Bags From The Past

Hi
Just wanted to share with you some of the bags I have made in the past.
The first one is the Olivia Bag. This one I made for my mum. The pattern for the bag can be found over at
http://blog.chriswdesigns.com/

Front view:

Back view:

                                                                                                                                                    

Reversible Schlep Bag #1

Reverse side:

                                                                                       
                                                                                        
Reversible Schlep Bag #2

                                                                                  

Reverse side:

Tohoku Tote:

                                                                                    

Bridesmaids Drawsting Pouch:
This one was my own design.

        

                                                                                        
                 
 Pleather Phoebe Bag:

                                                                                      

Phoebe Flower:

                                                                                    
                                    
Crazy Patchwork Bag Front:
This one is my own design.

                                                                                       

This is the back of the bag:

                                                                                        

Ladies Wallet:

                                                                                    
 
Hope you enjoyed looking through some of my work and that it has given you some inspiration.
I'll post some more of my work at a later date.                                                                                                                                                                
~ Maria ~
                                                                                          
                                                                                      

My Coco Bag

Here it is finally. I had to wait for the grommets to be put in. I take my bags with grommets to a man who makes his own bags for sale, he very kindly puts them in for me.
This is the front of the bag

 I chose a brown velvet upholstery fabric and a curtain fabric for the handles and the top corners.
My handles are made slightly different from Christine's pattern because the tubing that I had was just too rigid and didn't look right.

This is the side view.

 And this is the inside of the bag. It has a magnetic button and a slip pocket.

It was so much fun making this bag. I'm planning on another one, this time with a zipper closure.
Hope you all go over to Christine's blog and get your freebie. Once you try her pattern you'll be hooked.
Check the previous post for the link to her bag or click on her button on the right hand side of this post.
It's the cute pink bag.

~ Maria ~

Free Coco Bag Pattern & Tutorial

Hi
I think it's safe to say that most of us like freebies and I know you will love this one.

It's the Coco Bag designed by Christine over at

http://blog.chriswdesigns.com/2012/02/free-bag-pattern-coco.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChriswDesigns+%28ChrisW+Designs%29

It's a great bag to sew. Really easy thanks to loads of step by step photos and instructions.
I tested the bag for Chris so I know. I've tested other patterns for her also and I can tell you she certainly hasn't cut any corners when it came to making this free pattern.

Give it a try. Just click on the link above and download the pdf pattern.
I will be posting a photo of my Coco bag tomorrow hopefully.

~ Maria ~

Wall Clock

Hi

It's been a tough few weeks. I just haven't been in the sewing mood and it's been driving me crazy. Still at least it gave me time to do my spring cleaning a little early.

In an attempt to get me back into the sewing mood I was looking for something to make that wouldn't take up much time, without much success. Taking a look at a clock that was a freebie from a spaghetti company I decided to remake it. Didn't look very nice with the advertising on it.

I wish I'd taken before photos.

Anyway I took it to bits

Then I wound the outer ring with some burlap.

Cut out a piece of fabric for the center and added some buttons. The ones for the 12, 3, 6, 9 I tied on with some embroidery floss and the others I stuck on with my glue gun.

And this is the end result. I think it looks kind of cute.

Now I'll see if I can make some coasters. Deciding on the fabric is the hardest part.

~ Maria ~

Another Phoebe but Different

Here's another Phobe Bag but this one is made with upholstery fabrics. This one was slightly more difficult to do than the denim one because some of the fabrics frayed quite a bit.

I quilted the front and back to give it more stability and then the other thing that was bothering me about the bags I make was making them weather proof. Nothing worse than a shower of rain coming down and having to worry about soggy contents. LOLL
On this bag I added a waterproof fabric hidden between the lining and main fabric. I think I'll do this on most of my bags from now on.
The back of the bag I like as much as the front, it has a silver thread through it and sparkles.

Now for another project.
~ Maria ~

A Backpack and a Phoebe

The first bag is a denim backpack. Although the denim is quite sturdy I used some soft fusible fleece to give it a little more body.

The second one that I just completed last night is a Phoebe Bag that has been made in patchwork denim. I also added a denim flower to it and some buttons.


This is the back view



and the denim flower

I'm off to clean up the mess I made in my sewing room then I'll be ready for another project.
Would love to hear your comments.
~ Maria ~

Kitchen Set

At last I finished a kitchen set I have been making for a friend to give as a thankyou present. Took me longer than I thought. There was loads of hand stitching on the potholders but I think it was worth it.
The tea towel goes on the oven door handle and is held in place with a with a velcro band.
No more tea towels falling on the floor. There is a selection of potholders, the two at the top you can slip your hands into the opening like a glove and to finish it off I made a little matching fabric bowl.



Hope she likes it.
~ Maria ~

Be My Valentine

I'm posting this Valentine Heart because I don't think I'll have the time to make any hearts for Valentine although I will try. I can't resist making them. I have a nice pattern for some.

This one is last years. I forgot to take a photo of the reverse side. It had a pocket so you could slip a little note or card in with it.

~ Maria ~

My Other Blog

Hi everyone,
Due to internet issues I have been away from this blog for about a month now. I wasn't able to open my blog to post so was forced to make another blog until I could get back to this one. Today is the first time back.
It feels so good and what a nice surprise to see I have some new followers. Welcome to those of you who have joined me and thanks for being here.
Before I do anything else I want to give you all the link to my new blog so that if I should ever have any problems again you can link to that one. I don't seem to have any problems there.
This is my first blog and will always update this one whenever possible. I don't like not posting so if you see that I have been away from it for a while just check out my other one. The link is below.

http://sewmia.webs.com/apps/blog/

Now before I do anything else I'm off to check up on all the other people who's blogs I follow to see what they have been up to. I've missed them all.

Hope to see you all here or on my new blog.

~ Maria ~