The BAG Has a Name! Introducing the Daytona Bag!

While I'm having a photo session for the pattern of my latest and final version version of the BAG, Erik (my better half) suddenly says that it would match almost perfectly with his dream watch. Namely a limited edition Rolex named Daytona.

And he asks if that wouldn't be a good name for the bag, and I think it fits it perfectly! Daytona beach is just gorgeous, and so is the Daytona Rolex so I think it's the perfect name for my beloved bag <3

I've also received a wonderful message from Anki with photos of 4 lovely Bring The Basics Bags she's made <3

A Jacket for Jackie

We're dog sitting little Jackie again much to my delight! In the snowy and cold weather we've had the poor baby has been shivering every time we go outside. So I decided it was time to take action!

I borrowed a teeny tiny Hemtex sewing machine (which made more noise then any other machine I've ever heard!), brought out an Ikea fleece plaid and a piece of oilcloth and got to work! She really likes it, she comes right away when I take it out and she is so much more relaxed when we go out now, no more shivers or shaking! =D

We took an old hunting neon band for the belt and attached it while covering up the advertising text at the same time with a small piece of reflective band to make sure little jackie is visible in the dark. 

You would think this was a really quick thing to make and it would have been had it not been for the darn little sewing machine causing all sorts of havoc with the tread tension. It was cranked up to 10 when I got it and was still making loops on the backside... Managed to find the bent piece of metal and fix it and then it was more or less obedient. Have you ever seen such a tiny machine? =)

This is what I'm talking about regarding the tension issues, not a happy sight.

It was also pretty much impossible to sew a straight line, the thing jumped left and right and feed the fabric very unevenly. You can see the remaining tension issues on the the velcro. Luckily it's hidden on the inside for the lining.

However, Jackie is super happy in her wind and water proof, nice and cozy winter coat, and that is all that matters, and I also got to satisfy my worst sewing cravings, so it was very much a win win. The pattern is just made up on the go, will probably make one with a hole for the head and coverage for the chest next time =)

The Necessary Clutch Wallet!

I made this clutch this summer actually at quilt camp and just never had time to blog about it, and I've used it every day since, I love it! It's my wallet and when I don't want to drag along my big bag, it also doubles as a bag which will hold my phone, keys and the "bare necessities" to leave the house =)

The pattern is from Emmalinebags and it was a lovely pattern, very easy to follow and it was so much fun to make that I actually made two right after each other. The other one is a little more fancy, will show it off later as I don't have it with me now. This is actually the second one I made and I deviated a little from the pattern here and added a little zippered pocket to the back, which is perfect to hold my keys as they didn't really fit otherwise.

I just love all the pockets and that it folds out so nicely to get easy access!

The extra pocket I added for convenient key access =)

I was super scared about the kind of lock used for this bag as I had never used one before - but let me tell you, there was no need to be afraid, it was really easy to install!  =)

If you've considered making this bag but been worried about it I can just say  - don't be! It's so much fun to make you'll not only make one, but several! =D The only comment I'd like to make is regarding the little edge on top of the lid, I'd recommend you to make the "ends" (this will make sense when you sew it I promise ^^) slightly longer then the pattern tells you too, as when you sew the lid to the bag, it tended to feel slightly on the narrow side (for me at least) and I didn't get a full 1/4 inch seam allowance, making me a little worried. 

Surrounded by Love

A few days ago, I found a tiny little package in my mailbox and when I opened it, along with a sweet note from my lovely mother, this adorable, teeny-tiny little charm pack fell out! <3

And I truly felt so lucky to be so Surrounded by Love as I am. I immediately decided that this little pile had to be turned into a Valentines Day table runner to celebrate love a little more =)

So the past few evenings I've been sitting in my couch, with this little pile of hexies next to me on the armrest growing slowly but steadily. Those of you who know me know that sewing by hand really isn't my strong suit - hence the "slowly" part, but I'm really enjoying it!  

Late last year (so before Christmas) she also sent me a new pair of quilting gloves among other things, how she knew how badly I needed new ones when not even I realized it - I'll never know! Mother's intuition? ^^ I just had a to take a comparison picture and I want to point out that the old ones were washed not that long ago! It didn't go out in the wash, eeew!

