Category Archives: Geek-Craft

Harry Potter Quote Embroidery

Hi everybody, Erica here from 5 Little Monsters to share another Geek Craft with you today. I am actually posting this as part of the Happy Harry Potter Series that Marissa from Rae Gun Ramblings does each July in celebration of Harry Potter’s birthday. Be sure to go check it out because you will find tons of craft ideas, recipes, and other posts from lots of different bloggers, all Harry Potter related. There are even a couple of giveaways. The series runs for a couple weeks and I will be sharing another Harry Potter project over on 5 Little Monsters next week. Continue reading

Batman v Superman Reversible Capes

Batman and Superman reversible capes aren’t really a new thing or something that I came up with, they have been around forever, and you can get a hold of kids superhero capes quite easily from different places online. The thing is though, they are something that I enjoy making for my kids and for gifts so I thought I would show how I make mine. With Batman v Superman opening next week I thought it was a good time to share them. Also FanX is coming up next weekend and these capes are perfect for an easy cosplay option for kids. I made the traditional Batman on one side and Superman on the other but I also decided to make a girl version. I thought about doing Batgirl and Supergirl but since Superman and Supergirl’s capes would look the same I decided instead to do Batgirl and Wonder Woman.

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Crocheted Lightsaber

Hi everyone, Erica here from 5 Little Monsters sharing another Geek-Craft with you. For a while now I have been wanting to try making a crocheted Lightsaber. I really wanted to try to make it last month before the new movie came out and before Christmas but that is such a busy time of year that it just didn’t happen. I still really wanted to try it though, so a month later here it is.

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Skirts and Bags for Comic Con

This year with Comic Con coming up I started thinking about what to dress the kids up in. Sometimes we will buy their halloween costumes early and they will wear those to Comic Con, in fact we did that this year for the boys, but this year for the girls I decided to do something a little different. All of our kids have plenty of geeky shirts, superheroes, Star Wars, etc., so I decided to make them little skirts to wear with their superhero shirts. I bought more fabric than I needed so I decided to make them some little bags to match, that is why this post is  called skirts and bags for Comic Con, the original plan was just skirts but since there was extra fabric I figured I might as well. Besides, they will be perfect for trick or treating next month. I thought the skirts would be nice because they can wear them anytime unlike a costume that you wear once or twice.

dc skirt and bag

I only made the skirts and bags for my 2 little girls. One of them loves Batman and Batgirl, in fact the other day Jake asked her “What do you want to do today?”, her response, “be Batman”. So for her I bought some fabric that has Batgirl, Supergirl, and Wonder Woman.

marvel skirt and bag

My other daughter is obsessed, and no that is not an exaggeration, with Thor. The best I could find with Thor was some Marvel fabric but as long as Thor was on it she was happy. And she had the perfect shirt to match so it worked out great.

skirt and bag

Both the skirts and the bags are very simple to make. Just a couple of seams on each one. I will explain how I made the skirts but the exact measurements will depend on the size that you want the skirt to be. I will give measurement for the bag but know that I made them small for little kids, they would be easy to make bigger by simply cutting a larger piece of fabric. I also used french seams on the bag so that, even though I chose not to line it, there are no exposed seams inside the bag.

comic con skirts

How To Make Simple Skirts for Comic Con

The skirts I made fit a 2 and 3 year old, the amount of fabric you need will depend on the size of skirt you are making.

You will need:

  • Character fabric in amount needed (I bought 1 yard of fabric and that was enough for a skirt, a bag, and some leftover)
  • 1 inch wide elastic, enough to fit around waist
  • safety pin
  • thread
  • sewing machine
  • scissors and/or rotary cutter, mat and ruler

Instructions

To determine the length to cut your skirt first measure from the waist to the point on the leg where you want the skirt to hit. To that number add 3 inches for the casing around the waist and 1-2 inches for the hem (depending on how narrow of a hem you want). For the width you probably want about twice the waist measurement to make the skirt nice and full. Because my girls are really small I just used the width of the fabric which was more than twice their waist measurement. The measurements I used for my skirts are these:

