Auction Bags

I made some bags for a silent auction/raffle at school:
l-r: Chelsea handbag, In Town bag, and Swing bag, all from Amy Butler. Also, all from stash! :)

At the last minute I decided to add a button closure to the In Town bag. Hopefully all 3 bags will do well and raise some money.

In other news, my husband and I went to the MDA Black-N-Blue Ball last Friday. I decided to go all badass and went with leather. It was pretty fun. I bid on a few things, but really really wanted one of them, and I won! Soon a personal organizer will be coming to my house and working on one area for 4 hours. That area will be my sewing room! Right now I'm working on de-cluttering and de-stashing, because I want all 4 hours focus on organizing.

New Patterns!

I rarely buy new sewing patterns anymore -- I have so many (500+?), that those along with the Burda WOF, Topkids, and Ottobre magazines means I probably have just about every design imaginable, with just a few tweaks here and there.

Anyway, I joined an Apron Swap with the Reclaiming The Home group at Ravelry. Pattern links were being shared, and I fell in love with the Emmeline Apron. Isn't it cute??? I can't wait to get started on it. I plan to add pockets, and I plan to make the tops of them gathered into a band, so they match the bib. It'll be fun to stash dive for the fabrics.


I bought my pattern from Sew, Mama, Sew! and decided to find something else to make the shipping charge 'worth' it (I know I'm not the only one that does that!). I picked up the new Amy Butler Lotus Tunic and Cami. It'll be perfect for our upcoming trip to Arizona. I was also amazed at how fast the patterns arrived! Now I need to attempt to clean up the sewing room and get sewing.

Auction Bags

The education foundation here in our village holds a big ball every year, and does fundraising. This year they are having a "community art silent auction", and sent notes home from school asking people to make things for it. I offered to make either bags or a quilt, whichever they thought would do best, and bags were chosen. This week I made these two, and then I added the one I had in the state fair this year to make it a total of three. Hopefully they'll do well!

A Few More Bags

The pattern club meeting was last night. I didn't get all the Amy Butler bags I had cut out finished, but I did manage to get these done. From the left: Swing Bag, In Town drawstring bag, Chelsea Tote, and an In Town handbag (yes, this is just like the one I made for Julie -- I was able to cut out two). I used scraps leftover from my nephew's quilt to make the drawstring bag. I am partway through the Favorite Clutch, and then I'll work on the Cabo Halter muslin (I did an FBA on the pattern, and hope it works out). I also have one more In Town bag to do, this time with bamboo purse handles.

Here you can see the linings I chose. The Chelsea Tote is reversible, and has a false bottom. It's going to go live with a friend of mine -- I hope she likes it. I bought a button to make a closure for the handbag. The meeting was a lot of fun. Someone had made the Kimono Robe from AB's In Stitches book, and I got to try it on. That was helpful, as now I have a few modifications in mind. Two people made the Messenger Bag. Both said it was a LOT of work, but it looks fantastic. Kelly didn't make it, though. :( I was hoping to meet her and check out her Cafe Apron. I'm sure the snowstorm we had was a definite factor in the smallish attendance (I was 30 minutes late myself).

I'm really looking forward to the next few months of the club. Next month is Nancy Erickson's Fashion Sewing Group patterns, and then Jalie patterns in May. In the fall we have a month for HotPatterns and Decades of Style, so that should motivate me to get my HP pattern made up (and maybe order a few more! ~G~).

More Snow

We woke up to more snow this morning.
I had hoped to get a lot of sewing done this weekend, but only managed a Swing Bag and part of an In Town Bag. Connor was up Saturday night complaining about his ear, and my nose started dripping like a faucet yesterday. The pattern club meeting is tomorrow night, and I'd still like to make a Chelsea Tote and the Cabo Halter.

Once the snow stops I'll get out and shovel.

Amy Butler "Pattern" Festival

I belong to an Independent Pattern Club, and each month we pick a pattern line to focus on. For February, we'll be discussing and showing Amy Butler patterns, one of my fave indie lines. I want to bring a bunch of her things to show, so I had a "pattern festival" (you know, like a film festival) last weekend. Clockwise from the bottom left I have: Drawstring Handbag and two In Town Bags, a Chelsea Tote Bag, a Swing Bag, and the Favorite Clutch, from the 12/2005 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting (I'm told this is the clutch from the Dorothy Bag pattern, which I believe has been discontinued). I also cut out a muslin of the Cabo Halter.

