Gifts for Her: a Sew Powerful Purse

Hello my sweet purse makers; it's Gifts for Her week over on the Therm-o-Web blog. I am sharing a few of my tips on making a purse from The Sew Powerful Purse Project for yourself or to donate to this wonderful charity that allows girls in Zambia to stay in school with your help of making purses to donate to the girls there. You can read all about this organization and the work they do here.

The finished Intermediate style purse with the beginner flap that I decorated with appliqué flowers & circles.

Making purses for Sew Powerful is something near and dear to my heart and I LOVE to sew the purses every chance I get. I hope you will enjoy making one or more purses too. There is no better gift to give than one that can change a girl's life for the better.

Isn't my Oliso iron in turquoise just so pretty? I just love it!

I upcycled denim jeans to make the outside of the purse and put the front pocket on the back of the purse. I topstitched the gusset too.

One of my tips is that I make a full lining (rather than adding a separate top fabric, as the intermediate directions call for) as it is quicker to sew.

So pop over to the Therm-o-web blog to check out my Sew Powerful Purse and all of the tips I share on how I make these purses.

I used Crafter's Edge Large Flower die cut for the appliqué flower and a few Circle die cuts too, including the circle I cut to create a flower appliqué. You can find my tutorial for the circle flower here.

Pin It Now!

Cross Body Bag (reduced in size)

Hello everyone. I wanted to try making this Cross Body Bag again, but in a reduced size as it was quite large when I made it the original size. I only reduced it by 10%, but it was enough to make a difference. This is a pdf pattern from So Sew Easy, called Cross Body Bag. Not a very distinctive name, but it is worn across the body. 

When I made this bag the first time, I loved all the pockets it had: A slip and zipper pocket under the flap, a slip and zipper pocket on the back, a couple of slip pockets inside and a zipper pocket. That's 7 or more pockets, depending on if you divide the inside pockets, which I did for a pen pocket, giving me 8 pockets.

The original size of this bag is 10" wide, by 11 1/2" tall, by 2" deep. This reduced size is about 9" wide x 10 3/8" high x 1 3/4" deep.

Close up of the front. I love that pretty blue fabric with touches of aqua and purple.

The side of the bag. I added rivets and strap ends on the connector strap, along with a rectangle ring to connect the main strap.

The flap up reveals the snap closure and a cute label I add to all my bags (I started adding them in the past year).

Looking down into the bag, I have my large wallet, reader glasses, pen, keys and a couple of small things in the pocket.

The back of the bag here shows the zipper pocket and the slip pocket is behind it.

Looking down into the slip pocket on the outside of the bag, where my keys are, but it is a perfect place to hold a cell phone too.

Pin It Now!

Trina Knit Jacket

This is the Trina Jacket pattern by Fleece Artist. I love their patterns. They are easy to follow and look great. Unfortunately, this pattern is no longer available as you can see here. 

Trina uses 3 yarns to create this jacket. I had 2 different mohair yarn already, a lavender shade and a variegated thicker mohair in a reddish purple to darker purple shade. Since the mohair can be slightly itchy and has those fine fibers that are fuzzy, I needed a third yarn that was not a mohair like yarn and found a Red Heart brand Roll With it Mélange variegated yarn called Autograph at Hobby Lobby that had purple, a blue and gray color in it that blended nicely with the mohair I had. (I found it online here too). I bought 2 of the Roll With it Mélange skeins of yarn not knowing if I would need to use the second one or not. I had quite a bit of the yarn leftover and didn't need to use the second skein at all. There is a lot of yardage in those skeins or maybe they are called cakes? I can't keep up with all the terms anymore.

I decided to knit the small size and after I blocked it, it fit nicely. I will add a shawl pin when wearing this as it is open in the front. I knit the sleeve length to about a 3/4 sleeve length as I like that length the best. 

The sleeves are knit with the Mélange yarn and the lavender mohair only. I used just the Mélange yarn for the neck and front area. The body is knit with all three yarns that alternate every 3rd row.

The back side of the jacket.

This jacket is knit in garter stitch for the body and stockinette stitch on the sleeves and the front band/neck area.

