On Pouches (And Keeping Resolutions)

Eeek! I just realised that I have 2 days less than I thought to finish the challenge, because I started it on the 29th and not the 31st. Luckily, I still had some small projects on my list. First up is the Current Knitting Project Bag. Stef grew a bit tired of the wool and needles lying around the house. I wanted to keep them at hand because if I put it away, I'll never finish my summer sweater. So I figured I could make a small bag that could keep my current project together. Another benefit is that it's easy to take it with you when you travel, instead of just stuffing it in your bag and the whole thing unraveling or tangling up. The fabric is a remnant of IKEA upholstery fabric. It's quite heavy, so no chance of needles poking through.

The other quick project has something to do with my New Years resolution! Starting the 4th of September, I'll be following a pattern drafting course! It's an elaborate one, that will continue until May. It's actually the first year of a four year dressmakers training. I'm not going to do the whole thing, just the first year. I'm so excited to start learning how to draft patterns in a professional way! I'm hoping it will really enhance my designs. For this course, I needed some supplies like a pencil, ruler, eraser and a file with squared paper. I wanted to make a pouch for the utensils. Stef suggested I add eyelets so I can keep the pouch and file together at all times. Smart, right?

The brown fabric is the oldest remnant I have. It was used for the school play in my junior year, we were expected to sew our own clothes for it. My grandmother helped me to sew a simple jacket and pants. In fact, these were sewn on the machine I'm using right now. I was so impressed, I still have clear memories of the process. This is what sparked my sewing interest! I thought it was only logical to use this fabric for something that will take this 'hobby' to the next level. And ofcourse I'll share some of the insights here with you. I can't wait!

(15:60 #11 & 12)

Some Sleeves

You know what the problem is with stash busting? It creates more scraps! I'm trying to reduce both, but every time I make a garment, I am left with more scraps. And I know there are things like small purses or pincushions or headbands I could make, but one can only have so much of those. Hmmm...

Anyway, I've made a laptop sleeve for a friend. When I made my first sleeve, she asked me if I could make her one too. I said yes, she bought fabric. That was about a year ago. She bought a new laptop in the meantime. Moral of the story: never ask me to make you something :) At least there's one advantage: I learned to sew much better in the meantime. I finally made her sleeve last week. I needed a new one too, so I made another one with the leftover fabric to prevent my scrap pile getting higher.

The pink one is my friends sleeve. The outer fabric is a soft wool, the lining is a super soft and flowy something. This girl knows quality when she sees it! I handsewed the lining close to the zipper so it wouldn't get stuck. I also made an extra piece of fabric to protect her laptop from the metal zipper. And I used an extra piece of white cotton in between because the pink fabric is see through. It turned out well, but it was hard to combine a coarse zipper with such fine fabric. It took me about three hours to get it right! I made mine second, and was done in about half an hour. I used a smaller zipper this time, and a piece of quilting cotton from the scrap pile. There was no need for handsewing or an extra protection strip.

Doesn't the pink one remind you of an oyster or mussel? I used this tutorial for both sleeves, but omitted the iron-on fleece. If you choose the right materials, it's a fun half an hour project!

(15:60 #6)

H&M read my blog

And they thought it would be funny to make this challenge very hard at the last moment. I flicked through the H&M catalog at work today, and what did I see? Mustard yellow all over the autumn collection! Oh no! Not shopping was never harder than it is now.

I have to keep in mind that I persevered for almost a year now. This mustard obsession is just temporary (are you tired of it yet?). Plus, H&M is evil, with their cheap clothes made in third world countries that fall apart after a month or so. But seriously, mustard pants? How am I supposed to resist that? (Update: I couldn't. I went and tried them on. They fit horribly. Phew!)


Lucky for me, they also have some autumn accessoires that are excluded from my shopping-blacklist. I'll just have to do with mustard tights and belts. Now let's make some clothes that go with these.

