I wanted to give you all the details on how to create this bag! Whether it’s for yourself, someone else as a gift, or your little one this bag is fun to make and perfect for everyday use. This is the tutorial I followed to make this bag. However, I made alot of adjustments because this pattern is really for a kids size messenger bag. I really just made it bigger and added lots of hardware, some of it is optional. So for this bag you will need everything listed/pictured below. I use heavy fusible interfacing for the body, a medium weight for the flap, and a lightweight interfacing for the straps and tabs on the side. You can also use fusible fleece if you want a softer bag without as much structure.

For this bag you will need:

• 1 yard of fabric for outside of bag, cotton or canvas
• 1 yard of fabric for inside lining,
• 1 yard of interfacing for outside of bag
• 1/2 yard of medium weight interfacing for the flap
• 1/2 yard of lightweight interfacing for the straps and tabs (optional)
• pins, scissors, chalk, pattern weights
• 2 swivel hooks
• 2 1 inch D- Rings or you can use the triangle rings
• a purse closure of your choice (flip, turn, or press, lock)
• a fashion slide adjuster (optional if you want adjustable strap)
• small closure for the inside of the bag

So to construct the bag you are going to follow the tutorial, ignoring her dimensions because again, they are for a kids bag. So follow her construction process and when it comes time to actually sew the lining to the bag, sandwiched in the middle will be your flap, 2 side tabs, and small closure in the middle. The last step is the most important part in the construction of this bag. You need to make sure everything is being caught then sew over it a couple times for security. Also don’t forget to add the shorter hand strap in the back! I like being able to carry the bag 2 ways.

ALOT of the time that goes into making this bag is in the prep work. So before you actually sew the bag I suggest you to prep everything. That means making the flap, sewing pockets on your lining, making the bag straps, and making all the tab pieces for the D-rings and inside closure. ISo now onto the dimensions. The body of my bag is about 15 inches x 27 inches. Thats 15 inches across and 27 inches down just so were clear. LOL So you will cut your bag and your lining out at that size.

Interface your outside bag piece and be sure not to interface your seam allowance, if you are using a stiff interfacing it will be too bulky to sew over. If you are using fusible interfacing you should be fine with interfacing your entire outside bag piece. If you are doing purse feet add them on after you interface the outside bag piece. You can do 2 or 4 purse feet on the bottom if you desire.

Then you will cut out the flap which is 13 inches x 9 inches. As she does in the tutorial cut a rectangle first then use something round to cut 2 corners off to have rounded edges. I normally just use my curve ruler, but you can use a bowl, a cup, anything round. Rounding the corners is also optional but I think it looks best.

To make the straps and tabs I use a 4 inch wide piece of fabric. Fold the ends in to meet each other, press, then fold them in again to have those ends meet and press. Sew down both sides. After the flap is cut out interface one side of it and sew the 2 flap pieces together. I use a medium weight fusible interfacing for my flaps and lightweight for the tabs.

Then, after you have done all of that, you are ready to sew the bag together. Now if you are using really stiff interfacing keep in mind this bag does have to be turned right side out, so you will have to use a bit of force with that part. Also another note I like to do a small strip of lightweight interfacing in my strap and on my bag tabs.

Again interfacing the tabs and straps is optional and I know you probably want to just skip it but I think you should do it. This bag is big enough to hold a 13 inch Macbook Air and I carry my laptop in it sometimes but the tabs on my first bag were not interfaced, so they kept doing this. lol

This was soooo annoying. These interfaced tabs aren’t going anywhere.. They sit perfectly in the D-ring and I know this bag can support alot of weight. The straps on my other bag weren’t a problem so just using a small strip of lightweight interfacing in the middle of those should be enough!

Pleasee let me know if you have any questions about this bag or if you create this bag for yourself. I know this was alot of info but if you read everything thoroughly before getting started you will be good! I’m here if you have any questions! Add a comment here, email me, or find me on social media @itsnichelleb! I’m still trying to play around with how to have this bag convert into a backpack so if you have any suggestions on that help a sistah out!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day beautiful! XOXO

Heyyy Boo,

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I love being creative and recycling/upcycling clothing or fabric. This shirt is a great way to spice up a basic button up shirt! This is a really easy, and fairly quick refashion. To make this shirt you would get a long sleeve button up shirt, preferably denim, cotton, or linen or average dress shirt weight, just not anything too light or flowy. These sleeves are kind of big so if you get a lightweight fabric is may look kind of weird with the weight of the bell sleeve on it.

