I love these shoes.

I never wear these shoes, though.

When I walk, this is what happens.

Bummer.

But all is not lost! Here is my inspiration:

(Forever 21)

And here is the end result:

Here’s how I did it:

1. Take two pieces of fabric (I used navy blue), 25″ x 3″. I didn’t use any interfacing or padding, because I wanted to keep it light and airy. Fold one piece of fabric in half longways with right sides together, pin, and stitch a seam using 1/2″ seam allowance down the long ends.

2. Trim the seam allowance.

3. Turn the tube right side out and press.

4. Topstitch 1/8″ from each edge.

5. Fold the raw ends under 1/4″, then fold under again. This is where my photography skills went on vacation.

6. Topstitch two seams to secure the end.

7. Sew down a piece of velcro on one end, flip the strap (this is important!), and sew the other piece on the other end. Oh look, the photography came back!

8. Repeat for the other strap.

That’s it! Slide on the shoe, slip the strap underneath, twine around your ankle, and velcro shut. I am debating stitching the crossover together and/or hotgluing the strap to the underside of the shoe, but for now I am leaving it at is so I can keep experimenting with other ideas.

Our wedding party includes two adorable ring bearers, the young sons of my bridesmaid Lea Ann and her husband, Kyle, who will be escorting me down the aisle. Rather than spending $20-$30 a pop on ring bearer pillows, I decided to try my hand at making them.

Materials

1 yd chocolate brown satin (I had a yard on hand; could probably get by with 1/2 to 3/4 yd)
1/2 yd ivory satin
1 roll of skinny chocolate brown ribbon
ivory thread
lots of plastic grocery bags (for realz! of course, you can use polyfill or an 8″ x 8″ pillow form)
sewing machine and needles for lightweight fabrics
shears, etc

Notes

Seam allowances:

1/8″ for edgestitching the ivory piece
1″ for constructing the pillow

Finished dimensions: 8″ x 8″

Needles: Be sure to use needles for lightweight fabrics. Even using them, I did notice some pinching of the fibers, but it’s not noticeable unless you look really close.

Making the pillows

The fabric is a satiny chantung in chocolate brown and ivory. I started by cutting out four 10″ x 10″ squares of the brown and two 5″ x 10″ rectangles in ivory.

I wanted to use the ivory piece as an embellishment like I had seen on some of the for-purchase pillows (my idea was to have the pillow look like the one from this set). So I played around with scrunching it into a bow shape.

Once I had the idea fixed in my mind, I un-scrunched it and hemmed the long edges; I didn’t bother with the short edges, because I planned to sew them into the seams of the pillow.

After hemming the long edges, I folded them under and ironed them so the stitching wouldn’t show.

Then I hand-sewed some gathers into the middle of the piece. I tried to keep the size of the stitches varied so it wouldn’t look like an accordion.

Next I marked the center of the top pillow piece by folding it into quarters and marking the corner. The invisible ink soaked through the fabric and left a good, easy-to-see spot.

I unfolded the pillow piece and with the right (shiny) side up, I sewed the center of the bow to the marked center just like I would sew a button.

Once the center was secured, I pinned the edges  as close to the edge of the pillow pieces as possible. Since the center is sewn, the outer edges will make a curve; I fanned the edges as much as possible to give it a good bow shape, and then topstitched the curve as close to the edge as possible. The plan was to sew this seam into the seam allowance of the seams I would sew to construct the pillow.

Once the top pillow piece was constructed, I flipped it over and aligned it with the bottom piece, right sides together. I sewed a seam all the way around, leaving a few inches to stuff the pillow. You can see here how I sewed the seam so that the topstitching from the previous step would be “hidden” when I turned the pillow right side out.

Before I turned it right side out,I trimmed the seam allowance with pinking shears and ironed the open section to make it easier to hand-stitch closed.

Now the pillow is right side out!

I stuffed the pillow with plastic grocery bags (they crinkle!) and hand-stitched the seam closed.