Handmade gifts for fathers

When you claim to make everything yourself, this should also apply to gifts. I think I've come to the point where I can get away with giving handmade gifts, without being embarassed. So when my father mentioned he would be getting an iPad, I thought I'd give another go at a sleeve. You can clearly see my progress in sewing compared to the last sleeve I made! I used faux leather and some leftover fabric from my dance pants. Even the black bias tape didn't give me too much trouble. Its too bad faux leather isn't very pretty on the inside, but it's nice and sturdy and provides the needed protection.

Another handmade gift was for a friend who has just become a dad. I thought of sewing some cute baby shoes, but babies grow so fast they'll be too small in no-time. Besides, I have no clue about the size of baby feet. So I made something that will hopefully last a bit longer: a play blanket. It was my first try at quilting, and I think it turned out OK. Not perfect, but it's real hard to sew up all those squares evenly! I can see how pretty it could be, from looking at the Snug Bug's last quilt! I'd like to try again, all I need now is some more friends with babies!

Haute Couture Tab Sleeve

I got an early birthday present from Stef last week: Claire Schaeffers' Couture Sewing Techniques! I've come across it on several other blogs, and it seems a must have for professional sewing.

I immediately put it to use. I had sewn a Galaxy Tab sleeve for a friend, but I wasn't too happy with the hem finishing. I was fascinated by Nette's hand-rolled hem, and now I could try it myself! Check out the before and after pics below.



Not too shabby for my first blind stitched hand rolled hem, don't you think? It's got nothing to do with haute couture ofcourse, but these kind of techniques do make me feel more like a professional!

P.S. The fabric is designed by my friend, check out his work here: Zeptonn

Wallet in glue and pain

Lots of sewing going on these past days! Not everything is blog-worthy (e.g. a blanket for our dog) but my new wallet certainly is!

I've been wanting to make a frame purse for ages, and I also knew I wanted to combine these fabrics. It still took me a few weeks of thinking to finally decide on this design. I wanted to use both fabrics on the outside, but just could not come up with a nice design. In the end I embellished the grey faux leather with seams in light blue, and used the blue flowers as lining.

I used a tutorial by Lisa Lam from U-handbag for instructions on how to make a frame purse. Let me tell you this: it's not as easy as it seems! She is not to blame though, I just went about it to quickly. She writes to be generous with the glue, and so I was. Within a few minutes there was glue all over my fingers, the fabric, the table... Made me feel like being in kindergarten again. I also glued the frame on before checking how it looked. I had to pull quite some stunts to get the lining right after that. Especially with this little coin pocket in the middle, which wasn't in the tutorial. I can't even begin to explain how it worked out, but luckily it did in the end!

Sleeves

Well there's not really a story behind these items: they're sleeves for my netbook, and my boyfriend's iPad. They were both an exercise in sewing neat and straight lines. Maybe it's the season, but we both went with rough winter fabrics in a brown and blue color scheme.

I love this contrast of rough and smooth, brown and deep turqoise. I lined it with the plastic foam the netbook came in for extra protection. The bottom blue lining sticks out a bit, to protect the netbook from the zipper. I added brown bias in the corners to keep the zipper from getting stuck in the wrinkles of the lining.

The iPad sleeve is made of leftover fabric from a coat I made a few years ago. I don't have that coat anymore, so it's nice to see it's fabric used again. I think it'll be a while before I start making things on other people's request on a regular basis. It's not easy to fulfill their wishes because I often adjust my plans as I go along. On the other hand, it is satisfying when the result lives up to their expectations, and it pushes me not to take the easy way out.

P.S. Check out the new 'opinion checkboxes' at the bottom of the post! Now you can let me know what you think in just a click!

P.P.S. Noticed the new background color? It's a preview of my current big project!

Knitwear & grandmothers

Several handmade items have been added to my wardrobe these past few weeks. No more than four things in this outfit are handmade!

