One yard Wonders #1

January 5th, 2010

I am not sure what title to give these….so #1′s #2′s..ect for item we are focusing on will just have to do. Is that ok? Hoping it will be less confusing later. Plus, there will be a little link on the right side with the posts all there. Make it easy to just quickly pick up on the missed reviews.

So this book is great!! My first thought is that i didn’t understand that the two didn’t write it all. They have a wonderful collection of projects designed by others in the blog arena! I recognized a few- did you? So really that was fun to see what others came up with. And they are very different patterns! Not all of them are bags, or aprons…or toys…or you know what i mean? There is a nice bit of variety in there for everyone and every sewing ability- that is great.

So for the first project I chose the craft apron. I need one of these girls! I am constantly, and i mean constantly moving things around the table when i am setting up for a show! You have to lay things out and then clip and hang and move around…where do those clothes pins go? on the table in the way- how about the pen? where? didn’t i just have it? check off list? um. You see? I needed this- bad!

Finished apron:

I used a Denise Schmidt fabric. It has been waiting for another project, but i stole it for this one! It is the designer heavier weight of fabric which worked perfectly for the project. I made my own double folded binding.

pros- easy, quick. really. finished it in an hour! quick pockets. lots of them. Perfect for crafty things and shows to stuff all of your needables in one place. The binding is the strap also. skinny. easy to tie. Light weight and did i mention all the pockets?

cons- i made my own binding and didn’t measure the length. would have been nice to know ‘how much is left’ after i bound the outside edge. The foldover or pucker or pleate wasn’t centered in the big bottom pockets. Not sure what happened here. I would have liked it in the center. The picture really stinks of the finished product. It is folded over a bit because it is hanging. It is a great little apron and the pic doesn’t show it off!

changes– I didn’t put in the loops on the sides. I didn’t need these for anything so I left them off.

overall- I love it. If you need a quick apron that is multi-function then go for it! Easy, cute and I just love it. What stinks is there isn’t a show until the spring to give it a try But i am ready!

Here’s another quick review by Stacey of www.ellebelleblog.blogspot.com

Santa brought me One Yard Wonders for Christmas this year and I’ve already spent a few hours curled up with it and my sticky flags marking all the projects I want to do. I finished the laptop sleeve last night in an import fabric and orange felt on the inside.

My bit of commentary on that project is that I’m one of those people who follows directions explicitly (I’ll add in my own thing here or there, but I very rarely deviate from the pattern for the construction) and I should’ve gone my own route on the velcro flap especially because I decided to leave off the applique… I thought it was odd that the pattern didn’t call for even just a top stitch on the flap… it seems kind of unfinished with out a top stitch… maybe even quilting it in the opposite direction from the sleeve would’ve been nice.

The file cabinet cover, beanbag booster seat, and beach-time towel tote (in an awesome Ikea fabric I just picked up)are all on my list of “to do soon” projects. I’m off of work Mon & Tues & am planning to do the tote and file cabinet cover then. I’m excited about some really great laminated cotton my fave fabric shop has to do the booster in (& I’m going to add a little carrying strap to it) but I’m not so sure about where to find the buckwheat hulls, so that one may have to wait until Mon of next week.

You can check me out on my blog www.ellebelleblog.blogspot.com Stacey