Christmas crafting!

Well, Christmas has passed, all the presents have been opened, (I am in loooove with my new iron, btw...) and now I can write about what I made without spoiling any surprises.



I made a library bag for my niece, who is only a year and a half and already loves library books, respects their specialness, and doesn't mix them with her regular books. I used some novelty fabrics that I had already cut into squares for a project that I started 10 years ago... I don't even remember what it was going to be.

I haven't made a quilted bag before so I sort of made it up as I went along. I knew that I wanted to hide the seams as easily as possible so I actually quilted the top layer to the middle layer, and then lined the bag with what would have been the bottom layer of the quilt sandwich. The flap I made separately and quilted normally. Binding that was quite a pain... I know now to avoid rounding the corners of my quilts.

I also made a shoulder bag for my sister, with embroidery on the flap and lining made from an old jacket of hers that had gotten too small. It also has a little embroidery on the strap, specially designed for me by a dear friend, with my sister's initials hidden in the swirls.




Tutorial used:
mmmcrafts' the basic messenger bag





Review: All the steps are pretty easy and it goes together in about 4 hours (I think I sew slowly, though). The tutorial contains all the information that you need and it is easy to follow. I like the shape of the bag a lot. It turns out ok when made with canvas/denim weight material, but I think that it looks the best if you use very heavy material or add interfacing. I made two with pockets and one without pockets. In the future, if I put on pockets, I will probably modify the design to add a zip to each pocket and make them more useful.
At some point I would like to make a little ad-on to the tutorial for making differently sized bags and to streamline the instructions for people who have made it before. (The tutorial has some great explanatory pictures, but it's not easy to glance at the instructions and identify the next step.)
All in all it is a great tutorial and I will definitely be making the bag again. I already have another request in my queue.

Sewing clothing

Sewing clothing is not something I am skilled at, but I so want to be! I try patterns and usually end up getting frustrated (like when the sleeve is too big for the arm hole, or when it doesn't fit in the bust and I can't figure out how to fix it...) It's something that I should work on and get good at, but it's just so much easier to sew a bunch of squares together and make a quilt.

Someday I want to be as good as this girl.

Confession

I collect fabric. I pretend that I'm going to make something out of it, but... well... the facts speak for themselves. This is most of the fabrics I have purchased in the last six months:



See this little stack on the far left? That's the pile of fabrics of which I have used even the tiniest scrap. See these other three piles on the right? These are just for looking at. And touching.

I really enjoy prewashing fabric. I put it in the washer, and when it is done I lovingly clip off all of the stray threads, then I dry it, then I take it out and use ironing and folding as an excuse to pet it. Prewashing is when the fabrics and I get to know each other.

I even have fabrics that I haven't prewashed yet because I'm saving the experience. I keep my Eva in the original bag and just take them out to look at. Really, though, can you blame me? It's ridiculously pretty.

Blogtoberfest day 3!

I sew at a medium sized folding table in the middle of the room. the other day He-Man came in to kiss me and my sewing machine went crazy... suddenly blasting away at full speed. Turns out my presser foot had migrated forward over time so that it was sticking out from under the table and he stepped on it unawares. Thankfully, in the time it took for me to panic, figure out what was happening, and then communicate that he should move his foot, nothing got too messed up.

Blogtoberfest Day 2

Blogtoberfest is so fun! I am enjoying reading about everyone's projects and getting new comments on my blog. :)

A few weeks ago I went to my parents' house and picked up my Mom's sewing things. (Tons of cool stuff... but that's for another post). One of the things I got was a bunch of satin and velvet leftovers from when Mom made all the bridesmaids dresses for my sister's wedding. Isn't that amazing? I don't know if I would want to commit to such a task. o.o

I figured I didn't have much use for them, and it might be nice for my sister to see them around and be reminded of her wedding, and Mom, and whatnot. I came up with the idea of making a little play skirt for her daughter Redhead. I used a weirdly shaped leftover piece of maroon velvet that was a bit less than a yard... should have taken a picture. I cut out the biggest rectangle patch that I could, then used the rest of it to make little gores around the bottom edge. I don't know exactly how you are supposed to sew in gores, so I just kind of made something up, and some of mine turned out pretty funky. Redhead is only 4, though, so what will she care?



I wanted to make the elastic right for her waist, but she wasn't around... so I used my leg. Yeah, just one. And not that high up, either. I spent the whole time I was sewing feeling jealous of a four-year-old's figure.

Blogtoberfest Giveaway!

So here’s the deal. I like to make things complicated. For myself… for you… for everybody. And that’s what I’m going to do. My plan is this. For starters, I’m giving away a 1 yard length of My Folklore by Lecien.



(I bought the fabric because I loved the color combo in Lynn's Common Threads Bee quilt... but when all of the pieces arrived, I found that they were different dye lots or something and didn't match well enough for my taste.)

If I get more than 50 entrants for the giveaway, I will add a second prize because I think it’s nice if you have a real chance to win. Then every extra 50 after that I will add another prize, up to a total of 5 prizes. Fun, yes? These extra prizes are still a mystery to you because they are still a mystery to me. Winner(s) will be chosen by random number generator, and first name picked gets first pick of prizes and so on.

BUT WAIT. I am not done being complicated. To enter, leave a comment telling me what your next project is going to be. You can enter a second time by posting a (relevant) comment on ANY other post in the history of this blog, limit 1 extra entry. Please make sure I am able to contact you! The giveaway will end on October 31st at midnight, and I will be posting prizes overseas (unless I come up with one that is super heavy, in which case I will note that when I post the prize). Good luck everyone!

Yes, this giveaway is a disguise for shameless self-promotion.

EDIT: We have 50 entries, so I'm adding a second prize. Prize number 2 is a corduroy pumpkin pincushion and a half yard of fall themed fabric:

Still working...

On the quilt for Redhead. (I've decided that "my oldest niece" and "my second to youngest niece" is too unwieldy. So Redhead is the new name for my oldest niece. Although... actually it looks like all of my nieces may be redheaded...)

I got this little embroidery in from my oldest sister, who is the Best Girl, and sewed it up into a square:



Check out the "fuzzy stitch" that she made up:


And I just loooove her little signature on it:


Hopefully I'll have more embroideries to share soon. (*hint hint* sisters get to work!)