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Parker on the Porch

Clutch OG Top Zipper Bag, Basic Fall Charm Set, Pumpkin Spice Queen Snaptab, Basket Weave Stipple, Chevron Wave Stipple, and Leaves Motif Supply List

Posted by Jenny Chesnick on

The bag that started the CLUTCH CRAZE, the Clutch OG, is back with a TOP ZIPPER by popular demand. The Clutch OG Top Zipper Bag is finally here!

 

 

The new Basic Fall Charm Set gets you set for fall! We packed your basic necessities for the season--your fuzzy boots, your pumpkin spice latte, a pretty leaf, a cute little fox, and a sunflower (for the last rays of the year!)--all in one download.

 

Once you have your fuzzy boots and PSL in hand, you'll need a coordinating snaptab for your keys! The Pumpkin Spice Queen Snaptab is the perfect finishing accessory.

 

We also have three new motif/stipple sets for candy/snack bags or quilting fabric ITH:

 

Supplies used:

We can't wait to see what you create with our designs. Come share photos, ask questions, and chat in our Facebook group! 

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Adding Pockets to an ITH Zipper Bag -- HACK THE BAG!

Posted by Anna Pritchett on

Continuing our series of hacks, today I'm going to show you how to add pockets to POP zipper bags. You can add pockets to the inside or outside of the bags with nothing more complicated than a folded piece of fabric. You will need to do a little bit of math. But it's easy! I promise. Pinky swear!

First, let's look at the stitch map for your design of choice. You remember how to read a stitch map, right?) I'm going to be running one of my favorites from the Top Zip Set of 9 Zipper Bags, the 5x8 size.

ITH in the hoop machine embroidery top zip zipper bag purse pouch

From the stitch map, we can see that the actual dimensions of the bag are 8.37" wide by 5.95" high. I know that I will cut my fabric pieces for the outside and liners to be about 1" wider and 1" longer than those dimensions because having an extra half inch outside the stitch lines on each side works for me. You may prefer adding more. There is no way I'm going to measure out exactly 9.37" and 6.95" though! I will cut the fabric 9.5" wide by 7" tall.

I'm also going to look through the stitch steps. I don't want this bag to have the front hand strap, so I will skip Steps 6-8. I note that the Back stitches down at Step 9, and the Back Liner (last step) is Step 10. 

Now I need to decide what size to cut my pockets. Let's stitch the placement on the stabilizer.

The arrow is pointing to what will be the center of the zipper. My pocket cannot be taller than that. I need an extra half inch for seam allowance. It's approximately 5.5" from the center zip line to the bottom of the bag. (Warning: here comes the math. Deep breaths. You can do it!) 5.5" + .5" seam allowance = 6 inches. I need to double that to fold my pocket in half, so 6" x 2 = 12 inches. My pocket piece needs to be 9.5" wide by 12" tall. I told you it was easy!

Cut your pieces and add interfacing. This linen-y, denim-y fabric is very lightweight. I decided to add interfacing to the entire length of the pocket, but if your fabric is sturdier, you may only want to interface half of the pocket. Fold the pocket in half to be 9.5" wide by 6" tall. Press the fold of your pocket pieces very well. This will be the top edge of your pocket. 

I decided to add a line of topstitching to the top edge of the pockets for extra detail. You could add a strip of bias tape, ric rac, lace, or simply press the edge! If you decide to topstitch, check if your sewing machine came with a blind hem foot. For my Brother machine, it is the R foot. (Other feet that work similarly for topstitching include edgestitch foot or stitch in the ditch foot.) I increase my stitch length to 3.5 and use the R foot for an even line.

You can see the guide/blade that keeps the fabric edge lined up for an even stitch line.

Prep complete! We have outer pieces (interfaced), lining pieces, and pockets (interfaced, pressed, and topstitched). We are ready to assemble the bag!

When you get to the step in the tutorial that tells you to open your zipper and add optional hardware, this is the time to add your pockets.

