Sunday, February 19, 2012

Stash building

Look at these beauties! I just couldn't resist Reunion from Sweetwater and bought a whole stack of fat quarters + yardage of the black and white check and that lovely red - great for binding and borders respectively, I think. I have a pillow in mind for some of them, but I will need to come up with some ideas for the rest, and maybe some other fabrics to play with them.
It's funny, I never used to keep fabric from one single line together, but would sort them by colour and include them in among the rest of my stash to be used randomly. But recently I have found it hard to separate such groups and have come to use them together. Maybe I need to get back to being more adventurous, but I need to do some serious sorting and organizing of my entire stash to make that happen, and February isn't the right time for that. Too cold in my bedroom where I do my sewing, I guess.
And that's also why there hasn't been too much sewing either. I was beginning to hope for spring, and actually saw some daffodils sprouting their first green leaves out on the balcony yesterday, but wouldn't you know it: today everything was covered by King Winter's white blanket. Sigh. I'm so ready for spring and warmer weather.
Ah well, I have a comfy sofa a pile of quilts to huddle under, Poirot on TV and some hand stitching to keep me occupied. Not a bad way to pass a Sunday evening, really.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

A little bit better

I made a new coin purse. It is more symmetric than the first one - one needs to be careful at stitching across those bottom corners when working this small it seams (the purse frame is about 3" wide) to make sure of this. I placed the seam slightly closer to the corners this time, which gives a wider purse. The drawback is that the bottom is narrow so the purse can't stand up on its own like the polka dot one can. I think I will place those box corner seams further in on the next one, making the bottom more square. I need to experiment a bit to come up with a shape I really like.
I'm also having some problems with the area where the side seams end and the "flaps" that are to be glued into the frame start. I have had to do a bit of frogging here to get it right, but I think I have learned enough to be able to do better on the next one. Practice makes perfect, right?

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Started and finished

Yes, I finally managed to start something and actually finish it the same day - it has been a while...
Winter isn't my most productive season, I guess. But a new phone needed some protection, and I winged it by cutting a piece of batting slightly wider than the phone and twice the length. Two pieces of fabric, right sides together, a seam around three sides, turn inside out, stitch opening closed adding a loop for the button, a bit of quilting, fold in half and a narrow line of stitching down each side, adding a strap for the hook, and voila - a new pouch!
I needed something for the charger, headphone and all, and decided to tackle something I have dreaded -  a snap closed purse. I bought five of these purse frames before christmas, but somehow, doubted that I could make one and make it look good. Well there's nothing like having a go. I used this tutorial, and wouldn't you know it - it wasn't too difficult! Well, it was a bit fiddly, and there's definitely room for improvement, but all in all I'm quite happy with it. I used the polka dot fabric inside the phone pouch and the text fabric for lining the purse, so they make good companions.