May 2013 – The Craft Room

Craft Tote Bag

Last week I finished this bag for my friend Chrissy:

It is made from this tutorial on a blog called 2 Little Hooligans.

The floral fabric you might recognise as being the leftover pieces from when I made this bag for my mother-in-law last year. And the purple might have been from that project too. It is a mixture of the two because there were only small pieces of each one left. The sides and pockets all contain iron-on interfacing instead of the fleece and flannel recommended in the tutorial – I don’t think my sewing machine could have coped with the thickness of all the layers if I’d used anything thicker!

One end has lots of smaller pockets to fit things like scissors, knitting needles and the like. And the two long sides both have one big pocket each. I made the bias to go on the top of the pockets and around the top of the bag. I was impressed with how well I’d done my measuring when it lined up perfectly along the sides 🙂 It’s a nice little bag – I might have to make one for myself!

Quilted Mat Sew-Along

This week I took part in the quilted mat sew-along hosted by Sew Delicious. The mat was split into three tutorials, with one posted Monday, one on Wednesday and one on Friday. I really liked having it split into the three parts as it meant I could actually keep up and by the end of Friday my mat was finished.

I decided I was going to use all materials that were already in my cupboard to make this project which made it a good stashbuster. I chose to go spotty and used this selection of polka dot fat quarters that I bought some time last year. I’ve used bits of them for other projects but since the squares were only 5 inches each and I used just 2 of each colour, I didn’t need too much of each one.I was really pleased with my mat after the first tutorial, when all the top was sewn as my lines were nice and straight 🙂 I’d spent a long time measuring and matching corners, so was happy that my hard work had paid off. The second step was the quilting which was nice and easy using my walking foot. It’s the first time I’ve quilted anything!Finally came the binding. I made my own, using of course another colour of polka dot fabric – purple! I’ve also never binded anything before, and this was the bit I was most nervous about. I joined my strips (because even though the mat is small, as I was using FQs I had several strips to join) on the diagonal, and found examples online of fastening the beginning and end together the same way, making it hard to tell now it’s finished where it was I began. The back of my mat is navy polka dots. If I look at the back for too long it makes my eyes go funny like one of those optical illusions!It’s just the right size for sitting under my sewing machine. I love it because it’s bright and cheerful, and I’m so pleased with how it turned out.

I even asked my little monster what he thought of Mummy’s spotty mat.

His response: “Wow!”

Good answer little man. Good answer.

Pink Owl Reversible Harper Dress

Having made a little dress for my new niece I thought it only fair the big ones got one too!

This one is very pink and girly. I made it from the Harper reversible dress pattern by Sew Sweet Pattens. Because all the seams are hidden between the two layers you can wear it either way out.

One side has this owl print fabric. The front is pleated and the straps are attached with pink snaps.

The alternative side is plain pink cotton.

The hem and I fell out somewhat! The pattern required you to turn in and press both fabrics and topstitch together. To get them level all the way round (which on a size 4 was a pretty long length) was not a quick and easy task! But it looks quite good now it’s finished 🙂 And here is the finished dress – two dresses in one!

Wish Gift – Letter Ribbon Comforter

I take part in a handmade wish game on Facebook: one person makes three wishes (perhaps a bag, an item of clothing and a purse), then another person comes along and grants their wish, making 3 new wishes of their own. And so it continues. The wish granter picks one of the three wishes to make and send to their recipient.

I granted a wish from someone who wanted a ribbon comforter/taggie for their little boy, and they linked to an example (like this) of one they’d seen that they really liked.

Aha, I thought, this I can do!

So I set to making one in the shape of the letter ‘C’.

I have used some leftover scraps of Robert Kaufman owls in bermuda fabric with ribbon strips in matching colours. I used a longer strip of white ribbon looped at the end with a snap attached to allow it to be fastened onto a pram or car seat when out and about so that it doesn’t get lost.

It is now on it’s way in the post to the lady that wished for it – I hope she likes it! 🙂

Sock Monkey

I recently entered a sock monkey competition.

My socks were stripy green and white ones. I also had another pair of socks so I decided to use them to make some accessories for my monkey – a skirt (kind of like a miniskirt) and a headband which I added a crochet flower to. The eyes are made from felt and attached with fabric glue rather than sewing in place.

Here is my finished monkey with my other little monkey who insisted on being in the picture!

Craftsy Free Courses

I have recently discovered all the great courses that are offered by Craftsy, including their wide range of free ones (because things that are free are great!)

The first free sewing course that I tried was Sewing Machine Feet from A-Z, to work out what the feet I have for my machine are all for and how they work.

Since then there’s been lots of new free courses added.

The next two free mini-courses I’m planning to take are:

1) Sewing Machine 911

and

2) Know your Wool

There’s also free courses for cake decorating, jewellery making, sewing with zips, making bags or quilts, cooking and knitting.

You can check out the range of free courses available here!

This is a promotional post which contains affiliate links. All views and opinions are my own.

KCW make #2: PJ Bottoms

The second of my Kids Clothes Week makes was a pair of pyjama bottoms.

I was testing this pattern for a friend who designed it. It is available for free on her blog Sew Jereli in sizes 18 months-5 years.

I made mine in dinosaur print flannelette. They were lovely and quick to make, and I managed to make them from cutting out the pattern to finishing sewing in an afternoon.

As you can see, they’re well-liked – it’s nice to have an enthusiastic model! 🙂

KCW make #1: Baby Dress

Last week was Kids Clothes Week. I didn’t manage an hour of sewing every day but did more on some days so probably averaged an hour a day over the week. I knew that I wouldn’t get everything finished that I wanted to make but I did finish two items and make a start on two others (that will get finished eventually!)

My first make was a baby dress. I figured if I started with the smallest item on the list I was sure to at least finish something! This dress is a size 0-3 months and is made from a tie dye Diva pattern. I used this pink elephant fabric that was left over from making something else and so has been hanging about in the cupboard for a long time. It is lined in plain pink cotton and has pink snaps on the shoulder pieces for fastening.

I think it looks very cute!