for a friend

Ever since I made this little zip bag, I've been wanting to make

a small purse for myself out of the fabric. It's incredibly soft!

I'm not sure where it came from, but I suspect it's some sort of

microsuede. And isn't the color just so exciting?

 

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reversible aprons

 This here is a mother/daughter set of reversible aprons I sewed up 

for my sister-in-law & niece's birthdays, which are this week. 

I used this tutorial from Michael Miller Fabrics and put 

pockets on each side, without the recommended contrasting edge.

The aprons came together easily and turned out just as I had hoped. 

Thanks, Joanna Armour, for a great little tutorial!

finished product

And voila! Here it is.

 As you can see, this is the birdy bag I attempted to 

make a year ago for the owner of Merdeka studios. 

However, at that time I used a freezer paper stencil,

and the birdy (which happens to be the Merdeka logo)

came out all blotchy.  This time around, I printed out

the image on paper, covered the back with graphite, 

traced it onto the bag and painted it in by hand.

While this bag was inspired by Handmade Mommy,

I wound up using the drawstring bag tutorial at

QuiltingBees.org, because I preferred the lining technique.

So there you have it. One drawstring bag a year in the making.

How's that for tenacity?

drawstring bag preview

This here is just a little peek at a drawstring bag

I made yesterday. It's a gift for a friend, and I have

yet to give it -- so the rest of the photo shoot will

come soon. Until then, have a happy weekend!

dress-up wings

 One of the fun things I had opportunity to make for Christmas

this year was this set of dress-up wings for my youngest niece.

I saw them on this blog and followed the tutorial to make them.

Here they are in action!!

It takes some time to cut out all the layers, but the
actual assembly process is very simple:

I cut lots of different fabrics into varying lengths

of 2" wide strips with my rotary cutter. Then I made

a paper template with 5 scallops (2" wide each) in a 

10"-long strip. Sat down with a cup of tea and started 

scalloping all those strips. I sewed them onto the 

underlying arc of fabric (as seen in the tutorial) with a 

single line of stitching per row, spaced about 1/2" apart.

Added grosgrain w/ velcro attached at the very end for 

cuffs and neckband. Voila!

This may sound complicated, but it would be a good

project for a beginning sewist. Especially if one were 

to follow the tutorial more exactly and just tack the

ribbons on without velcro to be tied in a bow at neck 

& wrists. I just love how this came out with scraps from

all my favorite fabrics! I'm brainstorming what else in my

life might need wings...

super onesie

 This is a little caped onesie I whipped up for my baby nephew

for Christmas. As you can see in the picture, I used twill tape to

reinforce the shoulders where the cape is attached.

 So far, there's nothing I like better on a baby than a white onesie,

but who knows -- a white onesie with a red cape might be the thing!

 Here's the bag I've been working on! I think of it as my

birthday bag, since I just turned 38 (woo hoo!). The bag

is patterned somewhat after this one, which I enjoyed so 

much that it plum wore out. As you can see, I repurposed 

the strap from the former bag and re-used it on this one. 

I also enlarged this bag a bit and added the darted pocket 

with lid on the front, for additional storage.  I was also

happy to find a place to sport that strand of velvet ribbon!

 

bag pockets

 Since bags generally go together inside-out and upside-down,

so to speak, the pockets are one of the first things to assemble.
I'm excited about this outside pocket, because it has darted
corners (thanks, Lisa Lam!) which make it three dimensional:
good for holding lots of stuff without looking overcrowded.
There are also a couple of tiny, magnetic snaps under the flap
to keep things sleek. If you can get sleek in fuzzy upholstery.

This is the cute little elasticized-top pocket on the inside of the bag, 

also thanks to Lisa Lam's Bag Making Bible. Hers seems to come 

out more rectangular than mine. I think that's because 

she puts a couple of darts in the bottom of her pocket to square 

things off. I'm not pushing for perfection here, though, so 

the curvy shape suits me just fine. It's kind of whimsical, don't you think? 

The finished bag will be coming soon, so don't be strangers!

new project

I'm itching to do some sewing after weeks of sickness 

and the ensuing recovery process. This is the fabric 

palette for a bag I'm scheming up. I found the green 

and gold upholsteries on clearance last week, and that 

lovely slice of velvet ribbon has been in a basket just

waiting for the right project. I can't wait to use it!

bunny bag

I just love making these little guys.

hi again... and a hair baby

Hi, peeps! It's been about forever since I posted.