Once you have your shirt, mark where you are going to cut it. I recommend 1/2-1 inch above the elbows. This gives you a slightly dramatic sleeve, you can definitely go lower if you want a smaller sleeve, or cut right above your sleeve cuffs if you want a smaller baby bell sleeve. lol

I used a kids circle skirt in a size Small/Medium, as the bell for my shirt. If your arm is bigger go up to a kids size large circle skirt. Note you may have to shorten the skirt a bit. Having a pattern is not necessary as there are lots of tutorials on how to cut out a circle skirt. You will be gathering the sleeve anyway so the fit does not have to be super precise. I like using the kids size skirt because I feel like it gives me just the right amount of fabric. You don’t want it to look like your arm is drowning in your sleeve… Or hey maybe you do.. LOL Test it out, cut the skirt out of muslin if you are unsure of the sizing.

Once you have the sizing right and the skirt cut out hem the bottom of the skirt, gather the top of the skirt, and sew it onto onto the shirt. Press and finish your seams and thats it! Go out and rock your new upcycled shirt!

Hey Lovesss! Happyy Fridayyyy! This is the last look for my week of teacher style. This is a simple D.I.Y dress. I’ve made this dress before in a yellow linen. These colors are soo my vibe and I felt like the Kente print would be a great way to kick off Black History Month! I wanted to make something that was appropriate for work out of this fabric. I didn’t want to do pants because I have a few pair of Ankara print pants already and I thought a dress would be cool because I can layer it. I like this dress because its very chill.. lol I know I can wear it in the summer, layer it in the fall, and its cute with flats or heels!

What do yall think?

Hey Lovess,

If you follow me on IG, I have been showing you a week of teacher looks. I dress pretty chill/minimal for work. I didn’t want to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe for this teaching job so I decided to dress up or tone down the pieces I already have. Stay tuned for Fridays look which I’m kind of excited to wear, it’s an outfit to kick off Black History Month!

Hey Loves! As always thanks for stopping by! Today were talking about the pinafore dress! According to the dictionary a pinafore dress is “a sleeveless garment similar to an apron, worn especially by small girls as a dress or an overdress.“

As you can see below pinafore type dresses aren’t worn as aprons or just for little girls any longer. I feel like the pinafore dress just like everything else in fashion has been around forever, they have just recently came back on the scene and got an upgrade.  I posted a collage of my inspiration on my IG and here it is below.

I especially liked the outfit in the middle! I think it was styled perfectly and I just thought it was so cute and different. Unfortunately my fabric was too heavy for that look LOL sooo I had to go with a different style dress. I still want to make a dress like hers but I need to find a different fabric. Its hard to find good plaids! OMG All of them are flannel or like $60 a yard! I just want a cute plaid suiting fabric. Anyway, this fabric came from Joanns, it is a med weight suiting fabric, with a bit of stretch. So I was going for clueless vibes with this look. At first the skirt was a midi length pencil skirt and it was so cute I contemplated leaving it like that, it would have been cute with a white button up underneath! Then I thought it was a little bit too safe, so I cut it into a mini, which honestly, I feel like minis are coming back in style. For a while it was alllll about the midi length skirts and dresses and although I feel like both silhouettes will always be in style, I think were gonna go back to short. So here is my version below, I feel like its most like the girl on the bottom left, just without the ruffle at the bottom. Instead I did ruffles on the side. Thanks for all the kind comments y’all leave on my IG page! I really appreciate you and I hope y’all are enjoying the HOLIDAYS!!!

Hey Lovess!

I’ve missed you all! I feel like its been a while since I’ve written a blog post! October was kind of a busy month for me, I have a couple posts to catch up on and I’m starting with my birthday post! All about my cropped sweatshirt and long skirt! This outfit was inspired by @kahlanabarfield. I didn’t think I would remake it for my birthday, but it turned out to be perfect for it! I knew I wanted to wear black but I didn’t have anything particular in mind. When I saw this I said yep I love it and then I made it. LOL

The fabric is from fabric.com and it is the regular sweatshirt fleece. The ribbed fabric on the sleeves and waistband is from Joanns Fabric. This outfit is super warm and comfy. However, just keep in mind sweatshirt material does not have much stretch at all. So if you want more stretch you may want to consider another heavy/medium weight knit fabric. Which I think will still look great. My skirt had a split in the back so I can walk, the 2 pockets in the front, the ribbed waistband, and thats it! No zippers OR elastic! Can you say EASYY.

