Sew Spoiled

This school year is about to start and every year we buy a new book bag for the girls. It is fun to pick out but once you get to the check out and you see the amount everything costs, it can make your hair stand on end. That is why last year I bought L.L. Bean Book bags . They have a lifetime guarantee and are super durable.  So once the new school year rolled around I took out the LLBean bags. Gross, yucky, marked up bags . It's great they have a warranty but I can't replace them just because they are dirty. What to do? Then, I remembered the stain remover solution of 2 parts Hydrogen, 1 part Blue Dawn dish soap. Luckily, I had the two and mixed up a batch. I took a sponge and rubbed the solution all over the book bags. After letting them sit for a while I sprayed them with water. They were still a little soapy, so I placed them in the washer. Finally, I let them air dry and Ta Da! New beautiful looking book bags. The only part of the book bag that did not like getti...

I love my embroidery machine, it is a Brother PE 770  and it is perfect for all of my projects. In the picture below, I am monogramming a Longchamp style bag. With the new Essentials software , it is simple to save my personal monogram as a embroidery file with basting stitch. Once the embroidery machine is loaded with the correct stitch file from Embrillance, Essentials, I line everything up and set it to work.  This bag is made from nylon and it's texture is silky smooth. This is not a real Longchamp bag, I just can't swing a $150-$200 bag on a teacher budget but it is very nice.  For instance, we were caught in the rain at church, I mean torrential downpour , and this bag is waterproof. I wiped the water right off and it was like the rain never happened. I looked like a drowned rat but my bag looked great!  As you can see my machine stitched this up for me in a matter of minutes. I used a polyester thread that had the same silky shine to it. These bags ...

Start with a character from a children's book. My oldest enjoys Judy Moody, so we used one of her books to make the character design. Coloring books work well for tracing images because you need an image with one color. At the back of this activity book there was a picture of Judy Moody for kids to make their own t-shirts. After tracing the picture with Silhouette , we wrote "I heart books" and flipped the image. We were ready to cut it out.  Silhouette does all the work. Set your Silhouette to a slow speed (2-3) and thickness (3-4) for best results. We took off the excess vinyl and this is what we were left with... Iron the image down to the face of the bag. Make sure your iron has no water inside it and you are on the highest heat setting you have. Press directly on top of the plastic. I know the first time I did this I thought it was crazy and it went against every fiber of my being but you have to do it! We added a bow and button for fun. Don...

I love seeing the projects that you have completed! This is my favorite part about designing patterns. Here are some awesome pictures from the  Flickr: your Sew Spoiled projects!  group. eco-friendly Cabrio Tote | Flickr - Photo Sharing! weekender tote | Flickr - Photo Sharing! New ironing board cover | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Ladybug Mini Purse | Flickr - Photo Sharing! lanyard | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Patchwork iPad Folding Case | Flickr - Photo Sharing! Sew spoiled wristlet | Flickr - Photo Sharing! If you have completed a Sew Spoiled pattern add it to the Flickr Group,  Your Sew Spoiled Projects ! Or Pin it on Pinterest and link the pattern or tutorial.  “Can you sell the products you make from  Sew Spoiled Patterns ???” Yes, you can sell the products that you as a home seamstress make! All I ask is that you state, “This pattern is an original Sew Spoiled Design by Leah Williams.” in the description. It is super eas...

Congratulations! Your bag will be in the mail tomorrow. Thank you to all who participated and look for more Sew Spoiled contests in the future.