 

For a pocket on the *inside* of your bag, place the folded pocket on the BACK or UNDERSIDE of your hoop with the lining pieces.

Here is the BACK/UNDERSIDE of my hoop as it looks when I take it off the machine after running Step 5 to secure the Front Liner along the sides and bottom. Specific step numbers vary based on the design and options being stitched, which is why it is important to check the stitch map before you begin sewing.

I'm going to align my inside pocket with the top edge of the Front Liner piece. You can place it as high as the center zipper (approximately the yellow line) for a taller pocket OR lower than the Front Liner edge for a more shallow pocket. If your fabric has a directional pattern, place it with the "right" side facing the Front Liner because that side will be seen the most when you unzip the bag.

Tape your pocket down securely. I used my last piece of Micropore medical tape on another project, and I tried to get away with using lots of blue painter's tape.

If you only wanted a pocket on the inside, you would add the Back piece to the front of the hoop and run the next to last step of the design. 

I am also adding a pocket to the outside Back of the bag, so I need to place that before I place the Back piece on my hoop. Check the directionality of the fabric. I don't want my fancy ladies standing on their heads on the back of the bag, so I need this flipped the other way. (If I wanted to add a pocket to the *front* of my bag, this directional placement would be correct.)

I have the "right" side of my pocket facing the hoop. You can place the pocket as high as the center of the zipper, but that would be difficult to keep flat and straight during stitching. I opted to line it up just below the front outside edge. Make sure your pocket is straight, and secure it to the stabilizer.

Place your interfaced Back piece on top of your pocket, face down toward the hoop as directed in the tutorial that came with your zipper bag design. Place your hoop on the machine, making sure your pocket piece is smooth on the underside of the hoop. Run the Back tackdown step. For the design loaded in my machine, the Back tackdown is Step 9.

 Behold the beauty of the double outline. 

Flip to the BACK/UNDERSIDE of your hoop. Remember how I advised you to make sure the inside pocket was nice and smooth when you clipped your hoop back on the machine? Well, mine was not. No matter how experienced you are, you're going to make mistakes. And it's fine! Just take out the stitching on that little corner and run the step again.

I carefully snipped the stitching where the pocket wadded up, smoothed out the pocket, dug through the trash for some medical tape, and ran Step 9 again. Much better! This is what your inside pocket should look like after running the Back tackdown step.

Add your Back Liner piece according to the instructions, run the Back Liner tackdown, and your stitching is complete!

I prefer using cutaway on my lined bags, so once I get the back turned through the hole, I need to cut out the stabilizer.

I use my trusty 4" Gingher embroidery scissors to start and go around the curves and corners, then switch to a seam ripper. Put the red ball of the seam ripper against the zipper tape so you don't slice through your zipper!

Close the turning hole with your method of choice (mine is Thermoweb Peel N Stick Fabric Fuse Tape that seals with pressure), open the zipper, and turn your bag right side out. Have a momentary freak out when you think you put your pocket on upside down. Realize that you simply need to turn the pocket to be on the back of the bag. Poke out all the corners carefully.

Back pocket view with the ladies standing upright after all!

And of course the bag needs a coordinating charm! I swapped the snaptab on the Cat Eye Snaptab for an eyelet from the Add-on Pack (FREE with code from the POP Facebook Group). I attached the charm with a 1" Spring Hook/Lanyard Pull.

We can't wait to see your pockets! Get to stitching, and come share your creations, ask questions, chat, and look for inspiration in the POP Facebook Group. 

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Boo Banner Set and Sketch Fill, Wicked Witch Banner Bundle (Midnight Cat, Wicked, and Witch Shoe), and 2019 Halloween Pencil Toppers Supply Post

Posted by Jenny Chesnick on

Are you ready to SCREAM? We all did when we saw this Wicked Banner Bundle. It’s fun, fast, and flexible. Use it in a traditional banner, a wreath, or as a wall hanging. (Want to see how I “hacked” the banner to make the wreath hanging? Watch the video in our Facebook group.)

