Before Christmas, I went to Mary’s again and we worked on this bathrobe. It wasn’t a complete bathrobe Christmas, but two people got them. That is about all the garments I can manage even with Mary’s excellent assistance.
This is a different pattern than the Tarot bathrobe. It has a flat collar instead of a shawl collar.
I bought this fabric awhile ago, sort of by accident. I was trying to replenish my stock of the dark grey version of this fabric and ended up with the light grey background. I like it, but Mom has put the stop sign up for more bags. I didn’t want to start a whole new set with this fabric anyway. I decided a bathrobe would be good. It used up most of the fabric.
As you know, I often get stuck somewhere on garments and my confidence drains away. Mary has been great about helping me. This time I was able to rip out some seams for one of her projects and also cut out a Classmates Tote for her to sew later. It was a good exchange for me, at least.
YM & Mom in their bathrobes
I was able to take a photo of both bathrobes and their people.
I had a tough time deciding what to make for Carrie and Sue for Christmas. I don’t want to just make them anything. I want what I make to be useful. Eventually, after considering several Minikins patterns I hadn’t tried, I decided on I Spy pouches.
Is this a cop out?
No.
Sue’s I Spy – back
As I have said before, these pouches are like eating potato chips for me. I can make one quickly. I also really enjoy making them. Because they are fast? Maybe. Mostly because they are useful.
Sue gets a color wheel on the back to help her pick out fabric. I also remembered to put a label on the pouch.
Some time ago I made Carrie and Sue Kit Supply Totes. The Hackney pouches I made for them fit nicely into the Kit Supply Totes. I thought the I Spy would fit nicely in it as well.
I know it’s been a week or so since I posted about gifts, but we are back to it.
I posted last week about Sue’s I Spy pouch. One of the differences I made is that Carrie got a whole color wheel in the front while Sue’s was on the back. One of the reasons I like this fabric is because it means they always have a color wheel with them.
Carrie’s I Spy – back
I found some nice zipper pulls in my hardware bag that I added. They are apples, which have nothing to do with color wheels, Carrie or Sue, but here we are. Zipper pulls, aside from being cute really help to pull zippers open.
While I was making my sister’s Enigma bag back in July, I also made one for Gerre for Christmas. This is Enigma #6.
Skeleton Mermaid Enigma – bottom
I didn’t use my ‘regular’ sugar skull fabric for this one. I used a fabric I bought on my trip to and around Portland and I can’t decide if I like it. The key is whether Gerre likes it. I thought the seahorses and some of the ocean life were cool, but the skeletons started to creep me out after awhile. If she feels the same, I will make another one of these for her. I’ll have to see what she says.
I am pleased with the fussy cutting on the bottom. I didn’t have a lot of the fabric and was glad I had enough to highlight the main motif.
Skeleton Mermaid Enigma open
I am also pleased with the way the inside came out. The stripes I bought at the Granary are perfect for the inside.
The pattern calls for a 2.5 inch wide binding. I made the binding 2.25 inches wide, which is my norm for quilting binding. I had to stretch the binding a bit in certain places and trim seams, but mostly the 2.25 inch binding worked well.
Skeleton Mermaid Enigma – interior detail
I figured out a great place to put my label on these Enigma bags. The label fits well in the middle of the inside pocket. The label isn’t tucked away unobtrusively and I am not sure how I feel about that. I am not sure why I didn’t think of it before as it was also easy to install.
As with my sister’s Enigma bag, this one went together pretty easily. I like making the same bags over and over as they get better each time I do it.
I finished the Atlas Zipper Case right before Thanksgiving. Of course, I couldn’t talk about it before now because I wanted to be a surprise. Even this is a little early!
I am super pleased with the way it came out. I hope my Lil Sissy likes it, too. She shared the original IG video about the pouch (portfolio) with me.
I didn’t find the project to be very difficult even though I struggled to get started. Cutting is always a hassle. I always want to get straight to sewing.
For this piece, I used a piece of the Paris fabric I have been using to make gifts for my sister. The fussy cutting, after I quilted it, came out really well. I used my 20.5 inch x 20.5 inch Creative Grids ruler**. That ruler is really big and a bit unwieldy on my small cutting table, but I wanted to be able to see the whole piece and trim exactly. It worked really well except for pushing my entire scrap bin onto the floor in the process! LOL! The Eiffel Tower is perfectly placed on the front.
