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.

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.

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.

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.