Stenciled Pillowcase Tote

Here's another pillowcase tote that I made for a church auction. I added my own stencil to embellish this one and I like how it turned out.

Stencil how-to: I just enlarged and printed the flower pattern from my computer and taped it to a window and traced it onto freezer paper. Then I cut out the design and with the waxy side down, ironed it onto my fabric. Then I used fabric paint medium to turn a custom-mixed color into fabric paint and sponged it onto the stencil area. After it dries, you just peel off the freezer paper and you have such a clean edged pattern. I love this method because the stencil doesn't shift or let paint bleed under the edge.

A pretty floral print pillowcase for the inside/reverse side of the bag and the handles.

I love that so many have expressed interest in making this bag. I will try to put together a tutorial here soon... watch this space!

Idea Book

I subscribe to a lot of magazines... a guilty pleasure passed on from my mom I guess. I remember stacks near her bed. Now that I have three kids, my leisure time is limited and the magazines seem to stack up pretty fast. I used to read them. Then I started thumbing through them and dog-earing the pages that I liked. Now, I've realized that I'm never going to get back to the stack to look at those pages so I've come up with a new plan. I immediately tear out any picture that I like and "scrap" it into my idea book. I also jot little notes about projects I'd like to try. I write the date too and it's become a kind of creative journal. I tear out any articles of interest and keep them in a folder I can take with myself to a doctor's office or read on a long drive... much smaller than that daunting stack I had growing. Now I can find my "inspiration" pics a lot easier. I love the idea of an "inspiration" bulletin board too. One day, when I have a personal space for crafting/sewing I will do that too. My favorite notebooks are the inexpensive composition books that I cover with pretty paper, or in the case of my latest, vintage contact paper I found at a thrift store. I love this print and it made it easy to add a little strap to hold the notebook closed (those adhesive velcro dots are the best!)