My Sewing Space

Remember this bag ? I like that bag. It's quirky and unique and I get funny comments about it when I carry it. However, The Preacher does not appreciate that bag. He claims to be embarrassed to be seen with me when I have it. That doesn't usually stop me, but now I have a second option when I need a very large (and respectable) tote bag. This is the Mondo Bag from Quiltsmart . The pattern was a gift from my mother-in-law, who works at a quilt shop. The pattern includes fusible interfacing printed with a grid for doing the patchwork. The technique is similar to the one I used here . You produce four patchwork rectangles and then sew them together in a swirled plus-shape. That’s the best description I can give - it's rather unique and the final result looks more complicated than it actually is. The fabric I used for the outside is from CherrywoodFabrics . I purchased a pack of fat quarters at Quilt Expo to use with this pattern. I would not have combined th...

My sewing machine has been busy here lately, but not much of it has been blog-able. Some client sewing, some gifts. The client sewing has all been picked up and the gifts are all done. This is the point where I start thinking, "I could still make such-and-such for so-and-so!" I've learned it's best to squelch that voice with one big "NOPE!" Being done a little early and having a little breathing space makes the holiday break with the kids much more enjoyable. Yesterday, I thoroughly enjoyed sewing a simple little thing just for me: This is Noodlehead's Open Wide Zipper Pouch . Sometime in the last year the zipper broke on the cosmetics-counter freebie bag I used for makeup when traveling and I threw it out. I'm just getting around to replacing it now. Behold! The wide opening! This is great for pouches that you might need to root around in. Or just want to see into. Love it. Sometimes it's the little things. I love that green tab a...

A couple of years ago someone gave me a box of quilting scraps. Her style is similar to mine and I have used many of the scraps in various projects. One of the real gems in the box was a partial charm pack of Authentic by Sweetwater for Moda . There were also some fat quarters and other larger random pieces from the line. I loved this fabric when I saw it and knew that I wanted to do something just for me with it. After pondering it, I thought it should be some sort of tote bag, but I still wasn't sure exactly what it should look like. There are a lot of patchwork tote bag patterns out there, but not a lot of them that get me excited. When I saw the Perfect Quilted Tote pattern from Oh, Fransson! I knew it was the one. It was still quilted  patchwork and also modern and unique. Generally, I followed the pattern, but I wanted a larger bag so I altered the dimensions. The pattern is good - clear instructions, helpful photos, and useful tips. Her instructions for making the l...

Back in July one of my aunts passed on some old jeans to me. They were initially headed for another aunt that makes quilts from old jeans, but lucky for me, I was in the right place at the right time. She had three pair of jeans and one pair of shorts passed on by a friend of a friend or something like that (let me be clear - these were not my aunt's jeans!). Now, these were not just any jeans. These are a size 58 waist jeans. We can only hope that the owner of the jeans didn't pass them on because he grew out of them. So, the challenge for me was to come up with some way to refashion these. Let me tell you, there is a lot of fabric in jeans this size. Everything about them is different in scale. The fly is more than 10" long, there are 9 belt loops around the waistband (four more than your average size jeans), and the back pocket is just really, really biiiiiig. The kids were quite intriqued by these big pants, so we had a little fun with them.... I like the thre...

The beginning of August saw me doing lots of sewing at the request of others. Some of it was alteration work. Most of it was for S's shop here in town. Have a peek at the goods... One pillow with cat appliques requested by a customer: (The cat on the right is supposed to be sitting with his back toward us. Not sure if I made that obvious or not, but those were the instructions). Two fall-ish novelty baby bibs: Three tote bags: Four Christmas baby bibs: It's always a good exercise to stretch some of my creative muscles with these projects, but I'm also always happy to spend my sewing time on "me" projects when they're finished.

Three more angels for M's shop... I've been pretty honest about these angels in the past , I think. They aren't my favorite things to make. But they sell and do a little bit to support my addiction hobby. And it is pretty interesting to watch them morph from something like bowling pins.... ...into something more like rubber chickens..... ...and finally into something human-like. This bag is also for M's shop, to replace this one that sold very quickly. Yay! It is made from wool very similar to the first one, but it started as a neutral beige color that didn't seem very exciting for a handbag. I chose to dye it purple. The wool felted a bit during the dying process, so it was a little harder to sew (more bulk). My Pfaff still muscled through and I'm happy with the result. This one closes with a snap rather than a zipper. I thought these instructions for applying magnetic snaps were quite good. The application feels very secure. I'm not d...

This is the second bag I made for M's shop. To keep it simple, I started with the same pattern as the first one and modified it a bit. The changes include using two narrow straps on the sides of the bag instead of one wide one at the ends, making the bottom of the top band straight rather than curved, and cutting the main part of the bag into three gathered strips. I stabilized each gathered seam with stay tape so they wouldn't stretch out. The lining is smooth and slightly smaller than the outer part, so stretching shouldn't be a problem. Since the print fabric is a quilting cotton, I backed the lining pieces with fusible fleece to give the bag some heft. The rings are harness rings from the hardware store. They come in a variety of sizes at a good price. And then the zipper. I added tabs to the end of the zipper because this one was a little short, but generally I find this works better than stitching the zipper all the way to the ends when it's recessed l...

A couple of weeks ago, M asked me to make a couple more purses for her shop. Two of the others that I made awhile back had sold - yay! The only guidelines M has is that the purses should close securely, preferably with zippers. She finds that bags that stay open or close with only a snap don't sell very well. Since color, style and fabrication were all up to me, I really wanted to make them from materials I already had. My MIL sent me home from our summer trip to their place with a pile of fabric that she had. One of the pieces was a really nice dark pink wool. The piece was long, narrow and not very big - ideal for a bag. Please pardon those spots on the camera! I used the pattern I developed when working on these bags . Since the fabric was plain, I figured some embellishment would be a good idea. These roses are pretty easy to make. If I were looking at this bag in a store I would be concerned that the roses would come apart or come off the bag, so I made sure to stitch t...

These zippered pouches are the last things I sewed for the art sale. I made three others awhile ago that I'm going to include also. Not terribly exciting, but I thought it would be good to have some simple things at a lower price point. The sale starts tomorrow (and ends on Sunday) and other than setting up my table, I'm ready to go. So excited!

Many of you had positive things to say about the gathered clutches I made a few weeks ago (thank you!), and I was quite enamored with them myself so I made five more to sell this weekend. My favorite of this bunch: Sometimes sewing multiples can get tedious, but using different fun fabrics for each helps each one feel new.

Most stores in our town charge you a nickel for a plastic bag when you check out. I love this practice and the way that it encourages people to bring their own cloth bags or reuse their plastic ones. My habit of bringing along bags to the grocery store is well established, but I used to find myself stuck at places like the drug store or farmer's market or other impromptu stops. Then I picked up a bag at an upscale kitchen goods store that rolls up quite compactly. Now I keep that in my purse, so I always have a bag with me. I like my bag so much that I wanted to replicate it for the art sale. The final result is a hybrid of the bag I purchased and these that I made last year. The bag is a little bigger than the average plastic grocery bag. The velcro tab is used to keep the bag rolled up, but also can close the top of the bag when it is full. Most of the bag is a single layer of cotton, but the handles are faced. There is a double row of top-stitching around...