March (and evil pom-poms)

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."

Charles Dickens

Ok so I am a bit late with this one given that we are already half way through the month (where does my time go?)  March to me feels like the first serious step into the year.  Whereas January and February feel like dipping your toes into a cold pool, March is when you finally take the brave and bracing waist deep plunge.

This week we have been dusting off our gardening gloves and venturing out into the garden...

We've raked leaves, composted old dead plants, sifted through the piles of broken pots and tidied up ready for Spring.   We've also been planting cress seeds in various places for a school project to see where they will and won't grow...

...which is why I have to explain to visitors the old trainer in a container on my kitchen windowsill....

The things we do for our kids. Though I was intrigued to discover that the cress has grown in the inner part of the shoe as well, where there is no light!  I didn't know cress would do that. Strange plant.

Meanwhile, inside, my crochet hooks have been working hard on various projects, more of which I will share with you in the next few days.  Here is a wee sneak preview though of one of my latest creations, just finished...

What could it be??

Before this particular project I had considered zips to be my ultimate nemesis of crafting, but no!  It turns out that actually pom-poms are my Dr Evil...

They look innocent enough don't they?  Don't be fooled! They are little evil balls of fluffy deception. Grrr.

I cannot show you any more of this project as it is a surprise for a reader of this blog, all will be revealed once she receives it.

More from me later this week, in the meantime Happy March everyone :)

Bow bag with a zip

I keep a notebook by my bedside.  I use it to write down all the things that suddenly occur to me right when I am about to go to sleep - call british gas, buy water filters, book horseriding for Lillia, and other exciting things.  I also use it to scribble ideas of things I want to make - bags and toys, polyclay characters etc - the kind of ideas that only ever seem to pop into my head late at night.

One such design was a bag with a big bow on the front.  I wanted to try something more challenging than my usual plain dual fabric design.  I also wanted to try putting a pocket on the front.  So I drew up a rather amateur pattern, grabbed some old fabric that I didn't mind wasting should it all go wrong, and got to work...

I have to say I am pretty darned pleased with the finished result!  I managed to keep my seams relatively straight (and where there are wonky bits you can't see them)  I took my time over each element, made sure it was neat and well made, I unpicked several times in order to make sure I got it right.  It was a real learning experience.

But perhaps most exciting for a geek like me is that I successfully added a zip!  I've never managed to do this on a bag before, I didn't even know where to start, but then I came across Made by Jane's Recessed Zipper Bag tutorial and decided to take the plunge.

Woo hoo!  My first zippered bag!  And it looks really good too!  I made the bands that attach to the zip to form the recessed part quite a bit thinner than Jane's, as I didn't want it too recessed.  Also instead of adding a matching band to the outside I just made the outer fabric slightly longer than the lining.

I even added a lined pocket to the inside...

So there you have it!  My first ever zippered bag, I am one chuffed little sewing person :)  Maybe zips aren't that evil after all?

Evil zips - the battle continues

Hubby recently had a meetng up north and so stayed with my sister and her boyfriend near Birmingham for the night.  On hearing he was coming to stay my sister immediately requested that I send up a boxy pouch for her.  This gave me one evening to make one, complete it and pack it into hubby's overnight bag.  I considered saying no momentarily, then I remembered she gave me her car and figured I'd better crack on...

She was pleased, which is always a relief when I give somebody something I have made.  I'm not sure what she'll use it for, make-up perhaps, or knowing my sister chicken feed! 

I am really enjoying making these little pouches, though I admit my method of working with zips is still rather haphazard.  I have been making it up as I go along and when it comes to sewing in the zip using my zipper foot I am sure I am doing something wrong.  My process always involves me attempting to shift the bulky "pull" part of the zip out of the way of the zipper foot, sometimes it's really fiddly and I use my stitch-ripper to pull the zip out of the way.  Unfortunately this led to said stitch-ripper meeting a rather untimely end...

Guess that's why it's called a "stitch-ripper" and not "zip-puller" then.  Ahem.

Nevertheless I managed to produce two more little pouches this afternoon, in a desperate bid to get some creativity out of my system and to relax myself in what is turning out to be possibly one of the worst couple of months of my life so far.  Sometimes I wonder when the crap will stop happening.  In the meantime though there is always sewing to keep me sane (ish). 

Lined with one of my favourite organic cottons - from Gossypium.  When I looked recently they weren't doing this in blue anymore, which is a shame as I always thought I might get around to making some pillowcases from it some day.

This one is extra dinky!

So zips and I still have a way to go before we reach a happy union.  My next challenge is to be a zippered bag!  Oh yes, I am branching out.  I designed a big bow design with a lined front pocket, here's a sneaky peak...

More on this soon, as soon as I have finished wrestling my latest zip past that darned zipper foot, there must be an easier method than this.. :)

Boxy pouchyliness!

Having drooled over Gretchen's lovely boxy pouches a while back she directed me here to her original post where she was starting her off on the journey to boxy pouchy perfection.  This led me to this tutorial and voila!  My very own boxy pouch!

I want to make one for a friend as a small thank-you so my first go is a trial run to see how the pattern works.  It's rather easy to do and the finished result is incredibly cute, it's just so dinky...

There are a couple of bits I'd like to amend though.  I'm not sure if I have the stitchy know-how just yet but I want to add a tag below the zip, to give a place to grip when opening and closing.

I lined it with a contrasting red heart fabric which I love...

But I want to sort out the raw edges that are on show...

I'm not entirely sure how to sort this bit out, but it'll bother me until I do! 

However my prototype is still really cool and very handy for holding spare cotton reels and bits and pieces...

Plus it gave me the opportunity to tackle another zip, I am rather afraid of zips.

x