3 Year Old Skirt: width of fabric x 20 inches

2 Year Old Skirt: width of fabric x 17 inches

Because I used the width of fabric I only had one seam up the back of the skirt, If you need more than the width of fabric you will need to cut 2 panels and sew a seam up each side of the skirt. I could have bought 1/2 a yard for the smaller skirt and 5/8 of a yard for the bigger one. If you need to cut 2 panels you will need to buy enough for twice the length. For example if I needed to cut a skirt that was two panels each 30 inches long I would need to buy 60 inches of fabric. Keep in mind that most character print fabrics are directional so you have to cut them a certain way or your pictures will be upside down. Cut a piece of elastic to fit around the waist and overlap an inch or so.

Once you have figured out your measurements and cut out your fabric, fold it in half (or place the 2 pieces together if you have 2 sections) right sides together and sew the back (or side) seam. Fold down the top 1 1/2 inches two times and sew no more that a 1/4 inch from the edge to create your casing, leaving an opening in the back large enough to put the elastic through.

Attach safety pin to the end of your elastic and push through the opening and around the waist of the skirt, be sure not to pull the other end through. Overlap the ends and sew together with a zigzag stitch. Stitch the opening closed.

Fold up the bottom of the skirt 1/2-1 inch two times and stitch close to inside edge to hem.

That’s it, your skirt is done. A super simple, cute, and fun little outfit for Comic Con.

marvel bag and skirt

How To Make Simple Bags for Comic Con

Finished Size- 9″ x 10″ not including handles

You will Need:

  • 1/2 yard of fabric (you will have leftover)
  • 40 inches of cotton webbing, ribbon, twill tape or something similar for handles (I used this)
  • thread
  • sewing machine
  • scissors, rotary cutter, mat, ruler

Instructions:

Cut 2 rectangles 11″ x 14″

Cut 2 lengths of webbing or ribbon 20″ each

Place 2 rectangles wrong sides together and sew around 3 edges, 2 long, 1 short, with a 1/4 inch seam allowance. (see first and second picture below)

Clip the corners and trim a little bit off of the seam allowance on all three sides. (see third picture)

Turn inside out, make sure seams and corners are all pushed all the way out, it helps to press it at this point. Then sew around three sides again with the right sides together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance. (see first picture, bottom row)

Turn right side out. Your seam should now be fully enclosed, there should not be any parts of the seam showing through on the outside of the bag. (see last 2 pictures of both the outside and inside of the bag.

french seam bag

To attach the handles, first, fold down top edge 1 inch to the inside of the bag.

Measure 2 inches in from the outside seam on each side and pin the handles in place.

Fold again so that the raw edge is now inside and pin so that the handle is folded up and in the position it will be in on the finished bag, the raw edge of the handle will be tucked up inside of the hem.

Sew around the top of the bag twice, once close to the inside edge of the hem and once close to the top edge.

Now you have a little bag perfect for carrying around treasures from Comic Con, toys, or to collect trick or treating candy on halloween.

ready for comic con

I hope you enjoy these quick and easy little outfits for Comic Con. My girls are all ready for tomorrow, are you?

TARDIS Pencil Bag

It has been quite a while since I last shared a geek-craft here on The Geeky Mormon. I thought it was probably about time I shared another and hopefully I can make this a more regular thing. Today I am sharing the pattern for a crocheted TARDIS pencil bag. Last year I shared a Ninja Turtle pencil bag as my very first geek-craft and since school it is back to school time again I thought another pencil bag would be a good idea.

doctor who pencil bag

The pattern is similar to the Ninja Turtle bag, this year on my blog I have shared a basic pencil bag pattern based on the Ninja Turtle as well as a couple of other variations. When I was trying to think of another geeky themed bag the TARDIS seemed like an obvious choice since it is already a rectangular shape. The tricky part was trying to add the texture to the doors and windows so that it looked like the TARDIS.

