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Monday, December 12

Now for something fluffy

This post isn't going to be about Alvida (the cat in the picture) but she is fluffy for sure. It's also a rare thing to catch her on a photo while she's yawning, so enjoy!

Here's for what I'm currently working on: yet another knitted scarf. I have three of my own knitted scarves at home already, and I barely even use the ones I have, because my current winter jacket has a snug and warm collar already. But I couldn't resist this yarn. It's so soft and fluffy. I bought two different colors: one's gray (top photo), and the other's in different shades of teal (bottom photo). I might just have to wear it around the house when it's done so I get some use out of it.

A little red bag

Mother asked for a red bag, so of course I made her one. I'm however not happy with it, so I'm not sure I'll be giving it to her. I might just try again.
The front has more of grandmother's pretty lace, and a patchwork pattern of some matching fabric scraps.
The inside of the bag has pockets on one side. It closes with a zipper, and the lining is blue. I made it specifically blue because mom said she didn't want a blue bag..

The shoulder strap is made out of the fabric that's on the top of the bag on both front and back. It was made pretty sloppily because at this point I realized I didn't like the bag much, but I still didn't want to leave it unfinished.

Closeup of the front.

I didn't get any pictures of the back of the bag but it's plain red there.

Thursday, November 24

Patchwork bag

I finished a shoulder tote for myself. It's not black and white, you say? No, indeed it is not. When I'd laid the fabrics out yesterday I realized I didn't really want to make a black and white bag yet. Instead I looked through my pile of beautiful scrap fabrics I got off Swedish Ebay for a bargain, and somehow the scraps grew into this.

I love how the golden thread binds it all together and gives it a nicer look. All the buttons are picked somewhat randomly from my enormous stash.

The pocket on the front was an afterthought, I just happened to put the fabric down there as I was pinning one side of the lining's pockets, and loved how it looked on the front. So I cut it down and put it on the front instead. At that time the front and back was already assembled. It was rather tricky sewing a pocket onto a finished bag, but doable.

The shoulder straps I rather cheated on. I used a black clip on strap from another bag instead of making my own. I have put in an online order for some of those clip things, and I intend to make a few of these shoulder straps, so I have a variety to go with any bag I make from now on. But for now, the black leather strap is an easy fix.

The lining is made from a beautiful, thick cotton fabric I got on sale. I have almost a meter left of it and I intend to use some of it for my black and white bag once I get started on it. Possibly later today.

I'm really happy with this bag all in all, I think it turned out beautifully, despite it being a spur of the moment thing, and a lot of the details came on as an afterthought.

Wednesday, November 23

One bag finished

I finished the bag for my friend for Christmas. Took almost all day yesterday; which was fine, since I had nothing better to do anyway. Just in case she might read this (you never know) I won't put a picture up of the finished product yet, however here's a little sneak peek of the beautiful fabric I used. Alvida helped me sew it all together, of course.

Next up is a bag for me. Been playing around with some different fabric coordinations today, just not sure what to use for the actual bag. It'll be black and white with maybe maybe a bit of colors in a little trimming. We shall see.

Tuesday, November 22

The problem is deciding what to do next

I have several projects in my head that I would like to get started on. Problem is when it gets like this: I don't know where to start! So let's list them up.

A bag for my BFF for Christmas. She's wanting a smaller bag than the one she has, one that has space for her iPhone, calendar, wallet and keys. However knowing her she's not going to want a super small bag, so I'm making it medium sized. I have the fabric for it cut out already - some wonderful green printed flower fabric mixed with green linen that I found on second hand for a bargain. For the details, I'm going with some home-dyed (on the stove) bobbin lace, that I have in abundance. My grandmother used to do a lot of bobbin lacing (is that what it's called?) before her eyesight got too poor to continue, and as her only granddaughter who has any interest in things like this, I inherited a whole box filled with laces. They are all so very beautiful, but they're all white, and white does not match all (any?) of my projects, so I have been looking for cheap ways to dye the little buggers at home.

For my second project I have a new bag for myself. I've it planned out in my head, sort of. I will use the black and white fabric scraps I got at second hand, some black satin trimming and maybe some of my bobbin lace. And a few of the oh-so-cute black and white striped buttons I got from Ebay.

The third project is a remodeling of my floor lamp. I have a Duderö lamp from IKEA (picture from IKEA on the right). Problem is it is made out of thin paper, and crazy cats plus thin paper lamps is not a great combination. However I have a plan to put some fabric on it to replace the broken paper; I just don't know if it's even doable in a nice looking way. We shall see.

Those are my projects for now. I think I better stop rambling about them and actually get to work.

Monday, November 21

I'm in love..

.. with my new sewing machine! My little beauty, a Singer Fashion Mate 7256, finally arrived today. Obviously, I have then spent most of the day pouring over the instruction manual, and later sewing. There's so many functions and pretty stitches, I don't know when I'll try them all out. So far I have used a simple straight stitch and a zigzag, and one of the overlock seams. It functions so beautifully, the flow is wonderful compared to my borrowed old Husqvarna. Hopefully we'll be best buddies for many years to come.

I finally got around to sewing me a few new cushions for my table chairs. The original orange color was nice when coupled with the orange and green cushions of my bed-turned-sofa, but as the majority of my kitchen is green, white, black and blue, they didn't match very well.

The fabric I picked up at a second hand store. They're old curtains, and I love the stripe pattern and how well it fits in with my color scheme.

Here's one down: you can see the old orange color on the pillow my cat's lying on.

(Note: My ceiling lamp is actually green and not yellowish; my camera isn't very good with colors.)

First post: A Skirt

Hi!

This isn't the first time I'm starting a new blog, but for once I'm hoping to actually keep it up. This blog is going to be dedicated to anything made by me. I paint, I sew and I dabble in a lot of things.

To start things on the right note, here's one of my latest creations: a skirt. It's made from old bed clothing that I ordered online a while back. It ended up being too rough texture on the fabric, and I like my bed clothing to be soft and comfy. However I did love the fabric pattern - so here's a skirt made from it. I'm in the process of transforming another piece of the same fabric into a little bag with black lace and red accents, but as my borrowed sewing machine broke and the new one I ordered isn't here yet - it's going slowly.