Tag: Gifts

Finished 3 Zip It Ups

I made these Zip It Ups for the guild board. They are working so hard and I wanted to thank them. I know it wasn’t necessary, but I did it anyway. I consulted with MaryM when I visited her. As mentioned, I told her my plan and after some discussion, I ended up making this pattern instead of my original idea. 

This pattern has been updated to v.2, but I used Mary’s copy of the original. The v.1 ByAnnie patterns are not as detailed, but I was able to make them with no problem.

I thought they could use these portfolios for their guild work, but they are welcome to use them however they like, obviously.

I used ribbon to cover the zipper tape. I decided I was wasting the beautiful Renaissance Ribbon I have purchased by not using it, so I chose some very lush patterns to cover the zipper tape and vinyl edge. I need to use these ribbons more. They are wonderful.

We had our Board meeting at a restaurant in July and I handed them out. It was really fun and we got our work done as well. I am really pleased.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Finished: Sue’s Tadpole

SueG's Tadpole
SueG’s Tadpole

I made Sue a Tadpole. I think I made it at the same time I made Gerre’s and Carrie’Sus, but I can’t really remember.

The Tadpole is a double pouch that is designed to hold your scissors and rotary cutter. I am not sure how one could prevent the various cutters from cutting the fabric, even with the included scissor sheath pattern, but it is still a cool and interesting pouch.

I just gifted it to her last week. She had to supply photos since, apparently, I forgot to take any.

Sue's Tadpole - top
Sue’s Tadpole – top

I shortchanged Sue by not making the Scissor Sheath, which I didn’t like making and thought wasn’t that useful since making it out of fabric wouldn’t protect anything. I still want to try making a scissor sheath from the Diamond vinyl I bought from Sewfisticated. That is on the “I’ll try that someday list.”

Sue's Tadpole - open compartment
Sue’s Tadpole – open compartment

The pouch has a similar shape to the Hackney pouch, but is a little different as it has independent sections that you open from the top and the bottom.

One of the compartments has an interior zipper pocket. More pockets are better, but I am not sure how I would use this one. It is very compact, which is nice. 

Sue gave me good feedback on this pouch, so I am happy. 

All the Gifts for Tim

Shockingly I thought I had made more bags/gifts for Tim. This doesn’t seem like that many. He loves green, so it is a good opportunity for me to use my green fabrics. More importantly, Tim is a good friend and this is a small token of my appreciation for his friendship.

Finished Mini One Handle Tote #3

Finished: Mini One Handle Tote #3
Finished: Mini One Handle Tote #3

I talked about the Mini One Handle Tote #3, but never showed the finished product. I didn’t end up adding a pocket, but I am still thinking about that.

I like this one a lot. I think it is the fabric, which is one I wouldn’t normally choose for piecing, but is perfect for this bag. The print size shows off the motifs of the fabric very well for this size of bag.

I still want to make more of these, possibly for a guild retreat. I have so many other projects to make, however. We’ll see. They are a good palate cleanser project.

Back to Making Flowers

Flower Block #4 cut
Flower Block #4 cut

In planning to go over to Cyndi’s house for a Sew Day, I decided to get back to the Sad Quilt / Country Revival. I thought I could sew one block and then I wouldn’t have to haul a ton of stuff over to Cyndi’s It has also been awhile since I worked on it. 

Since it has been so long, I had to remind myself how to everything. I made some cutting errors and had to re-cut, but the piece is ready to sew.

Mini One Handle Tote #4

Mini One Handle Tote #4
Mini One Handle Tote #4

I came home from Sew Day the other day and made another Mini One Handle Tote. It has been awhile since I have made one, but it has been on my mind to make another, so I did. It really didn’t take me very long even though I had to search through everything to find the project folder. I still haven’t found it, but I had the tutorial, which made it easy. The worst part was that I had to make another handle template and I don’t like it as well. I think I need to adjust it a little, but it worked out fine in general.

Mini One Handle Tote #4
Mini One Handle Tote #4

I haven’t tried a pocket yet, but I think I will on the next one. Fingers crossed I can figure that out.

I do want to make more. It would be great to find my original template. I am wondering if I didn’t make a project folder for this tote?

 

Vinyl Eyeglass Case

Hippie Specs in flowery vinyl- 3/4s view
Hippie Specs in flowery vinyl- 3/4s view

I originally bought the Hippie Specs case pattern because I wanted to try making a clear vinyl eyeglass case. I know it wouldn’t be super secure in terms of protecting the glasses. Still, I had the image in my mind and wanted to try it. 