TARDIS Texture

I used a combination of front loop only (flo), back look only (blo), front post (fpsc), and back post (bpsc) to create the texture. I also used a few color changes to show the windows and the signs. If you want to you could embroider the words POLICE BOX on the black strip and window panes on the windows so make it look even more like the TARDIS.

Tardis pencil bag back

The back has a simple button flap closure just like the Ninja Turtle bag.

police box pencil bag

TARDIS Pencil Bag

You will need:

  • worsted weight yarn in blue, white, and black (I used Red Heart Super Saver in Blue Suede, White and Black)
  • H crochet hook
  • 2 buttons- 3/4 inch-1 inch
  • yarn needle
  • sewing needle
  • sewing thread
  • scissors

*when changing color always change color on the last step of the previous stitch, in other words begin your single crochet as normal by inserting hook in the stitch, pull up a loop, then yarn over with your new color and pull through

*when working with another color, carry the blue yarn by crocheting over it

*make sure to always pull your yarn to the wrong side when you change color so that your color changes look neat

with blue yarn ch 31

Row 1: sc in second ch from the hook and each ch across (30 sc)

Row 2-19: ch 1, turn, sc in each stitch across (30 sc)

Row 20: (this is a right side row) ch 1, turn, 1 sc, 5 sc blo, 1 sc, 5 sc blo, 1 sc, change to white yarn, 5 sc blo, change to blue, 1 sc, change to white, 6 sc blo, change to blue, 2 sc, change to black, 2 sc, change to blue, 1 sc (30 sc- 17 blue, 11 white, 2 black)

Row 21: (wrong side row) ch 1, turn, 1 sc, change to black, 2 sc, change to blue, 1 sc, 1 bpsc, change to white, 6 sc, change to blue, 1 bpsc, change to white, 5 sc, change to blue, 1 bpsc, 5 sc, 1 bpsc, 5 sc, 1 bpsc (30 sc- 17 blue, 11 white, 2 black)

Row 22: ch 1, turn, 1 fpsc, 5 sc, 1 fpsc, 5 sc, 1 fpsc, change to white yarn, 5 sc, change to blue, 1 fpsc, change to white, 6 sc, change to blue, 1 fpsc, 1 sc,  change to black, 2 sc, change to blue, 1 sc (30 sc- 17 blue, 11 white, 2 black)

Row 23: repeat row 21

Row 24: repeat row 22

Row 25: repeat row 21

Row 26: repeat row 22

Row 27: ch 1, turn, 1 sc, change to black, 2 sc, change to blue, 1 sc, 1 bpsc, 25 sc blo (30 sc- 2 black 28 white)

Row 28: ch 1, turn, 25 sc blo, 1 fpsc, 1 sc, change to black, 2 sc, change to blue, 1 sc (30 sc- 2 black 28 white)

Row 29: ch 1, turn, 1 sc, change to black, 2 sc, change to blue, 1 sc, 1 sc blo, change to white, 6 sc flo, change to blue, 1 sc, 5 sc flo, 1 sc, 5 sc flo, 1 sc, 5 sc flo, 1 sc (30 sc- 22 blue, 6 white, 2 black)

Row 30: ch 1, turn, 1 fpsc, 5 sc, 1 fpsc, 5 sc, 1 fpsc, 5 sc, 1 fpsc, change to white, 6 sc, change to blue, 1 fpsc, 1 sc,  change to black, 2 sc, change to blue, 1 sc (30 sc- 22 blue, 6 white, 2 black)

Row 31: ch 1, turn, 1 sc, change to black, 2 sc, change to blue, 1 sc, 1 bpsc, change to white, 6 sc, change to blue, 1 bpsc, 5 sc, 1 bpsc, 5 sc, 1 bpsc, 5 sc, 1 bpsc (30 sc- 17 blue, 11 white, 2 black)

Row 32: repeat row 30

Row 33: repeat row 31

Row 34: repeat row 30

Row 35: repeat row 31

Row 36: ch 1, turn, 26 sc flo, 4 sc (30 sc)

