Posts Tagged ‘Sewing’
Birthday Purses
It’s been a while since I posted a sewing project, so here’s the latest: birthday purse sets for my sister (3/21) and my Little Sister in St Louis (3/20). The pattern is Simplicity 2617; I used Bag B for the purses and D for the makeup bags. These are cross-posted on Burda Style.
Photos
Thoughts
1. If you sew this pattern, I recommend moving the markings for zipper in the pocket on piece 11 down by at least 1/4″. As marked, I’ve had trouble fitting the zipper, magentic snap, and top seam allowance into the space allotted, resulting in the sides snapping a tiny bit crookedly and requiring me to hand stitch the final topstitching (not a pretty sight).
2. If you can, add about 1/4″ of length to the patchwork pieces that become the outer sides. Some of this is me being relatively novice at this, but my patchwork didn’t come out even across the top, making cutting the side pieces out of the patchwork a tiny bit tricky.
3. When attaching the sides/bottom (piece 10) to the outsides or to the lining (pieces 9), match the ends up to the notches before pinning along the bottom. At first, I tried to pin from one end to the other, and I ran out of fabric; it’s designed to give a little structure to the bag, so if you pin the notches first, then work to the bottom, it’ll come together more easily.
4. I bought double the amounts of fabric and notions listed on the pattern; the goal was to make two purses and two makeup bags. I had enough fabric left over to make two more purses (conveniently enough, I have two May birthdays to plan gifts for!), though I did have to purchase 1 and 1/4 yd of heavyweight fusible interfacing for the last bag.
5. I used variegated embroidery thread on the blue/green bag, and I kind of liked the effect, but I really prefer the solid embroidery on the pink/brown one. Yes, I hand-embroidered it. Yes, I am crazy; each side took a full hour to embroider.
6. I really love this pattern.
Questions?
Don’t hesitate to ask. I’m in the process of making two more of Bag B, and I’ve purchased stuff for Bag A, so I’m in purse-making mode!
Handmade Christmas Gifts, 2009
I made as many Christmas gifts as I could this year. In the header image and below are the tote bags I made for Ryan’s mother, aunt, and grandmothers. I’ll be making one for Mom’s birthday in May, I think! These are made using Simplicity pattern 2676 and cotton quilting fabrics; you may remember these prints from an earlier post. These were a big hit, and I learned a lot from making them.
For Keegan and Kadence, my I-wish-these-kids-were-my-nephews, I made Lumpysaurs!
These are based on the Unforgettable Elephant pattern in Sew Everything Workshop, by Diana Rupp; I added the head, neck, and tail to the elephant body. These are made of stash fabrics and stuffed with scraps, so they’re good for bopping brothers over the head, which is what they do with stuffed animals. I hear the boys loved them.
On an unrelated note, I saw Avatar today and loved it… Who knew ten-foot-tall blue people with tails could be so interesting, and so very, very badass? Incidentally, I will probably go see every movie Sam Worthington makes from here on out, because the eye candy factor is through the roof. The rest of the movie is pretty eye-catching, too.
Next up: The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and Sherlock Holmes.
Later dudes.
A thrifty Halloween, and upcoming sewing projects
I haven’t done a ton of sewing, in part because I’m about to sit down and make a whole bunch of Christmas gifts. As a teaser, though, the image above is of a section of a prototype for something I’m pretty pleased with. Expect a tutorial after it’s all finished.
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Taking a Break and Catching Up
Whew. It’s been a craaaazy couple of weeks. Luckily, I took pictures.
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Tutorial: Ring Bearer Pillows
Our wedding party includes two adorable ring bearers, the young sons of my bridesmaid Lea Ann and her husband, Kyle, who will be escorting me down the aisle. Rather than spending $20-$30 a pop on ring bearer pillows, I decided to try my hand at making them.
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