Electronic Device Cases

November 10, 2016 ~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ Leave a comment

Hello, hello, sewing friends!

Wow! Is that sensory overload, or what?

Those big, bold, beautiful prints and colors are from #Tula Pink‘s collections:

Eden, Chipper, and Slow and Steady

I love how all her lines of fabric work so well together

This is the pattern I used for these beauties

It is a #byAnniepatterns and it is very well written and easy to follow

It also sews up rather quickly

All in all, a satisfying sew

The pattern includes tablet cases in two sizes

One to fit small readers and tablets

Such as #iPad mini, #Kindle Fire, #NookTablet, etc.

And one to fit the larger tablets

Such as iPad, #Samsung Galaxy Tab, and similar size devices

My finished outside dimensions (with the flap closed as pictured above) are:

Small – 10″ wide x 6.25″ tall

Large – 11.75″ wide x 8.5″ tall

The back of the case has a nice, padded zipper pocket for all your personal items

Hook and loop tape makes it easy to open and close

Devices without another cover will fit inside,

but if you have an iPad with one of the iPad magnetic covers,

it will fit as well

So there ya’ go,

A quick, easy, professional looking gift

for someone on your Christmas or Birthday list

Or just for you!

Have a productive, fun sewing week.

Thanks so much for stopping by,

I enjoy your company

The Ultimate Travel Bag – Six Sewing Tips

September 17, 2016 ~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ Leave a comment

As promised, sewing friends, here’s a follow-up post on The Ultimate Travel Bag

Don’t get me wrong, the instructions included with the pattern are top notch

they are very thorough and very easy to follow

I just have a few additional tips if you are interested:

TIP #1

byAnnie includes a sheet of cut apart labels for use when cutting all the components of this bag

for your sanity, it’s pretty much a necessity to use those labels!

I scanned the sheet of labels and printed it on sticker paper

that made life so easy

all I had to do was cut each label as I cut the fabric,

then peel and stick to my fabric

remember to use your paper-cutting scissors for this step, not your fabric shears

-you’re welcome-

TIP #2

if you, like me, can’t find 1 1/2″ strapping,

just use the wider strapping

use a clear 24″ quilting ruler (or any other ruler you have handy),

mark the line where the strapping would measure 1 1/2 “

then take it to the serger and trim and finish that edge all in one

*an alternate method if you don’t own a serger*

mark your strapping the same as above

cut it using your rotary cutter or sewing shears

run an overcasting stitch or a zig zag stitch along the edge

TIP #3

if you choose to straight-line quilt, rather than free-motion quilt

your lining, main fabric, and foam

use a walking foot with seam guide

I placed my seam guide at 1″

TIP #4

use binder clips instead of pins

where it is practical

it is much easier to hold those mesh and binding

layers together with a clip instead of pins

TIP #5

after attaching the binding to one side of the inner pockets,

flip the binding to the back side leaving about 1/8″ hanging down longer than the front

the beauty of the mesh is that you can see through it while you are stitching the back down

stitch from the top side, using your edge stitch foot (Bernina foot #10)

let the guide of that foot ride snug up against the front fold

use a straight stitch

and you will get a beautifully stitched back side of that binding

TIP #6

Instead of buttons, use extra large snaps for the ‘feet’ on the bottom of the bag

they are metal

they won’t break like some buttons

and they are very secure

I used the button sew on stitch on my sewing machine

I moved the needle to the far left position

and changed the stitch width to 5.9mm

the clear quilting foot (Bernina foot #29)

was the perfect choice for this step

I could see through it to line up my snap hole

and by moving the needle to the far left position,

that foot was the perfect width to hold down the edge of the snap

and stitch it on at the same time

it made quick work of all those snap holes

and trust me, those snaps are not going anywhere!

That’s it, sewists

Go ahead

Get busy on your Ultimate Travel Bag

Then go somewhere fun

You deserve it!!!

Kwik Sew K213 Children’s Pajamas and How to Add Trim

August 9, 2016 ~ Pamela Klingensmith ~ Leave a comment

Hi Sewing Friends!

If you are doing some pajama sewing for some littles in your life,

I am pleased to recommend this pattern – Kwik Sew Ellie Mae Designs K213

The pattern features a top w/short sleeves, ribbon & lace trim,

and a casing with elastic at the neck and sleeves,

and pull-on pants with elastic in waist casing

There is also a gown and matching doll pajamas

I made the top and pull-on pants (view A and C) in size S(6),

but I made the pants into shorts

I chose double gauze fabric for this summer weight version

The sizing runs pretty much with RTW

Little Miss Model wears a size 6-7 in RTW

and the only alteration I made was to cut the waist elastic 2″

smaller than what the pattern called for

Here’s the front ribbon detail

The components of my trim are a length of Anna Maria Horner ribbon

flanked on either side by some tiny baby pompom trim

Here’s a short walk through of an easy way to stitch trim together

and apply it to a project:

1. Use wash away wonder tape,

it is sticky on both sides

2. Stick it to the backside of your focal trim piece

(in my case, the Anna Maria Horner ribbon)

3. Peel off the protective paper and stick the secondary trim to your focal trim

4. Now add another strip of Wonder Tape to the back side of the entire trim piece

and stick it to the right side of your project

(the Wonder Tape was actually wider than my little pompom trim

so I didn’t have to stick more tape on the back side of my trim piece)

Now it stays in place for you while you stitch it down

Ordinarily, I would add a piece of stabilizer to the back of my project,

but this double gauze didn’t need it, it stayed nice and flat as I stitched

5. Okay, attach your edge stitch foot (for Bernina it is #10) to your machine,

line up the guide between two pieces of trim,

and select a stitch that catches the left and right sides (on my Bernina, I used stitch #723)

and sew that beautiful trim to your project

Be sure to make a sample first so you know what stitch settings work the best

I narrowed my stitch to 7 mm

Here’s a close up of the completed right side

The left has not been stitched yet

So there ya’ go

Have fun stitching for your littles

and/or adding decorative trims to your projects

These little details add one-of-a-kind personal touches to your sewing

Enjoy!

Thanks so much for visiting today.