Slouch cardigan

A lovely afternoon spent wandering resulted in me discovering some fantastically blue fabric in a charity shop.  It was reduced to only a pound so I went for it and began to plan the fabulous things I would make from it.  Pinterest to the ready and off I went.  I found this fantastic pattern for a super comfy slouch cardigan. If you decide you fancy giving it a go you can find the pattern here from True Bias.

The pattern seemed pretty straight forward so off I went - 2 simple rectangles, a bit of shaping and I find myself already at the sewing machine.

It really was nice to just have to cut this much out before sewing.

As I got to work I realised how much this fabric would fray and actually a much more complex pattern might have been a nightmare to work with.  This is what my overlocker looked like after a few seams being done. Super fluffy!

First pair of trousers!!!

Finally I found some lovely light fabric that  I could use to create a pair of trousers.  Now I have to be honest trousers are kinda scary for me.  Skirts are so easily adjustable - tops can be fitted or loose and flowing but trousers have all sorts of funny complexities that have scared me off for a long time.

I decided to follow a pattern because although I love the idea of folding a pair of trousers I love in half and going from there I just wasn't convinced that my understanding of trouser construction was solid enough to go with that method.  I used the March Prima pattern which was for a loose pair of culotte style trousers.  I used to own a pair of denim ones and lived in them so happily set to cutting and pinning.

I found that once I had cut all of the pieces out everything made a lot more sense - when I look at the paper pattern it is hard for me to envisage how it will fit together - once in fabric I can see it much more clearly.  I was actually surprised by how simply I found the whole pattern.  Don't get me wrong my finished product is not perfect but in terms of understanding what I was doing the majority of making trousers is about matching seams and sewing neatly.

Weekender bag from a duvet cover!

I was recently lent a pattern to make a weekender bag.  Now I have a sewing machine that works I am finding my enthusiasm for trying more challenging projects is growing.  So I sat down a few weeks ago to begin the challenge.

I decided to use the same striped fabric that I had used for my cushions earlier in the month - basically because I just loved it so much!  The whole bag is quilted including the straps which made it a lot more time consuming than I had originally anticipated.  But I got my walking foot set up on the machine and after a bit of you tubing to understand how a walking foot actually works I set off on the quilting.

I am super impressed with how much easier it is to do quilting with the correct set up on the machine.  I was sewing fabric, wadding and another layer of fabric and it was pleasingly obedient.  After a good block of time quilting I was able to start on the construction.  I over locked everything using the stitches on the machine rather than my over locker (just to try them out :) ) and then was able to use straight stitches to join the pieces together.  The actual construction of the bag was pretty straight forward.  Lots of straight lines and the instructions I had borrowed as well as being able to see what someone else had made led to a pretty straight forward sewing job.

And here it is - stripey and proud.  I love the way the handles go right underneath the bag making it super secure.