Strawberry Banana Bread

Howdy!

The other day I found a Pinterest post about Blueberry Banana Bread that had a special ingredient in it - Greek yogurt!  I didn't have any blueberries, but I did have strawberries, so what did I make... Strawberry Banana Bread!  Honestly, I LOVE banana bread.  BUT, banana bread is my baking nemesis.  I have tried dozens of recipes.  Everything from old church lady recipes to modern test kitchen recipes.  It always comes out underdone in the center and usually burnt on the edges.  I HIGHLY recommend this bread.  It was easy and delicious!  AND, it came out perfectly!  This is definitely my go-to banana bread recipe from now on.  Thank you so much, Emily!!!!

The batter is delicious, too ;)

Reversible Beach Bag

Howdy!

T is graduating from 8th grade this today.  We are all so proud of how hard she has worked to improve her grades this year.  This past weekend she had her 8th grade trip to Splashtown (a Texas waterpark).  She was in need of a big over-the-shoulder bag that coordinated with her new coral, white, and black bathing suit.  Enter my need to sew for everyone.

Mama helped me a little with this project, since I had no real pattern and we wanted to pleat the top.  The bag is completely reversible.  And, as she requested the straps are ungodly long, so as to hit her on the hip.

You can see below that it holds quite a bit!  Her shoes, a couple of towels, sunscreen, hair stuff, a change of clothes, sunglasses,  baggies for the wet suit after, and all the other odds and ends that you need for a day trip to the waterpark.

It really turned out wonderfully, unlike the original I did before Mama got there.  That one resembled a papoose with straps that were way to long.  Unfortunately, we got so caught up in making a new one, we forgot to take a picture of the mistake bag before we took it apart for the straps. lol  Oops, my bad!  Just know that we all screw up, even when we think we know what we're doing.

Reversible Bag

Howdy!

Man, long time no blog!  My bad, y'all.  Life has this funny way of getting in the way.  Anyhoo, today I have a fun little bag for you.  It's actually a Reversible Bag by Novita, but I have no intention of flipping it because I added this cute embroidered pocket (which is the perfect size for my cellphone ;)).  I also added an identically sized pocket on the inside for my keys.

For the embroidery I printed the art I liked onto the paper side of freezer paper and ironed it to my fabric.  Then I simply stitched over it. I also poked extra holes with my needle as I went to perforate the paper well, because the next step is simply to pull off the paper when finished.  I did this on just one layer of my pocket fabric and then stitched a second layer to the back, so that the back on my embroidery was enclosed.  It's much neater and I don't have to worry about catching and undoing knots and such.

I didn't do the straps the same way as she did in the tutorial.  Honestly, I got going and forgot to look at the instructions and just did them the way it made sense to the at the time. lol. Her way is wonderful, too, but I thought you might want another option.

First, I pressed my seams and pinned the last 4" to be sewn (after all other steps), leaving one side raw.

The second side I pressed the edges under.

Then I pinned the raw edged straps inside the "finished" ones.

Next I sewed a nice double lined seam to add a professional finish and strength to my bag :)

If you make one I would love to see it!

Mini Tote All Grown Up

Howdy!

Like I said in my Brother, O Brother! post, I decided to make a the Mini Tote that I made for my sister a little bigger for me.  I used the exact same pattern, but I used just under a yard of fabric (four fat quarters if you want to minimize cutting).  For my lining and main bag I cut the panels to 16x18" and my straps 18x6".  My bag ended up about 14.5 squareish.  For the embroidery, I again just printed off of a font I like and then I drew a little bird.  I used a reverse chain stitch, running stitch, peking knot (that I anchored) and french knot for the pattern (tutorials can be found by clicking on stitch name).

Mama requested a bingo bag, so I made one just slightly smaller for her since she didn't want one so deep.  She also requested an inside pocket to I cut a pocket on the fold so that it would be double layered and then  put bias tape around the edges to finish it off.  As with the embroidery (please excuse the deformed dauber , I added it to the one of the lining pieces before I started assembling the bag.  For the embroidery I used all of the above mentioned stitches except for the peking knot.  I also didn't divide my thread since I wanted a thicker lettering.

Brother, O Brother!

Howdy!

Creativity runs in my blood, so naturally I have a few hobbies - cooking, baking, canning, knitting, tatting, beading/jewelry making, and Zentangles to start.  Growing up my mother taught my K and I to sew, and we would piddle here and there for school projects and stuff, but neither of us really took to it as a real hobby like my mother (she made one of my prom dresses!).  Until now.  I have bitten by the bug and I am IN LOVE.  Not just with sewing, but hand embroidery, as well.  I have the most wonderful Mommy, too, because she gave me a brand new sewing machine and TONS for fabric and supplies from her own stash to get me started :D

So, what did I do?  Got busy for K's birthday, which is this week but since my daddy is out of town we celebrated this past weekend.  Since K is just starting to really outfit her little apartment she got all sorts of housewares for her birthday.  I started by making her an apron in her favorite colors - yellow and black.  I thought that it would be a good "first" project to get me reacquainted with the art.  I used Simplicity 1934 View A, which I already have fabric and alterations ready for one for myself very soon :).  Then I made her pot holders to match - three in yellow with a black border and three in the black print with a yellow border.

And because I am nothing if not an over achiever, I made her a little bag since a girl can never have enough bags.  I mean really.  I used this free Mini Tote pattern on Craftsy for the bag.  It is super quick and easy to follow and beautiful when finished.  For the embroidery pattern I printed off a font that I liked for her and got busy.  She loved them, but what do you think? :)  I'm super excited!  I have already made myself a bag and am working on a bingo bag for my parents now (another posts on these soon).