Another Charming Handbag

Sunday was my S-I-L's birthday. I made another bag for her this year. This time the Charming Handbag from Amy Karol's Bend the Rules Sewing book. I did cheat and made it at the same time as I made the other Charming Handbag. The fabric is Amy Butler that I got last year and have been saving for a special project. The blue ribbon is some from my stash and the button is from my button jar. I love buttons and this one I think really completed this bag. I don't really like yellow and tried several different buttons, but the yellow really finished this bag off. I almost kept the bag for myself, but then realized if I gave it to my S-I-L I would be finished her gift over a month before her birthday! I love this bag and I think she really loved it too.

Birthday Zippered Pouches

A few weeks ago we had my daughter's birthday party with her friends. She wanted something different in the loot bags. So I whipped up some zippered pouches. Since she decided she wanted to do this a few days before the party and didn't really like what I had on hand for fabric a quick trip to Wal-Mart found the perfect fabric for 11 and 12 year old girls. This is an outdoor fabric, but it worked perfectly for these pouches. The lining was scrap pink canvas that I had in my stash. Each zippered pouch has a different ribbon and a different coloured zipper. There was handsewing involved in these babies - that is so not my thing. Next time I make a zippered pouch I'm going to have to come up with a way that won't have me hand-sewing.

My daughter loves penquins and we made up a penquin invitation that I got on the web somewhere. She wanted a penquin cake too. Not too hard to do. I made a 13" x 9" rectangle cake and an 8" x 8" square cake. Once the cakes were completely cooled I rounded the top and bottom of the 13" x 9" cake. I cut the 8" x 8" cake on the diagonal to make the flippers/fins, rounding the edges to make it more realistic. Then I made some chocolate icing and put some concentrated black colouring in the icing to make it more black than brown. I also made up some white icing and put a little of the white icing in seperate bowl so I could make an orange beak and feet. First I put the white icing on the belly of the penquin then put the black on the rest of the penguin. Next I used the white icing again to make the whites of the eyes and put black icing in the centre of the whites of the eyes. Then came a triangle shape for the beak and some feet. This cake was a hit and her friends were amazed that I made this cake. Over the years I've done a butterfly cake, Spongebob cake, a beach cake, tractor cake, Spiderman web cake, cow cake, construction cake, Bob the Builder cake and plain old chocolate layer cakes. This was one of the easiest cakes I've made.

Free Applique Pattern

This is the appliqued t-shirt made for my daughter for Easter by me (t-shirt is purchased and the applique is done by me). She loves flip-flops and is starting to love other shoes too. The fabric is from some scraps left over from a beach bag I made a few years ago. The ribbon is from my stash/collection.

This t-shirt I wanted to give my daughter for Easter, but ran out of time to get it done. Last year for Easter she got a t-shirt with a guitar appliqued on it (by me), but it's too small now. She had hinted around that she would love another guitar t-shirt. The fabric is also from my scraps.

I have a pattern for both of these appliques that you can download here. For the flip-flops I appliqued the shoes to the t-shirt and then added the ribbon. There is a great tutorial over at the Sew, Mama, Sew blog if you are new to applique or need some tips and pointers.

Charming Handbag Swap

Charming Handbag from Amy Karol's Bend-the-Rules-Sewing book made for the BTRS Swap. The outside fabric is from my stash (I can't remember where it came from). The lining fabric is leftover from a dress made awhile ago. The pink button I convinced my daughter to part with from her button collection.

I love the look of this bag and it's the perfect size for going out and even to take to work. This little bag took about an hour to make, but the instructions were confusing in places. Luckily there are lots of pictures to help clarify the instructions. The handle I made is a bit longer than the instructions called for, but I wanted to make it long enough that you can throw it over your shoulder and not have to always carry it in your hand.

Part of the swap was to include something crafty - either handmade or some crafty supplies.

I decided to include 2 metres of pink velvet ribbon and some other ribbon from my notions stash - each spool has 18 inches of ribbon. Also included were 2 vintage buttons. The picture above is a little fuzzy, but it gives you the idea.

Another Giveaway Link

You have to check out this fabric giveaway! A fat quarter bundle in some fabulous fabrics! Go enter now!

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sunday Laundry Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!
Click on the link above to see the beautiful dress giveaway. This dress really makes me think summer!

Pillows

We've needed new pillows for our couch for over a year now. I loved our old pillows but they got holes in them and we all know what happens when kids are around and something has a hole it.

I knew we needed pillows with a zipper so the pillow covers could be removed and washed. The only thing is I always forgot to get the zippers while at the fabric store. So a few weekends ago I went to Wal-Mart specifically to get zippers. The closest fabric store that carries zippers is about 45 mintues away and Wal-Mart is just a 10 minute drive and luckily our local Wal-Mart is still carrying fabrics and crafts. I had this green square fabric for awhile and bought it specifically for the pillows. The fabric was on sale and I bought what was left on the bolt which gave me just enough for the pillows with a few scraps of it left. The pillows look good on the couch and have already had a lot of use, but I would really like to find a fabric that I love and that has more umph to it. But for now they'll do.