Craft bag

Hi again,

I've been away from blogland for a while, busy with real life making things.

The Great British Sewing Bee has been inspirational, taking me back to my sewing machine. I've started with sewing dolls clothes and now I'm moving on to bags and clothes.

Today I completed my Butterick b 5741 multi pocket craft bag.


It's a good size, 31 cm wide, 31 cm high and 23 cm deep.


There are four small pockets, 16 cm wide by 19 cm tall...perfect for a pattern envelope and multiple bits and pieces.


There a two side pockets big enough for a booklet or magazine at 23 cm by 24 cm.


It also can hold an A4 file and a large Plastic tub easily with lots of room to spare. I am so happy with that.

It took longer to make than I expected, mainly because the handles were awkward; thick seams and heavyweight fabric do not go well with curved facing and topstitching. My inexperience means I got impatient and just got on with it instead of pausing and thinking of a better way- I was desperate to finish today.

So on reflection, the good bits- great size and pockets too. A bag that will be useful.

The bad bits- the awkward handle, maybe I'll square off the top and make a strappy handle next time.

What did I change- I didn't use interfacing, I felt the canvas I used was thick enough. It would have been really hard to sew if it was thicker still. I also only had one metre of fabric, instead of the 1.4 m needed per the pattern so had to raid my scraps for facing and lining material.

What will I change next time- maybe change the handles, or maybe not as they do look good. I also think I might use a plain fabric with some bias binding to edge the top and pockets.

The biggest surprise- I didn't like the fabric at first, I originally bought it to make a present for someone with different taste to me. Maybe it's because it just reminds me of British summer flowers, but I just love it now.

Until next time
Gillian

Great Day for Getting Things Done

I've had the most wonderful day today. My darling husband, of course, has spoilt me with chocolates and cooking a gorgeous meal tonight, something I haven't had for ages, mousaka followed by home made waffles---- yummy!!!

Perhaps it sounds weird but the biggest treat was letting me have the kitchen to myself to sew all morning- once the ironing was done of course!

So with 3 hours of sewing time I decided I would finally make the cute little owl I found in the Buttons and Blooms book by Whimsicals  (the book was expensive but is absolutely stunning). I was so thrilled to actually finish it before lunch! There were a few moments when seams appeared to be impossible on my sewing machine because I could not get them over the sleeve arm of my machine, but somehow I managed in the end. So here is dear little Olivia Owl- isn't she fabulous!

I think some owl brothers and sisters will be needed soon...


This afternoon has been perfect too, watching a DVD of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers- one of my favourite films- with my youngest son. As some of you may know I never just sit and watch TV though, so I managed to finish off my Harvest Awe quilt whilst watching it.


It really is outrageously bold for one of my quilts- I am usually much more restrained and avoid such bold colour and pattern variation in a single quilt.


Unfortunately the lighting was awful this evening (overcast skies and taking photos indoors just doesn't really work well). The square that looks purple in the photo was dark purple brown with a beige middle but the rest are pretty colour accurate- so why is one square the wrong colour... and why only one square??? Oh well I'm sure it's the flash causing it but to be honest I don't really care today- I just wanted to show the finished quilt.


One thing I particularly like is the back of the quilt... I used all the leftover  jelly roll strips to make some stripes that make the back match the front (again the purple where it should be dark brown---arrrrrh!).


So two projects finished in one day and all those chocolates to look forward too...


Until next time 
Gillian

Finishing the Unfinished

Earlier this year I resolved to finish projects as I have a track record of starting lots of projects but not finishing too many. Its a big ask of someone like me who has more ideas than time...

Yesterday I dug out a blanket I started crocheting some time ago- I don't even know when- but fortunately I had some wool left and so I decided it had to be done. The only problem was that I hadn't left a crochet hook with it and I couldn't remember what size hook I'd used. I tried a 6mm but the stitches looked too big compared to the row that was already started. So I unpicked it and used a 5mm hook, this time the stitches seemed the same size so I carried on for three rows to finish the pattern repeat. I then held the blanket up to decide how to finish it. This is when I noticed that the blanket was not so much a rectangle as a trapezium. It was several inches wider at one end than the other...

...clearly I had ended with a smaller hook than I started. Aaaaarhhhh!!!!

So what did I do... well I couldn't face going back and unpicking a large amount. It was more than the three rows I did yesterday. I must have been inconsistent with my hook size more than once during the crochet. So I have left it!!!

I finished with a row of double crochet (UK) around the edge and am now sat under it- it is a thick yarn with a dense stitch and so is quite warm and it is a little cooler  today than the last few days.

I don't think anyone will notice it is not even unless they fold it in half so long as I keep quiet...

Anyway, until next time

Gillian