Row 37-38: ch 1, turn, sc in each stitch across (30 sc)

Row 39: ch 1, turn, sc dec, 26 sc, sc dec (28 sc)

Row 40: ch 1, turn, sc dec, 24 sc, sc dec (26 sc)

Row 41: ch 1, turn, sc dec, 22 sc, sc dec (24 sc)

Row 42: ch 1, turn, sc dec, 20 sc, sc dec (22 sc)

Row 43: ch 1, turn, sc dec, 18 sc, sc dec (20 sc)

Finish off, You should now have a rectangle that has one end that is slightly angled on each corner, that is the flap. Half of your rectangle will be plain and half will have the TARDIS design. The plain section is the back and the TARDIS side is the front.

Fold your rectangle so that wrong sides are together and 18 rows are on the back and they are matched up with the 18 rows of the front that make up the TARDIS. Starting in one corner, sc evenly up one side of the bag through both layers, continue to sc up the side of the flap, when you reach the corner sc in the corner, ch 4, skip 1, sc in 16, ch 4, skip 1, sc in the other corner of the flap, sc evenly down the side of the flap and the bag being sure to go through both layers of the bag. When you reach the end finish off and weave in ends.

Fold the flap shut to figure out where the buttons need to be placed. Sew them on, sewing thread and a small needle are usually easiest for this. Now you just need to fill up your bag and enjoy.

tardis

Check out these other crocheted pencil bag patterns:

Ninja Turtle Pencil Bag

Basic Crocheted Pencil Bag

Monster Pencil Bag

Owl Pencil Bag

doctor bag

Geek Craft: A Star Wars Valentine

Hello my fellow geeks! In honor of Valentine’s Day, we have a very special Geek Craft presentation. As always, the craft is brought to us by Erica Dietz, the very talented creator of 5 Little Monsters. She also happens to be my wife (which makes me one lucky guy). She made this particular craft for me while I was on a trip last October, and then she hid it from me for a while, and finally gave it to me for my birthday this year. I love it, and I thought it would be perfect for a February Geek Craft. It is a simple, yet fun way to remember one of the most romantic lines in all of science fiction cinema. So, without further ado, here’s Erica with our craft

iloveyou2

 

This is a really simple embroidery project, it only uses two different stitches. If you know how to backstitch and make a french knot you can make this, and if you don’t they are really easy to learn and there are lots of tutorials online that will show you how to do those two stitches. After you’ve done this one then there’s nothing stopping you from creating your own custom embroidery of your favorite movie.

iloveyou3

To make this you will need:

  • unbleached muslin about 10″x13″ (I chose this because I wanted something that Leia’s white dress would show up on and I also didn’t want it to be too close to the color of Han’s shirt)
  • thin cotton batting 10″x13″
  • embroidery floss in 7 colors: white, brown, black, peach, light tan or cream, silver-gray, and navy blue
  • embroidery needle
  • embroidery hoop
  • 8×10 picture frame
  • copy of the pattern included in this post

Click Here To Download Pattern

The first thing that you will need to do is trace the pattern onto the center of your muslin. I did this by taping the pattern to a window and holding the fabric over it while I traced it. I used a pencil to trace mine but if you want to make sure there are no lines after you are finished you can use a washable fabric marker. Once you have traced your pattern you will lay the fabric over the top of the batting. You will be stitching through both layers, the fabric and the batting. This will help there not be any threads showing through when you are finished.

hanandleia

 

Now you are ready to begin stitching. Everything is done in backstitch with the exception of the eyes which are french knots.

With two strands of black, stitch the speech bubbles, words and both mouths. Make the french knots for the eyes. Everything else will be done using three strands.

leia

With three strands of peach stitch all of the skin, both faces, noses, necks, hands and Han’s ear.

With three strands of white stitch Leia’s dress and shoes.

With three strands of gray stitch Leia’s belt and Han’s belt buckle.

han

With three strands of brown stitch both Han’s and Leia’s hair and Han’s belt and holster.

