Finally the Curtains

I finished the tie-backs for Mer's curtains and finally got around to taking pictures of them tonight. I love the fabric with her room color (sea foam green) I would have liked to position the tie-backs a little higher or lower, but Mer wanted them there, so that's what she got.

I lined the back of them with black-out cloth so the street light won't flood into her room all night long.  It is very thick and heavy and pretty tricky to work with. I need to redo the bottom hem so they drape a little better. When I do that I may post some things I learned about working with black-out cloth. Here's a close up of the tie-backs. I wanted them to be easy for Mer to do and I came up with a little loop of fabric with a D-ring on each end that could hook up in a flash.

 I also finished this little birdie mini messenger, that I started a while ago.  It was inspired by a mini messenger tutorial that I saw on Noodlehead though I didn't really follow the tutorial.  It measures about 7" X 7.5" X 2".  My battery died or I would show you what it looks like on the inside. There's a little magnetic clasp that holds it shut. Of course the funnest part was sewing the birdie.

 

And that was my sewing for the week. My freshly organized sewing room became summer school central.  And my machine was grounded to the floor for most of week.

I got busy... Mini Messengers...Curtains

I finished a couple of bags this week.... Mini messenger style.
This one was my practice bag to get the sizing right for a custom order I had. I'm glad I made it because it I calculated it wrong and it turned out smaller than expected.

Here's the inside lined with especially cute Riley Blake fabric.

This one my friend asked me to make for her.  I particularly like how the flower turned out though the picture doesn't really do it justice.

I also whipped out Luke's curtains over the last couple of nights. Yahoo!! I am super happy with them.

After making Meredith's curtains, I decided that 22 in panels were just not wide enough and since I had limited supply of this cute "Wheels" fabric I added a foot of brown micro-dot to the sides.  I think it makes it look like there are 2 sets of panels up there.  Out of necessity, for sleeping purposes, I lined these with blackout cloth again.  This time I think I got it right.  These panels hang much better than Mer's do.  Without going into too much detail I basically ironed all my edges and then cut out the exact size of black out cloth to fit just inside all the seams.

Then I pinned it all securely and stitched it up.  Here's what the finished  back looks like.

Call me HAPPY!!

The Honor Hipster

I brought one of my custom bags back for a re-make of the top, and I was able to get a picture of this one.  I'm calling it the Honor Hipster.  A custom bag for my friend Honor.

It was a little experimental to make.  It is a larger version of my mini messenger but I changed it up a little.  Instead of a flap I did an inset zipper.   Zippers in purses are hard for me.  This is only the second inset zipper I've done (want to see the first?) and I'm still working on perfecting it but this one turned out okay.  Let me just say, they are tricky!!

I've had a few requests for zippers, and I always hesitate promising one because I just don't know how it will end up turning out.  So Honor was nice to let me practice on her bag.

We had another little problem we had to solve on this one. Because she wanted it to be a deep 5 inch gusset  I had to add some side pleats to the top to maintain the plain boxy square shape that she wanted.  Otherwise the top of the bag turns out much wider than the bottom.

We left the handles hipster length, so the bag sits low at the hips when it crosses your shoulder. (I need a model!)

 And here's my little tag inside. I'm trying to remember to put these in because they are just so cute!

And so for reference sake I named this bag the Honor Hipster, and a new style is born.

Two Purses to Show

I have been two bags to show you tonight.  Both were made as gifts and I am entering them into the Purse Palooza competition. You can check out the flickr group for some lovely purse inspiration. The first one is a mini-messenger.  It is a remake of one I made a long time ago for a friend who loved it.

It is a remake of one I made a long time ago for a dear friend who loved it.

The next one is a simple shoulder bag.  It is the same style as a red one I made last fall 

The red one was bought by a mom whose kids go to the same school as mine.  I watched her walk in and out of school with it every day and I couldn't keep my eyes off it.  I seriously love this style.  I think it's the addition of the rings that really make it great.

I made this one for another gal and I kind of wish I could have kept it.  I have a gray and orange version I am dreaming up in my head for myself. Hope to sew that soon.

   I'm off on to vacation in GA tomorrow.  We will be gone for a few weeks so posting may be spotty.  I'm going to try blogging with my Ipad again while I'm gone. I've heard Blogsy works good as an app.  Has anyone had any success using that??  I guess you will see. Don't be surprised if post are a little crazy looking.

Over and out!!

A Tale of Two Diaper Bags

 As you can see I've been busily sewing Diaper Bags this week.   I have a friend whose daughter in law is having a baby and she wanted me to make not one but two diaper bags, one for herself and one for the new mom.    I was a little nervous to make these because all the fancy pockets intimidate me.  In the end I'm excited that I figured some of them out and learned some new things.

The first one I made like a traditional tote bag... except really big

I added side pockets with elastic tops as was requested.

This is what it looks like inside, 2 large deep pockets on one side and 3 smaller ones on the other.

I also put in a hidden zipper pouch.  I am very excited this turned out well.  It is not too hard at all...I think I may be adding a hidden zipper pocket to my bags more often.  Sew Mama Sew has a good tutorial on this.

For the next bag I morphed my mini messenger style bag into a much larger version.

This one is made from small wale corduroy and Dwell Studio decorator weight fabric.  It's lined with Osnaburg.  The inside is the same as the other except with no zipper pocket.

Again I added two side pockets, this time with a bias trim.



I also added an extra-large pocket to the outside on the back with a velcro closure.

One this one I put the zippered pocket on the outside in the front.

All in all I'd say my diaper bag adventure, though a little daunting, was a success!!  Hope they like them!