Studio Shots

Beads in the kiln...Halloween and Christmas are starting to appear.

 Patterns are making their way from the sewing table to the computer

 Bought myself a big ol'drawing pad. I've discovered I like to draw large, maybe because I make small beads.

 Starting on a series of new paintings

What's going on where you are? Have a great long and last weekend of the summer,

Visit my Website, Etsy Shop, Blog, Facebook, or Studio and Gallery

Zipper Pouch Tutorial, Easy and Free!

Today I have a tutorial for you! There are a lot of folks out there terrified of putting zippers in bags. I promise you, this is an easy, easy method. There are lots of photos to follow so sit back and enjoy the project.

Supplies: 

2 rectangles measuring 5" x6" in the outer fabric
2 rectangles measuring 5" x 6" in lining fabric
9" zipper or longer
9" 1' ribbon
7" ball trim
1.5" split ring(key ring)
1" button
assorted 3' x 3' felt or velvet scraps for flower,(not shown in photo)

Start with one of the pieces of outer fabric. Place the zipper above the fabric so that both ends are extended past the edges of the fabric.

Flip the zipper over so that the zipper head is facing down, as shown in the photo.

Line the edge of the zipper up with the edge of the fabric. Pin in place.

Place a piece of the lining fabric, face down, on top of the pinned zipper. Make sure the outer and lining side edges are lined up. Pin the fabric in place.

Using your zipper foot on your sewing machine sew using a 1/4" seam allowance. The edge of your zipper foot should line up with the edge of your fabric.

This is what it should look like.

We've got half of the zipper in place! Yippee! Enough celebration, it's on to the next side.

Keeping the fabric pulled back from the zipper as shown in the last photo, lay the zipper onto the remaining piece of outer fabric. Once again make sure that the zipper head is facing down. Line up the side edges with all three fabrics as well.

Pin the zipper onto the outer fabric and then the remaining lining fabric to the zipper. The lining should be facing down as shown in the photo. Sew along this seam just as you did the first side of the zipper.

Now that your zipper is in place you can breathe a sigh of relief. You did it! Now it's on to the fun part, embellishing. Place 7" of ribbon about one third of the way down the bag and in in place. With the remaining ribbon slide the key ring on and fold in half. Pin this to the top side of the bag front. Make sure of two things; 1. the ring is facing in and is not within a 1/4" of the side 2. The ring is on the same side of the bag as the zipper pull. Last pin the ball trim across the bottom facing inward as well. Whew!

Sew everything in place. Now unzip the zipper 2/3's of the way.

Now arrange the bag pieces so the two outer bag pieces are right sides facing and the two lining pieces are right sides facing. Pin everything together. When you are ready to pin the zipper sides, fold them in half. Make sure that the teeth of the zipper are facing the outer bag fabric pieces. (see below)

Sew around all of the edges. Leave a three inch section at the bottom of the lining for turning.

Now let's clean this baby up! Clip the corners. Trim all of the excess ribbon, zippers, etc.

Turn the bag inside out. Before you stitch that opening closed, lets add the flower button.

I went to my scrap bin and found a piece of velvet and felt that coordinated. I placed the velvet behind the button and cut out the flower shape. Next I placed the felt behind the velvet and did the same thing. I sewed all three layers together and then tacked it to the bag. While you have your needle and thread out, sew the opening closed in the lining. Push the lining into the bag and you're all set!

I hope you have fun making lot's and lot's of the bags. Please let me know if you try this how-to, I would love to hear about your experience.

If you're curious about the buttons or fabric...here's the info

Ceramic buttons can be found here and the fabric is from my Tussie Mussie line from In The Beginning Fabrics.

Have a great day,

Visit my Website, Etsy Shop, Blog, or Facebook,

Things Can't Be Perfect

Howdy!

Whew, working through some stuff today in my head. I have been feeling pretty good about business things lately. Chugging along turning things in when I am supposed to, and shipping my orders.  I woke up to an e-mail this morning that through a big hitch in my plans. Again, on the scale of things in life, no big deal, but this is my blog about Jennifer Jangles. And in this world it was big because I had a plan. My usual knee jerk reaction is to make a decision, come up with a new plan, and then move on. Today, after a little coffee, I realized that nothing is ever perfect and I need to get over it. Believe it or not, I think it finally sank in! I just saved myself the headache or coming up with a new plan, and re-doing a whole lot of work, it's all going to be fine.

I think we all try to be perfectionists in someway. I don't have that problem when I create artwork. But I do when it comes to running my business. In my head, I figure out exactly how I want things to be. I read a great book last night, Daring adventures in Paint. It has more to do with feeling free to paint but it asks some questions that work in all areas of life. Plus it's just a really beautiful book.