With three strands of light tan/cream stitch Han’s shirt.

With three strands of black stitch Han’s vest, boots and blaster.

With three strands of navy blue stitch Han’s pants.

iloveyouonwall2

Now you are ready to frame your embroidery. I bought a frame at Walmart for around $10. I found that the really cheap ones had smaller openings and were a little closer to the stitching than I wanted. If your frame comes with a piece of cardboard you can use that to wrap your embroidery around. Mine did not so I actually just used the glass. I didn’t want the glass over the top so I was just planning to take it out anyway. The first thing you will want to do is trim the batting to the size of the glass or cardboard you are wrapping it around, you don’t want the extra bulk to wrap around the sides. After I trimmed the batting I pulled the edges around the glass and taped them down. I tried to make the corners as neat as possible and make sure that everything was pulled tightly but not so tight that it was stretching my embroidery. Once it was all taped down I put it back in the frame, put the back on and it was ready to be hung on the wall (or wrapped up as a birthday present).

Kids’ Perfect Sized Swag Bag

UPDATE: This was a post originally done in September just after the Salt Lake Comic Con. We wanted to update a little bit just in time for Salt Lake Comic Con’s Fan Xperience 2015.  FanX started on January 29, giving folks enough time to put something like this together.  Trust, having a cool bag like this for the kids is awesome. As far as updates to our original post, we basically changed the name to a perfect sized Swag Bag instead of messenger bag, and updated the featured picture.

If you decide to make this bag for your kids for the upcoming FanX, we would love to see your pictures. Just add them to the comments below, or post them to our Facebook page.

So, here is the original post:

Welcome to another edition of Geek-Craft.  Today’s project from 5 Little Monsters is a great idea for little ones.  It is a messenger style bag that is perfectly sized for little kids and can be customized to go along with any theme or costume.  Erica finished ours just in time for the kids to use them with their costumes.  Each one matched a costume theme, and looked great, completing the cosplay look each of the kids were going for. Plus, it was great for the kids to carry their water bottles and any little goodies they got at the con, then mom and dad didn’t need to. These are going to work great as well for trick or treating when we pull out those same costumes for Halloween (Hey, we’re on a budget).  Here is a picture of 3 of our little monsters in costume with their matching bags:

IMG_0916

Don’t they look great?  I think so.  So, with nothing further from me, here is Erica from 5 Little Monsters and her perfect sized messenger bag. Let’s get crafty:

Kid’s Perfect Sized Swag Bags

The basic construction for each of these bags is exactly the same but each one has details that make it different than the others. Most of the differences are in how the flaps are made so I will explain each flap separately. This is just a tutorial, not the actual patterns, just a description of how you can make your own, and the measurements that I used. I will show how I made the Ninja Turtle, Rapunzel, and Black Spiderman bags, but you could use this idea to make any character you would like.

To begin you will need:

For the Rapunzel bag

  • 1/2 yard of lt. purple fabric
  • 1/3 yard of dk. purple fabric
  • 1/2 yard of lining fabric
  • 1/8 yard of 4 different yellows
  • fusible interfacing (I used lightweight because that was all that they had where I bought mine but a little heavier would have been nice) approx. 1 yard
  • 3 1/2″x36″ piece of thin batting
  • yellow embroidery floss
  • matching thread

For Black Spiderman

  • 3/4 yard black fabric
  • 1/2 yard lining fabric
  • 1 yard fusible interfacing
  • 3 1/2″x36″ piece of thin batting
  • white embroidery floss (I used more than one skein)
  • black thread

For the Ninja Turtle

  • 3/4 yard green fabric
  • 1/2 yard lining fabric
  • 1/8 yard mask color fabric
  • 1 yard fusible interfacing
  • 3 1/2″x36″ piece of thin batting
  • scraps of white, black and pink felt
  • matching thread

I used 1/2 inch seam allowances unless otherwise noted

Flaps

Rapunzel:

From the dark purple fabric, cut 2 pieces 12 inches x 12 inches. Fold in half and cut an angle from the center up 3 inches on one side. When you open it back up it should look like this:

rflap

Also cut a piece of fusible web the same size and iron it on to the back of one piece. I drew a sun shape but I am sure you could find one online to print and trace. Mine was approximately 5 inches wide. Trace your sun onto a piece of the fusible web, Iron it onto a scrap of yellow fabric and cut it out, just around the outside of the sun.

