Wallets Galore

I really enjoyed making these wallets. I'm so used to using browns in my bags that it's a nice change to be sewing with colour.

The blues are my favourite colours.

I love this paisley fabric.

Still more to show you of the sewing projects I did while I was away. Tomorrow I'll show you an order I completed for a couple of customers. Not my favourite project but it's nice working with different fabrics other than browns.

~ Maria ~

No-Reply Bloggers

I'm getting quite a few emails that are no-reply which means your email doesn't show up so I can't reply to you. I love getting comments but I also like to return a reply so if you think you may be a no-reply blogger go over to Marisa's blog at Passion et Couture where you will find a link that offers a solution to the problem.

~ Maria ~

Rain, Rain Go Away

Normally our summers are extremely hot and humid but this year they were cooler although still humid and quite a bit of rain but nothing like the rain we had a few days ago. Just look at the garden photo below, it's more like a swimming pool.

And no the rain didn't wash away hubby's car leaving the tires behind LOLL I use them as planters.

Aren't these colours beautiful.

When the rain finally stopped and a little sunshine came out I took these photos. I love the Autumn colours.

For some reason we don't have as many oranges growing in the garden as last year.

I'm looking forward to picking these straight from the tree to eat. Last years were so sweet and juicy.

Next post I'll be showing you some more of my sewing projects while I was offline.

~ Maria ~

Did You Miss Me? And A Free Bag Pattern for Everyone

I've been away for two weeks. Did you miss me? Did you even notice I was gone? I sure missed all of you. Some of you will know where I've been others won't. No I wasn't on a cruise or soaking up the sun on a desert island. I was offline because I changed my internet provider. No internet for 2 weeks. When I went to the office to sign the form that I no longer required their services I must admit I hesitated and nearly had a panic attack. The thought of not being in touch with the rest of the world for two weeks was more than I could bare but sign the form I did and now I'm with a new company.

Two weeks with no internet meant only one thing, more sewing time and although I did get quite a lot done it still wasn't as much as I had hoped. The tv was to blame. I sat watching films as a substitute for surfing the web but at least my hands were free to do necessary hand stitching.

Rather than bombard you with everything in one post I'll do several posts over the next few days.

First of all I want to say a big thank you to all who sent me birthday wishes. I couldn't for the life of me work out where you all found out when it was. I thought I'd been hacked and then I came across this post 'In honor of YOU' by my dear friend Samantha from At home with Mrs H. Isn't she the sweetest and it also explains where everyone found out from.

Ok, moving on now, I want to tell you about the Kennedy Bag I tested for Sara at Sew Sweetness. Finished just in time before I went offline. Guess what, this is a free pattern and you can download it here at SewMamaSew.

Finished Size:  14” long x 11” tall x 5” deep

I couldn't get hold of the buckles that Sara used on her bag so I bought these instead.

I used upholstery fabric for the main part of the bag which I quilted to keep the batting in place as I couldn't use fusible batting on this fabric.

 

Inside there are two slip pockets and a large zipper pocket.

 





Next post I'll show you the kind of weather we've been having. Perfect for sewing days.

~ Maria ~

Park West Bag

Yet another bag to show you. This one I tested for Sara at SewSweetness.

I love the simplicity of this bag. It's a large bag with a zipper pocket inside and two external side pockets.

I used fleece instead of soft and stable and then I added fusible interfacing on top of the fleece to give it more body. After I quilted the whole lot. I used upholstery fabric for the main fabric and a thin cotton for the accent fabric, these are a lot of layers when sewing side seams so I suggest you cut your batting smaller than you bag pattern piece to reduce bulk.

I love how the pattern had the placement for the handle tabs already marked out making even placement really easy.

The zipper I also had to do only slightly different because of the thickness of my fabrics. Sara's main zip closure was sewn to the bag from the underside of the zip extensions where as I stitched mine from the top. I can't iron this fabric so if I had sewn it like the pattern I wouldn't have got a nice crisp finish.

Finally the inside of the bag which has a removable bottom panel.

If you'd like the pattern you can go over to Sara's online shop where you can find this and many other beautiful bag patterns.

I'm now testing another bag for Sara and as usual this one is a beauty too.

~ Maria ~

Little Bow Pleat Giveaway WInner

It's finally time to announce the winner of the Little Bow Pleat Clutch pattern by Samantha from At home with Mrs H.

