I didn't realise......

It's been 2 months since I posted! Eek. Sometimes life (& bag making) gets in the way of blogging. You'd think I've been sewing up a storm but I haven't really. Just some bags. I think I'm addicted to making bags.

I leave for Brisbane in a week or so but I haven't been doing my usual last minute clothes sewing. All because I made that wardrobe & cruise wardrobe earlier this year for Brisbane. Big cheer! But I did think I might just whip up some pull-on jeans (you know, like the Jalie ones?) using an old TNT Vogue 7608. Haven't made those since 2004 when I was fat. Well since I'm fat AGAIN...I thought they'd work OK. But the best laid plans....they are TOO BIG! In fact, they are HUGE. Sigh. Luckily I am doing a fitting class with Roberta Thompson at Convention so I can take them as an example of pants crap. He he he.

Anyway, onto the things I can show you. Yes, they are bags. If you're not interested you can pop off now. I won't be offended. Well, maybe a little. Pffft.

First one up is called the Hipbag Hybrid. I like this bag "in theory" but parts of it just don't work. Including the magnets inside that can't cope with any sort of heaviness and the zipper pouch that collapses onto itself when stuff is inside it. But it looks good.

This one is a Nicole Mallalieu coin purse that I made ages ago & have just finished it by adding the frame.

This is a Studio Cherie glasses case that I made in a morning. Quick and looks great. I can see more of these in my future (gifts?).

This is also by Studio Cherie. It's a Zip Around Wallet. Looks soo professional if I do say so myself. Very happy with it.

Last but not least is a duffel I made last month. I quilted all the fabric using bra foam and ordered the zip specially from Zipperstop. I love it. It's a great size and manages to stand up all by itself. It's Simplicity 2600.

It's been a while

Don't for one moment think that just because I haven't been blogging that I haven't been sewing! I'm just sewing secret women's business.

But here are some things I *can* show you.

In May I went away for a sewing weekend where I made some of the secret things. So no photos of that. But I did have a great time and there is another sewing retreat scheduled for August. He he he.

The weekend after that retreat, I did a felting workshop in Woy Woy with NZ felting tutor, Raewyn Penrose. She was one of our tutors at the ASG Convention in Auckland last year and I was very envious of the lucky girls who did her class. So when I was told she was coming over, I jumped at the chance to do the class.

The class was to make this felt and then create a bag but I decided to just keep the fabric as is and use it later. Here's a photo of the finished piece (excuse my tomatoes in the background LOL).

Here are some closeups of some of my favourite bits

Then I decided in order to get the technique of bag-making, I would make this little pouch. No plans for what to do with it though! I used a different background colour and absolutely adore it. So yummy.

I've also been making some underwear. I bought this fabric about 18 months ago when Target decided to change the undies I liked. Grrrr. I got 7 pairs out of 1 metre - one was a toile. I ran out of elastic at the end & needed to sub so just used some cream. I think it looks fine. And besides, who is gonna see it???

The pattern is Kwik Sew 3881, size XL. I did a cross between the full brief and the bikini. I just measured my RTW side seams to get the preferred length. I also used the RTW for elastic measurements and I made the leg openings a bit higher.

A closeup of the elastic attachment using a 3 step zig zag, length 3 width 2.5.

This garment is part of my ASG Convention Sewing Challenge entry.  It's New Look 6082. I've been working on this one for a while cos it was so gapey and low on my body. Anyway, it's now fixed and is fine. The colour is not true to life here - it's more a grape colour.

Last but not least, is a present I made for my best friend. It's a waterproof bag for her to use with her wet sponge/washcloth/whatever you call it. The fabric came from The Remnant Warehouse and is a laminated cotton. The inside (no photo) is just remnants of my much hated Minoru jacket.  I used that old familiar Nicole Mallalieu pattern but didn't box the bottom out.

So that's it for now. I will be back with some more stuff I promise! I'm currently making DD a ponte dress and a merino top for myself. I can definitely show you them!

Nicole Mallalieu Beauty Case

I got this pattern from Homespun magazine ages ago...bought it especially for this bag. He he. Of course, now Nicole has brought it out as part of her range of patterns. Had I know this would happen, I would've held off cos there were a few problems with the magazine version that I'm pretty sure wouldn't be in Nicole's real one.

Vera Bradley make an almost identical bag to this which I wanted but then remembered I had this pattern so decided to make it myself.

