Sunday, February 28, 2010

Boat Bag #1


This weekend's project was a boat bag. I selected an indoor/outdoor nautical print fabric with a solid canvas. I quilted the fabric before sewing the bag together -- a move I regretted later as it produced seams that were far too thick for my sewing machine to handle -- lesson learned -- heavier fabric, no quilt; light fabrics, quilt. The other thing I'd do differently is lengthen the handles so you could carry the bag more comfortably on your shoulder. I would not quilt the handle fabric again as the support stitching then looks a bit goofy. The size is great though at 17"W x 15"H x 5"D. It also has a nice pocket on the outside and large pocket on the inside. I was originally thinking I could make these and sell through Float, but given the time it took for me to construct, I'd have to charge $800! I now have a new appreciation for Vera Bradley's pricing!

Watch for Boat Bag #2.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Donna's Project










Donna sent me her leftover fabric from when she had her valances made. She wanted a couple pillows and a 40" square throw for her coffee table. I bought some moleskin which I cut bias strips from and made piping for the pillows. The gold braid seemed too formal, not to mention I haven't mastered blending the ends together! For the 40" square, I decided to create a picture frame with mitred corners to add some interest. Although I finally got them to work, I'm sure I am not doing the mitred corners correctly as it took forever and was very fussy.

Perry Kitchen Take 3




Okay, is 3 times a charm? I have now taken my one piece of 54" x 60" fabric for my kitchen window and have given it a third life! As you read earlier, my experiment with shirring tape didn't turn out exactly as planned as seen in the pic with green leafy trees in the background. So, ta da, I give you my latest version -- note the snow in the background -- it took a while to get back to it. I ended up cutting the fabric in half, sewing it together to give me a piece twice the width of the window, reused the shirring tape, pleated the top and stapled to a mounting board.