sew together bag

Sew Together Bag by SewDemented, a killer pouch with 4!!! zippers, was on my to do list for quite some time. I made one a few months ago and loved the way it looked, but I wanted to make another one and use fusible fleece instead of interfacing to make it more sturdy.

So, I pulled out some pretty fabrics and got cutting, pressing, pinning, clipping, zipper installing, whole pouch wrestling, and a few hours later I had my pouch all finished.

Looks pretty simple on the outside, doesn't it? Want to see all those zippers I talked about? Let me show you the inside.

Crazy fun, isn't it? My children are fascinated (and puzzled) by the idea of three pouches inside of the fourth one. Now, as you can imagine, this was not an easy, throw it together in no time, pouch. I had to think, think, and think again, especially when it came to all the zippers and the final assembly of the pouch.

And my trusty seam ripper got quite a workout as I was trying to make sure things lined up and zipper pulls were all on the right side. 

I must admit, though, this perfect lining up of the top binding was totally, amazingly accidental.

I made a few changes to the way I made this pouch. First, I attached fusible fleece to both the exterior panel as well as the main pocket panels, as opposed to using just regular interfacing. I love how much body my pouch has now. 

I also added fusible fleece to the side panels which made for a very tricky final assembly and accumulation of unnecessary bulk on the sides. Next time I will definitely use medium weight interfacing for the side panels.

Also, I decided to attach all my binding by hand instead of using the machine. I figured since there was so much bulk and many layers to go through, there was no way I was going to sew a perfectly even and straight stitch. Hand finishing gave me a lot more control over the binding and I love how pretty and even it all turned out. Yes, crooked stitches and uneven binding drive me crazy :)

To sum it all up, I don't think this is a pouch for a beginner. But, if you're confident at installing zippers and have finished a few pouches or bags already, I would highly recommend you give it a go. You might feel like your brain is about to explode as you're trying to work out all the steps, but you will definitely not be disappointed at the end.

Any questions? Let me know. Svetlana

Linking up to Finish it up Friday.

a new hexie pillow

Hello, happy Tuesday to you all!

Last night I finished a new hexie pillow. I love it so very much. ♥♥♥

Oh, for the record, I didn't just whip it up in one or two nights. I've been taking my time, enjoying all the little stitches, and working on this pillow very slowly over the last few weeks while watching TV after the kids go to bed. Yes, night time is definitely my epp time :)

I must admit, every time I epp I'm sort of obsessed with staring at the wrong side of my project. To me the wrong side shows a lot better how much hard work and stitching went into joining all the little pieces.

I machine quilted both the pillow top as well as the backing using tiny cross hatch pattern. (I also attached fusible fleece to both parts)

I went with button closure instead of my usual zipper for the backing, and I'm loving the results.

 I like how it adds just another extra touch of "pretty" to the pillow. Plus, I had these perfect gray and green polka dotty buttons begging to be used :)

Finished size of the pillow is approximately 21" x 20".

Thanks for stopping by. Svetlana

at last ...

I reached a "crafty milestone" of sorts this week. I no longer have to clench my jaws, hold my breath, and strain my eyes to the point of getting a headache when cross stitching. Very dramatic, I know :) Not anymore, though. I'm finally able to relax and enjoy the process, yay!

I headed straight to Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery website and ordered Winter Wonderland Sampler pattern. Have you seen their patterns. They are absolutely the cutest I have seen around.

I decided to start small and cross stitched this adorably sweet snowman which I turned into a Christmas ornament. Fun, isn't it? Can't wait to put this little guy on our Christmas tree.

And then I made myself a new needle book. I figured since I'm planning on doing a lot more of cross stitch, a cross stitched needle book was totally a must :)

 

I'm thinking these little cross stitched blocks would be a perfect addition to pouches and bags, but on that some other time.

 

Off I go now. My youngest son's birthday party is starting in 30 minutes. Wish me luck. Trying to keep eight second grade boys entertained for two whole hours is definitely a first for us :)

 

Have a lovely rest of the day. Svetlana

advent calendar

I made an advent calendar for my children. Well, I might have been the one who wanted it way more than they did, but you know what I mean :)

I decided to go very simple and, at my oldest daughter's request, not too bright and crazily colorful.

I made four rows of pockets adorned with this totally adorable Merry Christmas ribbon, hand drawn and stitched the numbers on using black perle cotton, and attached the rows to the main fabric. Very rustic and handmade looking, isn't it? I think that's what I like about it the most.

I then added three loops for hanging and finished the calendar by placing the main panel and backing right sides together, stitching all the way around leaving about 6" gap on the bottom for turning. Oh yeah, and I put a layer of batting in the middle to make the calendar a little bit more sturdy.

I love how this black and white stripe brings such an unexpected boldness to this otherwise very subtle and understated advent calendar.

Now just to think of all the fun goodies to fill it with and we're ready for the countdown. Yay, I do really, really love Christmas. It's definitely my favorite time of the year.

