Another Bag

I've really been in sewing mode just recently, mostly recycling charity shop fabric finds to make bags for the tombola at an upcoming quilt exhibition where we usually raise money for a chosen charity each year.  Today I thought I'd have a slight change by using some of the embroidery stitches on my machine onto new fabric to make this bag which is adapted from one of Debbie shore's clutch bag patterns.  Hers has the flap and bag made from one piece of fabric which I have made previously but found it a bit difficult to get the lining to lie nicely in the corners where the bag meets the flap (if you know what I mean).  This time I cut the flap as a separate item and attached it while inserting the lining and I must say this did lie a lot flatter.  I've shown the  back and front of the bag so you can see the embroidery which in hindsight might have been good if it had been on the flap as well although I think it looks OK with a plain area and anyway I wasn't sure I'd get the embroidery quite the same if I made another separate piece from which to cut the flap.  I should have done a large enough area at the start - again hindsight is wonderful!!  However I did enjoy doing this which I think is always the main thing.

Coincidence!

I was busily stitching one of these little zipped bags on Thursday afternoon and realised that I'd missed Debbie Shore's two hour sewing programme on Hochanda.  When I went on to their 'catchup' I was really surprised to see that her demonstration was of the selfsame bag as I had just completed - coincidence or what?  It is a handy size for either carrying make-up or maybe even a little sewing kit - whatever you fancy really and only a small amount of fabric is needed.  As today is chilly and very wet I thought I'd spend time at the machine again and have produced a second zipped bag as well as a shoulder bag using up some corduroy which a friend gave to me, knowing that I like making bags.  I must say it isn't my favourite fabric for stitching but it worked out OK in the end.

The zipped purse is called 'Emma' and I think there is a You Tube video explaining how it is made and the pattern is on one of Debbie Shore's many CD's.

A Bargain - or Maybe Not!

At our patchwork group meeting recently I picked up some strips of border fabrics at a bargain price thinking that they would come in handy for making bags for a Tombola at our upcoming exhibition. The problem arose when I came to look through my stash for suitable fabric to go with these strips because although I have lots of fabric one way and another there was very little of the right colour or size.  However I have managed to make two bags with what I had and I think the remaining strips will be left for the time being because my aim is to use up bits and pieces I already have rather than going out to buy more new fabric.  In my search I have found quite a quantity of small pieces which hopefully I can piece together randomly to make a few multi-coloured bags to brighten up a shopping day.  For the bag with a pocket I even resorted to upcycling a denim skirt which I no longer wear!!

Another Week

Another week has just flown by, starting off with rainy days but warmer than of late which of course has meant that things in the garden have suddenly started growing like mad - at least the weeds and grass have!!  Yesterday I just had to tackle the lawns again and also helped with the cutting back of some overhanging branches so today I've spent a quieter day sewing - made a couple of bags.  However today being Sunday  means it is time for the Pixie Snippets Playground card and I did manage to make something from some of the bits and pieces on my desk.  The image is from a little pad of cuties by Lili of the Valley, the kraft frame is the 'waste' from cutting out a decorative oval to which I've added some die cut corners from snippets of kraft card.  Background is an offcut from a larger piece of printed paper and the greeting was stamped and die cut.

Image - Lili of the Valley
Dies - Spellbinders and Sue Wilson corners
Greeting - stamp and bitty banner die from Stampin' Up.

A Flower for the Pixie Playground

This weeks seems to have disappeared very quickly and I've not managed to post anything since the last Snippets offering.  I've been busy sewing during the week but have managed to come up with a card for the Playground Challenge using a few bits and pieces from my desk.  The flower has been cut using a poinsettia punch just to show that it doesn't have to be kept just for Christmas cards as some really nice flowers can be made using it.  I had several odd scraps of white and aqua card which fortunately were large enough to cut all the elements on this card.  The background was a piece of paper from a pad which is nearly all used up now and the aqua layer behind isn't a whole piece of card because I cut the fancy square from it before putting it behind the patterned paper.

Dies - Sue Wilson Australian collection and Tattered Lace circles
Flower - punch and stamps from Stampin' Up.
Greeting - computer generated
Aqua card - actually Pool Party from Stampin' Up

Fabric Snippets

I hope you are all enjoying the Bank Holiday although the weather here isn't the best but at least it is relatively dry.  I have a project to show today which incorporates snippets of fabric so I hope Di won't mind if I post it on her challenge this week HERE.http://pixiescraftyworkshop.blogspot.co.uk/.  A note here to say that the link function seems to working differently today - don't usually get the address showing up like this but I imagine it will work!

However, on with the details of my make.  At our patchwork group meeting last week I was introduced to the 'jelly roll race' quilt which entails sewing all forty strips of a jelly roll together end to end, folding, cutting and repeating until you have a random quilt top which is reputedly very quick to make.  There are tutorials on You Tube and lots of pictures on Pinterest if you want to see what people have made.  I'm wondering if the effect would be as good using fat quarters (I have lots!) and cutting them into 2 1/2 inch strips but as that requires lots of measuring and cutting I might give that a miss on a large scale.  However I did a few calculations and worked out (hopefully correctly) how many strips I'd need to cut to make a randomly striped bag and as you can see my maths was right.  I finished up with a piece of fabric of the right size to make a handy shopping bag and I've shown both sides in the photos because of course they are different (there is no seam along the bottom) - the piece of striped fabric finished at approximately 16 1/2 x 25 inches.  Fabrics used were all from my collection of batiks and I quilted in the ditch along each seam before making the bag.

Butterfly Challenge

Well I think I've got my card made in time for the butterfly challenge HERE which this time around is Texture and/or Teal.  There are some brilliant examples from the design team for inspiration so why not take a look and then maybe have a go yourself.  I seem to have managed two posts today but I really didn't want to miss the challenge once I'd decided what I was going to make - so easy to miss deadlines!

For this card I've used (for texture) an embossing folder which was yet another freebie with a magazine.  It is embossed onto pearlescent card and then rubbed over with teal gilding wax which was also used to colour a spare piece of card so that I could make a mat and also punch out the flowers and butterflies.  Of course for the mat I only needed to wax around the edges.  The sentiment is also part of the same folder which is A6 size and includes the butterfly, sentiment and a little lace border which I've not used today.

EDIT - silly me there is another week before the end of this challenge so there is plenty of time if you do want to take part

Embossing Folder - magazine freebie - yes again!!
Flowers - punch from Stampin' Up
Butterflies - punches from SU