Happy Wednesday! I have quite a backlog of drawstring bags to share with you today. Some of these are even from the holiday season, whoops! These were all made with either my Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern or my free tutorial.


First up, a sweet floral bag! Before my daughter arrived, I put together a box of fabric combinations to turn into bags or other small projects. My thought process was that I could then easily grab a stack of fabrics when I had a spare moment to sew something without having to think too much. It worked out rather well, but I actually still have a few combinations waiting to be turned into something! This was one of them. I used the peek-a-boo lining variation in my Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern to make this bag. Otherwise it's an Everything size! The main fabric has been in my stash for a long time and is by Carolyn Gavin, love her artwork.


I bet you can't guess who I made these Christmas bags for! My seemingly endless stash of Hello Kitty fabrics has really come in handy lately. We did a combination of wrapping paper and reusable bags for my daughter, who enjoyed opening both. These were both made using the easy going variation in my Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern. One is an Artist size, the other is a Project size.


Last of the holiday bags! I made this group of 5 snack size bags to gift some sweet holiday treats in! They fit a jelly jar nicely.


Another Hello Kitty bag, this one Easter themed. I think I have Hello Kitty fabric for every major holiday! This one is Project sized!



These bags are both gift bags for one of Michael's coworkers who recently had a baby! The baby quilt is done and fits neatly inside the Artist size bag. The other bag will hold another small present. I used some of my Geometric Bliss prints for these.


And now and smattering of bottle gift bags! Michael needed a last minute bottle bag for a gift recently and I almost couldn't find one! So I decided to make a small stash of them so that we're better prepared for last minute gifting. These were all made using my Wine Bottle Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial. This one features a fun print from Carolyn Friedlander and a sparkly accent.


Next I dug into my hand-dyed fabric stash! This is a fabric I dyed by first applying a wax resist with a paintbrush, then indigo dyeing! I am feeling a pull to start using more of my hand-dyed fabrics lately! I went with a solid exterior for this bag, no accent.


Another bag made from hand-dyed fabric, this time ice-dyed! I have a bunch of ice-dyed fabrics waiting to be used, it was nice to dip into my stash. I went with a solid exterior for this bag, no accent.



These last two bags were made with some fabrics by Sarah Watson that have been in my stash for many years! It is so satisfying to dip deep into my stash and use something I've been holding onto for so long.

Pattern: Lined Drawstring Bag Pattern, Lined Drawstring Bag Expansion Pattern, Lined Drawstring Bag Free Tutorial, Wine Bottle Drawstring Gift Bag Tutorial
Fabrics: Stash
Notions: Cotton Twill Tape, Nylon Paracord

Happy Sewing!

Adventures in Thrifting: Quilt Edition

Happy Monday! Somehow it's been a year since I did a thrifting adventures post?! I have thrifted so much the last year or so, I need to get back to sharing my finds! I've made the Goodwill Outlet a regular stop of my thrift runs, and I've found a bunch of quilts there! I've loved rescuing these beauties.


This vintage bow tie quilt is probably in the worst shape of all the quilts I've found. I actually went ahead and took it apart, it needs too many repairs. Not sure when I'll find the time, but it was just too cute to leave behind.



In contrast, this pink green and white quilt is the quilt I found in the best shape! I love everything about this quilt: the colors, the pattern, and that bound edge, so good!! I didn't even need to do any repairs to this one.



This quilt is huge! I love logcabin quilts, so this one was a definitely must save for me. It needed a few repairs, and has a few stains but I love it. It fits our queen guest bed perfectly! It makes me want to make a quilt with brown in it.



I share all about this vintage quilt that I thrifted and repaired in October of last year: Vintage Quilt Rescue! It lives in our car.



This was one of the first quilts that I thrifted. It unfortunately has a lot of damage, so I have already started cutting it up to use for small projects. I will probably make a few pillows and some bags maybe?


I made this quilt into a house coat! I used it a ton this past winter. I need to make a proper post about it soon.


This was a wholecloth quilt that I also cut up for a coat! It didn't turn out quite as well (it was way thicker than I realized) but it is very cozy.


Last but not least I found this sweet ABC baby quilt made by Judi Boisson. My daughter loves this one.

Happy Thrifting!

NEW! Starflower Quilted Zipper Pouch Pattern

Happy Friday! I'm excited to say I have a new sewing pattern, the Starflower Quilted Zupper Pouch Pattern, available now! This is the first pattern I've been able to publish since 2022, so it's been a long time coming! Before we dive into the pattern details, I'd love to tell the story of how it came about.



Back in 2010, when I was first starting my quilting journey, I often turned my scraps into pieced zipper pouches. It all started with a pouch I made using scraps from my Warm Cool Half-square Triangle Quilt. For a long time, it was my favorite way to use up not only scraps, but all the random quilt blocks I'd make as I was learning.



Zipper pouches are still one of my favorite things to make, and I really love making these flat ones. They're relatively fast to make and make great gifts. I've continued to make them all these years later, much the same way as I made those first few. Although I will say everything about the ones I make now is just a little bit neater! It's incredible how much I've learned and honed my skills in 15 years.


The Starflower Quilted Zipper Pouch Pattern is all those years of pouch making experience come to life! There are four pouch sizes included: 6", 8", 10", and 12" square to coordinate with common quilt block sizes. In addition there are instructions for making your own custom size pouch, which could be square or rectangular! The custom sizing for these is really simple and straightforward, never fear. I've included instructions for four star quilt blocks (one for each pouch size), making them plain with a single fabric, or using your own quilt block.


Let's take a look at the sample pouches! These pouches were made using reclaimed vintage sheets and YKK zippers. My favorite source for zippers is Zip it on Etsy*.