The blue shrug used to be a sweatervest, knitted last year. But after all those hours of knitting, it did not turn out as expected. And so it ended up as a ball of wool again. This shrug is a design of my own, knitted with a stitch I learned from my grandmother. It makes a nice V-shape on the back of the shrug. It's not a very special design, but it's the first thing I've knitted without a pattern (apart from scarves). Well the second thing actually, the first version of the shrug turned out big and warm but weird-looking. This one is how I wanted it to be. It's warm, cosy AND it fits. The shirt is also made by me, about three years ago. It's still one of my favourites.

The leather bag is not made by me, but by my boyfriends grandmother. She is a very crafty woman, producing bags, pot holders and quilts by the dozen. This bag is not really what you'd call fashionable, or even vintage - it's just oldfashioned. I use it a lot though, I like the size and the feel of it.

The second thing I knitted without a pattern is the hat. I was very glad it worked out in one go, because this was a time-consuming pattern to knit. I combined cables with a rice stitch and worked with both brown and blue. I added earmuffs for extra warmth and a pompon for fun. In comparison with the hat I knitted last year, this hat also shows my evolvement in knitting: it does not make me look like Calimero. Which is always a good thing.

Make it fake

Last weekend was our big Sinterklaas swap. We each held a sales-pitch, explaining what we had brought and why. Remarkably, the most common reason was: "It's a nice shirt/dress/vest, there's nothing wrong with it, but I just don't wear it". Which goes to show, again, that you really need to think before you buy something. Luckily, I could pass on most of my items to my friends.

I have a 'Things to sew'-list, and on it was a blue (fake) leather jacket. Much to my delight, one of my friends brought exactly such a jacket for the swap. Hurray! It gives this jacket a second life, and moreover, saves me a lot of work. I also swapped a blue vest, which matches my formerly-XL shirt. Anyway, the eye-catcher in these pics should be my new bag! I made this simply because my other big bag was worn out. I had a mental image of this new bag since I accidently made a nice combination of fabrics while rummaging about in my fabric suitcase. The tough brownish wool makes a nice contrast with the little beige flowers. All I had to add was the fake leather. It closes with a magnet. My other bag had no closing at all, so I felt no reason to make an elaborate one on this bag. The inside holds a pocket for small things such as pens and my phone.

But the most handy feature is the special key pocket. Anytime you go out, no matter where you go, at some point you need your keys. I guess we've all had that moment when you're back home, a bag full of stuff and your keys are always somewhere at the bottom of your bag (or to make matters worse, you also really need to go to the bathroom). I could use the pen-pocket for my keys, but the most convenient place would be in the corner, where I can reach them anytime. I guess you could make a pocket on the front, but I don't like the idea of my keys being on the outside.


I love how much I learn with each thing I make. It was the first time I made a big bag like this, and the first time I used fake leather. It's not as fancy as real leather, but it works just as well. I think I'll be using it a whole lot more!

First new item

It has been over a month since I decided not to buy any clothes for a year. So far it has been going well. I have not been tempted at all, just been keeping my eye out for inspirational designs and fabrics. It's comparable to my decision to become a vegetarian (pescetarian, to be precise) six months ago. Making that decision once, takes away many decisions in different situations. Instead of having to make that choice every time you eat - meat or no meat -, you just decide once and that's it. Although I have had some cravings for meat, it's actually quite easy. The same goes for not buying clothes: it's just not an option anymore, so there's no sense in flipping through the H&M catalogue, or paying attention to sales. This one decision takes away all those "shall I buy it or not" decisions, and thus makes life a bit simpler.

Since I don't really need any sort of garment yet, I wanted to make a formal (but cute) purse which I can take to network meetings and other 'serious occasions'. I'm really happy with the colour combination. It's not very complicated, but I tried not to just throw it together like I usually do. And let me tell you a secret: there's a wooden skewer sewn into it somewhere...