Thanks for reading. Svetlana

Linking up to Finish it up Friday.

pretty little potholders

Ever since Amy posted her pretty little potholder tutorial, I knew I had to give it a try. And so this weekend, instead of forcing myself to work on a quilt I don't feel like tackling right now, I made some potholders.

I raided my stash for some pretty flowery fabrics and got to work. Oh, I know, this white Heather Bailey fabric is totally impractical for a potholder, but it was soooo pretty, I couldn't not use it :)

 Aren't they wonderful? Just look at that sweet little ruffle, such a perfectly adorable "Amy" dose of pretty. I hope you'll stop by Amy's blog (nanacompany), her attention to detail is simply amazing.

I'm adding these to my pathetically small pile of handmade Christmas gifts. Hope to get inspired and find my Christmas sewing mojo soon.

Svetlana

tricky...

Hello, how is everyone doing? What have you been up to lately?

I've been paper piecing a little since our deadline for chicken sew-p blocks is coming dangerously close and I still have more than half the blocks to make.

I used Charise's free pattern to make this sewing machine block for  Karen. I've adjusted the block a little and made an easier version of  a spool of thread. No, it was not supposed to be so wonky, but things happen and I'm trying to ignore it for now :)

I also decided to tackle a block for Susi. We are supposed to make blocks featuring our favorite childhood cereal or a cereal toy, but I grew up in a country with no breakfast cereal so this proved to be a tricky business for sure.

After much thinking and Pinterest browsing, I decided to make Tony the Tiger. I even went as far as drafting my own paper piecing pattern. It was way harder than I thought (mostly because I have no drawing skills on the computer). I quite like the finished block, though and that's what counts.

I love the amazing things you can do when paper piecing, but my brain still hurts from all that thinking and figuring out which part goes where, and mirror images, and tiny stitches that are so difficult to rip out.

So, I'm thinking of changing gears and doing some epp hexagons tonight. They are such a wonderful "non-thinky" project. Just what my brain needs.

Talk to you soon. Svetlana

autumn penny patch {all finished}

I'm absolutely positively in love with my finished Autumn Penny Patch quilt. 

 

It was planned to be a "couch quilt" from the very beginning, so I made it long and skinny to fit our couch cushions nicely.

I so love all these pretty colors together (you can read about my color inspiration for this quilt here).

I decided to use my long hoarded Amy Butler Wallflowers yardage for the backing. I think it works really well with all the light, citrusy colors of the quilt top.

Striped black and white binding seemed like just the right finishing touch.

I made this quilt as part of Rachel's Penny Patch quilt along which is going on right now. There's still time to join in if you like.

I love this simple, sort of vintage pattern so much I might even have to make one more of these quilts, this time for our bed. Before I jump into that, though, I have to get back to my Christmas sewing list. Too many projects, too little time. Just 47 sleeps and Christmas is here!!!

Have a lovely day. Svetlana

penny patch {my color inspiration}

Hello, happy Monday to you all.

How was your weekend? Hope you got to enjoy some down time and take things easy. I had the most wonderful quilty kind of a weekend as I worked on my Autumn Penny Patch quilt.

I am smitten, I must say. I had no idea when getting my fabric together for this quilt that I would love it so very much. 

I pulled all these fabrics from my stash but I knew there was a lot of editing still going to happen. I always work like that. I cut and sew, deciding which fabric to add or eliminate, as I go. It makes for a less efficient process, but I don't end up with tons of cut up fabric that I don't like in a particular quilt this way :)

As I stared at my design wall (which is right next to the giant window facing our backyard) and all those happy pretty blocks, it suddenly hit me. I am making a quilt in autumn colors!!! 

This is definitely a first for me. Up until know each and every of my attempts to bring autumn into my sewing resulted in unpleasantly brown, sad, and musty looking projects :(

See, this is the view from my window. Glorious, isn't it? And my subconscious mind knew it and made me choose fabrics to replicate this beauty in my Penny Patch quilt.

By the way, the amazingly wonderful Rachel has a Penny Patch quilt along going on now. It's not too late to join and her free pattern is easy to follow with tons of possibilities. I hope you'll get in on the fun.

Svetlana

making pretties ...

The weather has been downright depressing in the last couple of days - dark, rainy, windy, no sun in sight. So, I decided to brighten things up by making a few pretties. Want to see?

These fabric stamps are based on the ones in Zakka Handmades book ( Amy also has a quick tutorial here).

Pretty, aren't they? I'm planning on making more stamps and using them to make some postcard pouches. Maybe something like this.

I also made quite a few fabric covered buttons. These guys are so addictive :)

And then, so I wouldn't feel like I made all these buttons for nothing, I made this pouch (again, this project is from Zakka handmades book). I think the button adds just the right finishing touch to this crochet + fabric combo pouch.

I even went as far as organizing all these buttons, stamps, plus many other odds and ends that I can never find when I need them.

Thanks for stopping by, friends. Svetlana

Linking up to Finish it up Friday.