 
For classroom treats (no tricks!), there’s an all new Halloween Pencil Topper Bundle!  Also a great option for teal pumpkin prizes for Halloween for children with food allergies.

2019 Halloween Pencil Topper Bundle

 

I don’t mean to startle you, but...

Here’s another adorable banner option! 
Boo Banner Set


And finally, there’s a sketch design perfect for t-shirts, kitchen towels, or tote bags!

Boo Sketch Fill 

Supplies used:

We can't wait to see what you create with our designs. Come share photos, ask questions, and chat in our Facebook group! 

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How to Make a Lanyard (*not* ITH!)

Posted by Anna Pritchett on

We have had lots of requests for a tutorial on how to make a lanyard. This is NOT an ITH project. You will need a regular sewing machine for this one. You'll also need a ruler, rotary cutter (helpful but not required), an iron, lanyard hardware, rivets, and a way to set the rivets. Links will be at the end of the tutorial! 

Step 1: Measure your lanyard hardware. You need the *inside* lanyard measurement. This one is 3/4" inside measurement. Take that number and multiply it by 4. This will be your fabric width. For this lanyard, it's 3/4 x 4 = 3 inches. 

Step 2: Choose and cut your fabric. Quilt-weight cotton woven is my favorite type of fabric to use. You want something with a small enough pattern that 3/4" (or whatever the inside measurement of your lanyard hardware is) makes sense with the fabric. A scattered print rather than a directional print is easier too, unless you want to piece the lanyard in the back of the neck so that both sides will be right side up. 

I like to cut a small snip on the selvage and rip a straight edge to start, then use a rotary cutter and mat to cut clean strips.

Cut your fabric into the fabric width strips across the WOF (width of fabric). Fabric is usually around 42" for quilt-weight cotton. Once you trim the selvage edge and sew the lanyard, the finished length will be around 39" not including the hardware. If you want yours to be longer, you'll have to piece the strips. I recommend doing this at the midpoint so the joint will be behind the wearer's neck. If you want your lanyard shorter, simply trim off length before you proceed with the next step. 

Step 3: Pressing your fabric strips.

First, trim off the selvage edges and fold the strip in half longways. I've showed you the outside of the fabric so you can see the crease. Press the strip in half all the way down the length of the fabric. (Please excuse my hideous ironing board cover! It's 15 years old and very stained, despite being washed regularly. Why do they make these things light colored?!)

Open up the strip and fold one outside edge to the center crease. Press along this edge.

Repeat with the other outside edge.

You strip should look something like this. 

Fold it in half so that the raw edges are enclosed in the strip. Give it another good press to set the creases.

Step 4: Attaching the lanyard hardware and preparing your continuous loop.

Thread your lanyard hardware onto the lanyard. Lay the strip flat so that there are no twists or turns in the fabric.

Leaving the lanyard flat on the surface, carefully unfold the fabric. Keep the right sides that were touching against each other. The first few times you do this, you may want to insert a pin into these layers before you unfold. I've added a purple arrow to the photograph to help you orient that top strip.

Take your top end of fabric and rotate it 90 degrees to the left. You are not going to pick it up and twist it. Leave it right sides touching and turn the top piece only. It should look something like this. You may want to insert a pin in the pieces to keep them together just in case!

I'm right handed, so I need to rotate the whole shebang so that I can draw my line for sewing.  Overlap the edges just about 1/4" on each side. Pin in place.

Grab your ruler and connect the two points where the overlapping fabrics meet. Use a fabric marker that won't bleed through your fabric (i.e., NOT a Sharpie!). This is a pen that disappears when it is heated. Some people have reported "ghosting" of the lines when the fabric is frozen, but this line is inside my lanyard, and I am not worried about whether it will show inside later. Chalk works well especially on dark fabrics. 