Paris Atlas Zipper Case – back
The bicycle on the back looks good, too. I haven’t ever asked my sister if she likes this fabric. I hope so as I just bought more of that yardage. I feel like I was lucky to find some as is isn’t new.
I forgot to sew the label on before I added the inside pockets, so I hand stitched it later.
The portfolio has a zipper that goes all the way around, so the bag is completely closed when it is zipped.
Atlas Zipper Case Open
It has smallish, but useful pockets to keep some of your tools, or, possibly, project pieces organized.
There is also space for flat items, like a 6.5 x 6.5 ruler** under the pockets.
Atlas Zipper Case -open, right
I am on the fence about the fabric pocket on the lower right. All of the other pockets are vinyl. I like seeing what I have available, but I guess you could use that pocket for things you didn’t want everyone to see. Credit cards or your driver’s license? I don’t know. I keep those things in one place so I always know where they are. If I make this again, I might make it into another vinyl pocket.
Atlas Zipper Case -open, left
The left side has a larger pocket completely made from vinyl. This is a really useful pocket.
I really like this project and am looking for ways to make more.
**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and support small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
I did finish the Ends n.20 top and back in time to take it to the guild sew day to hand in.
I cut the piece in half and rearranged the strips as I described the other day. I think it looks a little better, but it isn’t perfect. I know someone will like it and it is certainly improv!
I used a large piece of a sea green solid with some added white strips to make the back.
I have only one more set of strips to use up, though I should be getting some quilts back soon.
The green drawer is still relatively empty, though I have a huge pile of unprocessed scraps on my cutting table, so I am sure that won’t last. I need to find some time to deal with them. Maybe Sew Day?
I finished the Holland Pouch while I was in Portland in October. It was a pretty quick sew – ~6 hours from start to finish. I wasn’t feeling my best, so I knew I could make it faster.
Center Street Quilts directional fabric chart
I bought this pattern at Stitch during the July trip home from Portland. The fabric was also purchased during that trip at Sewlarium. It was a great choice for this bag.
The directions show how to position fabric if it is directional, which is the first time I have seen such a feature in a pattern, that I can remember. I’d love to see this type of chart in all bag patterns. I know most say something like “all cutting directions are width x height”, but having the visual makes a huge difference for me. Even before I saw this chart, I drew little pictures of how directional fabric should be cut in my various patterns.
Black Cat Holland Pouch – interior
I used some hippo fabric and hope he remembers visiting the hippo at the zoo when he was young.
This is the first bag I have made for the YM. I hope it is one he likes and will use it. I sent it off to him for his birthday, which was on the 30th.
This is not really a Christmas pillowcase, but since it was red, I thought it would be a good one to send off in December.
This one has all the states. I am not sure why some states are in a larger font than others.
Travel doesn’t have to be around the world. There are a lot of interesting things in the states as well as I have found traveling around California with DH. If the youngest nephew can’t quite make it out of the country, perhaps he can do some stateside travel?
I finished the Grab & Go Sleeve very quickly and sent it straight off to my mom so she could use it right away.
Both sides essentially look the same. The only difference is that I put a label on only one side of the exterior.
I also used some ‘webbing’ that Cyndi made me take from one of the Sew Day Free Table offerings. The webbing is made out of cotton rather than plastic, like the Tula Pink webbing I used for a couple of the Take a Stand bags.
Grab & Go Sleeve interior
Since this is for my mom, I dug out the Laurel Burch fabric I used for her Mustang Organizers and used that for the lining.
She received it on Wednesday and said that it fits her portfolio perfectly. She said she really liked it, which makes me happy.
If I can think of things for which to use these bags I’ll make more as they are a quick bag to make, especially if you use pre-made webbing for the handles.
Maria bound Ends n.18 and brought it to the meeting on Saturday. I was so pleased to see it again! I finished it in September so it hasn’t been floating around very long.
I finished the Running with Scissors tote the weekend after I returned from Portland in October.
Running with Scissors tote – front
The time I spent in Portland working on the Running with Scissors tote was well worth the time. I am pleased with how it came out.
I used the foam that Colleen quilted for me and that made the whole project go a lot quicker.
The pattern calls for a border on the front, but I like the large flowers of this Philip Jacobs print so much that I didn’t put it on. Both the front and the back look similar, but I don’t mind.
