Clutch

Ok, I have to admit that I just LOVED that cute little pleated purse. I had a little bit of material left over and decided to make another artsy clutch to go along with it. I also included the embellishment on the clutch that I put on the bag itself. I love how it looks. I used a bit of red to spice it up a little...some red rick rack for the closure along with the red buttons. Love It!

Happy Birthday Sylvia!

I'm not even sure if she even reads this blog or not...but how cool is it that my sister in law has the same birth date as I do? I'm telling you...November 21st was THE DAY to be born people!!! For Sylvia's birthday I made her a little girly purse. This was before I got my way cool "Bend the Rules - Sewing" book. This little purse was a design that I made myself without the aide of any pattern. After I finished sewing all the sides together I realized that I forgot to add the thicker interfacing to make the bag a bit sturdier. I"m telling you, I'm learning as I go along! I also decided to try using the already made purse handles for a different look. I liked how they looked but didn't like the clasps where they connected to the purse so I made a few fabric yo-yos's to place on top of the clasps. It looks like a very feminine purse and I like how fresh it looks. Hopefully Sylvia will like it too.

Happy Birthday Sylvia! I hope you have a really great day!

A simple tote

Again, I must be pretty bad with measurements. After I made this cute bag and turned it inside out, the handles just seemed to be way too long. For one, the handles are supposed to be different sizes so that the longer handle can loop through the smaller one and act as a closure. But these handles were longer than they were supposed to be so I had to get creative and figure out how to shorten them. (It's all about the process for me. I'm learning so much every single time I make a bag that it helps me make my next things much better.) This bag is truly simple - it has a simple pocket on the inside and no other embellishments. It's also a very small bag. Perfect for holding a lunch or perhaps keys and a wallet on the run.

I've got the sewing bug...

Yep, it's true. There isn't a single day that goes by when I'm not thinking about something that I could be making. I've been busy over the past week or so making something for a dear lady that has volunteered her time to watch the boys every once in a while so Mike and I could go out. She doesn't ever ask for any payment and the boys love her so. I decided that I was going to make her something. I picked out some beautiful blue paisley fabric and after I had started the project I got a little jealous because I really liked how it turned out! I wanted it! But I really wanted to give her something in appreciation...so I'm going to part with this lovely "Pleated Beauty Handbag." There were actually a few surprises to this bag when I started making it. I had a really difficult time getting the pleats to turn out just right. I sat on the floor for several nights holding the fabric and trying to pleat it every which way, and finally on the third day the lightbulb went off and I knew what I had to do. So, the front of this bag has some very unique touches to it. I hand embroidered a flower and some "loops" on the side along with using a new foot on my sewing machine made for free quilting. I had so much fun making this quirky little loopy design that I ended up making an "Artsy Clutch" in the same fabric just so that I could use that new foot again. As I was putting the bag together I thought to myself how much it looked like a cute little cheerleaders skirt...and it made me think of how much I had always wanted to be able to wear one of those...but that's another story for another day! And finally when I was ready to turn the bag inside out, I realized that the bag was extremely large. I think that I must have had my measurements off by a bit. This bag was like a large suitcase! So I trimmed off what seemed like more than half of the bag and got it down to a much more reasonable size. I love this bag. I love it, I love it, I love it! I can only hope that she will love it too.

Happy (early) Birthday to Me and More projects!

First of all, here is my new sewing machine! After looking around a bit I decided upon this one, a Brother CS 6000i. So far, I love it. It has many neat features that I am still learning how to use.

Tea Towel Aprons! Two, to be exact. I found the towels at IKEA and thought they would make nice Christmas aprons.

This is called a "Charming Handbag" and making it wasn't quite so charming. In the book a few measurments were left out so I ended up making up a whole bunch of them! It turned out ok but next time I think I'll make the bag larger, with larger handles. I love the velvet ribbon!

More coasters...why in the world am I making so many is beyond my reasoning, but they are easy and don't take too much time.

Here is another small zippered pouch. I found this cute bee fabric at Joanns and lined it with a yellow-ish fabric with circles. I really like how it turned out.

This is called an "Artsy Clutch". Very simple idea - and here again I used the same bee fabric and yellow circle fabric on the inside.

Here is another "Artsy Clutch" that I made with some fabric I forgot I had, it was kind of funky but I like the end result. I ended up giving this one to a friend for her birthday.