Friday, November 19, 2010

It's sewing season!

I think subconsciously that daylight savings time not only signifies the change in mother nature's seasons, but also my sewing season. I found it extremely difficult to spend time at my sewing machine this summer, but now that it is getting dark around 5pm (boo!) it's more enjoyable to spend time with my iron and sewing machine.

I am busy sewing for December Holiday Handmade Open House. I wanted to include several different sizes of bags and to date I haven't really sewn any handbags. This style of bag is nothing new, but I love the process of making a pattern. I start out by grabbing my ruler and get an idea of the finished size. Then I jot down a few measurements before I start cutting. Being as this was my first attempt at this size and style, I looked in my stash for some fabrics I won't mind messing up. I found a linen calendar towel, some teal corduroy, and brown cotton canvas remnant.
I finished the bag with a cute wooden toggle button from the stash. The interior is comprised of the remaining parts of the linen calendar towel and some chocolate brown polka dot cotton. A zipper pocket and one slip pocket provide additional storage and organization.

Overall, it was a great mental exercise and the finished product was exactly what I was hoping for. That generally doesn't happen! I believe this handbag took less than 1/2 yard of fabric to complete too. When I make my next one I'll have to keep track of the amount used.

I don't think I'll get too much sewing down this weekend. It's date night tonight (very excited about this!) and tomorrow I am taking a road trip to Baltimore with a girlfriend of mine to visit Ikea! Sunday's are for napping. :)

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Eye candy

This summer I had some great finds. One day I was chatting with a lady in a semi-local fabric store trying to find fabrics with a similar weave to some vintage cotton I had been collecting. I wanted to start turning them into a quilt. She directed me to a friend of hers that was parting with her 200+ collection of old feed sacks! As you can see from the top photo I came home with several in a purple/orange colors! I cannot wait to start on this quilt! I have been following Stitched in Color's {Colorbrick} Quilt Along and I think I'll be using her pattern to use these fabrics. I also picked up some plain white feed sacks for the sashing.

Also....

I found this pretty little table for a song at an estate sale this summer. I officially now have 2 end tables! Go me.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Etsy Update!


Click the photos for a direct link to the listing.

(Set of 6 Forest Coasters)

(In Bloom Tote)

(Set of 6 Apple Coasters)

(Bye-Bye Birdie Handbag)


PS. I miss blogging! Has Xmas snuck up on anyone else? If you have found a great sewing PDF lately, leave a comment with a link!