Running with Scissors tote – inside
The inside looks really great IMO. I forgot to cut all of the zipper and pocket bindings. Fortunately, I had the turquoise stripe with me and it went well with the zippers and the general overall look of the bag.
I customized some of the pockets for my tools. For the mesh pocket, I divided it into a very large section and a small section. The large section will be used for a rotary cutter and the small section will be for Sewline pencil refills.
Running with Scissors tote – outside
I thought the webbing I used for the handle would hurt my hand, but I think the bag won’t get heavy enough to be a problem. I do like the glitter of the webbing. Perhaps having a little sparkle in my life is a good thing.
I was surprised at how small this bag is. I think of it as being much larger. I wonder if I could enlarge the pattern. The pattern is so complicated that I think it would be difficult.
Take a Stand & Running with Scissors
This bag is designed to be used with the Take a Stand bag**. I made a Take a Stand bag for myself awhile ago. As soon as I was finished with this RwS tote, I tried it with the Take a Stand bag and I was so pleased with how it looked.
Now I need to fill this bag up and take it to Sew Day.
**N. B. : Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops and support small businesses. However, if you are too busy or can’t find what you need there, I use Amazon affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.
My brown and beige bin was out so I used a beige dotty sort of fabric that has been hanging around for a long time. The sashing uses various cream fabrics, so I thought it would coordinate. The backing was another plain brownish and white fabric. Nothing special, but a large enough piece so I only had to piece one seam. My stash of large fabrics is getting low, so borders and backs are becoming more work.
In my job there is a concept called ‘MVP’. It means minimum viable product, which is part of an iteration process that promotes getting something out and eschewing perfection. In the quilt world, I like to say ‘there is always more fabric’.
I finished my Sun Hat. It is a MVP.
Sun Hat (Heather Handmade) – side view
I thought I had done everything properly. I was unsure about my progress, so I had Mary C help me at a recent Sew Day. I redid the brim piece after leaving the seams out meant the brim was too big for the crown. Still, there was so much adjusting and redoing that the hat just doesn’t look right. The side parts of the crown fold in too much on the top and I had to ease in the size when I sewed the pieces together.
It didn’t come out as well as I had hoped, but it isn’t terrible and someone will wear it and like it. I want to try again. I bought the Sew Hungry Hippie Bardot hat pattern. I haven’t started it yet, but may try to get it done soon.
Despite my objections to the zipper installation, I decided to make another Holland Pouch. While I was in Portland, I went to Modern Domestic and bought some fabric, then went back to my AirBnB and made the pouch. The second time it only took me about 4 hours from cutting to completion. I couldn’t make these for a living, but I was pleased with how fast I did it.
Bird Holland Pouch Interior
I have been buying a few Charlie Harper bird prints lately. I don’t know why as I don’t usually make projects out of novelty prints. I bought this particular print because Amanda loves animals. The print is sophisticated as well. Most of Charlie Harper prints have a bit of humor as well as some sophistication.
The inside of the bag is made from a Ruby Star scattered star print. The color doesn’t exactly go with the outside, but choices were limited at Modern Domestic. I think the variation looks nice.
I also couldn’t wash the fabric (AirBnB and all), but for a bag, just this once I was ok with it. I was concerned about the smell from ironing the fabric, but I didn’t smell anything and didn’t have any breakouts, so it was all ok. The Charley Harper fabric is organic, so maybe that makes a difference?
Quilting Bird Holland
This pattern requires quilting the exterior, foam and lining fabrics together. Instead of quilting on each side of blue tape only, I put down a piece of blue tape, measured 3 inches to the right and put down another piece. I did that on both sides of the center piece of blue tape until I ran out of space. This means that my quilting isn’t as close together as in the Oxbow tote. It also took less time and I didn’t get as irritated.
Holland Pouch side
The quilting went faster, but it means there is a 3 inch gap between some of the quilting lines. You can see that there is a dearth of quilting lines on the side towards the top, because of the 3 inch gap. I probably should have turned the fabric around, so there was more quilting on the top.
I also had a bit of trouble keeping the fabric taut, so the 3 inch spacing may not have been the best interval. Oh well. Live and learn.
Bird Holland pouch top
This bag has a bit of an accent around the zipper, which I think looks nice in this bag.
This is a very quick bag to make and I am pleased with the outcome. I was more pleased that Amanda loved it. She really helped me during the visit and this was a small token of my gratitude.