IMG_2345

Applique the sun onto the flap using dark purple thread and make the details in the suns rays. I did all of that with a thin, tight zigzag stitch. I started with the circle in the middle and then went around each ray.

After that you will make your tassel. I wrapped yellow embroidery floss several times around my plastic ruler that is 5 inches wide. Then take it off, fold it in half over a piece of embroidery floss and wrap several times a little below the top, then tie of and tuck in the ends. The piece that you folded the tassel over is what will get sewn into the flap.

Now you will sew the 2 flap pieces right sides together along the 2 sides and the pointed end, with the tassel tucked in at the point. Clip the points carefully, making sure you do not cut the tassel thread. Turn right side out, press and topstitch close to the edge.

IMG_2347

Spiderman:

Cut 2 flaps 12 inches x 12 inches. Cut one piece of fusible web the same size and iron on to one of the flap pieces. I traced some scallop shapes using a sheet of paper (11″) and a juice container but anything round will work. You want the point of the scallops on the outside and for the edge to curve up (like the edge of a spiderweb). I then cut that out and using a white colored pencil traced that edge onto my black flap with the interfacing slightly above the edge of the fabric. Turn over and try to line up the design over the design you just traced on the front and trace again on the back side. This will be your sewing line later.

IMG_2355

Now draw a spiderweb design using your white pencil. Stop your web about 1/4-1/2 inch above the line you drew as that will be your sewing line. I picked a spot in the center and for my lines to radiate out from and used my ruler as a straight edge to give me nice straight lines. Draw lines from the center point down to the points of your scallop design and continue going around the flap. Draw swoops between your straight lines to make the web design.

IMG_2357

 

 

Now embroider over those lines with 3 strands of white embroidery floss. I’m not going to lie, this was by far the most time-consuming part of any of these bags. I really wanted the embroidered look but you could try stitching the lines on with your machine instead if you wanted it to be quicker but the lines would be a lot thinner.

IMG_2368

Once your embroidery is finished, place the two flap pieces right sides together and sew along the side with a 1/2″ seam allowance until you get to the line you drew, then sew along the line and up the other side with a 1/2″ seam allowance.

IMG_2369

Clip the points and either clip the curves or I used pinking shears along the curves to make a thin, zigzagged seam allowance. Turn and press among sure your points are nice and sharp. Topstitch close to the edge.

IMG_2370

Ninja Turtle

Using your green fabric cut 2 pieces 12 inches x 10 inches. The 12 inch sides will be the top and bottom. Along the bottom, using something round, curve the corners. Cut the same shape from fusible web and iron onto one of the pieces.

Cut a 5 inch x 12 inch strip from the mask color. Fold in half and cut it so that it is four inches wide on the ends and angles almost like a v shape. Cut 4 pieces 4 inches x 7 inches and then curve one end to make the tie ends. (See picture to get a better idea of how they should be cut.)

IMG_2365

Cut two eyes from white felt and two black circles for the pupils. Using a thin, tight zigzag stitch appliqué mask onto the flap. Using a straight stitch appliqué eyes onto mask. Sew the ties ends together 2 at a time, leaving the he straight end open. Clip curves, turn right side out, press and topstitch close to the edge.

IMG_2366

Put the two flap pieces right sides together pin the tie ends in along one side of the mask pleating them when you pin them in so that they overlap but are not right on top of each other. Sew around sides and bottom, clip curves, turn, press and topstitch close to the edge.