I created this pattern using the same basic A-line dress pattern I always talk about. lol (McCalls 9172)

I had never made a hoodie before but it was so easy. In the fall & winter I live in sweatshirts so I do want to make more. So like I said I used the A-line dress pattern and just cut it in half. The bottom was my skirt and the top was the base for the hoodie.

To create the hoodie I just flared the sides on the top out a bit so my sweatshirt could be a little bit bigger. Then I added sleeves and the ribbed cuffs. For the hood I used a random hood from one of my jacket patterns. I know that prob wasn’t the best idea but it worked out. lol I checked like all my patterns with hoods to make sure it was the perfect size. So after I made the hood I attached it to the shirt. Around this part is where I would say double check to make sure your neck hole is big enough because it will shrink a bit once you add the hood. After that I put the drawstring in and I left the hem on the bottom raw so I was done!

The only thing I wish I would have considered was an eyelet to put where my drawstring comes out on the hood. I didn’t have one so I had to just put a hole in my fabric which doesn’t look bad because everything is all black and you can hardly see it but still in the future I would definitely use an eyelet to give it a clean look. As you can see I loved the hoodie and wore it like all weekend!

Oh and the little black tulle skirt was an afterthought but I liked it! It was just 7 or 8 layers of tulle cut into a circle skirt with an elastic waistband.

Thanks for following and supporting ya girl! I truly appreciate YOU! My next post Im going to be sharing the details on the dress I made to wear to my sisters wedding and a post all about my locs!

Hi Lovess!

Back with possibly the easiest D.I.Y ever. I think this is actually my first No Sew D.I.Y. Anyway these jeans were inspired by a pair I saw in a New York and Company ad. Those jeans also said “Blessed” but the letters were in silver. I do realize there are other ways you could achieve this same effect like with screen printing or using iron on transfer paper but I went with the spray paint because I felt it was the easiest and would be the quickest. However it turned out this project isn’t exactly that quick. lol It took me about 2 hours to do this. The hardest or most tedious part is making sure everything else outside of your stencil is covered when you are spray painting. All my supplies for this project were purchased at Joanns Fabric and I bought the jeans from Marshalls for $14. This project is pretty easy and one may even say its self explanatory but still..

For this project you will need:

Tulip Fabric Spray Paint ( Get fabric spray paint! Regular spray paint will not work. I recommend using Gold, Silver or Rose Gold)

Blank paper

Tape (shipping or painters tape)

Letter Stencils

Grocery bag

Ruler

Pencil

Something to cover your floor like a tarp or huge trash bag

Directions:

First cut the sides open on your trash bag and lay it out.

Lay your denim on top of the bag.

Decide which leg you are spray painting and ball the other leg up and place it inside the small grocery bag so it does not accidentally get spray paint on it.

Once it is in there tape the edge of the grocery bag to the denim.

Then fold your blank paper in half and insert it inside the leg of your denim jeans. This is so that while we are spray painting it wont seep through to the other side. I used about 7-8 sheets of paper.

Then using your ruler and a pencil lightly make a dashed lines to give you a guide for a straight line.

Place tape right on your straight dashed line this will be where you place your letters so that they stay in a straight line.

At this point you should place your letters down just to make sure the spacing is correct.

Then tape around all the other exposed denim.

Once you are ready to spray paint you should follow the directions on the spray paint bottle.

I know 2 coats would have made this denim pop but this is actually pretty tedious and once I finished the first coat I said to myself, no way I’m doing that all over again. lol

So this is the finished result and when I get time I may still go back and do another coat of paint.

*UPDATE* Another way to achieve this look is with heat transfer fabric. You basically cut the fabric out to any shape you want, iron it onto your fabric and thats it! It comes in tons of colors so thats great also! Of course you have to be really precise with your cutting to have it look neat and professional but that is another option!

Heyyy loves!

Welcome back to my blog thanks for stopping by! I am sooo excited it’s FRIDAY and I am officially done teaching summer (sewing, fashion design, and art) camp! Insert happy dance! Every summer I gain a new respect for teachers. Honestly, yall are the real MVPS and deserve major respect for what you do.