I'm really happy with how this has turned out even with all the problems. Luckily they were problems that could be fixed such as one piece being cut too big or not enough bias pieces to bind 2 different seams. Luckily also I had enough fabric to make more bias but of course I could've used something else.

I did change the fabric for the handle due to fabric limitations. It's supposed to be the lime colour rather than the black print. My fabric is, of course, Vera Bradley. And I've got none of this one left. Sniff. It's a really pretty print with the splashes of lime but they are rather few & far between hence this bag doesn't have any on the front. The bottom is a different story.

Rather blurry view of the inside.

Close up of the back hinge and my label.

Close up of the handle & ring.

Closeup of the lid pocket. If I made this again, I wouldn't divide this pocket as it makes them rather small. I'd also consider using a contrast here.

This shot shows how the lid opens.

Closeup on the inside wall pockets.

View of the lid.

Closeup of my fancy zippers. This pattern calls for one zip that goes all the way around. In my best Vera Bradley knock off sewing, I wanted two zipper pulls so used 2 zippers. While a bit tricky, it's worked well. Luckily I've made lots of Nicole's zipper coin purses so knew what to do with the end bits. My zippers are from The Remnant Warehouse and are silver satin with metal teeth and fancy pulls. I love them!

Mother's wristlet

I finally sat down at the sewing machine long enough to finish this. Not that it took long - I just couldn't get into it. Onto the pics.

The bag is made using Nicole Mallalieu's makeup bag pattern. The only thing I did differently to the pattern was the addition of the D ring in the side seam to attach a lanyard. Mother can fit all her necessary items in it for the cruise and can swan around without a huge bulky bag. 

Here's a close-up of the lining fabric:

 

And a close-up of the D-ring & lanyard:

A quick fill in.....

Here's something I've been working on for a month or so. Didn't have much to do to finish it so in between other projects, while I was feeling a little bored, I did it. It's another Baguette bag from the You Sew Girl pattern in fabric requested by DD. Of course there's a bag contest starting on Aug 1 on PR but this one doesn't count. Of course. Not to mention the other bag I'm halfway through.

Apologies for the rather crappy blurry dark photos. It's late afternoon here and the sun is mostly gone from my sewing room.

A close up of the inside pocket. Unfortunately, I forgot to add my label.

A nice closeup of the strap and ring

Another close up - this time it's the twist lock that I'm absolutely in love with!

And finally, a shot on the body. She refused to have any part of her head or the rest of her clothes in the shot. :)

Coin purses....again

Those of you who know me in real life will know that I've been obsessed making these coin purses since earlier this year. Today I finished up a few that have been languishing in my sewing room. Here's what they look like.

I also had a 2" navy zipper flapping around in my zipper stash. I've been wanting to make something from it for a while but didn't really have any nice navy fabric that would do. After I showed DD my coin purses (she thinks I'm a genius LOL) I decided to make her a USB purse using the 2" zip. I had this really lovely VB fabric (what else?) with border so I set about making it. 20 minutes later this is what I ended up with. I think it's my magnum opus.

This is probably the back and the one below should be the front. It's got the border piece on it. I planned the other one so it had the lovely flower smack in the middle. It's the cutest thing and the USB just fits inside!

More coin purses

Remember in my previous post I had a photo of the coin purses I was making? Well here are some more!



I've made 21 so far and am still going. I'm sure the novelty will wear off soon but hopefully not before I have enough for Christmas presents. :) The big one at the back is a special order for my mother. Of course, it came out perfectly.

What I should be doing is making my final adjustments to the Minoru jacket pattern & cutting it out. Am I interested? Not really. I also have a cardigan ready to cut out. Again, no interest. Sigh.

Not much to report

I'm not sewing a garment at the moment so not much to report. I thought I'd just drop in to say I'm not dead (yet). Since I have nothing on the go, I've been doing these little coin purses for Christmas presents. They are very addictive and I've finished 8 so far. I cut another 10 out yesterday and am doing the odd seam as I feel like it. They are just so cute and every time I find an interesting zipper, I want to make another. I've now discovered that it's easier to make the bags fit the zipper than the other way around. Duh!

Here's some I made earlier.

I'll update again when the next lot is finished!

I'm doing a class on Saturday with Angie Zimmermann and am hoping to have that dratted Minoru jacket toile perfected. I'm very jealous of my friend Maria who has finished hers. Boo! The weather in Sydney now is perfect for the jacket....it's bucketing down! No doubt by the time I finish it, the rain will be long gone.

