All it took was another rethreading and some TLC. Yep, my serger's all better now, at least for the time being. Good thing since my sewing machine won't make button holes anymore. I was planning on a shirt, but went with a dress instead. I just finished up the hem...and the dress is SO cute! I'll share photos of the finished item when it's a little nicer out, and not this icky snowstorm.
So I made myself a bag pretty much after I finished Katherine's yesterday. Mine has a different Japanese fabric though, one with cute little goldfish.
I still wasn't done though with the pleats, so I made a third purse. This one I love, but don't really need. It may eventually land on Etsy...but I'm still testing the waters there. This is the Healing Bag.
This one only has one main pleat, but it also has two teeny little pleats at the very top.
Oh, and my favorite - the pocket. I stitched a little piece of the fabric to it, clearly marking what it is!
It's my sister's 15th birthday soon, so I whipped up a little bag for her. She loved the elephant bag I made for myself from Bend the Rules sewing (months ago), and wanted one for herself, but smaller. I never made one, mostly because she loved how the print with the elephants was cream based like the twill. I realized that I have Japanese puppy fabric that's also cream based, so off I went.
I love this purse, and hope she will too. I used up nearly all of my favorite puppy print though, and am sitting on my hands to stop myself from ordering more.
That pink is some pretty dyed lace I had on hand for my mom's quilt, but I never wound up using it. What better than a pretty tab - and also a pocket accent!
I divided the pocket because I thought she might want somewhere to store her phone.
I really like the measurements of this bag, and am very glad I wrote them down, since I usually don't. In case you would like to make this version, here's what I used:
For outside:
-cut 2 pieces of main outside fabric 4"x14"
-cut 1 piece of main outside fabric 6"x14"
-cut 2 pieces of accent outside fabric 3"x14"
*edit* I forgot to mention how I got the outside back measurements. Once you sew the front together, you'll get a lovely flared shape. I just layed this down and traced this shape onto another piece of twill; and voila, the back!
For lining:
-cut 2 pieces of main outside fabric 3"x12 1/2" for facing
-cut 2 pieces of lining fabric 12 1/2"x12"
Use 1/2" seams for all pieces. I did not use any interfacing, but I also used some nice, heavy twill. You can cut your pocket to whatever size you think looks good. This size is a great purse, but is good because it can hold books and papers too.
I always trim my lining a bit, so once the front and back lining pieces were sewn together I took 1/4" extra off the top.
I hope you all had a happy valentine's day. I did, and I didn't. Here's the happy part:
A stitched button card for Derek, along with a warm pad:
Cosmo tested it, and he loves it. I will need to buy some more rice and make some extras for us too. I did what some people mentioned in the comments; I made little rice compartments to keep it from shifting in there too much.
Now the not so happy: something very unexpected and sad and awful happened to my mom today, something she didn't deserve. I found out early today, and my boss was nice enough to allow me to leave. Cosmo and I drove home to spend some time with her and everyone else of course. Be cool tomorrow, and then stick it out til the end of March. Then we can have some fun and do our own business - haha, yeah right, but we can dream right?
Here's my scarf! I'm pretty proud of it; it's the first time I've sat down and followed a complex (to me, beginner knitter) pattern. This again is from One Skein Wonders. It took me two skeins to finish, but I also made it longer than the pattern said it would be. I wanted to have it long enough to actually wrap around my neck.
I ended up blocking it twice, but it still doesn't lay completely flat. The edges want to curl in towards the middle bobble things. I think it might just be the pattern, because I blocked this thing like crazy!
Oh, and again, nothing new purchased to complete this project! Had the yarn, had the needles, had the book!
This pattern used Make 7, which I had never done before. That's what caused the pretty lacy holes at the beginning of the repeat. I've already got something new cast on- a little neck cozy!
my newly finished scarf! I'm so happy I finished it. I again used already in my stash items, so no purchasing required. I'm really trying to do that with everything I make, but I think I'll run into problems with my quilts because I don't keep batting on hand. But I'll save up some 50% off coupons for that.
More pictures to come once the scarf is finished being blocked.
...on a new project
I've just been puttering around here...sewing a little, cleaning, fun stuff. I made this apron last night:
The fabric is so cute - little teacups! This was part of the sweet "hive" package Debby sent me over the summer. I liked it so much I've just had it sitting on my shelf! So I chopped it up and made this for myself. I cut out another one too, so maybe I'll make it as a gift? Start stocking up now for x-mas '08?
Speaking of hives, I've still got them, but I did finally see an allergist this week. He told me the hives aren't from any products I'm using, and not from any foods. I've just got them...and they could last years! He gave me some medicine to try, and for now it seems to be working very well. I'll have to keep my fingers crossed. It is nice though being able to use lotion and perfume again though.
Look at this adorable lightswitch plate I bought from Jen! I couldn't pass it up. It fits my switch; I just need to get longer screws. This is where it's going to go:
The scissors holder thing was just put up. By me, and just with nails...but Derek said it should hold just fine. My scissors aren't very heavy. I would like a pegboard, but I already had this coat rack, so it's use what you have and no need to buy!
*edit to add* I totally forgot to show the cute little extras that Jen sent me! That was so nice - thank you!
Alright...back to cleaning!
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