Ban-de-ler-ooooo!

I saw this really fun Snack Bandelero on "Celebrate the Boy" month on Made by Rae's blog at the beginning of the year and have wanted to make one for Adam since then - I've had the supplies for the past month or so and wanted to make one for both Adam and Aidan before Easter but wasn't able to find the time... so, I've been on a sewing kick since the Singer Sewing Party on Saturday and decided to just do it!  And I loved it!  And Adam loves it!  Yay!  So, you can check out the actual tutorial here, but I'll show you my own experience with it, but IF you decide to do this, you should really check out Deborah's tutorial because it was so well written and easy to follow!  Mine is probably a little more, umm, not easy to follow.  Yeah, I'll put it like that.  So, here's my toy bandelero!

Okay!  Let's get started!  Here's what you'll need:

• 1/2 yd medium weight twill
• 1/2 yd fusible interfacing
• 1 yd elastic, 1 inch wide
• Coordinating thread (I decided to use thread that would stand out on my bandelero)
• Snaps or buttons (optional - I didn't use them on mine)

Let's begin!

• Body - Cut 2 pieces from your twill measuring 3x30 inches (this is for an average 2 year old.  My son weighs about 28 lbs and is a 2t and I wish that I would've gone a little longer - maybe closer to 3x35 inches.  It's your call.
• Elastic piece - Cut 1 piece from your twill measuring 2 1/2 x 24 inches.
• Pocket - Cut 3x4 inch rectangle.
• Interfacing - cut 1 piece 3x30 inches.

Let's make the body of the bandelero!

• Take your piece of interfacing and iron it onto the wrong-side of 1 piece of your bandelero body.

• Put your two pieces, right sides together and sew a straight stitch along both long sides.  You don't need to worry about the short ends, you'll finish these are the very end.

• Now, turn your body piece right side out and iron it so the seams are flat.  Using a zig-zag stitch, stitch as close to the edge as possible on both sides.  Set aside.

Loop Piece:

•  Take your 2.5" x 24" piece of fabric and fold both sides in 1/4" and iron the folds.

• Fold this piece in half, like a hot dog and iron.



• Topstitch along both edges with a straight stitch - do it as close to the edges as possible.

Take your elastic and attach a safety pin to one end.  Insert into one end and feed all the way through.  You're piece will bunch as you go.  Cut off excess elastic.

Attaching Loops to Body:

• Fold your body piece in half.  I placed a straight pen to mark where I wanted to start my loops, which is about halfway on your body.

• Pin your loop piece to the body of the bandelero.  Attach the loop strip by securing one end, then folding it back on itself to trap that first raw edge under the strip as a whole. It sounds odd and backwards, but it totally works and gives a nice, clean finish. Place the loop strip so that the raw edge is pointing toward the body of the bandelero and the length of the loop strip is heading AWAY from where you want the row of loops to go. Stitch across the loop strip close to the raw edge to secure it in place.

• Now you'll want make your loops to hold the goodies!  I picked a few toys and a sippy cup and used those to see how tight to make the loops.  Once your figure out your placement, pin the loop down and sew along it.  I went over the seam a few times to make sure it would withstand a 3 year old little boy!

• Repeat this step for each loop that you want to create.  Once you get down to the end of your strip, turn it under and sew a seam along the top to finish it off nicely.

Pocket:

• Please check out Deborah's tutorial for the pocket!  I didn't take any pictures BECAUSE I seriously didn't know what I was doing and was just hoping it would work out!  It did, but if you want to make one, please please, PLEASE check out the instructions here.
• Sew on your pocket, right side to right side along the bottom of your pocket.  



After you sew it on, fold it up to create your pocket and press it with an iron.  Pin your sides to your body piece and sew them on. 

• You're almost done!  Now, fold your bandelero in half, right sides together and sew a diagonal seam along the bottom to finish it off!



• Cut the excess off close to the seam and turn your bandelero out - add toys and you're done!  yay!  You could put the button or a snap here instead of sewing it shut if you wanted.

Phew!  A big project crossed off my to-do list!  I might go make a few more right now!  A HUGE thank you to Rae from Made by Rae for hosting Celebrate the Boy month and giving mom's of boys fun things to make!  And a HUMONGOUS thank you to Deborah from Whipstitch for coming up with the Snack Bandelero and for doing such an amazing job with the tutorial so that I could totally copy it!

See you all soon!
Andrea