box-bag or dopp kit tutorial || perfect for Father’s Day!

box-bag or dopp kit tutorial || perfect for Father’s Day!

The-PerfectFathersDay-giftFathers Day Toiletry Bag-88 Well, as you can see from the photo above, I’ve become a little obsessed with making these little bags!  I’ve always found these box shaped toiletry bags so intriguing, as they are a bit of a puzzle when you look at them.  But I am here to tell you that they are really so easy to make!  And because of the ScanNCut, they are even easier.  I knew I wanted to create something for Father’s Day, but I wanted to make something Andy would actually use!  Having Harlow involved was key, yet I’m not a fan of stuff looking super homemade.  Just not my thing!  I totally ruined the surprise — don’t worry, he has other Father’s Day gifts that will be a surprise! – by asking Andy what he would like if I were to make something.  He didn’t pause long before he expressed a deep-seeded jealousy (just kidding) for all of my toiletry bags I use for packing when we travel.  I had no idea he actually would like something other than piling all of his stuff together in one bag! who’d a thunk. So my thinking cap went on, and I was on a mission to create a perfect toiletry bag that was functional, masculine and fun! Typically, these bags are sewn from rectangles, a small triangle is measured and removed (depending on the bag style), and then sewn to form a box shape.  But what always bugged me was that no matter how careful I was about measuring that corner triangle, it was never as perfect as I wanted it to be.  So instead, I’ve removed the guesswork and the measuring and created some downloadable patterns for you to use.   I chose to use fabrics that don’t fray for these bags, so no lining is needed.  Multipurpose cloth and a fake upholstery leather worked perfectly to create a box bag that not only held its shape, but cut beautifully on the ScanNCut!  I have two patterns for you to download at the end of the post — they are in an FCM format, so they can be downloaded, put on a USB stick and opened on your ScanNCut.  They can be resized as well to fit your needs.  The patterns include seam allowance lines and numbered instructions for construction — told you I would make it easy! The first bag design is what I’m calling the Standard Box Bag.   Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-81  The second is the Even Better Box Bag.  I love this one!  Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-73 Here they are side-by-side.  The Standard Box Bag is the easiest to make, so if you’re a beginner or want to test the waters first, start with this one.  My favorite is the Even Better Box Bag.  The zipper opens at the base of each side, allowing you to see everything inside really well!   Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-82 Okay! Enough of my rambling: let’s get started!  Even-Better-Box-Bag-tutorial


Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-109

SUPPLIES

  • ScanNCut
  • Multipurpose Cloth/Leather or other fabric for your box bag (Multipurpose cloth is like a canvas that doesn’t fray.  It can be easily ordered online, but I struggled to find it in brick and mortar stores.  I did however stumble upon blackout curtain fabric, and that worked really well too!)
  • Zipper (for the included patterns, a 14inch zipper will work well with both.  A 9inch will work for the standard box bag pattern.)
  • Standard ScanNCut mat
  • Fabric support sheet (test the fabric you are using, I only used the standard mat with the fake leather upholstery)
  • ScanNCut Fabric Pen and Pen holder
  • Standard Blade
  • Sewing machine and accessories.

I walk through the entire bag creation step by step in the video — you can simply pause it with each seam to sew! Below I’ve captured each of the sewing steps for you in detail as well.  Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-14 1|| Prep your fabric as needed.  I like to cut out my fabric about 1/2″ larger than my final shape.  Test your fabric with and without the fabric support sheet as well as your blade depth and pressure.  (I’ll be going into detail soon about how to test your cut settings for each new material.)


Toiletry Bag-8 2|| Save the patterns available at the end of this post to a USB stick.  Select the pattern from the USB memory on your ScanNCut.  Background scan to ensure your material placement.


Toiletry Bag-9Toiletry Bag-10 3|| Using your fabric pen, select Draw from the final menu.  You will see that I’ve formatted the file to differentiate between the lines to draw and the lines to cut.  To learn how to do this in ScanNCutCanvas, I’ve put together a quick video tutorial.   Press start!


Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-17 4|| After you’ve marked your steps and seam allowances, cut your fabric according to your tested settings.  Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-112Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-20 5|| After you’ve cut out 2 pieces, gather your zipper and thread your sewing machine to begin sewing your box toiletry bag together.  This is the fun part! And I’ve made it really easy to follow along with the steps.   I go into a bit more detail about sewing in the zipper in the video, but always be sure you are sewing right sides together.   Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-113 Top stitch at the zipper seam for a nice finished look.


6|| At this step, have fun adding embellishments.  Harlow and I had so much fun drawing portraits of daddy — looks like him, eh? — and drawing notes for him that we scanned in and cut out of vinyl to iron onto our box bags.   Harlow especially liked showing Andy the bags with words written on the inside — kind of a fun and unexpected surprise! Below are some examples of how we added a little something to these Father’s Day gifts for Andy!  I told you we had fun making these!! Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-35Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-36Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-42Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-71Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-80Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-93Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-96Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-99


Toiletry Bag-5Toiletry Bag-6 7|| Following the steps that we marked on our pattern pieces, sew the bottoms (marked with a 2) together.  Use the 1/4″ seam allowance, sewing right sides together.  Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-46 If you wish to top stitch the following seams, it will help your bag keep it’s shape a bit more.  Definitely not necessary, but it definitely takes it to the next level! (in my opinion)


Toiletry Bag-4 8|| Move on to step three.  Be sure to open the zipper first — you’ll need to be able to turn your box bag right-side out!  Line up the edges and seam allowances and sew steps 3 together. If you are sewing the Standard Box Bag, the sides for step 3 will fit together a bit more easily than the Even Better Box Bag, as you can see in the image below. Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-47Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-48


Toiletry Bag-2Toiletry Bag-3Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-115Toiletry Bag-7 9|| Now let’s move on to step 4!  You’ll repeat this seam around all 4 corners of the box bag.   You can see the corner seams of the Standard Bag below.  Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-49Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-50 10|| You did it! Now if you’re like me, you’ll go sew about 10 more. :) Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-117Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-118Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-119Fathers Day Toiletry Bag-120 I also made a quick video about setting your cutting and drawing lines in ScanNCutCanvas — that way you can go and create patterns and templates like these, too!

FCM FILES

DOWNLOAD THE STANDARD BOX BAG PATTERN

DOWNLOAD THE EVEN BETTER BOX BAG PATTERN

PDF FILES

DOWNLOAD THE STANDARD BOX BAG PATTERN

DOWNLOAD THE EVEN BETTER BOX BAG PATTERN


I really hope this project inspires you to grab some supplies and dust off your sewing machine this Father’s Day!  Or heck: whatever day!  I personally don’t think you need a reason to make these little box bags — they are perfect for any occasion.  And if you’re like me, you can never have too many little bags to pack in. :) Never.   Can’t wait to see what you create!  xo kaciasignature EvenBetterBoxBag2ThePerfectFathersDayGiftThe Even Better Box Bag 1

Disclosure: I was provided a ScanNCut for this sponsored tutorial.  All opinions and ideas are my own — they cannot be bought.
wood veneer silhouette coat hook | ScanNCut tutorial!

wood veneer silhouette coat hook | ScanNCut tutorial!

Woodveneerlargewood veneer Silhouette Hook-5wood veneer Silhouette Hook-44

Y’all.  This one might be my most favorite-est project to date.  Just maybe.  Maybe it’ll only rank top for a week or so, but until then, it can boast it’s blue ribbon proudly in my book.

It’s no small secret that I love leather, wood and silhouettes.   Love. Even our wedding invitations incorporated a few of my favorites — I actually really wanted to somehow use leather cut out like lace, too…..but Andy vetoed that.

Mark my words, however, I will come up with a reason to create that idea at some point!

Kacia and Andy Wedding Invite

There are many other things I love, and one of those things is teaching and training.  I love being challenged by the words, “I can’t do it.” or “that’s too difficult.” to help me show someone that it can be done!  Andy and I create a lot using an expensive machine, and I honestly was frustrated that I couldn’t inspire you to create on your own using machines and tools within your reach!  It always felt like a bit of a tease sharing our projects that we created using an industrial machine, knowing that it would be next to impossible to explain how to replicate it on your own or in your home.

