A coat for me

I'm in need of a light weight, unlined coat so have decided to stop making bags for a while and make myself some clothes. I can assure you it's not a pretty sight going out with a nice bag on your shoulder wearing a birthday suit. LOLLLL
Making clothes isn't exactly my favourite sewing past time but find it hard to find clothes that I like and that fit well so it's more of a necessity than a labor of love.

This is the pattern I've chosen from a Burda magazine. I won't be making the trousers though. I don't like the pin tucks in them. I'm not even sure if I will like the style of the coat once it's finished. That's the problem with making your own clothes, you can't try them on to see if they suit you.

The magazine is in Turkish but thankfully I don't have to be able to read it to make it.
This is the fabric I wanted to use originally but as I bought the end of roll remnant last year for something else, found it wasn't enough for this project so ended up using another piece I had tucked away. Must have been there at least two years. LOLL

This is as far as I've got so far.

If it looks ok when I'm finished I'll buy some nicer fabric and make another one.
I'll post a photo when I'm done.

~ Maria ~

Clutch Bag

A few posts ago I said I'd be posting a clutch soon. Well here it is. It's another design by Christine at http://www.chriswdesigns.com/shop.htm.
Some of us have just finished testing it so it's not up for sale just yet but keep looking it will be very soon.
Great bag for an evening out with loads of space for all your essentials. I made mine out of velvet upholstery fabric for the main fabric and satin effect for the lining and gathered panel. Although it has loads of pockets inside once the pattern was cut out and the interfacing and fleece ironed on I managed to make it in about 10 hours with a few small breaks in between. Chris suggested using brocade fabrics or cottons but of course I like to make life difficult for myself and went with a much thicker fabric. Next one I'll try a brocade maybe. Anyway I'm thrilled to bits with it and would love to keep this one for myself if my daughter can keep her mitts off it. LOLLL
I put in a few things that I would take with me on a night out to see how they would fit and found that it still had room. This is a photo with the contents in it.

These are my contents. LOLL

I have never really liked doing gathers so this part was not my favourite but turned out quite nice I think.

Just a few more photos. I love playing around with my new camera. LOLLL

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Maria ~

Fabric Boxes

I made these fabric boxes so long ago I can't remember when so now with my new camera here they are.

These little boxes are so useful for all sorts of things. I keep one in the kitchen to put my garlic in.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. I've really enjoyed taking photos of my latest creations since I got my new camera.

~ Maria ~

Pouches

I wanted a break form bags so decided to make some pouches. These were really quick to sew up and so much fun.
These are the Dumpling Pouch and the Across the Pond Pouch. It's so cute, looks like a boat.

Actually I made two boat shaped pouches but gave one to my daughter before I had a chance to take a photo of it.

The black one below is the same pattern as the across the pond pouch shown above, only difference is I made it without the darts do it was flat.

This last one has got to be one of my favourites. I love the shape and the colours on this one.
It's a pencil case. I have been wanting to know how to do the binding at the side of the zipper like this one for ages and came across a tutorial but can't remember where. If I find it again I will post the link. 
I found it eventually so here it is http://www.nicolaforemanquilts.com/1/post/2012/03/how-to-make-a-pencil-case-a-tutorial.html

That's it for the pouches. Just have one last thing to show you in my next post.

~ Maria ~

Tohoku Bag & Showoff Bag

This isn't the first Tohoku Bag I've made but its a nice easy bag to make so made another.

and this next one has got to be the easiest and quickest bag ever to make up. It's the Showoff Bag which I made in about 3 hours.

I made this one with upholstery fabric. It's quite large and a wonderful bag to carry. The pattern only had one pocket which I didn't think was enough so I made four.

I still have more things to show you so keep looking.

~ Maria~

Wavy Top Bag

I've been waiting to get my new camera before I wrote any more posts about my bags. I was getting really fed up with the quality of my photos. I now have it so have quite a few new things to show you. I bet you were all thinking I was being idle. LOLL
The first one is
The Wavy Top Bag designed by Bethany at http://sweetbeebuzzings.blogspot.de/p/sew-alongs.html
It's a lovely bag with plenty of room and she also includes slanted side pockets in her pattern. That will be my next one.

You can see in the next photo that I have free motion quilted the bag because I didn't have any fusible fleece. Next time I may even try a stiffer fleece and see how that works.

What a difference a nice camera can make. Thanks hubby.

~ Maria ~