First up, the star quilt block pouches! I don't know what it is about star blocks and vintage sheets, I just can't seem to get enough of the combination!


6" Woven Star Pouch


8" Wrapped Star Pouch


10" Sawtooth Star Pouch


12" Ohio Star Pouch


These plain pouches are perfect for those precious fabrics you can hardly bear to cut into! Show off those beautiful focal fabrics with these.


6" Plain Pouch


8" Plain Pouch


10" Plain Pouch


12" Plain Pouch


Starflower Quilted Zipper Pouch Pattern fabric requirements.


The Starflower Quilted Zipper Pouch Pattern is available now as a PDF download in my online shop.

Happy Sewing!

*Note: Any links marked with an asterisk in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click through and buy something, I make a small commission, at no extra cost to you.

DIY Seed Germination Book and My Seed Starting Setup

It's an exciting time of year if you love gardening, time to start seeds! One of my favorite things about starting seeds indoors is that I get to start gardening now instead of having to wait until it's warmer. This is my 5th year starting seeds indoors and I've learned so much in that time. I've made a lot of mistakes (some more than once!), but I feel really good about my practices and set up now.

I start as much as I can from seed to be able to grow exactly which varieties I want. If I time things right, I can get a good jump start on my garden by being able to plant out seedlings that are ahead of what I could purchase at a nursery. Plus I find it rewarding and fun! I could go on and on, but the main purpose of today's post is to share a tutorial for a Seed Germination "Book" and share my seed starting set up. So let's get into it!

For most seeds I prefer to germinate between wet paper towels. Once the seeds have sprouted I carefully move them to dirt. This allows me to keep a better eye on the germination and use less dirt/six packs. To keep things organized, I like to make a little “book” out of folded paper towels. This is handy when I’m starting more than one seed type or variety at a time, but sometimes it gets messy and seeds can get mixed up!

Last year I decided to sew a line of stitching to make a “spine” and keep the pages completely separate. It took no time and it made things so much neater!

DIY Seed Germination Book

Materials:
- Paper Towels (I prefer the choose-a-size type for this.)
- Sewing machine + thread
- Pencil

Instructions:

1. Layer three to four paper towels halves on top of each other.


2. Mark the center line with a pencil.



3. Sew on the line.


4. Fold in half along stitching.

5. Each spread can be used to start a different variety! Mark each page with the variety and start germinating!

How to Germinate Seeds Using a Paper Towel "Book":

1. Completely saturate paper towel book with water. Ring out excess water.

2. Place seeds between layers of paper towel.

3. Carefully close book and place in a plastic container with a lid. Close lid most of the way.

4. Find a warm place for the container. Check every few days for germination and to make sure it's still wet.

5. Once seeds have germinated, transfer to soil and get growing! Try to move seeds out as soon as a root appears, to avoid it getting too tangled in the paper towel!

My Seed Starting Setup:

I start seeds in my unfinished basement, which is typically around 65 degrees. I use an adjustable wire storage shelf that's meant for kitchen storage. I believe I purchased it from either Home Depot or Target. The one I use is 48" wide.


Each shelf has two simple shop lights that take two bulbs each, for a total of four bulbs per level! I use one warm and one cool bulb in each light. These are just basic bulbs, not specifically grow light bulbs. The lights hang from the shelves with little "S" hooks that fit the chains on the lights. I have a few seedling heating pads to help with initial seed germination. Everything is set up on smart plugs and is on for 14 hours per day.


To help keep the growing environment warm and humid, I have two shower curtain liners installed along the top edge of the shelf unit. They're attached with cheap shower curtain rings! The top is covered with a fleece blanket. I use clothespins to keep the curtains closed. I added this feature a couple years ago and it has helped SO much! And was a less than $10 addition to this setup.

A note on costs: This set up was a bit of an investment upfront. I have four shelves of growing space, which amounts to eight shop lights. Between the lights and the bulbs, it adds up! However, I have yet to need to replace any of the bulbs. I fill these entire set up every Spring, but you may not need or want this much space. If you're new to starting seeds, I would recommend starting small to see how you like it.

A Few Tips and Tricks for Starting Seeds:

- Keep notes. I've been using this notebook to keep track of my seed starting for the last five seasons. I take notes on when I start germinating something, when it sprouts, when I move it up a pot size, and when I plant it outside, and any other detail that could be useful. It's really nice to look back and see what I did in years past and what did or didn't work out.

- Adjustable lighting is really helpful. You want to be able to move the lights close to the soil surface when the seeds are germinating and first sprouting. Being able to move them futher away as they grow is critical to getting healthy seedlings.


- Size up your pot sooner rather than later. This mistake I have made many times and some types of plants are more sensitive to this than others. Keeping your seedlings in a container that is too small can stunt their growth, and it can be difficult for them to recover, even after they are planted outdoors.

- I prefer a seed starting medium that has some organic matter in it. Or I'll add it myself via some earthworm castings. When I size up the pot for the seedlings I switch to a regular potting mix that has fertilizer.


- Before packing six-cells or pots with dirt, wet it. It's nice to be able to avoid disturbing seeds with an initial watering right after planting. I add my seed starting medium to a small laundry tub, add water a little at a time and mix it up with gloved hands. Once it is evenly moist I pack it lightly into my containers.

- I keep a spray bottle of water nearby to lightly spray my seed germination "book", as well as any surface sown seeds.


I hope this tutorial and these tips are helpful to you on your seed starting journey! Here are a few other garden related tutorials I've published over the years:


DIY Felt Grow Bags (with Video Tutorial)


DIY Budget Wooden Tomato Trellis


DIY Fabric Grow Bags

Happy Gardening!