Sewing

It's almost time to send off the Brit Quilt Swap mini quilt (assuming I can bear to let it go), so I snuck a bit of time yesterday to make a little extra something. I thought a pouch might be in order (not least because you can stuff it full of sweeties), so pulled out some scraps and put together another Perfect Zip Bag. I really love this pattern - it is so well written and easy to follow. I thoroughly recommend it to anyone wanting to try zips for the first time. Anyhoo, once I had finished it I decided that, actually, I really really needed to keep it. It's perfect for all the extraneous handbag crap (headphones, keys to my grandma's flat, car key, pencil, moo cards, shiv) that [Read more...]

Yesterday Aneela came over with Pennie and Kelly and we spent the day sewing with Cherry Christmas. It was so exciting to see it in person - the designs are gorgeous. Cute teeny robins and snow globes, and loads of fantastic other goodies. Plans are brewing for a tree skirt, and maybe some napkins for Christmas Day. Hmmmmmm...As a thank you for helping her out, Aneela very generously emptied a giant bag of Sew Stitchy scraps on the table and let us loose on them. I don't think this is even available in shops yet, and there was a lot of squealing involved. The prints are gorgeous, so clever and pretty. How brilliant is that stripe made of chain stitch, and those pins? Genius!I stitched [Read more...]

I had a busy month!Looking at this I am not sure how I managed to fit in anything else. Luckily I still just about had time for the basics, like feeding the kids and taking a shower.Linking up with Lynne's Fresh Sewing Day

*not the actual collective noun for handbags   I have a new 241 tote, following an unfortunate incident with a ballpoint pen last week. Those pens look like they have only a tiny amount of ink inside, but BOY does it go a long way when they leak. I can't say that I am too disappointed though, because I used my favourite Flea Market Fancy print and a lot more interfacing than last time (including fusible fleece) and am really pleased with its relative sturdiness.   It is my big girl's bat mitzvah this weekend and I *need* a little clutch bag to take to synagogue. I have a serious lack of smartish bags (to be honest, I have a pretty serious lack of smartish anything), so had a rummage [Read more...]

I decided, pretty much at the last minute, that I can't possibly go to the retreat without an assortment of pouches to hold my sewing guff. Just so we are clear, I'm not suggesting for a moment that I took a sneaky morning away from work to do this, and that I am now in a blind panic trying to get everything done before we go away next week. No, that would be irresponsible of me.Anyhoo, moving on...I desperately needed (ahem) a sewing kit, so had a go at the one from the Zakka Style book. It's perfect. Nice and small, but holds all the necessaries. I added a popper to the large pocket so that things wouldn't slide out when it was closed, and enlarged the pockets slightly from the pattern [Read more...]

I've been wanting to make a little something extra to send along with the doll quilt for the DS Quilts swap. I also have been sent a book to review for UK Handmade. I thought I should test out at least one of the patterns in the book before I wrote about it, so had a go at making the little sewing pouch. It's a really sweet pattern that can use as many or as few fabrics as you like. I customised my version by including a scrappy patchwork strip on the front, using up all the little tiny crumbs of fabric I had been hoarding saving.I can't give too much away now, but I had fun sewing this up. It's really quick to put together and would make a great little gift, I think.I hope my partner [Read more...]