Sewing? What's that??

I've been in a bit of a sewing slump since spring/summer began. I have made no sewing plans and I think this is my problem. I'm a bit of an OCD planner so with no plans, I do nothing. Anyway, I had to go to the ASG meeting and needed something to sew so cut this out on Friday. I'm so out of the loop I'd cut one piece, get bored, go away, do something else & then come back & cut the other layer. Repeat ad nauseam. This is my life at the moment.

I got it all sewn up at the meeting. Pretty easy sewing. In fact, I think this pattern is easier than Nicole's zip coin purse number. The frame really scared me though cos I thought it would be hard. Well it was soooo easy, I couldn't believe it. You had to glue it in place first & then crimp. Easy as pie and looks FANTASTIC. Well, at least, I think it does! LOL.

200mm Frame Purse Kit

Designer: Nicole Mallalieu

Fabric: Vera Bradley cotton from Etsy

$10 per yard

Border fabric from Bargain Box Shepparton

My 2 final finishes for the trip

Before I fly away next Friday, I thought I'd post these last 2 items that I made for the trip.

The first one is another version of the Sandra Betzina cardigan that I blogged about before. It's Vogue 1058. I had to make this cardi much longer both above & below the bust in order to get that band in the right place. I'm still not sure about the fit (even though I made the right size this time!) as there's something going on in the armholes and I should have rotated the sleeve somewhat but it will do nicely as another layer for my trip. The red fabric is just gorgeous.

Vogue 1058

Size F lengthened

Fabric: 100% merino wool from The Fabric Store

Cost: $28 p/m

Purchased on 1st November 2010

The second and last thing for my trip is another version of Nicole Mallalieu's Baguette bag. If you recall, I made one last year and while I love it, it's a little small to fit all my things in it. Well...they fit but I can't do it up! It's also very floppy. So I made this one about 3cm wider and about the same taller. I also added a zip closure, made my shoulder strap a little wider and used a heavier interfacing and fusible wadding. Very happy with the result although the addition of the zip closure almost did my head in. Thanks to Sharonspils for lending me the instructions for that from another Nicole M bag pattern. I wanted the zip closure to give my things a bit more security for our trip. I've used it already and it's great. I can now fit my wallet, glasses case, camera, ipod and all the other stuff I have without the bag bulging out.

I found the matching border at Bargain Box fabrics in Shepparton on our way home from the Ballarat ASG Convention. Love it on the flap! This is a complete knock off of the way Vera Bradley bags are made!

A closeup of the zipper gusset addition.

Last, a pic of the inside pocket with my label. I also had a last minute idea to make a loop of elastic for the ever-present chapstick as I discovered when I used the bag, that the chapstick was hard to find in the depths! Lucky I hadn't hand-finished the lining seam. I knew there was a reason I put that off!

Laptop Bag

I promised my daughter I would make her this laptop bag for school this year. She is in Year 11 (wow..how time flies!) & is now a senior at school so has outgrown her L L Bean monogrammed backpack.

So off we went to the local quilting store to find some fabric for the lining. Well, they had fantastic printed cotton duck fabric & plains to match so we managed to get the lot in one day. I thought I'd have to visit another store for the main fabric. She picked out the gorgeous contrast fabric first and then we got the plain brown for the rest of the bag. Then we picked out the lining which is just as gorgeous and I did an order from Nicole Mallalieu for all the bits and pieces.

Cutting out and fusing this bag is the biggest time consumer of the whole project. There are so many pieces! Some are only in lining, some are in everything...you get the idea. Then to work out which bits to interface, which to add fusible wadding to....erk. Anyway, I managed to get it all cutout and then the fusing took place one Saturday morning. All morning. 2 hours worth.

The sewing was a breeze. Surprisingly. Although I did have a snafu with the bottom piece and its template plastic and vilene interfacing. Nicole folds the seams around the plastic/interfacing combo and then you topstitch that onto the outside of the bag. I trimmed a little too close at the corners and now have fraying. But other than that, the bag looks gorgeous.

This is her with bag in situ.

A closer view of the front of the bag.

The front pocket that is under the flap.

Strap & shoulder pad (although not on her shoulder properly!)

This is the expandable pleated pocket that I sewed my label onto. I had 2 friends ask me why I'd put my name on the pocket when it was my daughter's bag. Huh?? Do they ask Coco Chanel that question??????????