I'll tell a quick story that explains a lot about me. When I was four my mom made a picnic lunch for me and a few of my friends. I helped her plan it all out and when it was time for lunch she set it up. She brought a square table cloth to eat on. I immediately burst in to tears and then refused to eat. I had wanted a round table cloth. I didn't tell her, it was planned out in my head that way. For me, the whole picnic was ruined.

With the new and improved Jennifer Jangles, I'm going to be okay with a square tablecloth....hopefully, right?

Totally changing subjects here, enough of my ramblings... I went through and updated all of my tutorials on my blog. There were a ton that weren't listed. I THINK I have the complete list now. Those jars up at the top of this post, you can find them here on the right side bar of my blog.

Visit my Website, Etsy Shop, Blog, Facebook, or Studio and Gallery

Holiday Project Header

2008

 Morning... How are you?

I am working on about ten different things right now and it's kind of fun. I like being busy. Busy, not stressed. Holiday projects for fall are in the works. I've got all sorts of stuff planned this year. However, I am having a terrible time with the header. I do a header every year for the top of the newsletter. I've got one but I think it's kind of boring.

 2009

For fun and inspiration I thought I would pull out my old header from past years. I like how they have changed and they give me some ideas. I also learned that this will be my fifth year. I had no idea how long these have been running. 

 2010

2011

I like 2009 the best and I might need to pull some inspiration from it. Hopefully I will get to finish it up in the next few days.....

By the way...wondering how you can get my holiday projects in your inbox? Sign up for my newsletter, the box is on the right of my blog or you can fin it here at the bottom of the page on my website.

Talk to you soon,

Visit my Website, Etsy Shop, Blog, Facebook, or Studio and Gallery

Holiday Projects

I think I say this every year but I swear the holidays are coming even earlier this year. Magazines, blogs, fabrics, they are all out and ready for the holidays. This us the time of year I start to think about my holiday projects as well.

I just wrapped up fabric line number six, (still debating on names). Just made a final decision on what new sewing patterns I will be producing this fall, (woohoo). This week I will be working on new crafts of all types getting them ready for the big celebration. I'm going to be asking you for some help this year, so make sure you stop by and see how you can help.

So are you starting to think about the holidays?

Visit my Website, Etsy Shop, Blog, Facebook, or Studio and Gallery

Ticker Tape Quilt

I finally had a chance to get my ticker tape quilt photographed, yipee! I had so much fun making this quilt. I had a big ol bag pf scraps containing fabric from all of my previous lines. I can't bear to let go of any of them so when I came across a picture of a ticker tape quilt I knew I had found there use.

First I started by deciding how large I would like the quilt to be. With ticker tape quilts you quilt as you go. Since this was my first time doing this I decided to stay small. My quilt would be a wall hanging measuring 36" x 45"-ish. I cut my white background, batting, and backing a bit larger. Sandwiched them all together and got it all on my work table. I started sorting my fabrics and cutting squares and rectangles of all sizes. At that time I didn't have a clue about how I was going to lay them out. I like to figure things out as I go, so I hopped right in to cutting and arranging.

In the first layout I had colors scattered around and it was just too jumbled for me. So I then started grouping the blocks by colors. I was happy with this layout so I started pinning. I tacked each piece down with a straight pin. This was just to hold it's place. When I started sewing I would line it up near the other blocks to be straight. I chose to sew around each block and then continue on to the next without breaking my thread. That must be the lazy(or efficient) quilter in me. :)

After sewing down all of my blocks, I could trim the excess background and bind the quilt. Ta da!

We are planning to hang this one on the lime green wall in our bedroom. I snap a picture as soon as that happens.

 

Want to know more about ticker tape quilts? Head over to the Sew Mama Sew blog.

Have a good day!

Visit my Website, Etsy Shop, Blog, Facebook, or Studio and Gallery

Home Sweet Home Challenge

Hello, Hello,

I have to share with you what the Great Plains Quilt Company did in their shop. They had a Home Sweet Home challenge. The only rules were that they had to use my Home Sweet Home Pattern as a starting point to make a house for the stores holiday village. They had a month to make them and then they gathered in the store to build a village and vote for their favorites. Here are some of the photos below. There were some really creative folks in this group....

                              A deer stand, I can't say I ever imagined that coming from my pattern.

                                                                Love the Hexy roof

                                                                        Some village shots

                                                              Looks like a real brick house

                                                                            

Aren't they great? I couldn't believe how much work everyone put into their projects. I wonder if they will expand their village this year....

You can find the Great Plains Quilt Company Facebook page here.

Have a great day,
Jennifer

Visit my Website, Etsy Shop, Blog, Facebook, or Studio and Gallery