My Little Buttercup Bag

Dear Magnetic Snaps,

You ROCK!


Love, Bree


Yes, I did it!!! I used magnetic snaps and they are so easy!

So, I made this super cute bag today. Perfect for trying magnetic snaps on! The Buttercup Bag by madebyrae




I plan on buying this pattern so I can sell some in my shop. It's a really cute little bag, perfect small size for quick trips or a night out. I think I will be making more for me vey soon!

Merry Christmas!

My adorable children and I wish you a very Merry Christmas!!

Want a hug?

Want a hug? Introducing my newest product- The Mug Hug!



Just like a Java Sleeve but made specifically for use with coffee mugs. Easily attaches to your mug with an elastic loop and button. Watch for these to hit my shop this week!





**Also hitting the shop within the week will be lanyards for ids, school ids/tags and other fun stuff. :)

More gifts!

I had another fun and productive day of sewing. Watching it snow outside, I was very glad to be in a warm house, sipping homemade mochas and listening to Christmas music. I got all but one gift done! The only gift remaining is a baby doll blanket for my daughter to go with the baby doll pack-n-play I got her. I am pleased with everything that I made today, all first time projects!

First up, I made these adorable pin cushions that tie to your machine. So handy! I first saw them, over at I Can Find The Time. I wanted to link to the tutorial but I couldn't find it, so I went from memory. I love how they turned out. One is a gift for one of my sewing buddies, Dana. You can check out her blog here! I liked it so much, I made one for myself and started using it today while making the other gifts!

The two pin cushions...


My pin cushion in use!


I just love this little cutie.


Next up was two fabric bookmarks! One is for my dad and one is for my friend, Randi, who is an avid reader and journal user. Dana sent me the link to this tutorial and I fell in love with it. I got it here. This is such a fun, quick and useful project. I highly recommend it as a gift for a reader you know!

Here is Randi's bookmark.


I made these adjustable with two buttons, for different sized books.


Here is the one I made for my dad.


This worked out perfectly for him, it goes around his whole journal. (that is not his journal, that is my copy of A Purpose Driven Life...)



After I finished all these projects up, I checked blogs and email and I saw something that made me super excited and happy! Michelle at Keyka Lou posted her newest pattern- a 13" Laptop Sleeve!! I am so excited to purchase this pattern and start making these! I can't wait to pick fabric for my own. :) I have a lot I can use here already, but I don't know if I have anything bigger than fat quarters. Guess I have some looking around to do! I have a netbook so it's smaller than 13". I can size it down but I am going to leave it the same size so I have extra room to store my power cord and external hard drive in it too.

I am feeling accomplished this evening...time for something sweet and maybe a little Edward...you know, Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse...yep, I am one of those women. ;)


p.s. I bought magnetic snaps to use this week...stay tuned.

Magnetic Snaps...

Dear Magnetic Snaps,

I am intimidated by you...but not for long! Let's agree to be friends and make some cute cute things together. :) Thanks.


Your new BFF,

Bree


**can I add that I crack myself up?

Busy with gifts

This week I have been busy with gifts for Christmas. I didn't take picture of everything because most of the people receiving them don't know what it is yet. However, my sister already knows what her gift is so I can post pics of it here. :)

Here is my sister's gift- a Sweetheart Shopper (Keyka Lou)in dark denim....I love this so much I may have to make myself one.





I also made myself a gift :) I wanted a new purse for my birthday so I chose this beautiful tweed-y fabric :) Again...the Sweetheart Shopper. I do have other purse patterns, I swear. I am just very partial to this one :)


And I tried my hand at fleece tie blankets for my kids for gifts too. They were easy! I know what not to do for next time but I really like how they turned out. They are less than a yard each but they will be the perfect size for them.




On my agenda for the rest of this week and weekend is a taggy blanket for a newborn baby boy and some clutches. :) yay! I am feeling very inspired this week. I guess it's the holiday season and the urge to give!

Here are a couple other pictures....not sewing related at all...I am just a proud mommy :)


My son, Zane, at his first Christmas parade...


My little Santa baby, Claire...

....And, I'm Back!

July was my last post...What has happened since then? A LOT.

My son's birthday, a divorce, a cross country move with two small kids, beginning a new life, my daughter's birthday and Thanksgiving....and now we are less than 7 hours away from my birthday! WAHOO! I have been a tad busy. But, I have been sewing too, which is pretty much awesome! I was very sad to pack up my machine, all my fabric and notions and everything I had organized when we moved. But, I have a really great sewing space here at our new house. So yay for that! I have my etsy shop up and running again and business is doing well. I also managed to make all my friends and family Christmas gifts and find time for some just for fun projects too. All in all, I am doing well!

I have pictures and pictures to share of my latest creations. I will post a few on here before I close. I am still very much addicted to Keyka Lou patterns and can't get enough! I have a link at the top of my page for her pattern page, so if you would like to try them yourself, click the link and go purchase one! They are so super cute and so worth every penny you spend! She emails them to you in pdf form so you can make it right away, no waiting for them to arrive in the mail! That's one of my favorite things! :)

Ok, picture time!

My very favorite purse I have made I think- The Sweetheart Shopper...I did this in a really cute corduroy and I loved it! I placed it for sale in my shop on etsy and it sold right away!




A super cute small clutch in the Hooty Hoot fabric I like so much!



A cute cute Christmas Java Sleeve. I love the polka dots!



And, it's not sewing, but I have some cute cute kids!

Check her out!