I've also received November and December Stash Stack Club bundles of course! The colors that aren't my favorites generally but there where some seriously lovely and beautiful fabrics in there. 

The outstanding oranges of November 

And the balanced browns of December

Dog Treat Training Kit

A very dear friend had her birthday a week and a half ago and I instantly knew what I wanted to make her despite the fact that I had no time to make it. As she's just moved her dog to come live with her here in Malta the decision was simple:  A dog treat kit!

I know there are ton of different belts out there that you can buy, but they all have something about them that I don't like. To few pockets or too small pockets and you always need to bring the whole big belt with you, which might not always be ideal. So I decided to make little separate belt pouches for her that she could combine as she liked.

The big drawstring baggy gave me a little trouble. I thought for sure that there had to be a pattern out there easily accessible but when no such where to be found, I designed my own version based on the chalk bags we hang around our waists when we go rock climbing. I think it turned out really well! =) 

The little zippered pockets came together quickly and they have sturdy belt loops on the back. 

I think she really likes her kit as I've already seen her use it a lot! =)

Wallet and Zippered Bag to go with my Bia Bag

I of course needed a new wallet to go with my new bag so I made one during the quilt retreat using a pattern that I've had my eye on for a while, the Onigiri Designs Long Wallet. It's really pretty and oh so handy!

The little zippered pouch is from a pattern we got at the quilting retreat made by Anki. So quick to make and so handy with it's two zippered pockets!

But I'll be honest with you, the pattern for the wallet was quite difficult to understand and follow, I think it might be a translation issue but after some (read  a LOT) of unpicking, and redoing I finally managed to get it right =)

The end result is quite lovely I think , but if I were to make it again I would absolutely make some small changes. I'd attach the zipper a bit further out, add some interfacing to the coin pocket and to the card pockets since as they are now, they're a bit difficult to handle being so soft. I also made money and receipt pockets behind the card pockets, to get a little more space for such things as otherwise I'd have to have it next to the cards which would make it a bit difficult to handle.

I'm also in the process of making a free pattern for my Bia Bag - so stay tuned ^^

The "Bia Bag" =)

During this years quilting retreat I made myself a much needed bag. Since I couldn't find a pattern that suited my needs, I made it up as I went along. Customizing my design for my needs perfectly, resulting in my most loved bag to date! It's just perfect and as it's made from oilcloth it is therefore rather waterproof, it can just be wiped off when it gets a little dingy or gets salt stains from the sea. =)

It has a zipper that extends beyond the edges to allow me to fully open it up and see what's inside while still providing theft protection as no one can simply slide a hand into it while closed, nor will stuff fall out if it tips over.

The insides are perfected for keeping all my junk in check, specialized pockets for phone, lip gloss, pens, nose spray, compact etc ^^

It also has many pockets on the outside for easy access to necessities. I also love the handles I found at Ankis, they had the perfect length to keep my stuff safely tucked under my arm, and as the whole bag is rather thin, it doesn't get bulky despite their rather conservative length. Just the way I want it!

I also made a matching wallet and little zippered bag, but I'll show you those a little later along with the other stuff I made during the week ^^

This years quilting retreat with my mother, was for the first time held by the lovely Anki from Kinnas Sy. There were 10 of us there and we had an absolutely lovely time, thank you so very much Anki and everyone, I had a blast! The only problem was that 1 week is much to short! <3 Love you all!

Basket For My Clothespins

My washroom is in the process of receiving an overhaul and much needed face lift. I've got some nice new shelves for this and that, a really nice cabinet from Ikea for dirty clothes and such so I felt I really needed something prettier than my current zip lock bag for my clothespins.

I've had my eye on this adorable basket pattern from Sweetwater for a few years but never really had any use for such a pretty basket until now =) So I happily purchased it and used some leftover jelly roll strips of Twirl by Me & My Sister combined with some black Kona. I think it turned out really sweet.

Instead of  putting the batting on the outside pieces through I put it on the lining to get a less baggy inside and make it easy to get to the last few pins at the bottom. I also used Pellon Thermolam instead of the suggested cotton batting for a smoother look and feel. I'm really happy with the outcome! Really fun basket to make and I'm once again back to my ruffle obsession I fear...

