Duffle bag

At the same time I purchased the Alexander Henry Zahara print fabric, I also brought his Somerville, Sloane in Sienna. The fabric is really stunning, the picture doesn't do it justice. 

Again, I purchased the fabric with no idea as to what it would become. I initially thought it would make a good t-shirt, but eventually decided on a bag. 

Being a new mum my handbag has gone from a simple clutch with essentials such as phone & keys, to a suitcase full of nappies, spare clothes, wipes bottles etc....

So a bag I would use on a daily basis would need to be large. 

I have had for a while a pattern for a duffle bag, purchased from Etsy. 

The bag looked large and the pattern instructions clear with lots of pictures. 

The Sienna fabric had an aubergine/eggplant base colour so I thought this would be a good lining colour to match. I purchased Moda eggplant solid via www.fabricrehab.co.uk and a matching eggplant zip. 

There was an option of adding inside pockets, but it's not something I use on my current bag so I decided to skip that step. 

The sides of the bag were interfaced and the bottom was batting and quilted. 

The instructions were straightforward to follow. I think I used the wrong material for the base as my bag had a saggy bottom. My dad suggested a sturdy piece of material at the bottom of the bag to stop any sags. I found a plastic folder so I cut a wide strip and placed it between the outer and the lining and the saggy bottom disappeared (thanks dad :). 

The sides were a bit fiddly to attach to the bottom piece and it took a bit of readjusting. I think I may have cut the bottom a little too long, but the instructions explain how to solve the excess material problem. 

I just love the fabric and a large bag shows it off really well I think. Eggplant has become my new favourite colour! I call this my Mary Poppins bag as it is so big inside and the colours remind me of the large carpet bag Julie Andrews uses in the film.  

The pattern includes a child size duffle but I used the adult size, which comes out the size of a weekender bag. 

You can find the pattern on Etsy just search for duffle bag pattern. The seller is ginia18. 

 

Baby Crafts

I have an adorable 6 month old daughter. She entertains me everyday and I can not believe how quickly she is growing. So when I decided the start sewing, an item for my daughter was top of the list. 

I searched for a pattern that would be cute but easy and came across Butterick pattern 3405. 

I chose pattern C which is a short top and matching panties. 

The most enjoyable part of making a garment is choosing the fabric. As I have said before I am obsessed with Alexander Henry fabric so it was only right my daughters dress should be made out of something from his collection. 

Alexander Henry is rarely on sale so I was so happy to stumble across the great site www.fondantfabrics.co.uk. Not only did they have a sale, they offer free postage if you spend over £40. 

This is the stash my postman delivered. 

I was very excited when I opened these beauties. The top three metres are all Alexander Henry, the skulls are from David Textiles and the flowers from Michael Miller. Out of the batch I went with the Japanese girls. 

I have always found paper patterns very daunting. I thought the brown tracing patterns and minimal instructions meant they were only to be tackled by professionals. However once I opened the envelope and read through it didn't seem so bad. 

The part I found most difficult to understand was interfacing of the back where the press studs would go. Even though I read the instructions many, many times, I still ended up putting it on the wrong way. But it's ok as you can't see the mistake when she is wearing it. The panties were really easy to construct as well. 

Here's the finished garment. The cuteness of the model helps :) 

As I was on a roll with baby crafts I decided to try a bib. 

A new sewing magazine was launched in April called Love Sewing. 

It was such a successful magazine the company completely sold out of copies. There were so many modern and exciting patterns that I hope to tackle soon but first an easy pattern, the bandana bib. 

There was an actual size template provided and I cut out a pattern fabric front and a fleece for the backing. I used the red skulls fabric from David Textiles and a red fleece for the back. The fleece I used was very thick and so in future I think a thinner fleece or a flannel material. However, the end result still looked good. 

Isn't she gorgeous ❤️ 

I have all of her first baby grows and want to make a quilt out of them. I've got so far as cutting out squares. It won't be an easy first quilt as the baby grows are jersey material so will stretch when sewn, but however it ends up looking the memories will still be there. 

All things Alexander Henry

So let me start with a confession...I'm obsessed with Alexander Henry fabric! Not the cheapest of fabric but definitely worth the pennies. There are so many amazing designs that suit an array of projects. 

I was at a craft show at Olympia earlier in the year and spotted this Zahara fabric on the Fabric Galore stand. Beautiful isn't it. 

I have since discovered it comes in hot pink! (Added to my wish list :) 

I didn't have a clue what I was going to make with the fabric I just knew I had to have it. I changed my mind so many times, from cushion to quilt to table runner to lampshade, but really I just didn't want to cut it up. Finally I decided a dress would be ideal. 

Now I have never made a dress before so I was taking a risk in using my nice (expensive) fabric on my first attempt. A few weeks before I had a go at making my first garments - a t-shirt & a skirt - with mixed results (more about those on a separate post). 

Like many people I was glued to the latest series of the Great British Sewing Bee and purchased the book to accompany the series Sew Your Own Wardrobe. 

The book is nicely illustrated and for a beginner is not as daunting as the paper patterns. There is a wide variety of items and full sized patterns pieces so no resizing on the photocopier required. There are however a few mistakes in some of the patterns which an experienced sewer will spot straight away, but for us beginners it's an added challenge. 

I chose the simple shift dress pattern, which include princess seams and a concealed zip. Although it's nowhere near perfect, it was a fun piece to make and wearable.

 

Now if I was experience enough I would re make with added neon yellow bias binding around the hem line sleeves and neck line to make it a little more funky. But I won't try to run before I can walk ;) 

Still think this fabric would make a lovely quilt. Maybe I should buy some more.....