Origami frog!

Please excuse yet another non-sewing related post.  This is just something else I had to share.

This origami frog has provided countless hours of entertainment for children (and non-children) I've known.  It's great for warding off boredom when all you have is paper and limited space.  It's less disruptive than paper airplanes and considerably more fun than a paper crane.

Without further ado, here's how you make this origami frog!
 
Make the Waterbomb Base

Fold the paper in half to make a vertical crease down the middle. Unfold it and fold in half again to make a horizontal crease across the middle. Flip the paper over.

Fold in half diagonally (making a triangle) and unfold. Fold in half diagonally the other way and unfold so that you have two diagonal creases.

Bring the middle points of the two sides together and towards the middle point of the bottom edge.  Bring the top edge of the paper down to touch the bottom.  This triangle shape is the Waterbomb Base.

Make the top of the frog - the legs

Fold one side of the triangle to the crease in the middle of the Waterbomb Base.  Repeat with the other side.

 

Fold each of the legs out as shown below (it's too hard to explain this in words).

Make the bottom of the frog

Flip the frog over.

Fold the the bottom points of the Waterbomb Base up to meet the top point.

Fold the side points of the diamond shape towards the middle (again, hopefully it's clearer in the picture).

Fold out the two flaps at the top of the frog.  These will be the frog's arms.

Fold the frog so it can jump

Fold the bottom of the frog up towards the top.

Fold the legs and lower back down as shown in the picture below.  Turn the frog over.

To make it jump, press down on the back of the frog and let your finger slip off of the frog's back.

Thank you to Medina for taking the pictures!

Adding a drawstring closure to a yoga bag

Last week, I figured out another (hopefully simpler) way to make the drawstring closure on a yoga bag.  Here's the bag I made today using this new (and hopefully improved) method.

I started with a piece 19" x 8".  19" is the circumference of the yoga bag.  The other dimension should be at least 1/3 the circumference.  1/3 of 19" is just over 6".  So, at 8" we're safe (the concern is that if this second dimension is too short, the drawstring closure won't be able to close nicely).

First, sew the shorter sides together, right sides facing, to make a tube.  Press the seam open.

Fold the tube in half, wrong sides facing, and press to make a crease along the middle of the tube.

On the seam, mark one point 3/4" above the middle crease and another point 3/4" below the middle crease.

Stitch a rectangle around the seam between those two marked points. Unpick the part of the seam inside the rectangle. This will be the opening in the drawstring casing.

Fold the closure in half, right sides out (the same way you did to make that middle crease) and stitch all the way around the tube, 3/4" from the fold to make the casing.

Pin the raw edge of the drawstring closure to the outside of the the yoga bag opening, and stitch with 1/4" seam allowance.

Press the seam closed towards the inside of the yoga bag (this is easier to do if you turn the bag inside out first).

Fold the top of the yoga bag down to make a ~1" hem at the opening of the bag.  In this case, I made the hem 1-1/4", but if I were to do this again, I would use a 1" hem to leave more space inside for the yoga mat.  Stitch the hem down about 1/8" above the drawstring closure.

  Turn the bag right side out, insert the drawstring, put in the yoga mat and voila!

Pencil case / camera pouch

This is a joint effort between me and Sahar.  She started it as a pencil case.  When I saw the pieces in my fabric stash the other day, I figured it would be a good replacement for the camera bag I sadly lost a few weeks ago.  So now it's my new camera pouch.  :-)  (don't worry, Sahar doesn't mind)

Sahar pieced together some beautiful pieces of fabric...

...and then put together some scraps of red felt and quilted it to the back.

Then, I added pockets to the lining to hold camera accessories and followed this tutorial to make a lined zippered pouch. Voila!