It’s because of this love for teaching and inspiring that gets me absolutely giddy about all that the ScanNCut can do.  After I began creating with it, the ideas haven’t stopped.  I told a few people at the recent Quilt Market that it really is a blank canvas — a stage ready for thousands of performances.  As your first project is scanning in or being cut out, you will already be dreaming about what you could do next! And you’d better believe I did a few high kicks and a happy dance when I successfully cut wood veneer using my ScanNCut!  It didn’t just cut basic shapes out of wood veneer, it cut a 1.5″ tall silhouette.

I know.  More happy dances. 

tiny Ethan wood veneer Silhouette

So today, I want to share with you all my tips, tricks and settings for successfully cutting wood veneer using your Brother ScanNCut!  I’ll be walking you through my creation of these custom hooks, but you can use these tips to cut out wood veneer for any project!   Warning: kind of like yesterday…. this post has so many photos!  I’m not sorry about it :) but I’m just warning you about it.

Make-a-Custom-Wood-Veneer-Coat-Hook

This project came out of the need for something to be done to this pathetic little nook in our kitchen.  It’s at the top of the stairs to the basement and probably the most walked through space in our home.  I knew that even though it was a small and easily forgotten about space, I could do something to make it functional!  Today’s project is the first of many that I’ll be sharing for what I’m calling our mudroom. <–I know it’s not a mudroom in the least, but I need it to be that sort of backdoor-drop-organize-mail-grab-and-go space.

Ironically, almost every piece and project I have planned involves the ScanNCut somehow, and that wasn’t planned!  I made a list of things I would like to see in that space, made a few thrift and craft store stops, and then realized that I could do almost all I needed to create a completely custom space using my ScanNCut.  I’m excited to share those projects with you guys and reveal how it’s all coming along as I go!   I also promised myself that I would take a photo of the “before” of this space, and then I got so excited about starting on the white wash planked wall in the back that I completely forgot!  So you get a sort-of-before shot instead.  Just imagine no wood planks and a beautiful calendar still on April because it just was not in the right space to be well utilized!  The space with the ladder is across the kitchen from the mudroom — just outside the pantry and by the access to our deck.

I’ll do a house tour one of these days…..

before


 

|| SUPPLIES ||

First a few notes about supplies!  Wood veneer, if you are not familiar with it, is a thin sheet of wood.  It can be purchased at craft stores or specialty wood stores, or even online.  If you google wood veneer, I’m sure you’ll find a lot of ways to get your hands on it!

wood veneer Silhouette Hook-9wood veneer Silhouette Hook-10

1|| Begin by prepping the wood plaques that will function as the base for your silhouette hook.  Mine are basic pine plaques that are about 9″x12″ with decorative edging.  I didn’t like the edging, so I opted to actually use the backs as the fronts for my hooks.  I used a primer/paint in one as my primer.


 

wood veneer Silhouette Hook-11wood veneer Silhouette Hook-12

2|| Decide the design you want to paint.  Have fun!  You can use painters tape and layers to create some really beautiful designs using paint or spray paint!  I…um….changed my mind about 100 times during the creation of these hooks, which you will see very shortly.


wood veneer Silhouette Hook-7

3|| While those dry, we will prep the silhouette or shape to be cut from your wood veneer!  If you want to use a silhouette, you can follow my tutorial here to get you

from photo to ScanNCut cut file in a matter of minutes.  (Or watch the video here!)

If you want to use an image, I’ve created a quick video on using the Image Trace tool found on the ScanNCutCanvas software.  {You can watch the video here if you are unable to see it below.}


 

How-to-Cut-Wood-Using-SNC

4|| Once you have your files ready, we can prep our machine for cutting!

Once again, I’ve created a short video with all of my tips for cutting wood veneer!  I tend to be a read-it-and-see-the-photos type of learner, but being married to a guy to runs to YouTube when he needs to learn about something has taught me a thing or two about how different we all are in our learning styles.

{Click to see my Wood Veneer Cutting Tips and Tricks Video if unable to view below.}  I know this post is getting long, hang in there!

blade-depth

Begin by setting your blade depth and blade pressure.  I use my standard blade, but always check it for any chips or debris.  I would begin testing your veneer with you blade at a depth of 8.  Set your pressure to 2.   If your wood is cracking or splitting, lessen your pressure.  I always recommend only making small changes each time to one variable, that way you know what is causing the problem or success.   My magic combination for almost all wood veneer has been a blade depth between 9.5 and 10 and a pressure of 2.

