Thursday, August 29, 2013

Piece O Cake!!

So I've been eyeing the Zaaka Along 2.0 for a while - reading everyone else's posts about it, etc., and thinking to myself "oh gosh, I can't make every project out of the whole book - I don't have time!"

Then I thought to myself, "Self, that's silly! You don't HAVE to do all of them - just do some!" So, without further ado, here's the Piece O Cake Shopping Bag!
I'd recently made three of the Lunch Bags from Ayumi's blog, so I thought the construction would be pretty similiar. I was surprised to find out that this was even easier! Significantly easier, in my opinion. I was thrilled!

Having three children and a husband with a substantial appetite, I can't remember the last time I shopped using a basket at a store, so I altered the pattern slightly, as I desired slightly different functionality. (Who am I kidding, I can never leave a pattern or recipe alone; I'm always tweaking! Not twerking, tweaking. That's a whole 'nother can of worms.)

My tweaks included:
- I made the straps out of microsuede instead of using webbing.
- I had a stash of three coordinating home dec fabrics (two prints and a solid) leftover from a diaper bag long ago, so I didn't do the patchwork pocket, but rather used a stripe.
- I rolled the top of the pocket over to show the solid interior - I thought it needed a punch to stand out.
- I made the lining 1 1/2" shorter, as Krista recommended, and it worked out perfectly. (So did her tip of making the dots on the bottom piece!)
- I also made each lining piece a 1/2" narrower - to help the lining sit a bit easier.  It worked!  I think I'll do that one again!
- The top cover and the sides of the interior are made out of an old sheet that actually coordinated really well!
- I wanted the base to have a bit more substance, so I added fusible fleece to a piece of home dec fabric and used that for the lining base. I'm thrilled with the way this turned out - it's exactly the "heft" to the fabric I wanted.
- I didn't need the gigantically poofy sides, so I just made them 9" wide and didn't pleat them.
- Before I sewed the lining and outside together, I sewed the seam allowances of their bases together to make the lining stay put. I'd never done this before. I will never skip this step again - it makes a HUGE difference.
I've gotten so used to using interfacing and cotton fabric on bags that I'd forgotten what a lovely feel home dec fabric has. The bag is slouchy but not shapeless - it's perfect - so comfortable! And the microsuede straps? Oh my gosh, they're a dream - so easy on the shoulder and in the hand! I sewed this all from my stash so I wouldn't care too much if I didn't like the bag, but now I'm dreaming up opportunities to use it!

Monday, August 5, 2013

Doctor Who Stitch Along

So...  I had these brilliant plans to stitch along for the whole Doctor Who Stitch Along...  but it just didn't happen.  Oh well.

But then... then I saw a post about the Design Invitational.  Design your own!?  Awesome.  I thought I could make enough time to do one pattern - I'm not really an embroiderer yet, so please pardon my amateur stitching.

So, without further ado, please allow me to introduce to you.....

DR. RIVER SONG.



Here's the pattern...