Next, I cut three long pieces of narrow chocolate brown ribbon, slide the pieces under the bow as close to the sewn center as possible, and tied a bow.

For the Big Day, I’ll untie the bow, secure the rings, and re-tie the bow so that the rings won’t get lost, but they’ll be easy to untie during the ceremony.

The two pillows took roughly six hours over two evenings and cost less than $10. They’re not as polished as a purchased pillow, but I’m pretty pleased at how they turned out.

Next project: 20 table runners for the reception tables. Wheee!

Making a tote bag is a great way to both use up scrap fabric and promote reusable shopping bags. I like to choose a fun print and a coordinating solid color to line the bag. Quilters’ “fat quarters” are almost but not quite big enough to use for these totes, and I’m thinking about playing around with a fat quarter version of this bag that would involve piecing together the main fabric.

Materials Needed:

• 1/2 yd Main Fabric
• 1/2 yd Lining Fabric
• Loop Turner
• Dressmaker’s Shears
• Pinking Shears
• Thread
• Thread Scissors
• Sewing Machine

Finished Dimensions:

10.5″ wide by 11″ tall (not counting handles)

Directions:

This tutorial assumes a working knowledge of sewing terms and techniques. Leave a comment if you’d like some definitions of these terms!

1. Fold the main fabric selvage to selvage with right sides together; the fold will become the bottom of the bag. Measure a 12″ by 12″ square and cut out so that you end up with a piece of fabric that is 24″ by 12″. Do not unfold.

2. Cut four 16″ by 2″ rectangles from the main fabric (I usually cut two from fabric next to where I cut out the bag, and then cut along the fold to give me two pieces each for a total of four). Layer these with right sides together to give you two handles. Set aside.

3. Repeat Step 1 with the lining fabric.

4. Pin the sides of the main fabric, and sew a seam 1/2″ from the edge on each side. This forms the sides of the bag. At the bottom of the seam, carefully avoiding cutting the stitches, cut diagonally towards the edge of the seam allowance (this will make it easier to press the seam). Press the seams open, and then trim with pinking shears (trimming is optional but recommended).

5. Repeat Step 4 with the lining fabric.

6. Turn the lining right side out and slide the inside-out main fabric into the lining. This will give us an inside out bag.

7. With the main and lining fabric held together, fold the top down 1/4″ and press. This is tricky, but worth the effort. Fold again 1″ (this will hide the 1/4″ fold you just made) and press again.

8. Pin the pressed folds and stitch a seam as close to the lower fold as possible (this secures the bottom fold). Stitch another seam about 1/8″ to 1/4″ in from the top fold. Press.

9. Turn the bag right-side out and push the bottom corners of the lining as far into the bottom corners of the main fabric as possible. This gives you the nice rectangle shape of the tote bag. Set bag aside.

10. With right sides together, pin two handle pieces together down one side and stitch a seam 1/2″ in from the edge. Repeat this on the other side. Repeat with the other two handle pieces.

11. Press the seams open and trim (this will help make it easier to turn right side out).

12. Using a loop turner, turn the handles right side out. It took my a while to figure the loop turner out, but these handles are pretty easy to turn. Press the handles; I usually roll the handle between my fingers until the seams even out and I can press it.

13. Either fold the raw edges of the handles back 1/4″ to 1/2″ or roll the raw edges to the inside of the handle. Press, pin, and sew a seam 1/8″ in to secure the edge.

14. Place and pin the handles. I like to place mine on the inside of the bag, with the outer edge of the handle about 2″ in from the side seams. Make sure that you pin them so that the handles do not twist.

15. When you are happy with the placement of the handles, sew them using the seams along the top of the bag as guides for placement.

16. Congratulations! You’ve finished your tote bag!

If you make a bag using my tutorial, would you mind posting a link to a photo? I’ve been experimenting with these, and plan to continue; I’d love to see what other people come up with!