Daner Designs

Snow Snow Snow! This past weekend, we saw nearly 2 feet of snow. That, combined with 3 (yes 3!) snow days from school meant that I could get some much needed crafting done! I totally cleaned out the sewing room during the snow storm, and to celebrate, today on snow day #3, I sewed a scarf I have been meaning to make (hey–at least I got it done before spring!)

Bed Bath and Beyond sells this “Therma Scarf”. It is a scarf with removable microwaveable pouches to keep your hands and neck warm. It also features a pocket at each end for your hands, and zippered pocket on one end for your wallet, keys or camera—-genius!

It’s retail price? $20.00. Not too bad. I bought one.
It was the biggest piece of crap ever. The fabric was not soft, the removable pouches had a really bad odor, there were long thread tails everywhere, and the corners weren’t turned properly (heck, they weren’t even trimmed so they could be turned properly).

Here’s “their” scarf—ugh!

I can make my own.

So I did. I used the purchased scarf as a guide, and about two hours later, 5/8 yard of fleece and one black zipper, had this little beauty!

Close up of the pocket and zipper—stark contrast to the purchased one!

And because it’s Chrismtas, a picture of the scarf on my tree!

To save others from having to purchase this horribly made scarf, I have prepared a tutorial. It’s very simple. I tried to take pictures to the best of my ability, but black fleece is very difficult to photograph!
I also didn’t incude the “therma” part. It seemed like a waste to me. When am I ever going to need that? First of all, you put it in the microwave—the heat will only last for 20 minutes tops. It just seems like a waste to me. Anywhere I’m going to need this, I’m going to need to drive to first—and it’s doubtful the heat will last until I get there! So away it went. It also added unnecissary weight to the scarf–I didn’t need that around my neck either.

First—you will need approximately 5/8 yard of fleece, and one black zipper.
Cut your fleece into two strips 7 inches by however wide your fleece is (about 60 inches), so you will have 2 rectangles 7 inches by 60 inches.
Cut two more rectangles 7 inches by 8 inches—two out of fleece, and two out of some kind of lining material. I used a brushed cotton, but any thin fabric will work.

Assembling the scarf:
1. Take your two 7×8 inch rectangles, and place right sides together. Using a 1/4 seam, sew a straight seam along one of the 7 inch sides.

Open up, and topstitch on the lining fabric to secure inside seams.

Turn the lining to the backside, and topstitch near the sewn top seam.
I did this topstitch twice, but that’s just for decorative purposes.

Do this for both pockets.

2. Take one of the 7×60 rectangles and lay out flat. At each end, line up one of the pockets, right side up, with the topstitched edge facing towards the center of the rectangle. Pin into place. Baste around the bottom three edges of the pocket, leaving the topstitched edge free.

3. Assemble the zipper pocket.
Take the remaining 7×60 inch rectangle, and cut off a 7.5 inch section off of one end.

Open up the 7inch zipper and sew it onto the wrong side of each flap of fabric, lining up the edge of the fabric with the top edge of the zipper tape. Some of the bottom part of the zipper will extend past the fabric, that is ok. You will cut it off later.

Flip the fabric over, and top stitch close to the zipper teeth to hold the fabric flat.

4. Assemble the scarf.
Place the two long rectangles of fleece right sides together, and pin all the way around. Open up the zipper, as this will give you a place to turn the fabric when it is sewn shut.
Pin the fabric every few inches, as the fleece tends to shift in the sewing machine.
Sew around all 4 edges. I sewed along the two long edges first, then did the two short ends last. Double stitch to reinforce over both ends of the zipper when you get to them. I also reinforced and double stitched at all four corners to help strengthen it when I clip the corners.

Be careful when sewing through so many layers, or this might happen!

That is the first time I broke a needle in THREE places!

5. Prepare for turning.
Clip all corners. Trim the excess zipper off. Grade all seams (cut one shorter then the other). Make sure you caught all layers of fleece in all seams.

6. Put your hand inside the zipper opening, and reach inside to the long end. Grab and pull to turn inside out.

7. Now that it is all right side out, lay it flat, and mark some “quilting lines”. I quilted a line right above the pocket, (this also helps close off the zippered pocket), and then 2 lines lengthways down the center. These were two inches apart. This helps the two layers not shift around (which was one of the really annoying things of the store bought scarf—it kept crumpling and wouldn’t lay flat.

Quilting line above the pocket:

Quilting lines down the center:

8. Wear. Show off. Enjoy!

Finally! Summer is here for real! (and it’s what? July 22nd?) My vacations are over (sniff sniff), my class is over (hurray!) and now I can craft.
First up – a purse for my sister, a college engineering major, who’s turning 21 next month. The square root of negative 1 is “I” (for infinate number or something like that….), hence the “I love engineering” pocket on the front.

