Another GIVEAWAY

Yes can you believe it another giveaway. This time not by me though.
Do you remember the Dot Dot Dash Bag I tested for Sara of Sew Sweetness.

Well Liz over at MOMENTS tested  the Accordion Bag for Sara and she is now doing a giveaway for both bag patterns.

Liz did a great job of her bag. Go over and take a look and join in the giveaway too.

~ Maria ~

Hand Woven Wallet

Yes another wallet. This time it's a special one because my daughter who is studying Fashion and Textile Design at Uni made this woven piece on her loom.

Because of the thickness I couldn't turn it inside out like on the other ones so I decided to bind it.

I love the bright colours.

~ Maria ~

Wallet

Not much to say about this wallet as I've made a few and shown you before. Different colours this time. This is a gift for my doctors receptionist.
I made it very quickly last night so it's a quick project. I'm about to start another tonight and this is a special one as it has some of my daughters work included.

~ Maria ~

WINNER of Giveaway

The day has finally come for me to announce the winner of the giveaway to celebrate 100 followers.

Thanks to all of you who left a comment. It was really interesting to see which of Christine's bags was the most popular. It was a toss between Abigail and Bella and I think Abigail only just made it in front.

The winner picked by random.org is Brigitt. Congratulations!!

BirgittFebruary 3, 2013 at 8:25 PM
I like Evelyn and Abigail best!
Thanks for the chance to win such a great giveaway.
Happy blogging
Birgitt from Germany

I'll be emailing you with the code for the $25 off voucher which you can use on Christine's website/blog.

For those of you who didn't win there is a still a gift for you all too. Christine is giving a 15% off discount that can be used on her website/blog only. The code for your 15% discount is 15offM.

I love it when everyone's a winner.

Thanks to all my followers for your support and also to those of you who just pop by to leave a comment. I love comments, they give me the get up and go I need.


~ Maria ~

Another Set of Nesting Fabric Boxes

This is the second set of nesting fabric boxes. Same size as the last set and same fabrics only these have two colours used for each box rather than one.

I think I like these better than the last set.

~ Maria ~

Nesting Fabric Boxes

Another three fabric boxes finished today. The smallest one is bigger than the one in the tutorial over at SewMamaSew.
My three boxes measure 10" x 10",  8" x 8" and 6" x 6".

To make them nice and sturdy I used a stiff interfacing. The kind used in mens shirt collars and cuffs. I also used regular batting with the interfacing.

I have one more set to finish. The batting and interfacing are cut out so tomorrow I'll start cutting out the fabric. I'll be using the same colours but instead of making each one one colour, each one will be in two colours.

~ Maria ~

Dot Dot Dash Bag

I'm thrilled to bits to be able to finally show you my new bag. It's the Dot Dot Dash Bag that I tested for Sara at Sew Sweetness. This is the first pattern Sara has put in her pattern shop and she's done a wonderful job writing the pattern with loads of photos and instructions.

This is a fabulous bag and have been using it daily since I made it. It has 5 zippers on the front and a recessed zipper for the top closure. Sara had quite a few testers making this bag so make sure you go over to her blog to check them all out. It's amazing how different they all look just by choosing different fabrics.

It's a large bag that you could fit your laptop into but I use mine to bring home new fabric to add to my stash. LOLLL It could even be used as a travel bag. There's loads of room. I can quite easily fit my makeup bag, camera, wallet, cell phone a drink and a little something to nibble on and still have some room for more. The adjustable strap is great because you can either carry it in your hand or across your body leaving your hands free to fondle more fabric. LOL

Ok enough talk, here's my bag.

As usual I used upholstery fabrics and fleece so mine was quite sturdy which is just the way I like it.

I stitched over the side panels to help make it even sturdier.

 

I use the two small corner pockets for keeping loose change and keys.

I also quilted the back with a wavy stitch.

I love the corner details on this bag.
 

 Finally the recessed zipper which I must admit is the only thing I did different to the pattern. Sara's is completely enclosed all the way round where as mine is open at both ends.

And there it is. I definitely want to make another one of these in the future.

~ Maria ~

Bread Basket

It was so much fun making the little round gathered basket yesterday that I decided I needed to make another quick project. I know I should be sewing up my orders but this was an experiment. The lady wanted some nesting baskets and as I can't get hold of brand named fusible fleece and interfacing like Pellon, I have to try out different one's they sell here to see which is the best for what I need. I wanted to make it as firm as I could and this is what I came up with. This one's for me.

 

 

I used the tutorial for the SMS Happy Hostess Box here. Of course that one was too small so I enlarged it and mine measures 10" x 10" when made up.

The other thing I did different on mine was to sew the center square and then sew a cross, it makes the edges crisper.

 It's so satisfying making quick projects. Now I'm off to make some more of these.

~ Maria ~

Gathered Round Basket

I went over to Pam's blog, Threading My Way, where she had made a cute little gathered round basket. I left a comment and Pam wrote back saying it only took half an hour.

So I dropped everything and made one. It really does only take half an hour.