This is the line that you will stitch together.

Take the lanyard to your sewing machine. Stitch down the line. (The fold in the fabric makes the line look oddly angled on that last folded side, but it is a straight line!)

Trim the excess fabric, leaving 1/4" seam allowance.  

Open the seam allowance and gently press it flat.

Fold your lanyard back closed, smooth it out, and make sure there aren't any twists or tangles. Give the sewn area another good press to keep everything flat for stitching.

Take your lanyard (which is now in a continuous loop with the lanyard hardware dangling freely) to your sewing machine. Using a foot with a blade on it like this one will make sewing the outside edges so much easier! One came with my machine. They're sometimes called edgestitch, stitch in the ditch, or edge joining feet. 

Inspect your lanyard strip and decide which side you want to be the "right" side when it is finished. Sometimes the pattern looks better on one folded side than another. Put that better side up when you start stitching because the top side of stitching always looks better than the bobbin side even when you use matching thread. (And you should be using matching thread right now!) I like to start on the open side in the space between where the seams show on the folded edge. Set your stitch length to 3.0 - 3.5, and make sure you have a fresh needle. Stitch all the way around your lanyard, stopping just a stitch or so over where you started. The hardware should keep out of your way easily. 

Now repeat the process for the other side of your lanyard.

Trim your threads and slide the hardware down to where you started/stopped. Try to hide as much of the seaming as possible with your hardware positioning. Mark a center dot about 1/2" to 3/4" above the hardware. Grab your leather punch or awl and poke a hole through both sides of the lanyard. You may want to do one at a time. 

Now you have a hole for your rivet!

You'll need your rivet and cap, and your rivet setting materials. I used a kit from amazon that came with the setting pieces. If you have a tabletop snap press, there may be a rivet setting die that you can use instead. The setting tools have a concave curved side and a flat side on the disk and a concave curved end and a flat end on the setter. Use the concave sides against the curved rivet and caps.  

Poke the rivet through the hole.

Snap on the cap.

I'm honestly not sure if it matters which side is up or down when you're setting the rivet. To be safe, I give it a few strikes on both sides. Whack the hammer on the flat end of the setting stick.

Your rivet should be nicely smashed together. Give it a gentle tug to make sure the cap is set. 

And your lanyard is complete! Add your favorite POP charms to coordinate. This candy corn is the I Heart Candy Snaptab with the tab removed and the Eyelet Add-on added on to make it a charm (FREE with a code from the POP Facebook Group!). Let me know in the comments if you would like a blog tutorial on how to do this switcheroo in Embrilliance Essentials!

And because it was sitting still, I added a monogram. (Rivermill's Small Mini Thin Round Monogram)

Make a matching ID Keeper Zipper Case and add a tab to make custom lanyard wallets!

 

Let me know if you have any questions! I can't wait to see your lanyards and coordinating charms and ID Keepers. Come share them in the Parker on the Porch Facebook Group!

 

Parker on the Porch designs:

Supplies:

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Magical Halloween Snaptabs, MORE Magical Halloween Banner Pieces, Apothecary Jars Banner Set, and Spider Web Keyfob Supply List

Posted by Jenny Chesnick on

We have more Halloween fun for you this week at Parker on the porch!

New Magical Snaptabs:

 

New Magical Halloween Banner pieces:

The new pieces coordinate with last week's to make an epic Halloween set!

Last week's Magical Halloween Banner pieces in case you missed them:

 

Back to new items! There's the deliciously spooky Apothecary Jars Banner Set. So many ways to creatively "fill" these bottles by using different materials and colors.

And finally, the new Spider Web Keyfob! (Yes, the vinyl is MyPunkbroidery's dearly departed Purple Funky Monkey...Sniff...)

 

Supplies used:

We can't wait to see what you create with our designs. Come share photos, ask questions, and chat in our Facebook group! 

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