We Love Handmade Shop Spotlight: Crafted by Kerstin

A few weeks ago, we had a fabulous giveaway sponsored by Crafted by Kerstin owned and managed by the artist herself, Kerstin. When I first discovered her shop, I immediately fell in love with her handcrafted pieces. What first caught my attention was the desire of the artist to help us convey our message and immortalize our memories through her art which I think is a really wonderful thing. 

As I look at every piece handcrafted by Kerstin herself, it definitely gives me the impression that every piece that goes to each item is a well-thought of detail. You could see the effort, love and care that is poured to every item.  There is no accident in her shop. There's destiny. Every piece is destined to bring your memories alive for years for you and your loved one to enjoy and cherish! 
Now, let us "oohh" and "ahhh" together as I show you my most favorite items from this lovely shop!
Silhouette Necklace in Sterling Silver with Stamped Heart and Dangle of your choice
Custom Silhouette in Brass Oval and Scalloped Monogram charm Necklace

Angel Baby Handprint Memory Necklace with Wing charm , stamped tag and Pearl Dangle for Mother

Custom Paw or Handprint Necklace with 2 Print Pendants, 2 birthstones and a Brass stamped disc

Decorative Rose Charm on Brass Filigree Backing
Custom 2 Silhouette Brass Oval Necklace with Inital Charm and Pearl Dangle for Mother or Grandmother
What are you waiting for! Have your memories immortalized by Crafted by Kerstin and enjoy a beautiful and customized item personalized with your loved ones silhouette image/s. And guess what? There's an on-going fab deal at her shop right now. Just like her on Facebook and enjoy a 20% discount off your purchase by using the coupon code:
FALL12 If you want to know more about Kerstin and her shop, check out this cool feature via Etsy. If you want to know what's hot in her shop, deals and steals, you can also find it here:
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Under 300 Follower Linky Party and a Guest Post by Pinkapotamus

Hey Pink Hippos!  It's Thursday once again and time for your FAVORITE Thursday Blog hop

Hosted by Me, Amie @ Pinkapotamus

Lelanie @ To Sew With Love

Amanda @ City Girl Gone Coastal

Now before I introduce our Newest Cohost, Lisa, I would like to share some fun stuff going on Here at Pinkapotamus..

First you can sign up for October Overhauling which you can find out more about HERE and

then a super fun GIVEAWAY from my friend Kate HERE

Hi Bloggy (future) Friends! I am Lisa from akawest, a blog where I share my love of sugar, spray paint, and laughing at life, while inching towards adulthood in my forties. I am the mother of two grown kiddos, and the wife of one very patient man, whom I often coerce into doing fun projects that involve saws, or any sort of measuring, 'cause if precision is involved, you can count me out!

My talents include surviving marathon thrift store shopping, gluing a zillion buttons onto a mirror frame,  sprinting through Disney World, and dressing like a People of Walmart character. I am also an expert at raising a deaf kid, with an expertise that includes creating my own version of sign language, and bunches of silly text messages.

I hate cold weather, but since moving to Florida, I am no longer a witch, and have stopped blogging about shivering in my house, and cursing the snow, and now fill my blog with tales of sneaking tattoo pics at the beach, while pretending to read novels.

Please join me in the fun, where I prove that messily iced cookies taste as good as prettier treats, and your kids will turn out just fine, even if you use Beer World cups at their birthday parties.

A great big THANK YOU, and a hug to Amie, for inviting me to give you a glimpse into my blog. Even though in real life I am sort of a germaphobe, and would just hand you a platter of cookies to show my gratitude, this bloggy hug is a full body bear hug!

Now don't forget to follow your hosts and cohost!  Link up, Grab a Button, Be a Follower and make some NEW bloggy friends!

<a rel="nofollow" href="javascript:bloghop()"><img src="http://i1220.photobucket.com/albums/dd447/citygirl101/under300followers.jpg" /></a>

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Lined Vest and Bowtie from Repurposed Shirts

It's 3am right now my side of the world and half an hour ago I finished the lined vest and bowtie I made for my son to wear to the wedding this Saturday.

My son is 4 but wears a size 5-6T. I drafted the pattern for the vest while I was at work today. Finally, when the kids have finally went to bed and I have finished ironing the clothes for tomorrow, I started to cut the fabric pieces and sew the vest and bowtie. I used my son's old but not so used shirt as liner and a shirt the hubs gave me to repurpose. The shirt is still fairly new but had some stains. I like how it turned out, if I may say so. Now, here's the aftermath of the project. I am sure I will still be able to find some use for these scraps!

 I will have a very busy weekend but I promise to try my best to share with you the pattern I drafted for the vest and bowtie plus a tutorial. Have a fab morning everyone. It's bedtime for me now as I still have to be up in 3-4 hours! ^^)


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Carry-All Sling Bag from Fabric Scraps and Recycled Leather Belt Tutorial

My daughter already had a P.E. bag from last year but I couldn't remember where I placed it. With my busy schedule, I didn't have the time to look for it so I hurriedly made a new one for her. 
This was her P.E. bag from last year:
  
and this is the new bag I made for her, with it's own wet wipes pocket! Cleaning up would be easier for my princess!

