DIY Hello Kitty Drawstring Bag

For my birthday last month, my cousin got me the cutest Hello Kitty sewing machine. It came with fabric, embellishments, ribbon, rope and a teeny sewing kit. Unfortunately, it doesn't sew very well. It does something called a chain stitch, which doesn't close at the ends so unravels. The instructions say you have to close the stitch by hand, which would defeat the purpose of having a sewing machine. Nonetheless, I didn't return it. It's too darn cute. I'm keeping it for the supplies and to use for greeting cards. It's battery operated so I can use it anywhere on the fly and compact enough to store easily.

Hello Kitty Chainstitch Sewing Machine:

My mom is an expert seamstress so couldn't stand watching me try to sew with this thing. She insisted on buying me a real machine as a birthday gift.

Brother Computerized XR7700:

It's small but pretty powerful. It does 110 different stitch functions. I'm not sure what it all means or how to work it all but it's neat to have the options available. The coolest feature is probably the automatic needle threading. There's even a little slot to insert a picture or diagram on the machine itself.

So the last time I was in front of a sewing machine was in 7th grade Home Ec class where I made myself a layered jean skirt (what can you say, I'm a child of the 80's). You could say it's been a long time since I've touched a sewing machine. I was a little intimidated opening up the box and seeing all the various attachments and parts. But I figured if I could sew at 12 years old, I think I can figure out how to sew at my age. 

My cousin and partner in crime, Q, came over and helped me test out the machine. We used the easy to follow instructions and diagrams and were able to figure out how to set up and thread the machine. Surprisingly it wasn't that hard. This is what we made with the supplies pilfered from the Hello Kitty machine.

It's a little rough around the edges but turned out alright for my first project. Gabby has been carrying her Little People toys around the house in these bags. What else can I make? Shoe bags, toy bags, make-up bags? 

Joann's has a 25% off everything coupon starting Friday and I've been waiting for it all week. I'm hoping to hoard supplies to make holiday gift bags to use instead of wrapping paper, like how Amazon gift wraps their big items. It's eco-friendly and totally reuseable. I mean we still have the big blue Amazon bags from Christmases years ago.

What other simple sewing projects would you suggest for a newbie? I would love to see what you've done too.