Zip pocket pouch

Zip pocket pouch, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

Michelle has this pattern on sale at the moment, plus extra pattern pieces for another size. If you have been wanting to make it its the perfect time to pop over and buy it here

It's been way too hot here lately to sew so I've had nothing new to show. Plus I've been making over my craft space. Can't wait till its finished so I can share.

Back to what I know!

I've unpicked the quilting disaster and decided to have a go at a smaller version before tackling it again. I know where I went wrong but just so I can get my confidence back. I felt like such a novice, especially asking you all for help. Love this blogging community :-).

I'd never used quilting pins on my new machine, only hand basted. So that was the first thing to go. I was in too much of a rush to quilt, big mistake. On one of the blogs I read, Amy had just experimented with jelly roll racing, I'd never heard of it (can you tell I haven't been reading blogs? Don't worry i'm back into it!), googled it, and found it was huge. So with the left over strips from the quilt, I cut 1 1/2 inch strips and had a go. It came together so fast. The same fabrics clumped together a bit, strange how it did that, random didn't end up being random! Might try it again on a proper jelly roll one day.

This is doll quilt size so will be used by someone when I finish it. So here goes, straight line quilting I think. Then I'll baste the bigger size again and have another go at that.

Please note these are not my usual fabrics, I'm using up a bad purchase stash on the experiment!!

New fabric, oh my

Look what arrived in post the today. Very excited. It's Safari Soiree by Dan Stiles for Birch Fabrics Organic. I also got a superhero fat quarter bundle, that didn't quite make it in the photo. Got lots of ideas for this fabric, mainly baby gift bundles.

But that also means my fabric weight count has gone off the charts!! (Just realised I declared my fabric goal on my other blog!!)

+36g - 1319g = -1283g. Best get making and finishing some projects! I think the quilt might be shelved for a week or 2!

How are you going with your fabric purchases?

The patchwork

Thanks for all your suggestions in my last post. I've slept on it and know exactly where I have gone wrong. I'm going to unpick and try again. After I've done a spot of shopping with the girls! This is a photo of the patchwork before I stuffed up the quilting. I was pretty happy with it. It's a bit of an experiment which I'll explain more when I'm finished!

Grrr

Question for all quilters out there. What am I doing wrong? I have my walking foot on, the machine was dragging the sandwich through, and now my patchwork that was perfectly straight now isn't. Everything is now wonky. Which would be fine if that's what I intended. I now have to unpick. Am I not pinning correctly? Should I hand sew baste instead of pin? All suggestions very welcome.

Grocery bags

This is what I made from cutting into my DS fabric. Grocery bags for my sisters and crafty buddy. The pattern is from Michelle Patterns. I made the medium size. They came together very quickly even though every seam is double stitched. There is no interfacing which is very welcome after so many projects with iron on interfacing. I used calico inside. I love giving gifts that are potentially very useful not just sitting pretty on a shelf.

Fabric stash

I cut into my Denise Schmidt stash last night to make some grocery bags. Can't wait to show you.

Box Pouch

Box Pouch, originally uploaded by MandyMade.

Another gift finished. This one is for AJ's teacher. When I asked him what he wanted to give his teacher this year he thought about it for a while then asked if I could make something round, tin shaped. With a bit of probing I got out of him what it was he was thinking about. Apparently his teacher has a tin for her white board markers but its not big enough and they go everywhere. So he was trying to think of something to replace it. Once he'd thought about it a bit more he said I'd made what he was thinking about before, so I showed him some photos and he picked a pouch I'd made a year ago. So that was picked, yay. I had a different box pouch pattern that I'd pinned and wanted to try, perfect. He picked the fabric and this is the result. A bit bigger than I thought it would be but he loved it so all is good.

I boxed the corners by cutting first instead of making a triangle and measuring. I find this technique easier. I also used really thick interfacing so it sits in its box shape really well. I think there may be more made!


I used www.sochickhandbags.com tutorial.

Gift making

The gift giving season has begun. But before I can start on chrissy gifts there are a few birthdays to gift to first.

And I am of course behind in my making so this gift was gifted yesterday instead of the beginning of the month!! Sorry about the photos, late night photo shoot, no amount of photo styling could help!! This was a gift for my craft buddies eldest. She turned 12 and has a mild obsession with the moustache at the mo.

The pattern is Michelle's Zip Pocket Pouch. This is the small version. Great for cards or coins. I added a loop and hook. If you would like to make one too pop over here, it's not too late to start the handmade Christmas!

Oh yeah, this thing is cute.

Oh yeah, this thing is cute., originally uploaded by michellepatterns.

Michelle has a new pattern out. It's a re work of her pleated pouches pattern. It has some new sizes and new techniques. I have a dilemma on my hands. Do I buy the new pattern or experiment with different sizes myself? It's on sale this weekend so I better decide quick. If you want a pattern there is a button on my side bar linking to her shop or click here. Happy sewing.