So, details on this top and EASY PEASY skirt. I’ve blogged about this skirt before, last year. Click here if you want to see that post. It is literally the easiest, quickest skirt ever. I would definitely recommend this pattern if you are a beginner sewist.

I told myself I wanted to start making more pieces that could be worn dressed up or down and both of these pieces are exactly that. So this top is Vogue pattern 8766. I’ve used this pattern before to make the top I wore for my birthday last year. This is actually a dress pattern, but if you just don’t add the skirt to the bottom its a top! lol Click here if you want to see the version I made for my birthday. The only difference between the two is I added ties on this top.

The top was inspired by a Pin I had saved for a while. Check my IG page @itsnichelleb if you want to see the Pinspiration photo. I saw this pin and immediately new I wanted to make it, so I did. By the way, this is random, but can I just say I I LOOOVE PINTEREST! I’m not even going to go on a rant about why I love it. I’ll just leave it at that. lol

So you saw it dressed down on my IG page now here is how I dressed it up with McCalls 7606. I’ve also worn this skirt dressed down with tennis shoes. I love mixing and matching my pieces. That’s the fun and satisfying part to me, I’m slowly but surely building my wardrobe.

Hey Loves,

As always I’m so excited to share this look with you. You got a look while it was in the process of being made on my Instagram so here is the finished product and all the details! I wanted to make a white shirtdress before summer was over and I did! This fabric is shirting from Joanns, it was on sale at the time for $5.99 a yard and it took about 2 yards to create this. I used the same combo of patterns I used to make my last 3 button ups. Lol It’s a charm, and once you find a pattern or a pattern hack you love its so easy to make different pieces. So I posted the inspo pic behind this shirt on my Instastory and did a poll with this shirt and another shirt and this shirt won. It was really close though, Im glad they have that feature because it really is soooooo hard to decide what to make sometimes! Thank y’all for helping me out! lol

The winning shirt I recreated.  Keep scrolling to see my version.

So can I just say that I am extremely proud my myself for making this shirt. It looks so legit and professionally made and my fabric looks all crisp. lol I did prewash my fabric before using it. This fabric is the perfect weight, it has a little stretch and its super easy to work with. All I can say about this shirtdress is, it’s going to get put to good use. Lol

The shirt is a combination of Simplicity 8416 (as the base of the shirt) & Vogue 9027. I use the Simplicity pattern as the base of the shirt and I just gradually flare the sides out so it creates an oversized effect. I also talk about this hack in my previous posts here. So I flared the sides out, made it a little longer, then I added the ruffle at the bottom. As for the hem, I started to do a rolled hem but I’m so happy I didn’t and just did it the way it is in the inspiration picture. It gives the shirt some stability and allows it to flare out just right at the bottom. Although if I would have did the rolled hem I probably would have been able to wear it as a dress. I think it’s a tad bit too short to do that so I’m going to wear it with shorts or jeans.

Click here if you want to see the video tutorial I followed to do the hidden placket. It was a quick and easy to follow tutorial, but I do suggest you read the blog post that goes with the video because she mentions some additional tips there that aren’t in the video. I opted for a mandarin collar because thats how the shirt was in the inspo pic and I also wanted to try it. Its so easy. I don’t think I own anything with a mandarin collar and now I have 2 white shirt dresses so I’m pleased with how everything came out. Have you tried to make a button up yet? What are you waiting for?!

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate you!

Hi Loves!

Welcome Back! So y’all know ever since I made my first button up I’ve been addicted. I really love the versatility of button ups. I had this cotton and this picture saved in my phone for quite some time. So I decided to recreate it! This is the original version, I saw it on IG first I believe.

So I wanted to do something very similar. Only difference is, my ruffle is a bit shorter and mines has short sleeves. I’m so happy and pleased with the outcome of this dress. I mentioned I wanted to make some more chill garments so this is definitely one I could see myself wearing dressing up or down. As I mentioned in my last post about patten hacking adding a ruffle hem or an uneven hem to a dress can give it an instant upgrade. In this case, (besides making the dress oversized) the only other modifications I made were an uneven hem and a ruffle. EASYYY! I love this dress.

Simplicity 8416 and Vogue 8027 are the pattens I combined to achieve this look. What do y’all think?