Purse Project Planning

Last week was quite a week for errands!  I had a few more to do on Friday afternoon, so I headed out to do them in the afternoon.  One of my stops was JoAnn's (it's the only fabric store in the area, although our WalMart does still carry a good selection of fabric, which I've often found to be of better quality than what they sell at JoAnn's, but that's another post.)  I decided to check out the special patterns in the quilting area, which include a lot of bag patterns.  You know how I can't resist a good purse pattern, so when I spotted Juliet by Me and My Sister Designs, I knew I had to get it.  It didn't hurt that I had a 40% off coupon, either! 

The entire bag is cute, but I especially love the bow that is threaded through the handles on the upper edge of the purse.  I have seen other patterns with a similar bow treatment.

This pattern doesn't require much fabric, so I'm sure I'll be able to find enough in my stash to make it.  It calls for 1-1/4 yards for the exterior and handles, 3/4 yard for the cuff and pockets, and 1 yard for the lining and tie.  I may need to add extra pockets to the inside because I love pockets, but I'll have to carefully read through the instructions first.

My motto:  A girl can never have too many purses!

New Projects

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been cutting fabric for almost 1-1/2 weeks. Not continuously (got to preserve whatever sanity I have left!), but as time and energy permits. (I am on Prednisone for chronic hives and it does quite a job on me. Great medication, lousy side effects, including inability to sleep, mood changes, weakness, headaches [probably from not sleeping] . . . you get the idea! I have seven more doses.) Cutting out fabric is, by far, my least favorite part of sewing, so I try to do a lot of it at one time, thus affording me the pleasure of completing projects without having to think about cutting anything else out.

First up is Kwik Sew #3396, a wonderful apron. I first saw this on Candle~by~Night's blog (sorry, I can't seem to access anything more than the latest page, so I'm not able to give you a link to the exact posts) and decided I must have this pattern! Here's the pattern front and the fabrics I chose.

The lighter fabric is for the body of the apron, and the darker for the straps and pockets. I'm making view A. I was feeling lazy the day I bought the fabric (from WalMart, I might add -trying to take advantage of their fabric department before they eliminate it . . .) I bought the bias binding instead of making it.

Next, we have a pattern by Indygo Junction called "Pocket Perfect." I love making purses, even though my husband thinks I have plenty. One for every outfit, right? I have a feeling this one will turn out a bit smaller than I prefer, but I can always scale up the pattern for subsequent purses. I've done this quite successfully with other patterns.

The fabrics I chose were from my stash - simply leftovers from other projects. The light blue with the lovely large roses is the main fabric; the magenta is for the handles, and the smaller blue and pink print is to be used as piping around the outer front pocket. I believe I also cut a second pocket for the back as I've discovered one is very handy for things like JoAnn Fabric ads.

"Laura's Zippered Tote" was picked out by my 17 yo dd after seeing a sample in a fabric store. At the time we were there, I couldn't find the pattern, and I didn't feel like asking, but when I went back a week later, there it was. The woman who cut my fabric that day told me that the inside of the bag isn't finished very nicely, so I will be aware of that when I stitch it together.

Again, these are lefovers from my stash, as I thought I should make one up before having my daughter pick out fabrics. The fabric in the middle is the main one; I'm not sure which pink is for handles, and which is lining and inner pockets. I'll figure that out when I sit down to sew.

This wonderful jumper, for my 20 yo dd, is a Common Sense Pattern from Kathy's Modest Sewing Patterns. These patterns are simple to sew, fit well, and are available in any (yes, any) combination of (usually) three consecutive sizes. For example, if you want a 6-8-10 or a 10-12-14, you can order them that way. This is the Women's Empire Jumper; you could easily drop the waist a couple of inches as well. Sarah found fabric last spring (on sale, of course), and we're finally getting around to using it.

The color in the picture isn't totally accurate, but close. I love the embroidery on the fabric - it takes an ordinarily mundane fabric and makes it pop!

Also for Sarah is Simplicity 4177. She chose the orangy one and is using this pretty pink fabric. The background, unlike the photo, is also pink.

Hang on just a bit longer . . .

This is a Lois Hinse pattern (#5305). I've mentioned her patterns before (see my Monday, September 24, 2007 post), so I won't go into great detail here. This particular pattern is her "Tank Dress Group", which offers a sundress/jumper with or without a gentle elastic gather below the bust, as well as two tank tops (one with round neck and another with scoop neck, seen here) and a body fitting camisole. Since I'm testing this pattern, I chose some cheap purple broadcloth from WalMart, and am making the round neck version. If it fits well, I will wear it, but if not, I'm not out much money! I first saw this in the Nancy's Notions catalog; the sample jumper had machine embroidery on the bodice, which was very attractive.

This is apparently Creative Keepsakes' best-selling pattern - their smocked gown and robe. The sleeves are interchangeable (cut simply from blocks of fabric). I'm making a nightgown out of a lovely blue and white fabric (it didn't photograph well), and using the elbow-length sleeves. I will smock with a deeper blue, then probably add some flowers (pink?) I am finding the patten to be rather confusing, but I hope as I go through it step by step, it'll make more sense. In particular, the directions cautioned you about dips in the hemline because it's a bishop, but the blocks for the front and back were not scooped at the neckline. I'm confused!

