A Little Feminine Protection

Maybe I should name my blog "things to make out of clothes hangers" because that seems to be the theme this month. Don't know where all the clothes hanger inspiration came from, purely coincidence I think.

The true inspiration for this project came from opening my clothes closest. I have a tiny, ugly looking closet. I am just not getting a good feeling when I open it. It's like an abyss of clothing that I never wear. (a side note: I have decided to edit! That's right girls, I'm going to be ruthless - if I haven't worn it in the last 2 years - it's outta here! ~GASP!~)

In an effort to beautify, I decided to make some nice garment bags for my special occasion dresses. Up to this point they have been just hanging in there unceremoniously. I worry about them. I feel I need to protect them from dust or sneaky little moths that might find their way in (haven't seen any moths yet, but I hear they like to hang out in closets). My dresses deserve better than an old plastic dry cleaner bag...by golly - they deserve feminine-pretty protection (ur...wait a minute...this is not an ad for feminine protection)! Now they have it.

The Garden That Is

Remember my little vegetable garden to be? Well I think it is now safe to call it the vegetable garden that is:
I just can't believe that all of these plants were once just tiny minuscule seeds! A bit of a miracle isn't it? So far the only item I have been able to harvest has been lettuce. Everything else is still maturing, but I can tell you that my lettuce was the best darned lettuce I have ever tasted!

The tomato plants are blossoming (above) and so are the zucchini plants! I was stunned when I found this on my morning garden inspection the other day:

I didn't even know that zucchini flowered (told you I was a newbie). I talked to some friends on the weekend and they told me that you can even eat zucchini flowers. Just be sure to remove the pistils/stamen before eating. Apparently the are great in a salad or as a garnish, or why not fry em' up - try this recipe!

More to come from the garden soon! Stay tuned...

Hanging Around...

I had a crafty moment yesterday that was prompted while I was hanging my laundry on the line. I had this awful looking clothespin bag that was left by the previous owners of the house. I think it was made out of an old T shirt. I'm embarrassed to say that it took me this long to take it down and make a new one. Here is what I came up with:


Wanna make one for your backyard? Here is a little tutorial:


1) Take a piece of fabric approx. 42 " long and about 1.5" wider than your hanger, fold it in half, right sides together and pin.

2) Take your hanger and lay it on top of your folded fabric to figure out the shape of your bag. Mark outline of hanger with pencil. Now measure out 5/8" from your outline and draw another outline. Cut along the second outline that you draw. (picture shows what it will look like after you cut)


3) Sew all around perimeter with a 1/2" seam allowance (except for folded edge), leaving an opening on one side of bag large enough to insert your hanger and also at the top of bag to allow the 'hook' part of your hanger to slip through (approx 1/2"opening).


4) Turn bag right side out and press.



5) Now insert your hanger and fold your fabric so that the bottom of the bag falls just below the bottom of the hanger. Mark or pin this spot on both sides.


6) Remove hanger and top stitch the bottom edge of bag and the top of bag where the hanger will sit to the markings you have made (top stitch 1/8" from edge of bag - don't go any larger or your hanger will not fit at the top of the bag.)






7) Now insert the hanger again (you'll be so angry if you forget this step!) and fold the bag to the markings and pin. Sew from the markings down both sides and along the bottom of the bag. (1/8" from edge)

Voila - you now have yourself a new clothespin bag! Enjoy!

Summer Bags

Hey guess what? Only 9 more days until summer! Whoot-whoot! Can't wait! Speaking of summer, I've been working on some bags in nice, bright summery colors. The first one is an 'Aurelia' bag. I've updated her a bit with some welded metal hoops. I think she looks a little more stylish now.

I have also updated 'Henrietta' with a new zipper pocket on the interior in addition to the 5 panel pockets and 2 pen slips the she already has. No excuse not to be organised now! I think this aqua color is really nice and fresh. Great bag for the beach!

If you have a minute, please feel free to answer my survey question on the main page regarding bag colors or leave me a comment with specific colours you would like to see in the shop. Talk to you soon!