I am all set for fall now. 

Pin It Now!

Sew Powerful Purses #63-71 for 2022

Hello Sweet Purse Makers. I am here to show you 9 more purses that I made for the Sew Powerful Purse Project. For these purses, I used brown fabrics that I had in smaller cuts from a fat quarter to larger scraps. I used brown webbing for all of the straps. 

First, I like to cut the exterior fabrics: the front and back and the top narrow front and back pieces, the front pocket and the gusset. Then if I have enough of that fabric left, I will cut a back slip pocket too. Oftentimes when cutting the gusset, I will not have a long enough piece, so I cut the gusset in 2 pieces (plus I add a seam allowance) and then sew the 2 gusset pieces together. This allows me to use shorter fabric pieces and I automatically know where the center of the gusset is because there is the seam line. I topstitch on each side of the gusset seam too.

Next, I cut the lining main pieces (which I prefer to cut as one piece, rather than cut 2 pieces as the intermediate purse instructions have you do). It saves time not having to cut and then piece the top part on the lining, which is another step to do and it's only seen by the girl who chooses the purse. If I do not have enough fabric to cut the lining pieces, I will cut 2 different fabrics or piece the lining fabric to make it large enough. I will cut the pocket lining and the flap lining pieces next. If they are not the same fabric as the main lining fabrics, that is fine as it adds more interest for the girl to see all the different fabrics that were used in creating the purse and only she will see the lining. Again, if I don't have a large enough piece, I will piece it,

Last, but not not least, I will cut a foundation fabric like muslin or flannel and cut it slightly larger and then create the flap by piecing fabrics to the foundation. The foundation is used instead of interfacing as it is a bit sturdier, especially after I piece the flap. I often just piece the flap in a crumb or string no rules way, rather than piece a specific quilt block. That way it sews quicker and I can use up any scrap I like. Once the piecing is done and pressed, I quilt the piece and finally I like to add a pop of color to the flap by blanket stitching an appliqué like a flower, heart, or something else to the flap. Usually I do not have enough exterior fabric left to cut a flap piece and this way I use up scraps from the current purse I am sewing, but also some scraps from other purses I am making too. I will add a bit of the lining fabric to the purse flap too, whether it is in the same color family or not. By piecing the flaps I am able to use up a lot of scraps that are leftover from the cutting of the rest of the purse. I may take a bit more time to create the flap in this manner, but I get to be creative too, which I love. Once the appliqué has been sewn in place, I give the flap a press and then cut the flap out to the size in the pattern. The last thing I do before sewing the lining to the flap is to add any embellishments such as buttons, lace, trim, rickrack, hand embroidery, etc.

 

I added a back slip pocket to all of these purses, but am only showing you 2. The pocket matches the exterior fabric. By adding a back pocket, there are 2 pockets: one under the flap at the front of the purse and one here on the back. The intermediate purse has no inside pocket, so it makes it quicker to sew.

Another back pocket.

I used a 5 sided piece of fabric to start the piecing on this flap and liked how it looked, so opted to not add any appliqué, but just keep the crazy quilt look instead. Added buttons was all it needed.

For this flower, I first pieced yellow scraps together to create a larger piece and then used a flower die cut to cut out this flower. Piecing the flower first gave it a different look.

Closer look at the pieced then appliqué flower. I pieced several yellow blocks like this, so I can cut more scrappy flowers for more flaps.

Most of the appliqué I used above were things I had cut out years ago to use on other things I was making, but I didn't use them for one reason or another, so I put them in a box and thought I might use them for something else. Well, it sure saved time having so many appliqué shapes already fused and cut ahead of time.

We need to include a notecard in the front pocket of each purse we make too, so I created some notecards using some of the fused appliqué I had already too. They make nice notecards with fabric appliqué on the front. I have enough scraps of fabric and with die cuts I can cut up a lot of shapes to be used for the cards as well. I will share the notecards I made on a blog post another day.

Pin It Now!

Gingham Tea & Friends: Tea Cozy Shaped Wall Quilt

It's Gingham week over on the Therm-O-web blog. So I created this tea cozy shaped wall quilt using Crafter's Edge Tea Time die cuts and 1/2 Square Triangle die cut too; along with HeatnBond® Lite for fusing the appliqué pieces and StitchnSew High Loft sew-in fleece (which now comes 60" wide by the yard). 

