Red Polka Dot Toiletry Bag

It's the one-year anniversary of my polka dot toiletry bag! Not that that is necessarily worth celebrating, but it is one of the cutest project (in my opinion) that I've ever sewn. It is hard to go wrong though with polka dots and a classic color scheme like navy, red, and white.

This also come just a couple days after a good friend of mine requested that I sew for her a toiletry bag for an upcoming trip. I couldn't resist more polka dots. It says a lot about my love of polka dots that this fabric was already in my stash.

Mini Potholders: a sewing tutorial

I have a tutorial here for you today for my 6 Weeks of Gifting series. The theme this week is DIY gifts for people who love to cook and bake (you can find more gift ideas here. Today, I'm going to show you how to make these little potholders with pockets for your fingers. They're perfect for gripping edges of muffin tins and cookie sheets, as well as pot and casserole dish handles. I also love to use them to take hot dishes and trays out of the microwave and toaster oven. Don't sew? I have some for sale in my Etsy store.

Fat Quarter Series Wrap Up + Bonus Project

Last week I posted the last project of the Fat Quarter Series, so now you can sew a toiletry set out of just 5 fat quarters. I thought I'd wrap up the project by showing you the layout of how I cut each fat quarter for the projects. Plus, remember the paltry scraps we had left over from the project? Well, I used some of them to make one last project:

This little vinyl bag uses scraps leftover from the Fat Quarter Series. It's the perfect size for cotton swabs or hair accessories. The clear vinyl makes seeing what's inside easy and provides water resistance. I have the easy tutorial for you today.

Fat Quarter Series: Makeup Bag Tutorial

So far, out of 5 fat quarters, we've made a toiletry bag and a makeup brush roll. Are you ready for the next project? This makeup bag is the perfect size for your cosmetics, and the brush roll from last week will fit perfectly inside. I love how the bag opens wide to be able to see all the contents. Perfect for a makeup bag! No more digging through trying to find your eyeliner or lipstick.

Fat Quarter Series: Makeup Brush Roll Tutorial

Ready for project two in the fat quarter series? The next item in my travel set is a makeup brush roll.

I was inspired by a makeup brush roll tutorial I found that has a flap to keep the brushes from falling out. I was also inspired by an old make-up bag I have that uses a clear vinyl flap to protect the brushes. So I decided to incorporate the clear flap into a brush roll.

Fat Quarter Series: Toiletry Bag Tutorial

Are you ready for the first project for the Fat Quarter Series travel set?

It's a toiletry bag!

I am in love with this bag. It turned out so cute and it's big enough to hold all my toiletries while traveling. And I'm going to show you how I made it.

Fat Quarter Series: Bias Tape Tutorial: How to make 5 yards of bias tape from one fat quarter

  

In my last post I told you how much I love fat quarters. So it's only fitting that my first series be a fat quarter series. I recently purchased a cute fat quarter bundle from JoAnn's and I'm going to try to make a travel set using these five fat quarters. Who doesn't want to travel with a cute coordinating set of toiletry and cosmetic bags? I also purchased red zippers, piping, and ric rac to accent the navy and white. I can't wait for the results!

The first project I am going to make is bias tape to use in the other projects in the series. I fell in love with making my own bias tape. It's cheaper than the store bought kind and you can make it in cute little prints and colors. You can also make it out of 100% cotton (no more polyester!). The first tutorial I used to make bias tape was using a fat quarter. It is a very manageable size of fabric and only costs about a $1.

10 for Tuesday: Free Fat Quarter Sewing Tutorials

I rarely impulse buy fabric-by-the-yard. If I'm having fabric cut, it's usually for a specific sewing project. However, I'm weak to buying cute remnants and fat quarters. I especially love fat quarter bundles. It's an instant coordinating fabric collection I can use for small projects. I've made a list of some of my favorite free tutorials that can be made using fat quarters.