Thanks Samantha for having me as one of your testers and thanks to those of you who entered the giveaway.

Without further ado the winner is # 11   Tanja Haack who commented

Tanja HaackSeptember 27, 2013 at 4:06 PM

Super cute! This would make a great Holliday gift.

 

 

Congratulations Tanja. I will be emailing Samantha shortly and she will send the pattern to you.

 

If anyone would like to buy this or any of Samantha's gorgeous patterns you can visit her etsy store HERE or at her craftsy store HERE.

 

~ Maria ~



Paisley Makeup Bag

Finished making this makeup bag for a friend yesterday. She chose the paisley fabric and I picked the lining fabric. The pattern is the Variated Clutch Purse by Gary Fletcher. Gary has just started up a website which you can find HERE.
The pattern has a magnetic button as a closure but I added a zip to this one to make the contents more secure.

Another thing I added that wasn't in the pattern is fleece or batting, whichever you call it. The fabric I used was very thin and wouldn't have worked with just interfacing.

The nice thing about this pattern is that it comes in three sizes and a variation of pockets and straps.
I made the medium size.

This style of zipper is my favourite because it can be used for practically any bag style and is very easy to make.

I just recently found these zipper tabs and have been wanting to use them. They are really easy to install. You just fold under your zip ends and press the metal zipper tabs over the zip, the tabs have three metal teeth to hold onto the zip. I told my friend to see if they stayed on and if not to return the makeup bag and I'd sew some fabric tabs on.

Again the pattern has one pocket on the outside but I added two. I think you can just make them out in this next photo.

I saved my favourite photo for last. The inside of the bag. I absolutely adore this colour. I find it so fresh looking and calming.

Happy sewing to all of you.

~ Maria ~

Ladies Wallets

Finally finished the third wallet last night and took some photos this morning. The lady that ordered them let me choose any fabrics I wanted so she doesn't have a clue what I've done LOLL
I hope she likes them. She's giving one to each of her sisters as a gift.

Choosing fabric for someone else is so difficult when you don't have a clue what they like and dislike. I did ask her to give me an idea of colours but she said what ever I chose would be fine.

This is the order that I made them in and when I got to the third one I noticed I'd made a mistake. Notice in the photo above that the brown one is different on the inside.

I think this green one is my favourite one.

After sewing up the wallet I noticed I had forgotten to sew the card divider seam. I either had to unpick the whole thing or think of something else so I decided to embroider three little roses to divide the pockets.

After ironing the heck out of them I still couldn't get them to lie nice and flat so I put them between a heavy pile of fabric until the morning. It did the trick.

Today I reorganized my sewing room after hubby suggested a new design that would give me more space so now I'm just cutting out a makeup bag and then tomorrow I'll be starting on Sara's new test bag.

~ Maria ~

Patchwork Bags

  

I finished making these two patchwork bags for a couple of customers a few days ago and have only just had time to post them here. I'm nearly finished making another three ladies wallets that were also ordered by one of the ladies. If I can finish them tonight I'll post them to my blog tomorrow.

 

These two are slightly different in size. The one on the left I used 5" blocks and the other 4" blocks.

 





I don't enjoy hand stitching at all but I love making these cute little flowers.

This is the back of the patchwork bags.
I bought the fabric in the UK years ago and used part of it to make curtains for my sewing room. The ladies loved it and asked if I could include it in the bags.

 

 

  

I've also finished making a test bag for Sara of SewSweetness which I should be able to show you some time after the 13th October and am about to start another test bag for Sara tomorrow.

 

Happy sewing to all of you, gotta run.

 

~ Maria ~



Aragon Bag Giveaway Winner

It's time to announce the winner of the Aragon Bag pattern giveaway but first of all I want to say a big thank you to Sara of SewSweetness for letting me do the giveaway and also a big thank you to all of you that popped over to my blog to take the time to leave a comment and take part.

The last time I did a giveaway I had problems working out how to show you the Random Generator number. I still haven't worked out how to paste it on my blog so I decided to take a photo of the result to post to my blog.

Ok here we go. The winner is comment #8 Alissa

AlissaSeptember 20, 2013 at 9:06 PM

What a cool bag! Thank you for the opportunity to win the pattern.

 

Congratulations Alissa. I'll be emailing Sara shortly with your email details.

 

The pattern is also available at Sara's shop HERE for those of you who wish to buy this or any of Sara's patterns.

 

Thanks again to everyone.

 

~ Maria ~