Category Archives: Sewing

A quick little project or two….

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I noticed that a friend was using a really tired-looking purse to hold her store loyalty cards, and decided it was about time I made her a little present. I had some fat quarters left over from my last Hobbycraft purchase, and found the perfect tutorial at Midwestern Girl for a  wallet – it’s a perfect size for those loyalty cards, and should save her needing to use that tired old purse any more!

Card Holder (outside)

And inside the card holder:

Card Holder

If I made another one, I would try to get those corners turned out better – that really lets it down on looks. But it’s practical, which is the whole point 😀 I think I would also add a button & elastic to hold it closed, as it’s made quite loose (to fit as many cards as possible in), but that does mean the cards slide about a bit in the pouches.

 

While I was in a sewing frame of mind, I thought it was time I made my Christmas apron for Gran. Yes I know it’s now March, but Gran requested Christmas fabric for Easter! You can probably just make out the pocket in the photo – that’s slightly higher placed than the last apron I made, and the top is slightly narrower than the first apron, although I think it needed to be slightly wider than I have it. The straps are simple cotton herringbone tape rather than being made out of the same fabric – Gran prefers them to look like that.

Easter Apron

A rush request

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I heard from a relative that he was going to be a daddy 😀 ….only trouble is, he told me about 3 weeks from the due date, which didn’t give me much time to make something!

I’ve sewn a couple of messenger bags using the tutorial from Crazy Little Projects before, and knew I could make one in quite a short space of time….  and I’d found the perfect fabric in the sale at just one pound for a metre!

So here we have the Jungle Book Nappy Bag….

Jungle Book Bag (outer flap)

Jungle Book Bag (outer flap)

Jungle Book Bag (back)

Jungle Book Bag (back)

Jungle Book Bag (inner)

Jungle Book Bag (inner)

The panels are (almost) fussy-cut, so the characters lined up nicely. I still can’t get the lining to behave though; it always appears too small when I start, and way too big once I sew the final stitches.

But I couldn’t make something for the parents and not make something for the baby, could I? Using my favourite bear pattern, I knitted Cheshire the Cat-Bear in white and cream yarn which gives him a nice mottled effect. He’s meant to be a bear, but I think his face looks more cat like, so he’s a Cat-Bear 😉

Cheshire the Cat-Bear

Cheshire the Cat-Bear

He should be just the right size for little hands to grab!

 

2015

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How did 2014 fly past so quickly that it’s 2015 already?! It doesn’t seem a year ago that I decided I wanted to start learning to sew, and was borrowing Mum’s sewing machine to get to grips with the basics!

Anyhow, with the new year in mind, I’ve decided to take part in Crazy Little Project’s Crazy New You challenge! Looking at the really cluttered way I store my fabric & yarn, I figured that I needed to sort that out, and that’s my challenge for this month 🙂

So far, I’ve bagged all my fabric in freezer bags (surprisingly useful to make sure it’s kept reasonably tidy), and put it all neatly into a cardboard storage box. Of course then I managed to find some really fantastic fabric in the sale, so I still have a couple of things that won’t quite fit into the box…. Maybe that’s a good excuse to start sewing another project?!

This year I’ve a few projects in mind, and hopefully I’ll be able to finish most of them:

  • Knit Sherlock Mouse‘s hat (at last) and add in some hair as well
  • Sew another Notebook Folder
  • Make myself a cover for my notebooks, as that’s got to be better than piles of post-it notes, right?
  • Sew another messenger bag (I’ve got the perfect outer fabric for that, just need to work out what the lining will be made from)
  • Learn how to add a zip into a bag, so I can make the messenger bag close up properly
  • Make a laundry bag (a request from my Mum)
  • Finish at least one of my knitting UFOs
  • Make a mini Sherlock-themed scrapbook – that may or may not happen 😛
  • ….and possibly attempt a curtain, but that is very unlikely!

So just a short list! I’m hopeful I can at least get Sherlock Mouse finished this month, then once I’ve figured out what fabric would work well together, I can work on a notebook folder / cover 😀

 

 

 

There are no affiliate links in this post. I just happened to find WH Smith storage boxes the perfect size!

