Wednesday, September 21, 2011

A true original - for my friend.

This one just developed over time.   I wanted to make a bag for my friend who likes orange (and white) - I had in my head to make the pieced body front and back and started by cutting three fat quarters into varying width strips to piece together as you see in the picture.  Then as I stitched the bag together  I didn't like the height it appeared the bag would end up so after playing with the bag body - flipping this over here and folding that over there, I decided to make the flap and cut the bag and lining accordingly.  Then as I stitched the lining to the bag I stitched right along the quilting lines at the flap edge resulting in the scalp edge on the flap.  I really like that.  And finally trying to decide how to hold that flap down, I had already sewn the tab, originally expecting to just pull the tab from the back top to the front to button, so I worked that inbetween the layers of the middle of the flap then covered a large button with some of the quilted fabric I had cut from the bag when making the flap.  So, the entire point of this whole narration?  This is truly a one of a kind bag - no pattern used and I doubt I could duplicate it again.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Saturday, June 25, 2011

"Elvis Lives!" - Messenger Bag

My niece loves Elvis!  I came across remanents of three different Elvis fabrics and wanted to make something for my niece with them.  I think the messenger bag style suits her very well and the two fabrics used in this bag go together nicely - the third one is not quite the right tones.  I'm anxious to see if she likes it - when she returns from a trip she is on - next week. 

Sunday, June 12, 2011

A couple of bags to Georgia

I made these two for one of my daughter's college friends - so, come tomorrow, they will be in the mail on the way to Georgia - hope you like them HS!

I really liked the fabric in the "fat quarter" bundle I used in the first bag - kind of proud of the extras - zipper top that is also stitched into place on the ends.  I made a fabric covered button to accent the handle.  The quilting on the body pieces is flowers....












The canvas bag (two pics below) is reversible.   I started with a pattern, but emprevised along the way - consequently there are a couple of things I would do differently next time, but over all I like the outcome.   I would change the straps - merge them into one instead of two, and I would adjust the pockets - when I placed them on the bag pieces, I didn't figure in the bottom of the bag so the pockets wrap around the bottom of the bag.  Just a hidden compartment, right?


 

For the Munchkins!


The white denim was made for the granddaughter, the three blue denim for the three nieces (twins and a little sis).

I took a flyer on a disc of "disney" designs on ebay.  I have been hesitant on buying them up until now because I wasn't sure about copyright or quality since these were coming from out of country and they were offering so much for so little (over 5000 designs for just under $50) - but how can you confirm copyright?  The designs are marked as you would expect and the terms of use are for personal only (specifically states not for resale or for use on commercial items to be sold for profit).  So as far as copyright, I think I've checked as closely as I can.  So the only other issue is quality - for this price, I can take the chance.  

To get to the point, the designs on the blue denim jackets are all from this disc.  Quality is OK - what I buy from Emblibrary.com is better - this certainly won't replace this and other sources where I get high quality designs, but it's great for this type of embellishments.As an example - when you look closer at these three - on the Jesse and the Ariel designs, I stiched most areas twice to increase the stitch density - otherwise too much of the dark denim shows through.  The Spiderman, on the other hand, was actually quite good - that is probably at least partly due to having reduced the size of the design to fit in the space between the seams on the jacket back. My machine will reduce the size up to 20% - but that doesn't adjust the stitch count - so you get the same amount of stitches in a tighter area - equal more density....

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Curve - again!

It's been a little while, but I'm back at it - I think....
Another "Curve Appeal" - I love finding the two or three patterns to put together for these bags - I especially like the greens and paisley in the bag.

Gone as quick as it's done - I actually cut out the fabric several months ago when I was working on all those bags for the ladies at my hubby's office - but having finished all those and gotten side track on other items, this one got put aside.  Then a couple of weeks ago I personalized a couple of towels for  friend and thought she might like one of these and I could (should) finally get around to finishing this one.  I thought the material suits her well and she seemed to like it when I gave it to her.

There is a little gold sparkle in the material so I thought gold embbroidery thread for the quilting would be great and I am very pleased with the affect.  I couldn't find a paisely quilt design I liked so I created a simple outline design from a more complicated embroidery design I saw.  That is in the top ody of the bag, the lower body is a geometric quilting design from a Dakota Designs CD purchased.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Knotted Handle Bag

My hubby thinks this is too loud. I admit it certainly is colorful.   The Ladies at his office set him straight that it wasn't just for the young (hippy type?).  It was a lot of fun to make.   Ultimately a friend took it for her (grown) daughter. 

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Bookmarks

I'm playing a little catch up here - but this is one I've been wanting to try for a while now - a "in the hoop project" - these are "Book Corners" - book marks that slide on the corner of the page to hold your place.   Cute, arent' they?

Start with a sweatshirt.....

Yes - a sweatshirt.  Just a basic crew neck pull over sweat shirt that is now a "jacket" or sweater" that I think I could acutally wear to work.  I cut off all the bands, added cuffs, lapel and facings, and one color embroidery designs - I put the same material used for the cuffs, lapel and facing behind the fabric when embroiderying the design, then trimmed away the sweatshirt material in the flower petals where the petals were large enough to show the underlying material through.  Go ahead, get a closer look on the detail pictures - just click one to bring up the picture a little larger.


Friday, April 29, 2011

To a Special Friend across the Ocean.

This one is especially made for a friend of our schools in Japan, this is another of the type "Curve Appeal" - with a custom label inside and a custom/special tag hanging from the handle - a commemorative of friends across the globe.   This was suppose to be a gift of greeting as she was to accompany a group of students on a visit to our community.  But the visit was canceled by the terrible earth quake - we were glad to hear that while the trip had to be canceled, all our friends are safe.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Sunday, February 6, 2011

For the Granddaughter

Another Fat Bundle project - this is a repeat of an earlier bag you might recall.  I made this for my granddaughter - do you think the fabric is too young for a 7 year old?

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Guess What I got for Christmas?

A Kindle! - So I started looking at covers and at $35+ each, I decided to try my hand at making my own. It isn't perfect but maybe I'll try again and applying what I learned doing this one, it should be much better.