Baby Boy Baby Shower Gifts

One of my friends is having a little baby boy and the baby shower is today.
To start with, I made a little quilt of course! I made this top at a quilt retreat a few years back and it's been lying around as an UFO ever since then. It really was perfect for this gift! It was meant as a wall hanging to begin with - as it's still today the most advanced thing I've ever sewn with those Y seams! But as I don't have much space in our little apartment - I figured I'd better put it to good use as a baby blocks quilt where it will be used and hopefully loved then to leave it waiting for more wall space to hang it. I cut it down as it was a bit to long and then added the border for a little width and framing.

I free motion quilted the feather borders and I really love how it came out, feathers are so much fun to quilt! I wanted badly to add more quilting, outlining of the feathers, a little embellishment in them and more quilting in the cubes but I didn't want it to feel stiff so I refrained, after a long discussion with myself.  =)

I also made a Sushi-Roll Changing Pad and Diaper & Wipes Pouch, tutorial can be found here. Really awesome little kit I think, perfect to keep packed and stacked near the door for when you're just going out for a little while and don't want to bring the whole changing bag maybe?  Or to keep as a pretty kit in the changing bag? Sandra, my friend have a lovely and quite romantic style in the summer so I hope she'll like the fabric I chose for the outside. However, as she is having a boy, I had to choose a more manly spot fabric for the inside of the bag and the upside of the pad =)

It felt really weird to go shopping for diapers and wet wipes to fill this with XD

All wrapped up and ready to go!

I'm alive!

Haven't written anything in a long time, haven't really had much to write about nor any time to write. Things have just been piling up the way they usually do so I've been working, eating, sleeping. Now we're also doing some home improvement so we've been plastering, painting etc in our "spare" time.

Anyhow, we did have quite a lovely Halloween, went to a fabulous party as Pyramid Head and one of the  Nurses from Silent Hill. Our friend is an Enderman from Minecraft. We made our costumes ourselves and had a ton of fun doing so =)

Making of Nurse Costume

I bought a much too large, white dress which I sewed in to fit me, and at the same time get some spare fabric for a nurses collar from as all store brought nurse costumes  where ridiculously expensive to just ruin. 

I tea dyed the dress (what an awesome way to dye stuff!) with some cotton fabric to get that old, rotting skin color that their dresses have.

From the leftover parts of the sewn in skirt, I made a collar - to make it look more like a nurses dress.

Dress sewn in, and finished with it's collar:

I made a nurses cap out of a pattern I found online here and the cotton fabric I previously tea dyed and Fast2Fuse heavyweight interfacing. I left the edges raw and cut them up a bit to make them look worn.

Coloured it in spots with a tea bag to make it look a little gross and more stained. I smelled like forest fruit tea all night ^^

Painted my shoes to make it look like I walked in blood with Pyramid Head =)

In the end I stained it all with some more tea stains and some paint with a rusty red color to give a it a little drops of blood feeling. The nurses aren't really covered in blood like you see in many costumes but I thought a few spatters couldn't hurt to increase the scary factor. I stained bandages with tea too to get a worn look and wrapped them all around my head and then colored them in places to get really creepy feel.  It took me about 4 hours to color my legs/arms/chest with white/grey and the veins and dead body bruises.

Pyramid Head

The Pyramid Head costume was the real challenge. Sooo much fun to make and sooo much hot glue used! *lol* First we cut out cardboard triangles which we tried for size. 

Then made the vision holes.

Added side triangles and some more pieces for depth and a more in game feel.

Trying on the base.

Adding more details and bottom edges.

Packed the whole things in painters tape, glueed on the carpet slip covers we used to hide his eyes but still allow him to see. Glued on some plastic pipes and the caps of some medicinal bottles for the screws and then spray painted all of it silver and black.

We made the oversized sword from and old broom handle rescued from the garbage room, cardboard and lots of silver tape.

Made his "butchers skirt thingy" from an old sheet which I tea stained and then painted with  non toxic face paint (in case you're wondering why Diana is allowed to help with the job ^^).

Tada! Silent Hill Pyramid Head and Nurse:

Me and our lovely host at the party who LCHF blogs over here: http://www.lchfmalta.com/

I really hope I can get back to sewing soon or I'll loose my mind.