Straps

Rapunzel

The Rapunzel strap is the only one that is made differently because it is pieced to look like a braid. First you will want to choose 3 of your yellow to be the braid and one for the underside of the strap. Using your 3 braid colors cut 18 rectangles 1 1/2 inches x 4 inches out of each fabric.  Sew them together as shown using a 1/4″ seam allowance:

IMG_2196

First, sew a short side of 1 to the long side of 2. Then a long side of 3 to he short side of 2 and the long side of 1, and so on until you have used all of your strips. Always use your strips in the same order, if you have colors a,b and c it will always be a,b,c,a,b,c. You will end up with a strip that looks like this:

 IMG_2209

Trim the two short ends so that they are straight. My strip was about 36 inches long after trimming. Now trim the long ends so that your strip is 3 1/2 inches wide, being sure to center your braid when you trim it.

IMG_2210

Cut your other yellow strip to 3 1/2 x 36 inches (or the length of your braid. Layer the yellow strip right side up, the braid right side down and the batting and sew the long edges. Turn, press, and topstitch.

IMG_2346

Spiderman and Ninja Turtle

Cut 2 strips 3 1/2 x 36 inches. Layer the strips and the batting and sew the two long sides. Turn, press and topstitch.

Body of the Bag

For each bag cut 2 from your bag fabric and 2 from lining fabric 14 1/2 inches x 11 1/2 inches. the 14 1/2 inch sides will be the top and bottom of your bag. From the bottom two corners cut out a 1 1/2 inch square. (In this picture I cut 2 inches from the bottom but that was too much and I changed it on the other bags.)

IMG_2343

Cut interfacing the same size and iron onto your outside pieces.

On the Ninja Turtle bag you will need to cut out a mouth, I did a smile with a pink tongue, and appliqué it slightly above the corners that you cut out, but close to the bottom of the bag so that it will not be covered by the flap.

IMG_2367

Sew the sides and bottoms, Fold the bottom corners so that the side and bottoms seams match and sew the corner seam. Do this on both the outside and the lining but on the lining leave a hole in the bottom seam for turning.

Assembly

You should now have your flap, strap, bag and bag lining all sewn, now we just need to put them together.

IMG_2349

With the outside of the bag center the straps on the side seams right sides together and pin. Center the flap between the straps on the back of the bag, right sides together and pin. Now insert all of that into the inside out lining of the bag, match side seams and pin.

IMG_2350

Sew all the way around the top of the bag. Turn through the hole in the lining. Press, topstitch, sew the hole in the lining closed and your bag is complete.

IMG_2423

There you have it, a perfect sized swag bag for kids. Thanks so much for reading, and geeky crafting!

11th Doctor Coin Purse

Hello everybody.  We are excited to present our second Geek-Craft project tonight.  The Ninja Turtle Pencil Bag was a huge hit on the blog.  Hopefully everyone will like this project just as much.  Just like last time, it is brought to you by my lovely bride, Erica Dietz.  As always, you can check out all of her projects at the 5 Little Monsters blog.  She has links there to follow her on Facebook, Pinterest, Ravelry, or Instagram, so feel free to check out her other crafts on the site.  Tonight’s project is a coin purse inspired by Erica’s favorite Doctor, Number 11, portrayed by Matt Smith.  Enjoy!

IMG_2129

This Geek-Craft is a little bit different from last time because it is not completely my own pattern, it is how I used someone else’s tutorial and turned it into something geeky.

One day I was looking at crafty tutorials online and I came across a tutorial for a Big Bow Zipper Wallet by Michael Ann Made. I guess the geek in me came out a little because the first thing I thought when I saw the picture of a wallet with a bow on it was “that looks kind of like a bow tie and bow ties are cool, I could totally use that to make a Dr. Who wallet”.

IMG_2130

In order to make your own 11th Doctor Coin Purse you will need to get the pattern for the wallet here. I did everything the same as the pattern except that I added the suspenders. For the suspenders I cut strips of fabric an inch wide. I pressed the raw edges in to the middle, 1/4 inch on each side, so that the finished strip was about 1/2 inch. Pin them onto the front piece about 1 1/4 inches from each side. Topstitch as close as possible along each edge. Finish the wallet following the pattern.