The fabric might look familiar as I made this bag from scraps after I made her art smock for school. No scrap will go to waste! ^^) This bag has room enough for a bottle of water, a small pack of wet wipes, a small pack of tissue, a small bottle of hand soap and a cloth towel. This bag doesn't have to be restricted to just being a P.E. bag. She can of course use this to trips to the park among other uses. You can also personalize your own bag by changing the measurements, adding more pockets, etc. For the shoulder strap, I used an unused white leather belt with a nice little bow. I think it really turned out cute, if I may say so ^^)
Now, why don't we use those fabric scraps and just anything you have on hand you can recycle/re-use and get to sewing?

For this bag, I used:
A. Outer piece, printed bottom piece: 2 pcs. 28 cms (width) x 19 cms (length) B. Outer piece, plain fabric top piece: 2 pcs. 28 cms x 9 cms C. Inner piece, plain fabric: 2 pcs. 28  cms x 27 cms D. Inner pocket piece, plain fabric: 2 pcs. 28 cms x 12 cms E. Wipes pocket piece, 1 printed fabric and 1 plain fabric: 2 pcs. 28 cms. x 18 cms. F. Outer pocket piece, printed fabric: 2 pcs. 28 cms x 7 cms Bias tape 2 buttons zipper unused leather belt for strap
I have ironed on interfacing to the fabric pieces (except fabric pieces B and C as I ran out of interfacing ^^). This is, however, optional. You can still make your bag without the interfacing!
Instructions:

Get one piece A and one piece B. At the top seam of piece A, align the raw seams of piece B with piece A, right sides facing together. Sew straight stitches 1/4" away from the edge. Sew zigzag stitches afterwards to avoid fraying.

Flip piece B, wrong side facing downwards and sew straight stitches 1/8" away from where both pieces where sewn together. This will further strengthen the stitches and avoid accidents (stitches getting torn) in the future. Set aside.

Get both pieces D, with right sides facing together and wrong sides outside, sew straight stitches 1/4" away from the edge. Sew on both longer sides of the fabric pieces. When done, you will have both longer sides sewn while both shorter sides are open. You will have a tube. Turn this sewn piece inside out.

Sew on any embellishment you like. This step is optional.

Get one of the C fabric piece, pin on it the pocket piece we have just sewn. Leave a 2"-3" gap from the bottom raw edge of the fabric piece C.

Sew the pocket on fabric piece C by sewing on the left side, bottom and right side of the pocket piece. The left and right side stitches can be basting stitches but the bottom stitches should be proper (with backtracks) stitches. Divide your pocket into two (or three) by sewing straight stitches where you'd like the pocket to be divided. Set aside.

Get both fabric pieces E, with the right sides together, sew straight stitches 1/4" away from the edge on one of the longer sides. Do the same to the other longer sides just like what we did on the previous step. We will have a tube which we will turn inside out.

Sew straight stitches on one of the longer side (top)

Trace where the wipes dispenser hole should be and cut it. Sew zigzag stitches all around the hole just to make sure the edges will be aligned. Get the bias tape and sew it around the hole. You could not appreciate it in this photo but the tip of the bias tape where I started to sew on (you can see it in the above photo) is not sewed on. I started sewing about 2 cms away from the shorter edge of the bias tape. Why? Because before you sew on the end of the bias tape you should fold the unsewn part of the bias tape (where we started sewing) then sew on at least 1" past this folded part.

Finally, fix the bias tape by sewing all around it. If the above explanation is quite confusing, you can visit this Diaper and Wipes purse tutorial and this Car Organizer tutorial for a clearer (I hope! ^^) explanation of this step.

Test if it fits well. It does! ^^) Now, get this piece and sew buttonholes where you want them.

Get one of the outer pieces (fabric A and B sewn together) and pin the wipes pocket where you want it. Sew the pocket on by following the same steps we did to attach the inner pocket to the interior fabric.

Don't forget to open the buttonhole! I almost did! ^^)

And don't forget to sew the buttons on, either! ^^) I almost forgot to sew them on ^^)

Get one piece C and one piece A+B (sewn together) and the zipper. Both fabrics should have the right sides facign together and the right side of the zipper should be facing the right side of piece A+B (as shown above). Using the zipper foot, attach the zipper to the fabric by sewing straight stitches .

Sew straight stitches on the right side of piece A+B.

Get the remaining A+B piece and sew on a ribbon or a piece of sewn bias tape with a ring in the loop. Sew it on the top edge with basting stitches. Get the remaining piece C and attach the other side of the zipper to it and piece A+B using the same procedure above.

Right sides facing together, pin together both plain fabric pieces (C) and both A+B fabric pieces. Do not forget to leave your zipper half-open (or half-close ^^) 

Sew straight stitches 1/4" away from edge all around the pinned pieces, leaving 3"-4" unsewn on the bottom side of fabric C. Then, sew zigzag stitches to avoid fraying. 

Sew straight stitches 3/4"-1" away from the tip of the edge of all four sides of the fabric pieces (as shown above) Turn the bag inside out from the unsewn part at the botton of fabric C. Sew it close.

Attach the sling to the bag. I used an unused leather belt. I first sewed on a bias tape on each end of the belt (the same bias tape I used for the loop) then sewed it on each side of the bag.

Hang something pretty on the loop and enjoy the bag! ^^)

My daughter loves her bag a lot since it matches her art smock. I love the bag because I found something useful to make with the fabric scraps and the unused belt! ^^) 

I hope you like today's tutorial and will inspire you also to create something of fabric scraps! Have a nice day, friends!

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