Products I used to create this wall hanging. I love that cute turquoise Oliso Iron to help me fuse the appliqué shapes in place.

Be sure and check out my tutorial over on the Therm-o-web Blog.

Pin It Now!

Batik Quilt in Rectangles

Hello Colorful People! Thanks Joan from Moosestash Quilting for hosting this blog hop. 

When I heard the title of this blog hop, it reminded me of Walt Disney's television program of the same name, The Wonderful World of Color (which ran from 1961-1969) and then the name was later changed to The Wonderful World of Disney. I was a child way back then during the Wonderful World of Color show, but I remember how much I loved that show! It was amazing too that the show was in color! In fact, that was one reason for the name of the show, since most television back then had been in black & white! Gosh, so many things have been discovered or invented during my lifetime, it's amazing when you think about that.

I went to Disneyland a lot as a child. It was back then you bought ticket books and each ride had a certain letter ticket you could use to ride it. The "E" tickets were the best and most expensive tickets for the best rides, like Space Mountain or the Matterhorn Bobsled ride, while the "A" ticket you could ride the Horseless Carriage on Main Street. You could buy more tickets once inside the park and they ranged from 10 cents for the A ticket to a whopping 75 cents (for a child) for an E ticket! Later as a teenager, I worked at Disneyland. Now you could go broke taking a family of four to the Magic Kingdom, as well as the California Adventure Park, etc. Depending on the park and days you go it can cost from $240-$440 per person (child or adult) for one day! Geesh!

Okay, sorry I got carried away on my trip down memory lane, lol!

For this blog hop I used mostly batik and some hand dyed fabric scraps to create my quilt. I used the Rectangle die cut from Crafter's Edge and the 1.5" strip cutter too from Crafter's Edge, so it made quick work cutting out what I needed. I used flannel on the back of this lap quilt that I made for myself, just in time for the weather to warm up, lol!

I quilted it in wavy lines all over the quilt.  

This quilt measures 47 wide" x 60.5" high

The idea that sparked this quilt I saw on another blog that I follow, Rebecca Grace Quilting. She is a long arm quilter that quilted a quilt last year using such a great quilting pattern. I don't have a long arm and I wanted to quilt it myself on my domestic machine, so I did the best I could in trying to achieve a similar quilted look. She made a graduation quilt for her nephew that I just loved! I didn't need a pattern to make it as it was just 2 rectangles, so I chose the rectangle that worked best from the Crafter's Edge rectangle die cut and the 1.5" strip die cut and cut the strips to the length needed to fit the rectangle size I used, which was 3.5" x 6.5". You can see the quilt Rebecca made here. I chose to use batik fabric, but I love the Grunge fabrics that she used too.

Monday April 18

Creatin' in the Sticks

Ms P Designs USA

Samelia’s Mum

Kathleen McMusing

That Fabric Feeling

Scrapdash

Tuesday April 19

Just Let Me Quilt

BeaQuilter

Songbird Designs

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Purring Cottage 

Stitchin at Home

Time4Stitchn

Wednesday April 20

Patchouli Moon Studio (that's me)

Quilting Gail

Quilt Schmilt

Words & Stitches

Quilted Delights

Lynn's Blog

Homespun Hannah's Blog

Thursday April 21

Just Sew Quilter

Days Filled With Joy

Selina Quilts

Karrin's Crazy World

The Darling Dogwood

Beckys Adventures in Quilting and Travel 

Friday April 22

Kathys Kwilts and More

Pieceful Thoughts

Karen's Korner

Inflorescence

Crafts and Math

MooseStashQuilting

Pin It Now!

The Wonderful World of Color Blog Hop Starts Monday

Next week should be a Colorful & fun blog hop, so be sure to hop along to find some inspiration. You know Joan is bound to have a wild & colorful project to share with us. Thanks Joan for hosting this blog hop!

