Striped Denim Clutch: sewing tutorial

It seems ages since I've posted a sewing tutorial! But that's why I'm so excited to share this one with you today. This was completely a stash project for me too. The denim scraps I commandeered from my mom's stash. I think they were some shorts one of my siblings had in the 90s. I loved the print though, and wanted to turn it into a clutch. I used some white denim that I had in my fabric stash to make the hand strap. I love the hand strap because it makes it easier to hold onto the clutch itself. I'm quite pleased with how it turned out too.

The tutorial is pretty simple too. You can raid your own stash for fabric, look in remnant bins at the fabric store, or go to a thrift shop to find some cool patterned denim. You could even use fabric paint on plain denim if you're feeling extra creative.

Crochet Clover Pots for St. Patrick's Day

One of the memories I have of elementary school is sitting on the grass at recess trying to find four-leaf clovers. The "grass" usually seemed to be only 50% lawn, and the rest was weeds and dry patches. One of these weeds was the clover. My friends and I spent seemingly hours trying to find that elusive four-leaf among vast amounts of three-leaf clovers. Guess what? It never happened.

We then turned to cheating, and would carefully pull a leaflet and part of the stem off of a clover, and then hold it place on a three-leaf clover. Instant four-leaf clover! While it was momentarily satisfying that we got to trick our classmates, it wasn't as satisfying as finding a genuine one would have been.

Luck really isn't on your side when trying to find that lucky four-leaf clover. According to this video from Scientific American, it only occurs in about 1 out of every 10,000 clovers! So this St. Patrick's Day, I decided to crochet some of my own luck.

Crochet Hearts Garland

I have really been getting to the Valentine's Day mood around here. What can I say though, I am a sucker for red, pink, and anything with hearts. I went onto Ravelry searching for a basic crochet heart pattern. I wasn't even sure what I was going to use them for yet, but I just knew I wanted to make some hearts. Plus, I had just enough red leftover from my Cloudburst Shawl project to made some. I just love this yarn color because I think it's the perfect shade of red.


I found this crochet hearts pattern to use. I liked that it is done in three rows, and you can stop at any row depending on what size you want to make. I started by making the large size and just kept going. Soon I had a whole pile of these cute hearts.

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.

Quick & Easy Zipper Pouch Tutorial

Do you remember the tutorial I did showing how I changed a pair of bermuda shorts into shorts? Well I saved the pieces I cut off, and now I made a cute little pouch using the salvaged fabric. It's was so quick and easy that even if you've never sewn a zipper, you can made this! It is unlined, so I finished it with french seams (it sounds fancy, but I promise it is very simple).

All you need for this project is salvaged fabric with a hemmed or finished edge and a zipper. Let's begin!

10 for Tuesday: Free Quick and Easy Crochet Patterns

Sometimes you just want a fast and easy project to do in one sitting. Today I've gathered for you 10 small crochet projects. These are perfect quick projects that are great for using up leftover yarn from other projects.

Looking for more crochet patterns? Check out 10 free summer crochet patterns.

10 For Tuesday: Fabric Scrap Sewing Tutorials

I keep my fabric scraps in a shoe box. Ok, that's not being entirely honest. I keep my fabric scraps stuffed in an overflowing shoe box. It's gotten so bad I have to tie a shoelace around the box to keep the lid on. I either need a bigger shoe box, or a way to get rid of some of my scraps. So I took to the internet and found 10 tutorials to help use up some of those fabric scraps. So now I can use up some of those scraps! (But I'm also still looking for a bigger shoe box...)

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.