Mom's Birthday 2009

Ok so I've been gone again...sorry! And I've been looking back at my posts, and realized I never posted the Miranda bag (Lazy Girl Designs) I made Mom for Christmas! OMG I'm terrible. I used Moda's Cotton Blossoms fabric, which is absolutely GORGEOUS! Here's a couple pics of it:



I also for her birthday made a matching pouch, using instructions from a blog I stumbled across in my surfing (or blurfing as it is also known). The name of the blog is so cute, Flossie Teacakes! The tutorial for the pouch can be found here, and I modified the size a little. But other than that I followed her directions and it came out pretty nice. Here's a couple pics of the pouch, one of the outside, one of the inside:



Lastly, here is a picture of the birthday card I made. I used the Stampin' UP! Top Note Die for the Big Shot machine and the colors I used are Pink Pirouette and Kiwi Kiss (both retired boo hoo!). I love the little flowers, from Heartfelt Thanks stamp set which also retired! BUMMER! It is one of my favorite Stampin' Up sets.


Anyway, hope you enjoy! Any questions just ask!

Dandelion Girl Gracie

Haven't been in the sewing room much lately, but for my mom's birthday this year I wanted to make her another Gracie bag (from the AWESOME Lazy Girl Designs pattern) out of the lovely Dandelion Girl fabric line from Moda. I used the brown color way and the cool patterned fabric and solid that matches. Found a cool button at Joann's that matched pretty close. I love this pattern so much. It really whips together fast.


Dexter must ALWAYS inspect any bag, quilt or other project before giving, so here's a shot of him with the inside of the bag...he's a ham.


Must mention that I used the Velcro Fusion again. LOVE THIS PRODUCT! Also, after I attached the flap, I realized I hadn't topstitched around it! So instead of frog-stitching (rippit rippit) I somehow was able to topstitch it by pulling it away from the rest of the bag as best I could. Luckily it worked out! I have some scraps left over of both fabrics and hope to make something else, probably a Wonder Wallet! Thanks for stopping by!

First Wonder Wallet!

Back in the sewing room once again...it has been too long. I've been either sick, tired or too busy to get in there! But today I was all alone since Mom is expecting her brother and my cousin to come into town this evening to visit for my Grandma's 90th birthday on Thursday, and they are staying with her, so she wanted to be there to do some last minute cleanup of her house. So she came over Friday instead of the usual Saturday to help me out and left last night. Free Sunday! But I would rather she be here...

I've had the Wonder Wallet pattern by Joan Hawley (the Lazy Girl Designs DIVA!) for some time but it has intimidated me. Lish over at 25 Weeks Yahoo! group had as one of the February goals to make six (!!) of these things. Well needless to say I didnt meet that goal...I'm just now getting around to the first! Sigh.


They are pretty quick to make, and this first one I used leftover scraps from my Miranda Bag (see this post) to whip it up. Unfortunately I only had a 3 inch strip of the cool stripe fabric, and the pattern calls for larger strips than that. So I only used the floral print and the green leafy print. I had trouble with the bulk, and my velcro doesn't line up! Next time I will save the velcro on the cover until last, since I used the fusible velcro, which totally rules!


Maybe the next one will be even easier since I've got the steps down pretty well. It is so cute! I also plan on making a matching tissue holder since I have just enough of the pretty focal floral print left. Five more wallets to go...

Patti's Birthday Present 2008

This Friday was my great friend Patti's birthday. I don't usually know what to get her, and she would rather people not make a huge deal about her birthday. But I decided to make her something this year. She likes wolves, and I found a beautiful embroidery design of a wolf over at Embroidery Library. I used the concept of Joan Hawley's (Lazy Girl Designs) Perfect Pouches pattern to make a small pouch to put whatever in. It is about 8 inches square, and is made from a velvety corduroy I picked up at A.C. Moore.


