Paper Bag Journals

Hello again!
Today I've been working with my mom to make journals for girls camp. She's in charge of making one for all 36 young women in our ward! We decided to go with the kind of journal I made for my secret sister last year: a paper bag journal! They are cute, easy, inexpensive, and customizable. You'll need:

• 3 jumbo 6x12" brown bags
• scrapbook paper
• ribbon or tabs
• glue

For today, I designed all of the pages and we made a prototype. It isn't finished yet because we're out of colored ink (always a wonderful surprise). This one is also very minimalist because, like I said, we're making 36. You, however, can go all-out with as many stickers, hole punches, and paper flowers as you'd like!

 

This year, our theme will be "stand ye in holy places" and each ward got to choose a temple. We have the Samoa temple, so that's why we have a cute turtle on the front. For the back page and the temple insert, you can look up whatever free printables you want and size them. If you want the "stand ye in holy places" printable and the Samoa temple pic, just go to these websites:
http://shopringmasters.com/article/2013-mutual-theme-free-printable-stand-ye-holy-placeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Apia_Samoa_Temple-pre_fire-crop.jpg

These are the printable pages that I made. They are for PERSONAL USE ONLY!! No selling your final product. They aren't good enough to sell anyway :) I just made them on Word and Publisher.

 

All you have to do is right click on one of the images, paste it in word or something, and resize it to 5x5". You will need one of each except for the blank one at the top, you will need to print 5 of that one. Ready? Ok, let's get crafting!

 

Main Journal

Take your three paper bags. Lay them one on top of the other (don't pop out the bottom!) and simply staple 3 times vertically along the center. Now you should have a book!

 

Pages 1 through 8

For these, you can decorate them any way you want. We simply attached background papers then glued down our printed journal pages in the order shown. For fourth years and junior staff, you can just insert some more blank lined pages into the front opening of a bag so that they can journal on Monday.

 

 

 



Last 2 Pages and Cover

The 9th page is reserved for the ward picture. Just type in your ward and year in size 36 centaur font (or whatever font you want). Print it out, cut it out, then glue the words at the top or bottom of the page so there'll be room for your group pic. Then, for the next page, just find a printable relating to your girls camp theme. These two pages can really be customized however you want. I'm not showing you mine because it says my ward and city :P that wouldn't be good to post! Then, for your cover just type "Girls Camp 20--" (inserting the year, of course). I used a size 48 centaur font. Then, customize your front cover and you are almost done!

 

Inserts

For the testimony insert, glue the paper that says testimony on one side of a 5.5x5.5" piece of scrapbook paper. Then, glue a blank lined printable on the other side. Add ribbon or a tab to the right side of the insert.

Next is the temple insert. Pretty much, just find an online picture of your favorite temple, resize it so that it's smaller than 6" on each side, glue it on scrapbook paper, and add ribbon or a tab. Now you are officially done with your adorable girls camp journal!

 

The cool thing about paper bag journals is that you can make them for all occasions. It'd be fun to have everyone make one before a vacation so they'll be motivated to write in a journal. To make the printable journal pages, just create a 5x5" publisher document, type in the day or date at the top, and underscore for the rest of the page. Have lots of fun creating cool journals!

Trek Bloomers Tutorial

Hello blogging world!
I actually "started" this blog a few months ago but never got around to posting. Finally I've remembered to take pictures of something I've sewn, which is good news for you guys :) Well, here's my first tutorial: bloomers for pioneer trek! It seriously only took me 30 min the first time I made them. This time took longer because I misplaced the seam ripper somehow, plus I had a camera in hand as well, which didn't help.

 

Aren't they lovely? Well, I don't know if you could call pioneer undergarments lovely, but anyways. Have fun sewing your super-easy self drafted bloomers!

Materials:
2 yds 44-45" fabric, preferably lightweight and soft (muslin works well)
loose pj pants
3/8" elastic (nonroll)
newspaper and tape
scissors, pins, pencil/pen, sewing machine, etc.

Step 1: Make your pattern

Examine your pj pants. Is the waistband elastic, fitted, or drawstring? If it's got a drawstring, simply untie the drawstring. If the waistband has elastic or is fitted, I'll help you later on. For now, fold your pants in half, pulling out the crotch. Tape two pieces of newspaper together and lay your folded pants on the newspaper. Then, if you are using drawstring pjs, simply trace 1 to 2" around your pants. If your pants have elastic or are fitted, go straight up from the crotch. Mine have elastic, so you can see that I added a lot of extra room in the crotch area of my bloomers. Next, cut out your pattern on the lines you drew and you have your pattern! You may want to save your pattern to make more bloomers later. (After all, trek won't have showers! Might want some extra clothes on hand)

Step 2. Cutting the pieces

Pre-shrink and iron your fabric. This is REALLY important! Seriously! Otherwise, your bloomers will shrink in the wash and totally not fit you! After your fabric is primed and ready, lay your pattern along the fold line as shown below.

Then, cut out along all sides EXCEPT the fold. If you cut along the fold, you'll cut your pattern piece in half and that won't be good! Then repeat, so that you have two pattern pieces that look like this:

Step 3: Assembly (yay!)
Now comes the fun part. Just bear with me, it's easier than it looks. Lay one pattern piece on top of the other, right sides together, and pin from the top of the fabric down to the crotch point. Then sew along your pinned lines with a 5/8" seam allowance.

Open your bloomers (still keeping them right sides together) as shown.

Next, just pin and sew along the inside seam of your bloomers.

Step 4: Elastic
Now, you are going to want to go along the top of your pants and fold about 3/4" over. Make sure to do this with the pants still inside out! Otherwise your casing will show. Simply sew 1/2" over from the fold you just made. Make sure to stop 1" from where you started, leaving room to insert elastic.

Next, take a safety pin and put it through one end of your elastic. You will now proceed to thread the elastic through your casing.

Once the elastic is all the way through your casing, go try on your bloomers, still keeping them inside out. Pull the elastic until the pants aren't too tight, but won't fall off. Pin your elastic together there and sew.

Now, just trim the ends of your elastic and finish sewing the casing closed. Repeat this process for the bottom of each pant leg and you are done!!! 


(Hint: move most of the gathers to the front side of your bloomers because it makes walking easier)