Purse Week Guest Tutorial: No Big Dill

I am so happy that Katy from No Big Dill agreed to be a guest blogger today!  I love her blog.  Her photos take me into a world where beauty abounds.  Her family is beautiful, and she just has one of those blogs that make you feel like you’ve known her all along. 

It’s hard to narrow down, but here are two favorite projects she’s made on her blog just recently (that she shows us how to make as well!).  Click on the pictures for the tutorial:

And today you are in for a treat:).  An adorable trick-or-treat bag.  Here’s Katy!

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You reach the front door and ring the bell. A woman dressed as a witch answers the door holding a giant plastic bowl in the shape of a cauldron. She reaches her hand tipped with fake long nails and spider decals on each one inside the pot. You nudge your little one and whisper “say trick-or-treat!” Silence. The witch looks at you with a smile, “that’s okay,” she mouths. “Open your bag, sweetie,” you say to your little goblin. Nothing. Then all adults lean down to try to open the trick-or-treat bag, or pillow case while the child stands there not certain if all this is worth getting a few pieces of candy.

In comes the No Hold Stay Open Candy Corn Bag!! Your child can still just stand there with arms at side, mouth gaping and still get a bag full of treats. The trick? It’s a little thing called belting. From a distance it looks like elastic, but it is actually a thin plastic covered with fabric. It is used for belts, obviously, but can stand in as a form of structure.

Materials:

1/2 yard white fleece or thick felt

1/4 yard each of yellow, orange, white cotton

1 yard 1″ belting

You will also need a large piece of paper such as freezer paper, tape, and purchased or made ribbon for the strap

Cut out a rounded triangle with the above dimensions from the paper and then using your paper pattern, cut one from the fleece. You want the top of your triangle to go straight down, as this will be a casing.

Cut your pattern piece down the center except for 1/2″, pivot open 4″ at the top, taping another piece of paper in the center portion. Even top out, cut one piece out of fleece.

Divide your triangle into 3 sections. Add a 1/2″ seam allowance on the inside seams of each piece (so you will only add one seam allowance on the yellow and white pieces, but two on the orange piece.) Cut one each of your cotton. Sew together with 1/2″, press seams toward orange section.

Stack your pieces with the small fleece on top, cotton layer facing small fleece, and the large fleece on the bottom. Your pieces will only line up on one side. Sew down just this side.

Once you reach the bottom, pivot your fabric so the other side lines up and finish sewing other side.

In the photo I used two pieces of belting.  After completing the bag, however, using one continuous piece would do an even better job of keeping the bag open.  Cut one piece of belting, long enough to overlap the ends by 1″ to go around the entire perimeter of the top of the bag, placing 1 1/4″ below the edge.

Fold down top of bag and stitch around entire perimeter.

Attach a wide ribbon or make your own strap, sewing a square on each end.

Azure won’t even come close to filling this bag with confectionaries, so perhaps I should have made it smaller, but in the meantime, it’s a nice little sling for her larger treasures from around the house, which is always a good thing.

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Adorable!  I love that it’s something for the kids!  Thanks so much Katy!