Whoa guys I feel like it's been a long while!  We had a terrible windstorm that knocked our internet out for 2 weeks.  We had winds in excess of 60 mph! Yikes!! I have never seen anything like it before.  Thankfully the wind didn't blow me away and I'm here to share with you a fun DIY project.  Man o man I so wish I could say I'm the genius behind this idea but I am not.  This is one of those projects you see and your like, "Man! Why didn't I think of that!?"  This idea was shared by a fellow member of a sewing group I'm in on Facebook.  Ugh, I'm in so many sewing groups, I'm sorry I don't remember the exact group it was but she had made one for her sewing room and shared a picture.  I thought it looked like a pretty fun and easy project to recreate so I thought I'd show you how I made mine.  I think every sewing nerd needs a trash can like this!

  

Last Fall I made some candy corn bunting to decorate my office at work. I wrote up a tutorial and everything and it never did see the light of day on the blog. I did share it back in January at Cut Out and Keep but who really cares about Fall/Halloween decor in the middle of winter?? I patiently waited until the appropriate time to share it all with you. 

I created this tutorial for Cut Out and Keep's website back in January and never got a chance to share it here on the blog.  Sewing life is stagnant at the moment so now is as good a time as ever to share this easy project with you all.  We need a little inspiration sometimes to get us going or just a little reminder that it's OK, mistakes happen, just pick up your seam ripper and move on.  So if your interested in DIY'ing your own inspirational banner to jazz up your sewing space then please read on.

Minions...they're everywhere!  On my television, on my cereal box, in my Happy Meals...#noshame and in my Pinterest feed.   After their debut in Despicable Me I along with a million others was left wanting to see more of these adorable little guys.  I'm probably the only one who hasn't seen the Minion movie yet.  It grossed $115.2 million in North America alone it's opening weekend!!  So to celebrate these loveable yellow dudes and to add to my Happy Meal collection I made a pincushion.

For one of my more recent posts on the Fabric Mart Blog I was asked to make a pattern by Thread Theory for their "In the Studio" Series.  I chose the Stratchcona Henley because I thought it would be an easy make for my husband.  Boy was I wrong!

Making jewelry is something I've always been interested in.

I have a tutorial for you today!  If your waistband is feeling a little snug don't throw those jeans out just yet.   I have a rather simple fix...extend the waistband with elastic.

My biggest sewing pet peeve...misplacing my seam ripper(s).  I spend more time looking for my seam ripper than I do anything else.  I lose it, go buy another then pretty soon the lost one shows up...lose it again, buy another..you see it's a vicious cycle.  While browsing Pinterest one day I spotted the cutest owl remote control caddy.  This inspired me to make my own "Owl You Need" sewing buddy for the Dear Stella/Kollabora project challenge.

This wise old owl sits next to your sewing machine and holds all your important tools for easy access...marking tool, seam gauge, a seam ripper (or two), tiny scissors to cut those loose threads and a fluff brush and tweezers to keep your machine clean and happy.  You can even use him as a pin cushion! 

Cut out your pattern pieces.  *Note: Pattern Piece page 2- if you would like your owl to have a contrasting belly cut this pattern piece out for the front of your owl.  For this tutorial I will be making this version. 

Step #2...

If your making the owl front body only one color you can skip this step.  For the contrasting owl front pin your two pieces together, belly to head, right sides together.  Stitch 1/4 inch seam.  Trim seam and iron flat.

Take your pocket piece and fold top edge down 1/4 inch, iron, fold over again 1/4 inch and iron.  Topstitch in place.

Place wrong side of pocket piece on right side of owl front body lining up edges and pin in place.  Find center and topstitch from top of pocket to bottom.

Take your two eyeball pieces and place on owl front where you'd like them.  Now take your eyelid piece and cut in half.  Place on top of eyeballs and pin in place.  Zig zag stitch around eyeball and across bottom of eyelid.  Zig zagging in a circle can be tricky.  I found that stabilizing your eyeballs with a lightweight interface helps.  Also instead of pinning in place you can use the awesomeness that is Steam a Seam or fusible web to hold in place.  It doesn't have to be perfect. That's what makes your owl unique.  You can attach your eyeballs anyway you like.  See my girl owl below.  I cheated and just used Steam a Seam.

Take two of your wingy ding pieces and pin right sides together.  Stitch 1/4 inch around edge of wing and make sure to leave end open so you can turn inside out.  Trim seam 1/4 inch including the end you left open.  Iron and turn inside out.  I used a point turner to form fingers.  Be careful that you don't poke through your seam.  I speak from experience!  Iron flat once wings are formed to perfection.  Topstitch wing to create a 3 feather look.  Repeat for second wing.