I stitched up the drawstring bag this weekend (it's cute!). The rest are all prepared with fused interfacing or basted canvas and ready to stitch. Our club meeting is on the 13th, so I have about a week to get them made up.

Birthday Bag

Happy Birthday Julie! I hope you enjoy your special day!

This is the Amy Butler In Town Bag. I fused the outer fabric with two layers of Shirt Fuse (at least I think it's Shirt Fuse). The sides only have 1 layer. It's a cute little bag, and I filled it with some birthday treats. :) The inside has two pockets, which you can see here. I think I might need one for myself!

Weekend Stuff

This past weekend was really nice. Calvin and I went to the UWM Science Bag on Friday night, and learned all about the differences between lakes and oceans. It was a lot of fun, and Calvin got to create a tsunami. Afterwards we stopped for an ice cream cone at Culvers. On Saturday morning, we did a river cleanup in honor of Earth Day. It is so sad how much garbage people throw around. Caleb was gone most of the weekend, camping overnight with a Boy Scout troop.

Saturday afternoon I made this top. The first garment I've made this year! It had been cut out for ages, and I finally finished it. It's OOP KS 2643, and I think this one ended up too big. I think the fabric is really cool, but it's not "me". If you want more information, go read my review. I've made this top 4 times now, and all those photos are linked in the review.



I also made this Amy Butler Chelsea Handbag for a friend for her birthday. I used some leftover fabric I had laying around from a different bag. I think it's darling, and I also think I have enough to make the tote version (for me!). It went together beautifully. I changed a few construction techniques, and I'll be writing a review for it in the next few days (Review is here -- step by step pictures of how I did the handles are there).

Today was just gorgeous (70 degrees), and after getting our studies done, we walked to the library and then met a friend and her kids at the park. Tomorrow is supposed to be crummy, so I'm glad we got outside today.

Another Swing Bag

I finished this Swing Bag last night. It's for my mother, for her to use as a baby shower present. I had the fish print in my stash, and found the batik at my local quilt shop. Originally I wanted to pick a green, but didn't find one that made the print pop. The orange was the best choice, and I do like it. This one also has an inside pocket. I've made at least 6 of these bags now, and am getting pretty good at them. I should make one for myself!

I bought some more fabric this weekend. Friday there was a fat quarter sale at the quilt shop: $1/FQ, but you had to buy in multiples of 10. Of course, I found 10 FQs. Then on Saturday I bought some fabric for a baby sling -- a present for a co-worker of Dh's. My yardage in/out stat is getting dangerously close to being out of balance. :)

Swing Bag

I finished this Amy Butler Swing Bag this weekend. It's a present for a friend who just had her third baby. I think it's a nice size for use as a diaper bag on quick trips when one is bopping around town running errands. I added an inside pocket a la the Nappy bag (photo is of a different bag), so while technically this bag is still reversible, if you do reverse it, you get a pocket on the outside. I've made quite a few of these bags, and have cutting and construction down to a science! :) I made the pattern into a full pattern (instead of cutting on a fold), so I can cut out both sides at once.

I fell in love with the brown/aqua print and bought 3 yds. (Yeah, I know, I have issues. I have a post all figured out in my head about talking fabric) The bag only took .75 yds, so I plan to make a little bias skirt from the rest, trimming the hem with the aqua stripe I used in the lining, or, if I can find it, aqua tulle.

Now all I have to do is get some goodies to fill it (some Weleda Baby Cream, some onesies, maybe a candle and some pretty notecards, some chocolate, etc.), wrap it, and send it.

Nappy Bag #2

I finished Nappy Bag #2 on Thursday night. This one is an overdue Christmas present for my mom. Two down, two more to go! Miss Belinda does a nice job modeling, doesn't she? She's such a good-natured model too -- no fussing or wiggling. :)

In other news, I went running with the girls today and ran about 4 miles. Go me!!

Nappy Bag #1

Last night I finished Nappy Bag #1 (out of 4). (I reviewed this pattern in March 2005. You can read it here). I hope she likes it. All I need to do now is go to the store and pick up some goodies to fill it with. Since most mamas get enough baby carp at baby showers, I'm going to fill this with goodies for her. It'll all depend on what I find, but I'm thinking some pretty notecards, a picture frame, chocolates/candies, lotions, etc.

I also have a good chunk of the orange batik leftover, and I'm thinking I'll use it in one of the other baby quilts.