These cute little baskets can be used for so many things other than sewing supplies. Maybe jewelery or loose change.

If you'd like to make one go to Pam's blog where you will find the link to the free tutorial. I'll definitely be making more of these.


~ Maria ~

GIVEAWAY - Celebrating 100 Followers

I've reached 100 followers. I'm delighted!!! Never thought I'd do it.

To show how much I appreciate you following my blog and leaving comments which inspire me to carry on I'm doing a GIVEAWAY with the help of my dear friend Christine from ChrisW Designs.

I wanted to be able to give you a special gift so I asked Chris if I could give away one of her patterns that I test for her. She came back to me with an even better offer, a $25 off voucher for her patterns on her website/blog and as all her bags are under $11 that's an excellent giveaway. That's not all though, if you're not the lucky winner you can still get a discount of 15%. All you have to do is either 'Like' Christine's Facebook page or follow her blog to get your discount. Once the giveaway is over I'll post the discount code so you can claim your discount, so everyone is a winner.

To win the $25 off voucher all you have to do is visit Christine's blog or website to check out her bags then leave a comment here on my blog telling me which of Christine's bags you like the most. I'm just curious to see which styles are more popular. I love them all but I think if I had to choose one it would be the Abigail Bag. You can see mine here.

  The winner will be chosen with Random.org. so please make sure you leave your email with your comment so I can get in touch with the winner. If I can't get in touch with you I will have to choose someone else.

The winner will be announced on Tuesday 5th Feb.

Best of luck to you all and thanks again for following me.

~ Maria ~

Table Runner, Flowers and a Tree

Finally completed an order. The lady that I made the two Dresden plate table toppers for also wanted a table runner. She gave me a piece of fabric that was a remnant left over from her sofa's. It wasn't very big, I got nine 6" x 6" squares out of it. The fabric was upholstery fabric so I was limited in how I could cut the piece as it was too thick to make a small intricate block. I bought some plain brown curtain fabric to add to it and I had the border fabric which is satin curtain fabric.

This is the fabric she gave me.

The binding looks like black in the photo but it's actually a dark brown.

The overall measurement is 36" x 21"

She loved the fabric flowers I made for my kitchen so she asked me to make her some also.

 

You can find the tutorial for the flowers here. The tutorial also includes instructions for the stems but I used this one here.

 And last of all was a Christmas tree. She saw the green fabric I had in my stash and asked if I would make it for her.

With this out of the way I've now started on the next project. Another order that involves loads of different bits and pieces for the kitchen including a chef's hat which I've never made so that should be fun. First I'm starting with the eight place mats. I'll keep you posted on each of the projects as I finish them.

Thanks for stopping by.

~ Maria ~

Blog Problem Solved

You'll probably remember the post I did on Blog Problems a few days ago. It was driving me nuts especially as everyone else was seeing my blog normally.
I was chatting with my bloggy friend Samantha and unknown to me her hubby Dus is a computer genius. He said to click on View then Zoom then click on in/out. Well what do you know it worked. How stupid do I feel. LOLLLL
Samantha said I must have clicked on something by accident or pressed the Ctrl button. Just then a light bulb came on. Seconds before emailing her as I swiveled my computer chair I notice the hand rest hit the Ctrl button and the font on my computer suddenly went large but I couldn't figure out why, now I know.

Just thought I'd do this post 'in case' there is someone out there who is as daft as me. LOLLLL

A big thanks to Samantha and Dus for solving the problem for me and also to everyone who wrote to let me know they could see my blog's fine.

~ Maria ~

Dresden Plate Table Toppers

Finally finished the two Dresden plate table toppers I had on order. The lady brought the flower fabrics and although when the fabrics were side by side you could quite clearly see the contrast in colours now they're made up the difference is very subtle. Hope she likes them.

Each one measures 45cm x 45cm.

I used the tutorial here for the Dresden plate.

I've been trying different methods of sewing on the bias binding other than by hand. I really like this one and find it really easy. On the Diamond Dish Drainer I made, the bias was done in the same way only difference was that the binding wasn't pulled over as much so when the top stitching was sewn it was sewing over the binding on the underside also. 

This method misses the binding on the underside, I think it looks neater so I'm sticking with this one.

 

Now to finish the rest of the order. A fabric Christmas tree and the fabric flowers I made for myself when I cut my finger.

~ Maria ~

Tablet Holder

My son was given a Samsung Tablet about a week ago by his dad and he's been wanting me to make a case for it.
Today I sat down and drafted a patter and after making it up found that it was about 1/2 cm too short so I started again and made another one. This time it was perfect.

Ooops I just spotted some fluff on the Velcro.  Seems I only notice these things on the photos.

And on this one I missed the loose thread. LOLLL I'll go and snip it off after this post.

I was wanting to add a flower or two as an embellishment but I don't think my son would have appreciated it. LOLL I'll just have to save up my pennies so I can buy a tablet for myself so I can make a flowery cover.
Good excuse huh.

~ Maria ~