Place wingys on top of front owl body in correct spots lining up edges.  Place owl back piece on top with right sides facing.  (make sure your wings are arranged correctly so you don't catch bottom of your wings when you stitch around edges..hope that makes sense)  Stitch around owl 1/4 inch leaving about a 2.5 inch opening at side.  Trim seam and iron.  Flip right side out, iron.

**Note: You may also chose to attach your feet here too as well.  I actually tacked mine on to the front, which I go through in Step 10 but I later found that actually sewing them on here like you do the wings works just as well.

Take your beak pieces and place right sides together.  Stitch around beak 1/4 inch leaving a small opening at side.  Trim seam and iron.  Turn inside out, iron and slipstitch opening closed.  Now stick that nose on his face!  You can either sew in place or take the lazy route like me...a little tacky glue works perfect!
Now do the exact same thing with his feet.

You are all finished! Now you got a little buddy to keep track of all your tiny sewing notions.  You can leave his wings floppy or you can hand sew or glue them in place.  I like to make mine look like he's hugging all my sewing gadgets.

Embellish these little dudes how you want.  I found these cute little handmade tags at Joann's.  I added a bow for the girl.  Now I can't decide which one I want to use!! They are both too cute!

Hope you all enjoyed this tutorial and make your own sewing buddy. I would love to see him/her! Email me a picture if you do!! I have a couple other Dear Stella/Kollabora projects planned that I'm hoping to get done. Head on over to Kollabora.com to take a look at the projects submitted by the other bloggers. A lot of talented craftiness going on!!

Edit:  Since releasing this free pattern I've gotten such a huge response and pictures of everyone's owls.  I created a blog post showcasing everyone's buddies.  You can see them all here.

Not too long ago I got a new machine.  A Singer Signature and it does all kinds of fancy stuff.  I won't lie I bought it for that fancy stuff too, fancy stuff that most likely I'm never gonna use.  What can I say, I'm a sucker for fancy stuff.  My husband often makes fun of me at the grocery store for some of the things I buy, like cookies with fancy writing on the package.  Yes I'm being accused of buying cookies merely for the fancy writing on the package.  You know that fancy writing makes them cookies taste better.  

So anyway back to my sewing machine, it came with a lot of feet, 20 to be exact.  I have no clue what most of them are.  I decided to do a little research on them and thought I'd share with you all.  I don't usually talk about my feet but I'm hoping some may find this helpful.  I'm also hoping you all will be open to share your feet with me.  The feet or foot I'm going to discuss today is the cut-n-hem foot.

----CUT N HEM FOOT----

Now before you hit the gas this is the perfect time to make sure your on a zig zag stitch or overcast stitch and for pete's sake sit up straight and back away from the machine!

The results aren't too shabby.  I will probably find this foot useful for small projects like finishing the edges of pocket lining.  I don't see it working too well on a heavy weight fabric.  The blade is prone to wear out rather quickly making it absolutely useless.  I'm sure you could probably replace the blade that is if you can find replacements.  I also take back what I said about it replacing a serger.  I'm sure all you more experienced sewers are laughing at me right now.  A serger does a more eye pleasing job.  But for those of us that don't have a serger just yet there are tons of other options for finishing edges, a plain ol' zig zag to start and let's not forget about the trusty pinking shears!

So if your all still with me and have not stopped reading due to boredom do any of you have this particular foot and have you found it useful?  Was this post helpful to anyone?...anyone?...wanna hear about my other feet!?  Why do I feel like I'm in a once crowded, now empty room tapping on my microphone to make sure it's still on??

After watching tons of you tube videos and reading others tutorials on making your own dressform out of duct tape I decided to go for it.  It's a lot cheaper than the alternative and more true to your size, not to mention loads of laughs if you do it with someone you like.

So next was the actual wrapping of duct tape.  Make sure you wear an old shirt you don't care about because your not getting it back!  I had an old long sleeve turtle neck which worked perfectly.  It wasn't quite long enough so I just taped some extra fabric to the bottom.

 Ryan wrapped me too tight in parts. My arms started going numb and I felt like I couldn't breath at times.  So being the funny guy he is he started cutting jokes making me laugh. It's hard to control your bladder when your wrapped tight in duct tape.  I thought I was gonna pee my pants. After your wrapped cut it off in the back, tape it up, stuff it with old newspaper and mount it on your pole. I used a hanger inside mind to make it easier to hang on the pole.  Also after I had it stuffed and mounted on the pole I took insulating foam (Great Stuff foam from Lowe's) and filled in the gaps.  I just felt around on it and any empty spaces I felt I cut a slit, stuck in the foam tube and sprayed, sparingly!! This stuff goes everywhere.  So 2 hours and a panic attack later here is the finished product......I added some zebra duct tape and fabric around the bottom to make it pretty :)