I used fusible no show nylon mesh as a stablizer for the embroidery, and used the hoopless method to do the stitchout, as I was afraid of hoop burn (marks on the nap of the corduroy). However, I just used a simple tearaway and spray adhesive, and the denseness of the design caused the tearaway to rip away and there was serious puckering. But when I cutaway most of the mesh stablizer the puckers lessened and weren't as noticible once the pouch was assembled. Next time I will use a cutaway stablizer and really stick the fabric to it and baste it in place, so it won't pull away. All in all it was a beautiful stitchout and Patti was happy. She likes handmade items because she realizes the thought and feeling that goes into making something for someone. How nice!

I really like the simplicity of the Perfect Pouch pattern. The zipper installation method is ingenious! And you can make them any size you want. That's the best part!

Tissue Holders - Complete!

As I spoke about in my last post, I have joined the 25 Weeks of Christmas Yahoo! group. Our project goal for this month is to make at least six travel tissue covers. Well, we have several patterns to choose from, all different dimensions. I picked one last week which turned out to be too big, because the pocket tissues I bought were a different brand that what the pattern designer used, and the tissues were SWIMMING inside...and I made THREE before I learned this lesson. Sigh. Here are the tissues I bought:


Well, this week I ripped apart the tissue holders I made because I really liked the fabric I used and since I was downsizing I could still use it. I am not going to post how I did it because there are numerous directions out there on the web. The pattern directions I followed were from Tracy at sewthankful.com, but I started with a rectangle six inches by seven and a half inches, and next time I make these will start with a six by seven inch rectangle, because my resulting cover is still a bit loose. Here is a finished tissue cover:


These were very fun and easy to make. I made six very quickly this evening, in under a couple of hours. I love assembly line sewing. It seems to make things go faster. I probably will make more someday, they are quick and easy gifts to make. Two fat quarters will make six covers and there are so many options with patchwork, embroidery, etc. Here are the six completed covers, with tissue packs inside. Thanks for looking!

25 Weeks of Christmas

Happy New Year everyone! Hope that 2008 is a safe and happy one for all. As I said in my last post, I didn't make gifts for people this year, mostly because I procrastinated until it was just too late to start. Well this year I hope will be different. I recently signed up for a new Yahoo! group called 25 Weeks of Christmas, which a fellow Lazy Girl group member (Lish) created. It is a group designed to help support and encourage its members to get their gifts made and wrapped by December so that we can enjoy the holidays with less stress! Participation is required as there is a no lurking policy. We have small goals to meet each month (little projects etc), and by July we are ready to get our gifts we plan to give going. I'm excited because it will give me the little nudge I need to get my butt in gear.


I found a box in my sewing room that will hold the projects in it when completed (actually it is temporary because it is rather small, will upsize when the time comes). Dexter decided he would inspect the box to make sure it was appropriate. I guess he approves!


Well, wish me luck, as I have big plans to give lots of Lazy Girl bags this year! I spent five hours Friday night in my sewing room cleaning up and trying to organize, and found FOUR packages of Warm and White cotton batting (craft and baby size)...and I almost bought some last week! Just goes to show you "out of sight, out of mind" really is true. I also found lots of fabric I bought over the last year that I completely forgot about...sigh. It still looks pretty awful in there, I need CLEAN SWEEP to come in...oh wait, they make you throw out half of everything...never mind (lol)

I'm off today from work, and am getting ready to go back in the sewing room to attack the mess again. Again, Happy New Year!

My First Miranda Bag!

Well it took me a while only because I haven't felt like going in the sewing room for some time, but I finally finished my first Miranda bag!! It is much more involved than the Gracie bag (also by Lazy Girl Designs) but is still a simple to make bag. I used fabric from Moda's Fall Back in Time line by Sandy Gervais. I love how the striped fabric I used for the inside of the bag forms the faux binding at the top. I used the dark green vinyl handles by Exclusively You by Leisure Arts, which are a bit darker than I would like, but I think it still looks good.


Don't you just love all these cool pockets? So much organization in such a small package, although this bag turned out way larger than I expected. That is fine with me, the more room the better! This bag is super sturdy, because it uses heavy interfacing (I used Decor Bond) on both the bag and the lining. It made for some difficult turning of the bag, but once that was done, it was cake.

I love this design and will surely make another. But who knows when? I just have to find the time and pick out some new fabrics! There are so many new lines out now, and I am drooling over some of them!! Thanks for looking!