. All the details for the pattern, size of hoop needed, and types of embroidery machines she supports is on her website. She has a lot of other cute patterns too that you might want to try. You have to have your own alphabet and pattern for any personalization.

You start out by hooping some tear away stabilizer and it stitches guides for your zipper placement.

Just align the zipper and it is all stitched for you! No reason to fear the zipper here!

It satin stitches on your vinyl and attached the upper fabric to personalize.

You switch to your personalized name embroidery and position and stitch it on.

Then she shows you how to add all of the other fabric and stitch it all in the hoop.

She leaves a section to turn it right side out. You just need to pull it out of the hoop, trim and turn it right side out.

This one is for one of my sit and stitch sisters, Wanda. Shhh. It is for our Christmas exchange.

Here is another bag I made for myself to hold all my pens and pencils that I carry around to jot things down when inspiration strikes.

I am going to make a pile of these and fill them with some fun goodies for the holidays.

Do you have some great small handmade items that you are making for this holiday season? Let me know!

28Aug2014

What I have been working on lately

Posted in Finished Projects by lorimillerdesigns

I am really trying to finish up a few old projects in between starting new ones. I don’t ever seem to be at a loss for something to sew.

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I finished up this quilt for a graduation gift for our good friends daughter who was graduating from highschool She said she wanted a teal color and this is what I came up with. The pattern is Mellow from Natalia Bonner and Kathleen Whiting’s book, Modern One-Block quilts.

These are pretty big blocks and they sewed up quicker than you would think. SONY DSC

This is a duffle bag I made out of fabrics from the Michael Miller Modern Quilt Guild challenge. I started with a Simplicity pattern and then added a shoulder strap, the zipper pocket and a few other pockets. It really was a fun project to do with the quilt as you go style. I was able to incorporate all the fabrics. 036 - Copy

This was a journal cover I made entirely from scraps. It was a challenge at our modern quilt guild to take some scraps and make something of them for the next meeting. We all then swapped our creative treasures. I belong to the Detroit Area Modern (DAM) Quilt Guild.

Here is another journal cover i just finished. I am really liking these small pieced figures and then the small channel quilting to set it off.

I love this little apple! And that is the latest finished little quilty things.

16Oct2013

In My Studio: Making the best fleece neck pillows ever

Posted in Finished Projects, Gift Ideas, Home Accessories, Uncategorized by lorimillerdesigns

I discovered a FREE PATTERN at http://www.sew4home.com for the best little neck pillow ever! It looks like a big dog bone!

I made one out of some leftover fleece and it sewed up so nice and was sooooo soft. I dug out a huge bag of fleece scraps and took it up to our cottage in northern Michigan for the weekend. It was cool and rainy…a perfect day for sewing. Here is a peek into my weekend of work.

Here is part of my pile-o-fleece dumped out on the bed.

I started just cutting out as many pillows as I could.

Here is my glorious stack of pillows all cut out. These are my brilliant idea for christmas gifts for everyone this year.

I wanted to leave one pillow at the cottage, so I stitched up the sides of this cute little sheep that matches my robe.

There are no fabric stores very handy by the cottage, so what to do to stuff my pillow?

How about a $2 pillow from the only local store, Kmart. So yes, I cut open that pillow and used the stuffing for my little relaxing neck pillow.

So I stuffed that little pillow full of my ingenious stuffing.

Here is my little pillow all stuffed and ready to be stitched closed.

I grabbed the rest of my pillows to take home to sew whenever a need a little break. I think the family will be delighted with these gifts and I destashed a huge amount of fleece. I even kept a small pile of the scraps to use just like felt for applique, there were so many colors.

What fun things do you make with your fleece scraps?