We never planned to do so...but out of the blue, last weekend, my husband suggested we should. He calls it purging, rather than spring cleaning. We do have so much to get rid of.My kids and I started with our wardrobes, chucking all our old clothing in a designated box. I never realized we had so much unused clothes (new and still with tags), most of which were given as presents which either did not fit us or just were not our type. What to do with them? Give away? Sell? We haven't thought about that just yet.I must admit I have a big share of cleaning up to do. My crafting corner which inappropriately sits in our dining room (for lack of some other space) is a definite eye sore. My fabric scraps are piling up and comes with it is the guilt. So what to do? Took out my sewing machine and made a couple of these...
Feels really good to be sewing bags again. And it feels even better to be able to make use of those fabric scraps! Even my bag handles are patchwork! The Japanese-inspired patchwork bag is one of the very first bag styles I learned to make. I must say that my sewing has improved much since that first attempt many months ago! I did not use a pattern for these but was guided by this little tutorial here. Pretty easy to make, provided you've handled a simple tote before and have the patience to piece those fabric strips together. I have one more in the making which I will be posting later. These bags will be going into my pool of handmade Christmas presents.
Hope you are all having a good week! Got to go now...still so much 'purging' to do!
The two-week school holiday officially started on the weekend. You all know what that means, of course. Just the thought of having the 4 kids around me the whole day for the next 14 days tires me already. Not that I don't like having them around the house...it is, in reality, more work to do - more cleaning up, more cooking, and all those related stuff and I have less computer time (ha ha).But I promised myself I won't let the eternal household chores get in the way of me working on things for my newly-opened Etsy shop. No pain, no gain, right? I asked my daughter to keep guard. She needs to motivate and encourage me when I begin to feel like slowing down.I feel great today because after weeks of working on this, I finally managed to finish my Mousie Heart Bear eBook. The pattern and instructions are now available as a PDF on my shop, so if you want to make one yourself (instead of buying the ready-made doll), you can now go ahead and purchase it....please...pretty please...
Now I have to do some cleaning up for a while...I'll be back with some new stuff, that's my school holiday promise.
I take down notes all the time. Most of my crafting ideas come to me in the most unexpected time and places. I get those "light bulb flashes" a lot when I am in the car, parked outside my kids' school, while waiting for the sound of the school bell. Once, I found myself without a notebook, I had to jot my ideas down at the back of a supermarket docket. Many times, too, I must admit, I get those 'Aha' moments when my mind wanders off to the crafting world while I am at church (shame on me, I know).So you see, a notebook and pen are my two very important companions. A couple of nights ago, I made this...finally, a thing I could actually use...I am still using my mobile phone camera (crap!)
An inexpensive A5 journal dressed up in this neat fabric cover with pen loop and button loop closure! I love, love, love it! It's a great gift idea too.
I am definitely making more of this but would alter just some very minor things.
Do you feel a tutorial coming? I can...
Here are two more of my tutorials you can now download, save, print and use as you wish!
City Backpack - here
Zippered Wristlet - here
Happy bag making!
...and nearly ready to go. So anxious to see these little ones off to new homes.Our house is slowly being inhabited by these bears. They're all over the place. Adorable as they are, I do have to let them go. Anyone interested?
Yesterday, on my crafting desk (which also happens to be our dining table) were these...
Yes, I've been working on those bears over the weekend. And yes, these will be up for grabs soon on etsy. The eBook is coming along fine - I just need that digital camera to take the necessary step by step photos. Still another week to wait.
I'm pretty excited and wishful...hope you all will watch out for these softies!
I tried out my second pattern this morning. I had second thoughts on making a post about it today as I only had my mobile phone to take pictures with. My husband left earlier for a well deserved two-week holiday in the Philippines and naturally took our digital camera with him.
I took pictures anyway and considering it was rainy, I was surprised the shots were quite decent.
This is my yet-to-be-named little praying angel...
(Not a very nice place to take a picture on, I know. But this was the best dry spot I could find outside, sorry about that.)
And here's the back view with the quilted wings.
Some things I would possibly do next time:
1) Make the doll a little bit larger/taller. This first one ended up 12" tall.
2) Put the legs a little closer to each other.
3) Raise the shoulders up a bit.
4) Improve the hands. My kids did not recognize the hands at first glance. Maybe use another fabric instead of felt?
We'll see how it goes. Meanwhile, feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks for all the help with the bear! I will be finalizing the ePattern and instructions for that as soon as I get the camera back.
Feels really good to be sewing bags again. And it feels even better to be able to make use of those fabric scraps! Even my bag handles are patchwork! The Japanese-inspired patchwork bag is one of the very first bag styles I learned to make. I must say that my sewing has improved much since that first attempt many months ago! I did not use a pattern for these but was guided by this little tutorial here. Pretty easy to make, provided you've handled a simple tote before and have the patience to piece those fabric strips together. I have one more in the making which I will be posting later. These bags will be going into my pool of handmade Christmas presents.
