Pillowcase Tote, An Easy Sewing Project

My sister-in-law came for a quick visit in Illinois and I thought I should give her something unique that she can use.  I came across a tote made out of a pillowcase in a book written by Jodi Kahn and I was delighted.  She can use it as an extra carrier for travelling back to Las Vegas and perfect for her grocery shopping.

The process was quick and easy.  Since it is made out of a pillowcase, it is already halfway done.  The pillowcase is folded lengthwise and measured 15” from top to bottom in the folded edge and 16” in the opposite side. The two sides are then cut to form the handles and sewed together.  A ¼”-wide bias tape was used for the handles’ raw edges. To reinforce the bottom, a 4” straight line was sewed perpendicular to the side seams. Here is the end result:

My Rick Perry Moment...

Rick Perry brain-froze in the GOP debate on November 9, 2011 and was captured on camera. You can watch it in this YouTube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv9LBUG4KsE. I thought that was funny but I am sure it happens to the best of us though we are not in the spotlight to capture our moment.

Anyway, this week I am in the process of creating my first quilt but it’s not done yet. Ahh…. nothing to post in my blog for now but I promise to have something next week. “Oops!”

Every woman should have a decent apron...

I rarely use apron in the kitchen… however, everybody should have one. Whether you are cooking inside the house, doing barbeque, gardening or any chores – an apron is somehow necessary to protect your clothing.

And that is exactly what I made over the week. I found a colorful fabric in store with pink, yellow and brown colors.  I also purchased a solid pink fabric for the bottom half of the project. This apron will be used by my teenage daughter. She needs to help out a little bit in the kitchen while mom is in the sewing machine. Probably, looking good will eventually motivate her. J

Preferably, I like vintage-look pattern and I found one that I liked. For this project, I used Simplicity Pattern #2592 Apron B. Somehow, I am getting better at this and maybe more practice will make me comfortable using a more complicated pattern.

Simplicity Pattern #2592

The harshest criticism was from my daughter of course. She said that a half-apron only looked best in skinny people. A full-size apron she said is best for me. That made me laughed… it is perhaps one way for her to tell me to lose weight. Sure enough it didn’t look good on me but perfect for her.  Here are the pictures. See for yourself.

What do you think?