I came across the roll of flowery vinyl when I was putting away a new roll of lavender vinyl that I bought to make a Pandora Allure. I talked to my niece about it and she said she loves that flowery vinyl, so I decided to make her a glasses case that matches her pencil pouch.

Hippie Specs in flowery vinyl-top
Hippie Specs in flowery vinyl-top

As you can see, the pouch didn’t quite come out as intended. 😉 It is different, more three dimensional than the others. I sewed the seam bottom wrong. Still, maybe it can be used as a glasses case or some other kind of pouch?

One of the things I wanted to test was how the inside would look if I didn’t include a lining. I am a little bit of crazy person about not having the zipper tape show. I swallowed that need and went for it. 

Hippie Specs in flowery vinyl-open
Hippie Specs in flowery vinyl-open

I’d prefer to have the zipper tape covered, but the inside doesn’t look too bad. I sewed really carefully when doing the top stitching. The top stitching looks pretty good. I also bound the inside bottom using foldover elastic. 

I am going to try making another one sewn as the pattern shows. I have plenty of the flowery vinyl and no plans to use it for anything else.

Megan’s Bone Snap Trays

I am not celebrating the Fourth of July this year. 

Megan's Bone Snap Trays
Megan’s Bone Snap Trays

I did make my friend Megan some Snap Trays. More bones.

As you can see I made two different sizes. this time I was testing out the KamSnaps vs Snap Setter. 

The smaller tray has KamSnaps installed to make it into a tray whereas I used the Snap Setter to install snaps in the larger tray. I think that the Snap Setter company is going out of business and I wonder if I will be able to buy replacement snaps. I searched on Amazon, but wasn’t sure what I was looking at.

She is going to test to see how sturdy the different closures are.

First Hippie Specs Cases

Paris Hippie Specs Eyeglasses Case
Paris Hippie Specs Eyeglasses Case

I took a little time to make a couple of eyeglass cases using the Sew Hungry Hippie Hippie Specs pattern. Yes, I am branching out a bit from Sew Sweetness!

This one will be clipped into the Pandora Charisma and sent off to my sister for her birthday. This is definitely above and beyond, but the piece of fabric was just the right size and I have been wanting to try out this pattern. 

I made her something else out this fabric- the Falabella Pouches a few years ago. This eyeglasses case will not be able to be used in conjunction with the pouches, but the fabric will match and a glasses case is useful.

Books Hippie Specs Eyeglasses Case
Books Hippie Specs Eyeglasses Case

I also made one of from some of the last remnants of the table leaf covers.

This fabric was already quilted, which I think made the pouch look better when finished. This isn’t a large piece and after some recent quilting on the new machine, I might be able to manage it. I would need to look at the tutorial again to see what Natalie did about the zipper in relation to the quilting.

I ended up adding another lining on top of the quilted lining to get this done, which is why I need to check out the video again. I used the same lining as the Paris Hippie Specs Eyeglasses Case. I was just lazy. 

I want to make one of these out of vinyl. We’ll see how that works. I have to do some different stuff on the inside.

Cosquilla in the Wild

Beth's Cosquilla in the Wild
Beth’s Cosquilla in the Wild

I love seeing bags I have made in use and not staged for my benefit. 

This was the case with the Cosquilla I made for my SIL#4 for Christmas last year. We visited them for dinner one evening and I saw the bag on a side table when I went to stash my handbag. 

This also reminded me that I need to make sure I do a good job when I sew bags. They need to not fall apart as people will actually used them. 

I struggled with the curve on this bag and am curious to see how the new machine will handle the curve.

Divided Basket

Divided Basket
Divided Basket

Mary and I talked about this pattern when I visited her. She had the pattern it was on her list to make. I saw it at Picking Daisies, as mentioned, and decided to buy it. Noodlehead patterns are pretty good and I was interested to see how the divided lining was created.

Continuing with the Picking Daisies theme, I used the roses fabric I bought during my visit. The front pocket fabric is an Alison Glass, I think. It was in my fabric closet.

Divided Basket - back
Divided Basket – back

I was surprised at how large this basket is. I did look at the dimensions, but I can never visualize them until I see the actual bag made. It would be good temporary storage for a bag project. 

I thought, after I made it that I could place a pocket on the back as well for even more storage.

Divided Basket - interior
Divided Basket – interior

I was pleased to learn the technique for a divider.

I sewed the whole thing together, then realized I really should have anchored the lining, so I took the basket apart and anchored the lining. I was much happier after I did that.

