Pleated Shoulder Bag V3

This bag was made for C, whom I've never met before. C saw the bag that I made for E and liked it so much that she wanted me to make her a bag too so she asked my mum (C, E and mum all work together) and of course my mum said "sure, she would love to make you a bag!!"

I sent C some emails with fabric combo's and she chose this Amy Butler Lacework in Brown and Full Moon Dots in Lime combo, mmmmmm yum!

I used the same pattern as the Dick and Jane bag I made for the bag swap. This time the handles are a little floppier due to the lighter-weight interfacing but I think I prefer them to be that little bit stiffer. I used pellon for this bag where as I didn't in the Dick and Jane bag. I love the quilted feel and thickness of the pellon.

I did a huge zippered pocket so C will be able to store lots in there and I also made sure I got a longer zipper for this bag, no worrying about fitting your hand into this pocket.

I am really happy with the end result and once again, will be sorry to see it go.

ONE SIDE


OTHER SIDE


BIG ZIPPERED POCKET




I ended up making a matching pocket tissue holder as a little extra surprise - too cute!

Oliver + S Popover Sundress

When I first saw this free pattern by Oliver + S I wasn't inspired to make it (!). It was only after seeing some of the dresses made by the girls in my online beginners sewing group that I knew I had to make one too.

I was disappointed with a few silly things I could have done better. The yoke stitching runs off ever so slightly (on the wrong side thankfully), the hem is pretty wonky and I forgot to tuck in the raw ends of the straps. I think there may have been 1 or 2 teeny tiny tucks on the armhole binding too. Next time I will go to bed instead of being too stubborn and wanting to finish.

The fabric is ok, it's sweet for a little girl (butterflies, flowers, of course M loves it) but the placement of the navy blue flowers annoys me so I like it worn better with the white side under the yoke at the back.

I also would have preferred to do the yoke in a navy blue instead of the pale pink but I didn't have any fabric in that colour (stubborn remember, couldn't wait....)

It seems to be quite long on M and plenty of room so I might even do a size smaller next time.

I like this dress but I don't love it. I will make it again though because I do like the pattern.

Retromummy's Giveaway

Be sure to head on over to Corrie's blog and enter her giveaway. Thank you so much for such a generous giveaway Retromummy I am really, really hoping I win this one :-D

Mucking Around

I wanted to try making something from a few ideas I had floating around in my head.

All I really knew was that I wanted to sew strips of fabric together and to try a ruffle.

There was no pattern which is why it's very wide on M and the straps were way too long (bad measuring on my part) so instead of cutting them I've folded down the extra length and sewn across it so the excess is tucked down into the back of the dress.

Regardless of the flaws, it will be a lovely light dress this coming summer and should she have a growth spurt, there is plenty of room to move in this dress, both ways!!

Another Little Munchkins Giveaway

May the stars and planets be aligned and my name be pulled out as the winner of this beautiful pattern which Novy is giving away.

While you're over at Novy's Little Munchkins blog, have a good look around, there is so much to see! Lots of beautiful sewing, she is such a clever and generous girl. Thanks for hosting another giveaway Novy.

Simplicity 4589

On completion of my pyjama's I enrolled to do a second 8 week sewing course. Instead of making the same thing as the other girls, this time we were all able to choose our own pattern. I started pattern surfing and found a few I liked and finally decided on this pattern after finding that it had its very own Flickr group! There are even more photos of tops made from this pattern floating around in Flickr.

I didn't find it as simple as the pattern title implies and was glad to have my sewing teacher, Ruth, alongside to guide me through it.

Now that it's done I can see that the neck isn't quite as rounded on one side as it should be. Apart from that I'm pretty happy with it. I would make it one size bigger next time and I added the contrast band at the bottom as I felt it was a little short on me. I did mean to cut it out longer but totally forgot to so next time I will try and remember to add some length before cutting into my fabric.

A big thank you to Chris for the beautiful Amy Butler fabric which was part of my goodie pack in the bag swap. Thanks Chris!