So this is pretty funny, I have "met" a fellow craft blogger with the best name...Bree! How fun is that?! Anyway, I wanted to give her a shout out here and she thought the same for me...YAY for another feature spot! :)

Not only does Bree have a pretty awesome name, but her blog name cracks me up! So, you should check her out- My Crafty Crap!! Best name ever!

I came across Bree and her crafty crap *giggle* via Sew Much Ado on We Did It Wednesday. She had linked her super cute Origami Imposter Bag and it caught my eye. How cute is that? I really wanna try it out sometime because I think it would make an awesome bag to carry my netbook around it...yes, I am stealing her idea!

I am really excited to have found a fellow newbie craft blogger and I hope you enjoy her posts as much as I have been! Cannot wait to see what else she is going to show us! Go Bree! :)

Loving Keyka Lou!

This past week I bought a set of Keyka Lou Clutch patterns....and fell in love! These clutches are the cutest!! And they are incredibly easy to make, which is always a fun bonus! I have already sold a few on my etsy shop and made a couple for myself....and more in the works. Who knew these would be such a big deal?? Definitely check out Keyka Lou patterns here or here, they are so much fun!

I am pretty excited that I have a couple new little pretties for myself though. I am always making for other people and never quite getting around to myself, so this was fun! And I get the chance to use it tomorrow night when I go have dinner with some friends to celebrate a new baby arriving *any day* now!

This is a cute set that I did as a special order on etsy....LOVE this fabric!

I made this one for me!

Besides being adorable, these clutches are really handy sizes! The small one is about 5.5in by 3.5in when closed and the large one is 8in by 4.5in when closed. The small one actually will fit into the large one, even with extra stuff in it! And the small one is the perfect size to shove credit cards, money, chap stick (or gloss, if you aren't chap stick dependent like I am...) and go! It will fit into any purse or even a coat pocket. Love it!

On a not so great note...I attempted my first bamboo handled purse yesterday. It didn't turn out so hot. The opening of the purse is super tiny and the stitching to hold the handles in turned out awful. Very awkward....ugh! I found a new tutorial to follow so hopefully take two will be better! At least the fabric is cute and can be reused as something smaller in the future...maybe a new Keyka Lou Clutch to match me soon to be successful bamboo handled bag! :) I am obsessed!

Cute Small Case Tutorial

I am going to do it! I have never done a tutorial before and by the end of this you will realize that! I drew up my pattern and scanned it. I don't know how to do a pdf file (yet) so if you want to try this out for yourself I can email it to you, just leave your email address in a comment or shoot me a personal email at bsewcrafty@yahoo.com. It's really not too hard to draw up on your own, I have the measurements included.

Anyway! This small case was originally created for a friend who wanted something to put her Jaw Bone blue tooth ear piece in, inside her purse. I got the measurements of the Jaw Bone online and she told me it didn't really need to be any bigger than a business card. That is easy! So I set out and came up with this!


The strap on this can be made any length you want it, or not added at all. For the strap, I just create my own using the good ole' make your own bias tape move. Very handy and easy!

Best part about this case is the amount of fabric you need for it (without strap)- two pieces of cotton fabric cut 5 1/2 in by 7 in and also a piece of cotton batting or fusible fleece the same size.That is it. Really. I am sure you have scraps that big that you can make this out of, I know I do! To close it, you can use velcro, a snap, or a button and loop closure. I have always used a snap, myself. But that is mainly because it's a small case and a small snap with a decorative button just looks cute.

Here is the pattern for the case. Excuse my not so straight lines :)

After I have cut the pieces of fabric and batting (or fusible fleece), I pin them together in this order: batting, exterior fabric right side facing up and then interior fabric face down so the right sides of your fabric are together.

Next I stitch around the outside edges at about 1/4 in, leave a 2-3 inch opening in the bottom straight edge that I use to turn right side out. Then I turn the piece right side out and make sure the edges are all crisp. Iron and pin the bottom opening. Top stitch the opening.

Once you have your opening sewn shut, fold the bottom half up to your desired length, I use a business card and fold it to fit. Pin the edges together and top stitch around the entire piece. Once you have done that you can attach your enclosure of choice and iron the flap down to make a nice crease.



And finally, sew on your snap (or closure of your choice) and add any decorative touches you want. And you now have your finished product!!



**If you choose to include a strap, it's easiest to make the strap and attach it before you turn the entire case right side out. I generally double or triple stitch over the strap to ensure it will hold up to wear and tear.

I have arrived!

I have arrived on blogger! Well, truth be told, I am already on blogger. (I keep a family blog.) But B Sew Crafty is getting her own blog because I think it would be awesome to be featured on various websites! I am preparing my first tutorial right now! We'll see how that goes. ha!

B Sew Crafty is me, myself and I....just sewing and trying new things. I am pretty excited about all of this! My husband bought me my sewing machine and everything to go with it about 6 years ago. Well, it sat and sat for 6 years until a few months ago when I got it out to sew some pillows for my kids. I was getting a little bored on the days when my kids decide to play on their...own at the other end of our house. And let's just say, if Facebook charged for it's usage, they would have made a small fortune off me! Two little pillows led to a dress for my daughter, some aprons and then several other items. After people started asking me if I would do custom orders and/or sell my creations I decided to advertise some. :) And here we are today! Not too shabby for a few months of playing around with fabrics, techniques, patterns, etc. At the end of the day, I am just happy to have made something, profit or not. I like knowing I was creative in some way!

Now that I have gotten the introduction out of the way, I can work on this tutorial and get it posted! Thanks for visiting my blog!