I sent the basket off to its new home and hope the recipient likes it.

More Open Wide Pouches

Open Wide pouches by Noodlehead make great gifts. As mentioned previously, they are easy to make, but complex enough to be interesting. Also, the pattern is free.

Small, medium Open Wide pouches
Small, medium Open Wide pouches

I spent some time making some Open Wide pouches for the wife of a friend of my Mom’s. He drove Mom and stepdad to an appointment on his wife’s birthday. I thought a couple of pouches would show appreciation.

I used the new Martha Negley fabric I bought at Picking Daisies a few weeks ago.

Large Open Wide for Mom's friend
Large Open Wide for Mom’s friend

The one thing I did was delve into math again. The pattern tells you to line up the corners, sew and then cut off the excess. I get better results by cutting out a box and then lining up the edges. DH reminded me of the Pythagorean theorem (!!!!). It is one of those with a lot of letters that made me crazy as an eighth grader. More detail on that later. 

Small, medium Open Wide pouches-open
Small, medium Open Wide pouches-open

Needless to say, I used this theorem and my calculator to figure out a box size for these pouches.  Closed they look a little weird, but open they look ok. The open wide aspect is so useful.

I’ll have to work on figuring out the best size to make these look ok.

Large Open Wide- open
Large Open Wide- open

I have to say that exercise was interesting. I showed DH how a pouch goes together every step during the process and he was really interested. I think he thought the practical use of the Pythagorean theorem was fascinating. I have to say that learning the practical use of one of those stupid math concepts was a revelation.

The other thing I noticed was a lot of similarities in the construction of this pouch and the Retreat Pouch, also free, from Emmaline.

 

Mini One Handle Tote #3

Mini One Handle Tote #3 lining
Mini One Handle Tote #3 lining

I promise not to show every single one of these that I make. I am just so tickled that the directions from an IG video actually work!

The aspect I worked on in this version was making sure the lining wasn’t saggy baggy.

Bag sewn
Bag sewn

I am pretty pleased with the way it came out. I veered to a 3/8 inch seam allowance when I sewed the lining part of the bag together and used a 1/4 inch seam allowance for the exterior. This all happens before the bag is turned right side out. The picture of the inside of the bag shows the different seam allowances! (enlarge the photo). The trick is to veer smoothly. Don’t abruptly change the seam allowance, though it might not matter if one stopped, then restarted. I think veering is better, though. I may have to try the stopping and starting.

I am thinking about adding a pocket. I’ll have to think about how that would work.

Making the Zip It Up

As mentioned, I decided to make this bag instead of the Aneela Hooey bag when visiting Mary.

Zip It Up #1
Zip It Up #1

I got quite a lot done, but I had enough fabric to sew this one and one other. I had gathered enough of the selected fabrics to make three Book and Tool Folios. I had enough of some, but not all to make the second Zip It Up. I want the recipients to enjoy the fabrics. I found that I needed two full half yards to make the case body. Though I had enough fabric to start the third one, I decided I would make one and, assuming all went well, make the second two in assembly line fashion. 

I looked at Mary’s version and chose to make this bag with two vinyl pockets instead of a mesh pocket and a vinyl pocket. I thought they were more useful for non-sewing activities than one mesh pocket and one vinyl pocket.

I cut the first vinyl pieces out wrong, so those will become the new windows for future I Spy pouches. I am glad I brought a brand new roll of glitter vinyl. Mary has a lifetime supply of clear vinyl, which was a good backup in case I ran out.

I made good progress despite the need to quilt the fabric. 🙁 As I progressed on the project, I decided I wanted to cover the top of the vinyl pockets below the zipper with ribbon, so I brought the pieces home. Since I was ready to assemble the bag, I needed to stop, add the ribbon and then proceed. Another project to finish at home. Sigh.

Snap Tray for Mom

Mom's Snap Tray
Mom’s Snap Tray

In the course of making all the snap trays, I decided to make one for Mom. She is sewing in a very small space and I thought it would help keep her organized.

I used the fabric from the robe Mary and I made her. It goes with her other gifts, too.

Mom's Snap Tray - bottom
Mom’s Snap Tray – bottom

I used some of the new painting fabric I bought for future gifts. Normally I would use this fabric for the interior, but I wanted her to be able to see the paint tubes. 

It is interesting how these snap trays show only one fabric unless you turn the piece over. Barring some complicated piecing, there is not way to have a little of interior fabric peek through.

Mom also has a lot of bags she is not using, so I wanted to make sure I made her something she could use right away.