Here is the Schedule:

Monday April 18

Creatin' in the Sticks

Ms P Designs USA

Samelia’s Mum

Kathleen McMusing

That Fabric Feeling

Scrapdash

Tuesday April 19

Just Let Me Quilt

BeaQuilter

Songbird Designs

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Purring Cottage 

Stitchin at Home

Time4Stitchn

Wednesday April 20

Patchouli Moon Studio (that's me)

Quilting Gail

Quilt Schmilt

Words & Stitches

Quilted Delights

Lynn's Blog

Homespun Hannah's Blog

Thursday April 21

Just Sew Quilter

Days Filled With Joy

Selina Quilts

Karrin's Crazy World

The Darling Dogwood

Beckys Adventures in Quilting and Travel 

Friday April 22

Kathys Kwilts and More

Pieceful Thoughts

Karen's Korner

Inflorescence

Crafts and Math

MooseStashQuilting

Pin It Now!

9 Fabric Postcards Made for Make a Wish Contest in Sisters, Oregon

Hello my lovely postcard lovers. I mailed off my postcards for the annual Make a Wish fabric postcards contest in conjunction with the annual Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show (SOQS) and sponsored by Andover Fabrics. There were 2 fabrics that had to be used in each postcard that Andover Fabrics donated to the contest. You can request as many sets as you would like and I requested 3 sets. I used a couple of the fabrics received as the background fabrics, but most I used within the postcard. I ended up creating 9 postcards in all. I still had enough fabric leftover to have made at least one more, but I thought this was enough. The deadline to receive the postcards is May 4, 2022. 

If you go here, you can read about this contest as well as the quilt block contest (I have entered that contest several times over the years too). Since I forgot to take photos of the 2 fabrics that had to be used in each postcard, you can see them both by clicking the above link.

The idea of the contest is they frame the winning postcards that are then auctioned off and they also choose other nice postcards to frame to auction as well. It's a silent auction. The money goes to help the Make a Wish foundation and the rest of the postcards that are not framed are sold and that money also helps to support the SOQS, which is free event to the public, but costs a lot of money to run. The local framing shop frames these postcards at their expense. I had a postcard framed a couple of times in the past, even though it wasn't a contest winner; still it was a thrill my postcard was chosen to be framed. And it helps support a good cause and the quilt show.

I used some of my die cuts from Crafter's Edge to create some of these postcards, and I will point out which ones under the photo. So here are the 9 postcards I made and sent in for the contest. Wish me luck!

This silly bee uses the contest fabric on the head and wings.

This mouse uses the contest fabrics on the body and nose.

The background fabric and the little heart uses the contest fabrics, and the rest is made from felt. I handstitched the word, WISH using embroidery floss.

This chicken uses the one contest fabric in the body and the other as the wing, tail feathers and head feathers.

5 more postcards here.

I used felt for the flowers, with a simple French knot to anchor it in place. Some embroidered by hand stems and leaves and a few extra scattered French knots.

This postcard was made using the Balloon die cuts and the Mini Stars (part of the Mini Stars & Hearts) die cuts from Crafter's Edge. I did darken the balloon strings after taking this photo as I thought they were a bit too light. The stars and the background fabric are the contest fabrics used.

This is the Santa die cut (which can be made into a snowman too) from Crafter's Edge. I was trying to use this die cut to make it look a bit more like a Gnome, rather than a Santa. Did you think Santa or Gnome when you first saw this one? The hat, nose and heart are the contest fabrics on this postcard.

I used the smallest Mason Jar die cut to create this postcard. The jar and the lid are the contest fabrics. I added a felt heart from the Mini Hearts & Stars die cut from Crafter's Edge.

This one used the Large Flower die cut. I used 2 of the 3 flowers from the die cut to create this flower. The flower was created using both contest fabrics.

So there you have it, 9 fabric postcards that could help to support 2 causes. I will let you know if any of these are framed for auction or if I am lucky enough to be one of the 3 contest winners (1st, 2nd or 3rd place). Either way, they were fun to create. 

And if you have never been to the SOQS, then you really should attend at least once as it is a fabulous show and I love the town of Sisters, OR. I have been there many times and always enjoy it. It's my favorite quilt show! 

Pin It Now!