Coin purse tutorial

I am a visual person, so I tried to take lots of pictures for this tutorial. These are super quick and easy to make, about 30 minutes from your first cut to the finished purse.  (This is NOT my pattern - just the way I make this coin purse)

Materials
1 exterior piece cut 5" x 8"
1 lining piece cut 5" x 8"
Scrap piece of batting cut 4 1/2" x 7 1/2"
8" inch zipper or longer
basting spray (or pins)

*if you want a quilted coin purse, I'd cut all materials an inch wider all around. After you quilt it, cut it down to the correct measurements.














Sandwich your exterior and lining fabric with the batting. Lightly baste with the basting spray. (or pins)

                                                

                                                  Put zipper foot on machine.

With lining side facing up and zipper pull to your left and facing up, line up top of fabric sandwich to edge of zipper & sew.

   
                      Flip sandwich over so that exterior fabric is facing up and zipper pull is to the right.

Now fold over sandwich (lining is facing up again & so is zipper pull) making sure your fabric lines up on the sides. Sew along the zipper.

                                                 Change your foot ( I use my 1/4" foot)

                            Open up zipper & turn purse with exterior side up. Press lightly.

          

                                                    Top stitch on both sides.

Open your zipper about 3/4 the way. Bend over top about 1/2" or so....I eyeball this but you can measure. Sew down both sides using a 1/4" seam allowance and make sure you back stitch at beginning and end. You want to go over zipper several times to secure it.

*To ensure zipper pull is to the right on completed purse, make sure the zipper is closest to you and to the pull is to the right. Does that makes sense? You want it just like above photo.

                           Clip corners, cut off excess fabric & zipper and turn inside out.

                                 With a turning tool or chopstick, poke the corners out.

                                                               

                                                     Voilà! There you go!

                                                       It measures about 4.25" x 4.5"

                                                                 HAPPY SEWING!

Clean Chinese

Chinese food is one of our favorite cuisines. Unfortunately, it's hidden with rich calories & the horrible MSG. Every time I would eat at our local Chinese restaurant I'd have a horrible headache that lingered for hours from the MSG that's supposed to enhance the flavor of the foods. I was excited to find this recipe a few months back and we have been making this instead of going out to eat. Of course I miss the yummy variety of the buffet and not having to do the dishes, but this is healthier, no more headaches & John usually does the cleanup. So if you're looking for a clean, healthy dish that"s sweet & a little spicy this is it!

Recipe adapted from Oxygen magazine


This is our version and feeds both of us with enough leftover for John's lunch the next day. :)

2 chicken breast, cut into bite size cubes
3-4 red, orange, yellow sweet mini peppers
1/2 pineapple cut into chunks
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 red pepper flakes
3 tbsp low sugar ketchup
3 tbsp sugar free Apricot Jam
3 tbsp grey poupon (harvest course ground)

Season chicken with garlic powder & red pepper flakes. In a skillet add 1 tsp coconut oil and cook chicken through, about 6-8 minutes.
Add peppers & toss. Prepare sauce by combining last 3 ingredients together. Add to chicken & peppers and stir. Add pineapple and cook for another 5 minutes until all is heated through. Serve with brown rice.

It comes out to be around a 300 calorie meal! Enjoy!