Length

I purchased veneer that came in 6″ x 12″ sheets.  When I first tried cutting veneer, I would cut down close to the size of the object I wished to cut, but I quickly found that the opposite works best.  Keeping the veneer long allows you to hold it in place as your object cuts.  You see this more clearly in the video.

Painter-tape

Cutting veneer is fun, but also finicky.  I have found that there is a very small window of too-tacky and not-tacky-enough for the wood.  If you are cutting an intricate design using a brand new mat, you will need to be extremely careful when removing the design from your mat.  If you are using an older mat, you may find that the inflexibility of the veneer makes it shift as soon as it begins to cut.   Painter’s tape works wonderfully if you are having a difficult time getting the veneer to stay put!

Grain

This last tip is the one I have found to be most crucial!  Because of the direction of the blade and how it cuts, it is imperative that you place your veneer on the mat with the grains going perpendicular into the ScanNCut.  Cuts along the grain will always cut easier than the cuts going against the grain, so you may find that you need to allow more blade depth to compensate for that difference.

wood veneer Silhouette Hook-22wood veneer Silhouette Hook-6wood veneer Silhouette Hook-20

5|| Test! Test! Test! Test your settings, and then have fun cutting out your silhouette for your custom hook.  You can see in both Harlow’s silhouette and the leash of the puppy that delicate detail that you can achieve with the wood veneer!   I will show you how to take an image to a cut outline using the Image Trace feature on ScanNCut Canvas in the video.


 

Layout2Layout1

6|| Determine the layout for your hook.  If you don’t like it – go paint it again!  As you probably quickly noticed, I changed mine a few times!  I also ended up enlarging the size of the silhouette as well.


 

wood veneer Silhouette Hook-40

7||  Using an adhesive, attach the silhouette to your wooden plaque.  I used a polycrylic and then went over the entire piece with the polycylic as well.  I wanted the wood veneer to still stand out, but for it so also have a unified texture as well.   Drill holes according to the types of hooks you’ve purchased.


 

wood veneer Silhouette Hook-42wood veneer Silhouette Hook-45

8|| Hang them up, stand back, and admire your work!


 

wood veneer Silhouette Hook-30wood veneer Silhouette Hook-32

(Link to step by step video.)

Have fun! I cannot wait to see what you create — I’d love to see!  And also let me know if you have any questions!


Thank you for having so much fun with us and loving on my Harlow yesterday! She had an absolute blast of a day — including showing this mama a tiny peek of the threenager stage I’ve heard so much about! — and so many memories were made.  I thought her 1st and 2nd birthdays were fun, but this year totally marked the start of awesome.  It all just because so different and real when she became aware of what the day meant!  Ah! Emotions and hormones.  I need to stop typing.

Happy Thursday, y’all!  Thanks for joining me in this little space and letting me ramble and bamble.  I’m giving you all fist bumps and hugs.

Lots of them. 

xo
kaciasignature

 

Disclosure: I was provided a ScanNCut for the creation of this compensated tutorial.  All opinions and ideas are my own.
how to make a leather flower // tutorial!

how to make a leather flower // tutorial!

how-to-make-a-leather-flower2dress-embellishmenthow-to-make-a-leather-flower

I’m so excited to share another quick project I put together using the Brother™ ScanNCut.  I am terrible at throwing scraps away — I always start thinking of what I could make with them… how I could put them to good use… how wasteful it would be to just toss them!  And then they sit–and sometimes pile up!

So as I was creating tutorials and working with my machine, I realized just how perfect it was for using up my scraps!  One of my favorite features is the background scan ability.  I can take whatever scraps I want to use, place them on my cutting mat, scan the mat, and I will see exactly where to place my shapes, so that they cut exactly where I need them.  Pretty nifty, eh?

I’m still feeling a bit nervy sharing these videos — ack! Here it goes!

leather-brooch-beltdress-embellishment2IMG_7768

 

xo.
kaciasignature

Full disclosure: I was provided with a free machine and have been compensated for the projects and tutorials I’ve created.  My opinions and thoughts are my own and cannot be bought.

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