I blame summer and living in the moment (yay!).

This particular summer has been busy in all the 

right ways, i.e. spending a ton of time with family, 

friends, community and my specific little nuclear unit.

I haven't been crafting up too many messes,

but a friend recently asked if I could sew 

a hair doll for her baby boy who loves playing

with his mama's hair while he falls asleep. 

I used Butterick pattern 4027 as the framework

for this first attempt. It's soft and snuggly, but

pretty light-colored. Which means it'll be dark

grey in no time. So maybe the next one will 

be adjusted to match reality a bit more closely.

I hope you all are having a wonderful summer!!

new apron

So here's the cute new apron I sewed up

this weekend! Thanks to Alicia for loaning

me her pattern (for 6 months, no less). I 

finally bought fabric last week and went 

to work on it! I'm glad I did, too -- 

I love the lines. And better yet...

 it's reversible!!

Pattern info: Emmeline Apron by Sew Liberated.

the owl bag is finished!

 Ashton and I have completed the Night Owl Bag!

The picture below shows it complete with its blue 

corduroy straps. The bag is quite roomy.

It was a good starter sewing project for her, since

it has lots of long, straight seems to practice on.

As it is a gift for a friend, Ashton was certain it 

would need a label inside. I quite agreed.

owl pocket is done!

Ashton and I spent some time sewing on Monday afternoon, 

and here's the result. I think it's quite fabulous. 

The heart was Ashton's idea. The eyes were a bit of a booger

to attach, what with fabric stretching and sewing in a circle

and such, but they'll pass. My only concern is that the pattern

calls for wool felt, which is hard to find locally (if you know

otherwise, please do inform!). I went with acrylic felt for the facial

features, which probably won't stand up well to washing.

mommy daughter project

 I recently purchased the Night Owl Bag pattern 

from Make-It-Do.com so my daughter & I 

can sew up a birthday gift for one of her good friends.

These are the fabrics Ashton picked for the bag,

as well as navy blue corduroy for the owl body.

This is going to be fun! I'll post pics as we go along.

baby blocks

These baby blocks were inspired by a pattern in Amy Butler's book,

Little Stitches for Little Ones. However, after cutting and piecing all the sides,

I discovered that the foam blocks I had were 3 inch squares instead of 4 inches!

So all 54 squares went back to the cutting board.

Good thing I noticed before everything was completely sewn together!

The carrying bag is brown muslin with sage twill tape ties.

I really like the way it came out, rustic but somehow sophisticated.

camouflage decor

We cleaned out Elliott's closet and reorganized his room on Saturday.

While the husband sorted tiny objects into random containers, I 

grabbed a piece of camouflage fabric that had been roaming about

for a while and turned it into this cutie little pennant banner. 

I took pictures along the way, so hopefully I'll get a tutorial up soon

on how to do it. Very simple and festive!

ironing bliss

As a way of helping me kick off my new business, my parents gave me this amazing iron
as an early birthday gift. The base is a steam generator, which holds about two cups of water.
It has a trigger and a setting for constant steam so you don't have to hold it down all the time.
Also, the iron and the steam generator have separate controls, so it's possible to have one
on without the other: great for working with fancy fabrics (no water spots, please)
or for producing steam w/o heat (curtains, here I come!). 

What I'm loving most about it is that it works. 

Our previous iron would get hot, but leaked like 

crazy if filled with water. Also, being cordless, it

had to be recharged regularly in the middle of any

ironing project. This one just presses on, so to speak.

The more I read about sewing, the more I discover the importance of good and constant
ironing. So this is a splendid gift for the start of all the sewing that's to come. Thanks, Mom and Dad!

mccall's 9137 test run

My friend Andrea was looking for a sewing pattern to

work with during her vacation that was easy enough to

follow w/o help after not having sewn for a number of years.

I told her I had this pattern for a small case that should

work. But I decided to give it a try, since I'd never actually

used the pattern. So here it is! Turns out the instructions

aren't great, but with a few tweaks the whole thing works.

AND, it's possible to make it with a cute contrasting liner

(which Andrea wanted to do) without veering too far from 

the design. This one has brown fabric inside, like Layne's 

bag. You just have to cut a piece of transfer web and liner 

the same size as the main fabric, then iron it all together 

before sewing. McCall's 9137, Zippered Case G, circa 1997). 

Wait, when did this turn into a sewing blog?