Suede love and saying hi

It's been a while!  I've been sticking my head in the books and also stitching away for a fabulous wedding.  Here are the 3 bridesmaids in the dresses I made.


It was really a most beautiful day and the bride looked stunning.

So now I have submitted a few assignments I have returned to the sewing machine for a days chilled out sewing.

Recently I got given some suede scraps to use - for me scraps are teeny tiny bits of fabric that it is hard to decide what to make with.  I guess when you start doing upholstery scraps take on a different meaning because at the end of the suede session I have 3 cushion covers and a new skirt!

It was a totally new experience for me sewing with suede - something I have never tried but I really enjoyed it.  Yes it is not very forgiving - sew in the wrong place and the fabric lives to tell the tale but if you take it slow and steady it is fabulous!

I decided to make a wrap skirt done up with a button - when using a new fabric I thought I wouldn't try to tackle the zip!  I didn't have a pattern so just free-handed some shapes and lay them together until I was happy.

If you want to give suede a try I would suggest getting leather needles as using them made a huge difference to the sewing experience.  Other than it is much the same as usual just take it slow and steady!

So here it is ;

It is just an all round fun skirt - good to dress up and good to dress down.

I made the top too but more on that on another post!

Hope you're all having fun sewing

 :) 

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.

Sewing storage

As you might have guessed I am currently making attempts to sew at every opportunity and explore the loveliness that is my new machine.

That said it is still new and I am taking things slow and steady so as not to confuse myself.  So lots of little simple projects it is!

So while practicing on the machine I found myself irritated by the many charger wires gathering next to our computer.  So I decided to sew some little storage pots to hold all those annoying things that have no place to go. I learnt this technique from a sewing evening I go along to on Wednesdays.

I needed a reasonably strong fabric and a lovely friend recently gave me her old flared jeans.  Fabulously wide and fabulously funky!  A true ode to our 15 year old selves and the fabric is perfect for what I needed.

Now the jean leg is already a tube so I just cut it to the length I wanted.  I then did the same with the lining fabric.  I then sewed down the two edge seams of the lining to create the same tube as with the denim,

On the base of your fabric cut two squares out from each corner as below.

Deckchair Sunshine

After a glorious day of sunshine on Friday it seems that winter has returned with grey skies and lots of rain!  When will summer arrive?  Admittedly I am being slightly unrealistic expecting it to show up in February but one can hope!

To beat my winter blues I pulled out this fabric that I have had for months and months and not been too sure how to use it.  I love the stripe but haven't felt quite confident that I can turn it into something that I would wear.

SO instead I chose to turn it into something my house could wear - or my sofa to be specific!