My Newest Wallet In Time For Mothers Day.

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that you get loads of fabric and sewing goodies as gifts. Roses and chocolates wouldn't go amiss either.

On Friday I took the day off making orders and decided I needed a new wallet. Not like the ones I normally make but a new style.

I'm a new follower of Yayi's blog at De Todo Un Poco. It's in Spanish but can be translated. Yayi has the most beautiful creations and loads of lovely tutorials. This wallet was from one of those tutorials. If you click on her blog link above just go to the bottom of the post which will give you the link to the tutorial which is in two parts.

Here's my new wallet. I'd bought this floral fabric about three years ago and finished it then I couldn't find any more but my daughter came to the rescue and found it for me. She got me two meters but I'm going to ask her to buy some more.
My machine didn't do too well on the closure tab. Next time I'll have to either sew it by hand or sew it on my industrial machine.

I've also been thinking of making one without all the binding but that's for another Friday when I need a break. If I do make it with binding then I'll have to choose a thinner fabric. This green one was a bit bulky for a wallet.

This wallet has room for 20 cards.

A zipper pocket for change. I put my zipper in the wrong way round to the tutorial but it's still easy to use like this.

And a larger slip pocket for notes.

 I left the tab a little loose because I have a habit of stuffing my wallets so I won't have any trouble closing this one.

Happy Sewing

~ Maria ~

My Second Uptown Girl Bag.

WOW !!!! Ten days since I last posted. I was away for a few days visiting my daughter. The day after I arrived back I started sewing a custom order for the Uptown Girl bag by Christine Welsh HERE.
The first time I made this bag was when I tested it for Christine. I love the simple design of this bag and all the pockets that Christine is famous for. Apart from being a well organized bag it's also very roomy. I've been using mine every day since I made it. That's how I came to make this second one. The lady that saw mine loved it and wanted one just like mine but unfortunately I couldn't get hold of the pleather in the same colour so she said she trusted my judgment and I could use whichever colour I liked. She did choose the lining pockets fabric.

 I quilted the front and back to give the bag more stability.

I also stitched the bottom gusset randomly.

I love these zipper tabs. They save so much time.

I love the polka dot fabric the customer chose from my stash.

I was constantly thinking of my bloggy friend Liz from Moments when I made these pockets. You could say she's just a tiny bit fond of red and white polkadots.
Oh!!! I can see a loose thread I haven't snipped inside the bag.

I'm kind of glad I've finished making this bag as my sewing machine gave me such grief. It took me over two and a half hours to get the tension right.

This evening I finished making a different wallet to what I normally make. I'll show you that tomorrow.

~ Maria ~

April In Pictures.

April has been really crazy.

Here are the things I made during April.

Links to the tutorial and patterns can be found on each individual post.

I'm pleased with what I managed to get done in April, roll on May.

~ Maria ~

Pencil Cases & Fabric Box

I've been wanting to post this here for days but have been taken over by the decluttering bug. I cleared away nine black bags of unwanted stuff. I feel like such a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Some of those were dare I say it 'fabric'. It was all upholstery fabric pieces that were to small to make anything with other than patch work it into larger pieces. I had so much of it that if I lived to be a hundred I would never have gotten round to it so I was really brutal LOLL.

This is the last of my contribution for my daughters craft fair. It's basically the same as the zippy key fobs I showed in a post HERE and HERE, just that I made them a little larger to make pencil cases. You'll be able to find the link for the tutorial on those posts.

A lady saw my fabric boxes and she wanted a couple so this is the first one. The second one I'll be making with the blue polkadot fabric on the outside and the patchwork on the inside.
I use these boxes for all sorts of things. I have one in the kitchen for my vitamins. They're great for keeping sewing things in and also makeup. Anything you want really.

You can find the tutorial HERE at Seaside Stitches.

