Something I made for MIL

Here are some pics of my attempt at a tutorial Pink Penquin kindly shared with us,

Thankyou Pink Penquin for putting your tutorial up. Your instructions were clear and the images very useful... an enjoyable project.

It has a nice boxy bottom, this is before I ironed it.

Waiting for the top stitching.


I think this was before I put the lining in, it is a bit floppy but I interfaced the back of both lining and outer.

The finished product with a little tissue pouch I made.

...can you believe it, I cut the patchwork out the night before and started the next day at about 7am and it took me until 3pm!!!! Okay so I did have a few frantic phone calls in between from Hagatha who was trying to get to a duckling and her wellie boots but was being kept at bay by a vicious cockerel ( don't ask )...I'm not sure why she rings me at these key moments, maybe it is so someone can tell the authorities how she met her grisly and bizarre end...or maybe it is just because it makes me laugh...okay I know you shouldn't... but it is amusing listening to someone shrieking as they scrabble up on to a trampoline for safety with an earful of barnyard noises in the background...I am quite used to the cry of "It's coming to get me!" by now.

Anyway enough of these oddities and back to crafting. I found I didn't have any batting so I opted for a lightweight interfacing...didn't fancy the idea of trying to get anything stifffer through the 2" opening you have to turn it the right way around...It seems to have worked okay.

Things I would do differently: Put co-ordinating thread in the bobin so the stitching around the top of the lining didn't jump out at you so much, maybe embroider the plain squares a little before I sewed it together. Apart from that I am very happy. It took longer than I thought, but that may be the distraction of the phone calls and a very lively Sharp End...now he is on anti-inflammatories he is like a puppy again, I have lost count of the number of times I got up to retrieve either the contents of the bin, a pin cushion or some other thing out of his mouth. Oh the trials of a crafter's life. ;o)

MIL now has her little basket,it co-ordinates perfectly with her bedroom decor...it was the minty green that did it. What pleased me is that she saw the patchwork and said...

"Nice fabric, where did you get that?"

This pleased me no end because the fact that it was stitched together in squares had not been obvious, meaning I hope, that my patchwork skills are improving. :o) I gave her the little tissue cozy that is in the picture too and I made another for my friend Line.

Doxie wondering what colour combo to do for her own bedroom :o)

Little token gift

I often struggle to decide what is and what isn't appropriate as a token gift for someone you don't know well. DS is coming to the end of a course of night classes and I wanted to give a little something to the teacher...last year we gave a flowering plant...this year he is going to give a pocket tissue cozy. My sister gave me one of these a few years ago and I was delighted ( mine has a cross stitch top with my name and flowers embroidered on it) so I am hoping the teacher will be too even though it will not be as fancy as the one I recieved.

I am not entirely happy with the one I have made as the interfacing has creased when I turned it right way out, even ironing didn't totally remedy this ( I think I may have used too heavy a weight/thickness for the job in hand )...if I can find a suitable lining I will run another up omitting the iron-on interfacing.

If I have time I plan to make a matching fabric covered notebook for her too...this will be a first so I either have to find a blooming good tutorial or do some crazy quick pattern making in the short space of time I have.

Edited to say...I made quite a few of these and kept one for myself. :o) They really are better at keeping your tissues decent in your handbag or pocket. :o) so tried and tested 10/10

Doxie :o)

Ruffled Tote: ta-da!

Okay so I just could not contain my excitement and had to jump right in with that fancy bag. Two warnings though...do not start it at rude o'clock because you will be too tired and make silly mistakes such as pressing the handle straps the wrong way, as in width wise instead of length wise ( duh, go figure where my brain was on that one? ) or worse twisting the fabric just before you sew two ends together so you have to unpick it (and by hand because you realise that you left your quick-unpick at a neighbour's last week ...and no I couldn't pop around and get it, remember it was rude o'clock)... All that said, if I hadn't started it before bed I would not have slept a wink; having a new crafting project in waiting for me is worse than a seven year old knowing he is going to Disney Land the next day.

Anyway let me tell you something, after this project you will know your hemming foot very well. You will also have a very tired hand ( from all that hemming )...I have never tired my hands out with sewing before, that was a first LOL.

The bit that takes longest to do is the ruffles...unless you have been blessed by the sewing fairy and are fortunate enough to have a ruffler foot for your machine. ( Mr Doxie if you are reading this, that is something to put on the birthday list :o) grin )

I was a complete twit and did not check my bobin thread before sewing on the first ruffle, there I was, merrily sewing away with no thread in the bottom...it would not have been a problem if I hadn't unpinned as I went along...Thus I had to sit down and pin about 3/4s of it again. Oh well that has taught me to pay attention and not let my impulsiveness ( please translate as enthusiasm ) get me carried away...Oh and something else somehow I managed to get the handles in the wrong place...If the bag had been a square I would have had to shift them by 90 degrees if that makes sense...never mind, I am now a whizz at unpicking !

I toyed with the idea of only having 3 ruffles seeing as I went for very girly print...I wondered if it might be overkill ...ROTFL... look at the fabric, can you imagine? ...The resulting bag is something which would not look out of place at the Moulin Rouge. I'd love to have the guts to embroider a little label for it that says "You think my bag's fancy, you should see my knickers"...but somehow I think one might get some unwanted attention LOL. Anyhow the result is...I am pleased, tickled and definitely going to make at least another 3 of these for 3 very different girly friends.

The things I would do differently next time are; do french seams on the sides ( I did do them on the bottom ), pop a lining in, put a pocket in it for a mobile, and make the boxed bottom wider than the X measurement. I did not put a drawstring on this one as I will probably keep this one for myself and will just use it to tote around bottled water etc on family days out.

Anyone else brave enough to give it a go. It really is not difficult to make...you just need a little patience to get the ruffles right and don't expect to knock it up in an hour. Thanks to Weekend Designer for putting up a pattern and firing up the inspiration. :o)

Doxie

Invasion of the ladybirds

Look out! Here they come

I am sure they are plotting something

... as long as it has nothing to do with my newly planted roses I don't mind...unless it is eating aphids and then they are welcome! I think the one below is the leader.

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I haven't put flowers and leaves on them all yet as I want to get some different coloured felt so I can make them all a little bit individual. I did one thing differently to the instructions; I did chain stitch in black thread around the bottom of the ladybird instead of just a long stitch as I couldn't get the long stitch to behave and stay where I wanted it to. For details of the instructions look at the link in my previous post.

I know which homes these are going to and I think I will be making some more...they are a fairly portable project... you could easily sit in the car and do these ( not when you are driving of course! lol ) or have a go at some in your lunch hour at work.

VerybigJen came up trumps with these. :o) Thankyou.

Doxie

Rae's top

Okay I finally got around to taking a pic of Rae's top that I made...keep in mind this started out as a muslin, so there is probably quite a few stray threads etc ...but I liked the fabric so much I have made it part of my wardrobe...Next time I WILL take more care. The way I put it on the hanger makes it look a bit lop-sided but luckily that is not how it is when you wear it.

Doxie