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!