This final pattern is self-explanatory. I found a deep purple fleece at (where else) WalMart for $4.00 per yard! The pattern pieces had to be the largest I've ever seen! I also saw this in the Nancy's Notions catalog. I liked the fact that it has a hood (I know that young people don't wear them - they're not cool, but I like one when it's very windy or blowing snow.) I'm not sure how easy it will be to drive with it on, but I'll deal with that when I have to!

Here's my tip of the day (hey, maybe even the year!): I put my cut out pieces, interfacing, zippers, buttons, etc., along with the original pattern, in Ziploc bags. I'm forever "losing" buttons or other notions, so this has been a great way to store my projects. And, if you're like me, and it sometimes takes a l-o-n-g time to get to something, you don't have to rely on your memory (which is getting worse as I get older.)

Happy sewing!!

Oodles & Oodles of Tomatoes . . .

Today, at 4:00 pm, I decided we had to do something with the pot of pizza/spaghetti sauce sitting on the stove (Sarah made this a few days ago) PLUS all the tomatoes overrunning the refrigerator and garden. Two hours later, 9 pints of sauce and 19 pints of tomatoes were either in the water bath canner or waiting to be put in! This picture is the beautiful result of our work. Sarah was gracious enough to help me, and I must say that I much prefer canning with someone else over doing it alone. (I included the red pepper in the photo because it looks gorgeous.) Needless to say, we ordered pizza for dinner.

All of the tomatoes came from Sarah's garden (see the link to "A Gardener's Gazette" to get to her blog). We figured out that we canned 30 lbs. of tomatoes; the sauce started as, I believe, 24 or 28 pounds of tomatoes. This is in addition to the sauce she made previously. As long as the weather holds, there are plenty more tomatoes in the garden; the weather forecast is for above-average temperatures again this week. Hard to believe that Monday is the first day of October!

About that blue shirt I wrote about this past Monday - I had an opportunity to wear it when Sarah and I went shopping on Thursday and she said it looked store bought. That makes two shirts from that one pattern that she's made that comment about, and it sure makes me feel good! My only regret, and this holds true for much of what I make, is that the shirt will have to be ironed after washing. I love sewing on and wearing cotton; sometimes I'm able to find fabric that has some polyester in it, but often I just head for the calico section. Not that ironing is horrid - it's not - but it means I have to go out in the garage and get the ironing board, then find a place to set it up. I never can find a convenient place - I'm always in someone's way. Sometimes I use the small tabletop board, but it's a bit harder to work on.

Also this week I decided to organize my pink/purple/bit of green fabric bin. I'm trying to follow the directions I found here. I have found quite a few pieces that are large enough to actually make something from; these go in a separate tote with labels on them to tell me how big the pieces are. This is making me think I should go back through the tote of blue fabric and see if there are any larger pieces in there . . .

And as if I don't have enough fabric, I bought 14-1/2 yards of good quality cottons at a sale this week. I decline to mention the price, since my dh may read this blog, but I probably paid a bit more than 1/3 of the original prices (I got them from a nice mainly-quilting shop). In addition, I bought six Children's Corner patterns for $1.00 each!! This means I got over $60 worth of patterns for pennies. I am so excited. I'll try to get some pictures of the additions to my fabric stash.

After the fabric store, Sarah and I went across the street to a nice yarn shop. Sarah loves to knit and enjoyed seeing all the specialty yarns (I like touching them, but they're so expensive that I can't consider buying any.) The shop had an extensive selection of books - mainly knitting, but some lovely crocheting ones, too. I picked up two: "Crochet for Tots" by Nancy Queen, and "More Crocheted Aran Sweaters" by Jane Snedden Peever. Back before we had children, I spent time sitting in the auto repair shop (too often) crocheting an Aran-type sweater for Phil . . . he wore it out some years ago, as he wore it under his coat nearly every day in the winter.

Lastly, on Tuesday evening I finished stitching a 4-2/4" x 29-1/2" bell pull that I've been working on since spring. The pattern is "Simple Gifts" from "Told in a Garden." All that's needed is to sew muslin to the back and insert the bell pull hardware, of which I only have half because the shop had only one of the size I needed (the other is on order.) I chose black, instead of the gold the shop used on their sample. This piece will be hung in our upstairs hallway, which has an Amish theme. The picture here doesn't do it justice, so I'll try to get some pics of my completed piece. Perhaps I can do it in two halves.

On my crafting "to do" list is to finish folding that fabric; move the totes before my hubby's dialysis supplies come on Tuesday (since they're sitting right where those supplies need to be placed); choose a pattern to make a skirt for one of my nieces (Christmas gift); decide whether to keep trying to stop a piece of fabric from running so I can make overalls for my nephew in CA with it, or crochet him something from my new book (another Christmas gift); decide on Christmas gifts, preferably handmade, for Julia and Jamie Rae (JR is my niece in North Carolina); put away last week's purchases; and make a fabric pumpkin before winter arrives. This should keep me busy for a while. Problem is, I always find other things to do!