Humbled

Oh, my gosh! After BabyE woke up early from her nap today, we got in the car and decided to check out the finished projects at Valley Fabrics (remember my little bag I made for the challenge?). They were AMAZING! I was so humbled by the talent surrounding my meek little bag. There is such creativity and whimsy in this world!

And a mini pleated beauty

I'm starting to look crazy to those of you who don't know I am on a mission to make these for the moms in our family (my mom, my mother-in-law, my husband's grandmother, and my sister-in-law). So, here's the second to last bag - a mini one for Shane's grandmother. I had the fabric already to make a big beauty when she shared that she needed smaller handbags. A big shout out to Julie (http://letter9.wordpress.com/) for sharing her measurements for her smaller bag. I didn't add any applique to this one as it is busy enough (I am a bit disappointed that the pleats don't stand out a bit more). I added this last photo for size perspective.

And another....

And, here's the one I made for my mom for Mother's Day. I really like the black and white combination, even if the appliques were hard to cut (I trimmed one down to about half its original size before I was happy with the shape!). For the pocket, I sewed a piece of black linen together with the fleece and accent fabric (Alexander Henry Yoko), turned it right-side out and pressed - I topstitched it closed at the same time I sewed it to the bag inside piece. That worked really well - it is a nice, clean finish while being very sturdy.

Another Pleated Beauty

Okay, here's another pleated beauty from BTRS. This one is for my sister-in-law for Mother's Day. It is very similar to the first one I made - differences include a plain bottom, and a padded pocket with a separation sewn in. I also lined the handles with fusible fleece and liked it so much more than my first bag that I ripped out the first bag to fix the handles. That involved a good deal of careful seam ripping but it was totally worth it (except now there is pen on the bag courtesy of the 16 month old in the house)!

Another bag

So, this is the "Charming Handbag" from BTRS I made for the Valley Fabrics Amusement Pack challenge. I had to tweak the pattern/directions a bit to use all six fabrics. This is the front: the embellishment is actually one of the fabrics.
Here's one pocket on the inside.
Here's the other pocket.

All in all, it came out a bit busy with all the different fabrics but it was fun to do. I really do like the "Vintage" fabric from Robert Kaufman used on the outside. There is still another month and a half for people to get their entries in for the challenge (I dropped mine off yesterday - they were all very kind in oohing and ahhing). I don't expect to win anything - it was just fun to participate (of course, I wouldn't MIND winning!).

The Pleated Beauty (from BTRS)

This is the bag back - the fabric in the pleats and used for the applique are Robert Kaufman "Vintage".
This is the bag front - I added a fabric-covered button and elastic for a closure.
This is the inside - I added the bottom (different than the pattern calls for). The fabric was part of an "Amusement Pack" from Valley Fabrics in Northampton (ahhh...heaven). I bought the pack of six pre-coordinated fabrics for a sewing challenge sponsored by the store (photos to follow). This project was the perfect way to use up the left-overs!
The only thing I would do differently next time (as in, the cut fabric already waiting for its turn at the machine) is to add a lining to the handles as well (I used fusible fleece for the bag which gives it a puffy but sturdy feel).
P.S. Adding photos was not nearly as hard as I thought! Thank you, Blogger!

My First Blog Entry

I feel pressured to say something profound as this is my first blog entry. Sadly, I'm drawing a blank!
I have been inspired to start this blog by a few things/people: my friend Cindy who keeps us posted on life in MN, the many sewing and crafty blogs I have found lately, the hope and desire of figuring out a way to post information for such groups as knitting and baby playgroup, and a way to share projects whether knitting or sewing (or whatever "craft-of-the-moment"). Just now, I was checking out information for an apron swap and it suggested having a blog URL was a good idea so I took the plunge. Here I am.
Anyway, I'm going to experiment with posting a photo of my latest project from "Bend the Rules Sewing" (Amy Karol is truly a genius!). It was my first applique and I must say I was quite pleased (I was channeling my friend Emily's creativity - she makes excellent baby, toddler and kids' shirts with adorable appliques!).
Wish me luck in getting a photo onto this!