IMG_2132

Here is the finished product next to the TARDIS.

IMG_2139

Bow ties are, and always will be cool.  Thanks for sharing Erica.  Another great craft and another great tutorial on how to make it at home.  We would love to see your finished products as well.  Feel free to share your completed 11th Doctor Coin purse in the comments so everyone can see.  Thanks for reading, and geeky crafting!

Ninja Turtle Pencil Bag

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Hello faithful readers and everyone else.  I am proud to introduce a new feature here at thegeekymormon.com: Geek-Craft!  Geek-Craft will appear here on a semi-regular basis and it will feature various geek related crafts, complete with pictures of the finished product and instructions on how you can do it at home.  These great crafts will be brought to you by the amazingly talented Erica Dietz, who also happens to be the world’s greatest mom, and my beautiful wife.  She also has her own blog, 5 Little Monsters which features her other crafts and projects.  I believe the name is inspired by our 5 kids, who, although very lovable, are definitely monsters at times.  Today’s craft is just in time for the release of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie and in time for the beginning of a new school year.  It is a ninja turtle pencil bag.  So, without further ado, I present Erica, the momma monster:


 

Ninja Turtle Pencil Bag

Finished size 9″x5″

What you will need:

  • worsted weight yarn; green, white, black, and mask color (red, orange, blue, or purple)
  • H crochet hook
  • 2 buttons (I used 7/8″)
  • yarn needle

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Starting with green yarn chain 31

  1. sc into 2nd chain and each chain to the end, ch 1,  turn (30sc)
  2. sc in each sc (30 sc)

At the end of row 2 cut the green yarn, finish off and continue with the red (or mask color of your choice). You will continue to sc in each stitch across (30 sc in each row) following this pattern:

8 rows red

18 rows green

8 rows red

4 rows green

Do not cut yarn after the last row of green, ch 1, turn, and continue with the green to make the flap as follows

  1. sc2tog, sc 26, sc2tog
  2. sc2tog, sc 24, sc2tog
  3. sc2tog, sc 22, sc2tog
  4. sc2tog, sc 20, sc2tog
  5. sc2tog, sc 18, sc2tog, finish off

At this point you should have a shape that looks like this:

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Now for the eyes, make 2 as follows:

with black yarn, in a magic ring sc 6, join, change to white yarn

2 sc in first stitch, 1 hdc 1 dc in next stitch, 1 dc 1 hdc in next, 2 sc in next, 1 hdc 1 dc in next, 1dc 1 hdc in next, join to first sc, finish off leaving long tail for sewing

Attach eyes to colored stripe closest to angled flap

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Fold bottom half up so that stripes match and eyes are on the outside

Starting with green yarn, side with the eyes facing up in the bottom right corner you will sc up the edge, through both layers to close up the side.

When you reach the red portion switch to red yarn but carry the green crocheting over it and switch back when you reach the green section again.

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When you reach the flap, ch 1, then continue sc up the angled edge

At the corner, sc into first sc, ch 4, sk 1, sc in next 16, ch 4, sk 1, sc in last sc, continue to sc down angled edge and begin to join edges like on the other side.

When you get to the colored stripe on this side switch to your color, again carrying the green yarn down, sc 2 times in red portion, then *ch 10, starting in 2nd chain, sc in first, hdc in next, dc in next, tr in next 2, dc in next 2, hdc in next 2,* sc in the side of bag then repeat part between * sc in side of bag then ch 10, wrap around the 2 ties that you just made, continue sc down the side of bag to left corner. Finish off, weave in ends.

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Now you just need to sew on the buttons and you are done. Fold the flap down to see where you need to place the buttons and sew them on.

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Thank you, Erica.  There you have it folks, a ninja turtle pencil bag, perfect for your own hero in a half shell as they begin school.  Here’s a great picture of one of our monsters and the pencil bag in action:

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Great little project.  I appreciate my wife taking the time to share this with everybody.  Thanks for reading, and geeky crafting!