Happy Sewing to all of you. I'm going to be visiting my daughter for a few days and then back to sewing when I get back. I've got four bags on order not too mention three from the bag of the month and another one coming on 1st May. YIKES!!!!! I really need to get a move on.

~ Maria ~

I've Been Spotlighted

While looking through my favourite blogs on Bloglovin I was so surprised to find I'd been spotlighted over at SewCanShe.
It seems that my little Zippy Key Fobs were a hit and got the most clicks on Caroline's linky party.
Pop over to see the post and also check out all the wonderful tutorials that Caroline shares every day. Today the feature tutorial is fabric yo yo's.

I've got some more things to blog about but for the moment I'm taking time off to do some much needed decluttering of the whole house. Yes I've lost my mind and have gone crazy.
Yesterday I threw out an old single mattress and 6 black rubbish bags full of cloths and dare I say it fabric scraps. It was tough going buy I just kept thinking 'be brutal'.

 I'm off to visit my daughter in a few days time and then when I come back I'll be back at the sewing machine again.

Happy Sewing to all of you.

~ Maria ~

Craft Fair Collection

Yesterday was another busy day making small projects for my daughter who is going to sell some things at the craft fair.

Here's my contribution.

I saw these somewhere on the internet quite a while ago but can't remember where. There was no tutorial but you really don't need one. Its just circles of fabric cut out, layered on top of each other with a button in the middle. So quick to make and make pretty key fobs.

The most fun part of making these was being able to sew as wonky as I liked.

I also made more zippy key fobs. These are so addictive and today I even made a longer version for my sunglasses.

Here's all the key fobs together.

And I'm also giving her the tissue holders. I'm now way, way behind on my orders as well as the Bag of the Month which I've only made one of but it was so much fun making these. Today was spent doing some much needed cleaning which has made me feel much better already but there's still more to be done tomorrow. Housework is never ending.

I think tomorrow in between doing the cleaning I may just pop into my sewing room to make a few more of the denim circle key fobs.

Just in case anyone comes across this post and missed the last you can find the tutorial for the zippy key fobs HERE and the tissue holders HERE.

Hope you're all having as much fun as I am.

Happy Sewing

~ Maria ~

Wallets, Tissue Holders, Key Fobs, Patchwork Pouches, Oh My

It's been a busy few days here in the sewing room and rather than show everything I've made in separate posts I'm going to do one long post to save me some time.

First off I made these tissue holders. It's the kind of project that when you start you can't just make one.

Then came another two wallets. The first one you may recognize the fabric. It was a piece left over from the blouse I made HERE.

This second one was fabric left over from a cot quilt I made ages ago which you can see HERE.

Then came a couple of patchwork pouches. I'd made a couple before and loved making them. This time rather than sew the squares individually I placed them on fusible interfacing ironed them and then sewed up the seams. Really quick. My friend Daryl also made one of these pouches but hers is huge in comparison and really pretty, you can see Daryl's HERE. There's also an adorable bunny pouch on that post with a link to the tutorial. So cute.

And about an hour ago I finished making these little zippy pouches or key fobs as I call them.

I made the tabs a little longer so I could flip my keys inside if I didn't want them dangling around. They're so much easier to find in my bag now.

These pouches are also handy for carrying change or a USB.

If you'd like to make any of these here are the links to the tutorials.

Tissue Holders

Patchwork Drawstring Pouches

Tiny Zippy Pouches ( key fobs )

Happy Sewing

~ Maria ~

My Zoje Sewing Machine Review

If you're thinking of buying a new sewing machine and can't decide which one then maybe you should pop over to Christine's blog where she's doing sewing machine reviews.

A sales person can give you loads of information about a sewing machine but end of the day it's the person that uses it that can really tell you if it's all it's cracked up to be.

Today is my turn to tell you about my Zoje industrial sewing machine so hop along to Christine's blog and see what I say about mine, see what I've sewn with it and also check out the other sewing machine reviews.

                                                                    

~ Maria ~