I machine embroidered the word “engineering” and my mom hand embroidered the square root sign and the heart. (ignore the color of the fabric here – it’s much greener)

We got the fabric in Lancaster, PA last year. Lime green is my sister’s favorite color (she even custom painted her Jeep to match!), and as soon as we saw this fabric, we knew it had to be made into a bag for her (too bad it took over a year…..)

And then we lined it with an even more hideous green floral print fabric.

And a few more random shots of the bag

I just got back from Lancaster, PA (For those who don’t know, it is a primarily Amish community). We go there every year for the great food, abundant fabric stores, and fresh air (haha—it smells like cow poop…).

Anyway, my mom and I make sure to hit every fabric store in the town—and most are huge! They are so much nicer then the chain fabric stores (and besides–we don’t have any near our house anymore), and have such a huge selection. Needless to say—I bought waaaay too much.

This is the first project out of this year’s “Lancaster Fabric”…..

The front of the bag:

Close up:

Piping on the pockets and button detail

Lining and pockets. There are two pen pockets, one cell phone, and one random

Back

Wow—-I haven’t posted anything in an entire month!
The end of the school year, combined with 2 trips to Disney (yes two—within a 3 week time period!) and a little bit of work made for almost no time to spend in the sewing room.
Last week though, I got really inspired and spent a little bit of time in the sewing room almost every day for the week. At the end of the week, I had two things to show for it—a new purse, and a new one-of-a-kind shirt.

First up is the purse. I had bought the pattern and fabric for this probably 2 or 3 years ago. I bought the fabric at Quilting Possibilities—but when they were in their old building! That shows you how long ago it was!
It’s a simple lantern bag, and I made a few modifications because I wanted to use three coordinating fabrics instead of two. The “inspiration” fabric was the polka dot fabric used in the pleats and on the pocket—-I wish it showed more because I love the colors on it!

The purse:

Lying flat so you can see the pleats:

Inside pockets—one for cell phone, one for camera, and two for pens:

And here is the shirt I designed. I wanted to make a cinched bandeau type top, but with a full panel. I made a mock-up out of lycra, but the fabric was too thick to work out. I’ll still wear it—but only in the privacy of my backyard (it’s strapless—so its perfect for lying out and tanning!)
I had bought this piece of moleskin at JoAnns a long time ago—it was in the small remnant pile. It was the perfect amount for this shirt. The contrasting bandeau and “side vents” are actually 3 layers of georgette fabric that matched the maroon in the print of the main fabric.

Here’s the front of the shirt. Maybe someday I’ll take a better picture then this “reflection in the mirror” pic

Here is the shirt lying flat. It is strapless, but because it isn’t a knit, and has a zipper on the side, it fits perfectly, and I don’t feel like I have to be holding it up all night.

Detail of the bandeau top:

When I “measured” myself to make the pattern, I did not take into account the fact that my hips are larger then my waist….lol. So after my first fitting I realized that while it fit perfectly from my chest to my waist, I had an 8 inch gap at the bottom that didn’t touch. So I seam wripped a few inches up each side, and added a “detail vent”. It looks like it belongs there, but it was really out of neccessity!

After being inspired by this thread on craftster.org: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=227105.0;all

I decided my DS needed a better case where the games would be safer and more secure. After about three hours, I had my final case, and I’m pretty pleased with it.

Here’s the design stage, ready to be cut out—-

Here are all of the pieces cut out and ready to go—-

Some half done pieces—–

And we’re all done!
Here’s the front:

Here is is open and laid out. That bottom flap folds upward to close

And here is the back—-there’s a pocket for all of your essentials (or the manual in this case)

I didn’t use the good fabric on this one because I didn’t think my first attempt would come out good at all. But I like the way it came out, and I’m going to use it for now. If I were to make it again (with the good fabric), I think I would make the body ever so slightly smaller, add some felt for padding in the front and back (just to secure the DS a little bit more), and I’d round off the bottom of the front flap, just so it mimics the overall shape of the bag.
I haven’t added a handle onto it yet, I don’t know if I even will—lets just see how this works for now.

My boyfriend got me a Nintendo DS for Christmas (!!!!)
Of course, I needed to make a DS cozy for it…lol. I contemplated between crocheting or sewing one, and decided sewing one might be faster. (I still may crochet a sleeve for it later)
But here’s what I came up with. I had “quilted” this fabric about a year ago, but never made it into anything, so I set to work. It’s just a simple envelope, with all raw seams inclosed in seam binding.
I added two rows of elastic to secure the games onto the front of the case, and a button closure to keep it all shut.

Here it is open and in use

And here it is shut

Now my DS is all warm and padded!