Sew Long to Poverty

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If we want a new sewing machine, most of us can either save up the funds, or use a credit card maybe, to purchase it. But for the women in Malabar Memsahib, a small co-operative set up by Kerala Crafts in southern India, that’s not an option. The ladies in this co-operative make clothes to sell locally, and also make Fair Trade pants for Kerala Crafts, which are then sold in the UK, with all profits going back to community projects in southern India.

The Fair Trade pants have been so popular, that the current sewing machines they have, are struggling to keep up with the demand, so Kerala Crafts wants to purchase an industrial sewing machine for them, which would in turn mean more funds heading back to community projects in southern India, through increased sales of these pants.

But, without our help, these ladies will be stuck with their current machines, unable to get the industrial one they so desperately need, to keep up with the demand! There’s just 7 days remaining on the  Sew Long to Poverty crowdfunder, and they need just £110 more, to get to 100%! If they can’t get to a hundred percent, then they get nothing, so it’s really important that we can help them get that remaining amount!

If you can’t, or would rather not donate, then that’s perfectly fine – but please consider spreading the word to people, so that they might donate

Thank you 🙂

 

Kerala Crafts

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Knickers to charity …. well kind of 😛

A small charity called Kerala Crafts works with a small co-operative of women in Southern India – one of their projects is selling the co-operative’s fair trade knickers in the UK. These pants have proved so popular, that the charity is now trying to fundraise to purchase an industrial sewing machine so the co-operative can keep up with the demand!

Can we help them raise the remaining 74% of their target in 27 days?

Messenger bag success

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I found some fantastic material in the sale at just a pound for a metre, and was wondering what I could use it for. Browsing through the Crazy Little Projects site, I came across Amber’s Messenger Bag tutorial, and decided that would be the perfect use of my bargain material. Of course then I had to find something suitable for the lining as well – cue more shopping!

Messenger Bag

I spent most of the day tackling the cutting & sewing, and considering this is my second ever bag I’ve sewn, it came out looking quite nifty 😀 The orange material I used for the lining is slightly furry to the touch, so it makes the underside of the strap feel slightly padded (as I didn’t use any interfacing or wadding on that at all).

I added a pocket to the inside as well, and although some of the stitching isn’t anywhere near perfect, who would know, to look at it? 🙂

 

messenger-bag-2-site messenger-bag-3-site

 

Sweet Dreams

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I’ve wanted to try machine sewing something for a while, and when I saw that this month’s Sew Crazy Challenge was “Big Dreams” themed, I was inspired to make a teddy bear & a bag – after all, if you wanted a great night’s sleep, what’s better than a cuddly bear & a bag to hold your favourite book?

I had some funky material from The Makery that was sitting around looking for inspiration for a while now, so decided to take the plunge and try making a bag out of that, and some starry fabric for the lining and handles. I followed the excellent tutorial from Diary of a Quilter and actually, I’m quite pleased with how this came out 😀

bag-and-bear

Some of the stitches on the bag aren’t perfect by any means, and I know my straight lines need practise to get them parallel to the edges, but I’m determined to not be such a perfectionist with things, so it’s definitely good enough for me 😀

And the best thing? I only used half a fat quarter for the outside, and only slightly more for the lining, so I have enough left over to make a second one!

 

The bear was also my first machine sewn plushie – I need to practise the joints a bit more, but it looks like a bear, and that’s the main thing. I used the Pip Pattern for him (but made it larger than the hand-sewn version), although I did knit the nose, as I fail at trying to sew them!

 

Sewing!!

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I’d had the idea to sew a plushie for a while now, and seeing as this month’s Sew Crazy Challenge is for children, I thought I’d give it a go!

I found the pattern for Pip the Bear which seemed pretty easy, although I didn’t do any of the joints, I just stitched mine straight to the other pieces. He’s made out of cotton, rather than furry fabric, and is all hand sewn (incredibly fiddly in places!), but for a first attempt at a sewn bear, I think Pip came out really well 😀

Pip the Bear sewn2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve got a plan in mind now, to make a larger version that I can try to sew on the machine, to make the seams a lot harder wearing than my hand sewing can ever turn out to be. I’ve got some really funky orange material with mice over it, which should look fantastic, so wish me luck!