A few months ago I made a small bag to keep my essential bits and bobs in at work, using a piece of this "Nifty Nurse" panel by Loralie Designs. Yesterday I decided to make a smaller pouch for my two daughters, for a first aid kit - and teamed this panel with some red and white fabrics and some lace trimming. The front panel was quilted very simply in straight rows about 0.5" apart, using white Mettler quilting thread, and some cotton batting that I had leftover from other projects. I added some red lace trimming too... ...I added a label to the side seam, and a bright red zipper to match the lace. This was based on the pattern "Anna's Sminkepung" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa. As you can see, this looks ideal as a first-aid kit, and I've filled it with a few essentials from the medicine cabinet - paracetamol, plasters and throat lozenges. Alice was really pleased with this today when Mr F and me went to see her at uni, and now I need to make one for Beth.
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Once the "toalettveske" (toiletry bag) was completed for Alice, I just had to make her a matching cosmetic bag too - so using the same fabrics as before, "Salt Air" by Cosmo Cricket for Moda, and "Painter's Canvas" for Michael Miller, and using the pattern "Anna's Sminkepung" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa, I set to work. I decided to add a little bit of trimming to this one, just to make it a bit more feminine (Alice doesn't really do lace and frills and pink and girly!!)... ...and here it is completed with one of my labels too. (I forgot to sew the label into the side-seam, so hastily stitched into the corner when I was machining the binding into position!!). The zipper has been slip-stitched by hand, and the bindings have too - I try to make the inside of the bag look as neat as the outside! It will be a great set for Alice to use at uni, especially if she comes home for the odd weekend and if she goes to stay with her friends. So now I've made her a quilt for uni, and a toiletry bag and a cosmetic bag - does she need anything else??!!
Well I've been really busy making these cosmetic bags for my friends and family and I decided that I really needed another new one for ME!! I had some leftover fabric from the "Flower Sugar" collection by Lecien, and teamed it with red lace (from Sass and Belle) and a couple of hours later I had a smart new bag. I made one very similar to this for my niece's sister-in-law, Lorna, and she was really pleased with it. I added a couple of prairie points for the tabs (just like in the original pattern - "Anna's Sminkepung by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa) and you can see from the other picture that I added one of my labels to the inside of the bag, set into the side seam. and talking of seams, all the seams in these bags are covered with binding - I used the same pretty pink gingham that I had used for the lining so it all co-ordinates. The binding is slip-stitched into place by hand, and also the zipper is finished the same way. I've seen other patterns and tutorials online to make similar bags, but I prefer finishing off the "Norwegian" way - it looks so much smarter!! Several of my friends have admired these "Flower Sugar" bags and said "oh they look just like Cath Kidston bags"!! Well honestly - who on earth needs Cath Kidston when there's the incredibly exclusive Nicola Foreman??!!
I needed a gift for a friend who likes pink. So I looked through my fabrics and there it was - a piece of pink floral/stripe from the original "Flower Sugar" collection by Lecien. Unfortunately I didn't have quite enough to use just this fabric for what I needed, so pulled out some other fabrics from my stash - a pink gingham and aqua spot (both by Makower) and some red crocheted lace by Sass and Belle. Using the pattern "Anna's Sminkepung" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa and I was ready to go! I used a white quilting thread by Mettler for this project, and it looks lovely and fresh on the aqua binding... ...and here it is completed! I really love this combination of pink, red and aqua. The latest "Flower Sugar" collection is available now at Sew and So's at Bungay and I really NEED to get some fat quarters of that for bags - especially as these two colourways (red and aqua) feature in this new range and is available in gingham and spots and florals - yummy!!
One of my friends has been very generous to me over the past week, and I thought she deserved a little treat. This beautiful Lecien print (part of the "Vintage Floral" collection, bought from Sew and So's of Bungay) looked perfect teamed with some velvet ribbon trimmed lace that I'd bought from Little A Designs. Once again I used the pattern "Anna's Sminkepung" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa. This was quilted very simply - a cross hatch design on the back of the bag (I didn't even need to mark the quilting lines for this, I just followed the grid design that is part of the pattern on the fabric!) and quilted in simple straight rows on the front part of the bag. I used a variegated king Tut thread shade 979 for the quilting, and a Schmetz top stitch needle size 80. This will be delivered to my friend tomorrow, I just hope she likes it!!
One of my friends, Sue, asked me if I could do a commission for her. Sue's daughter is getting married today, and Sue wanted a matching toiletry bag and cosmetic bag to give to her daughter to take away on her honeymoon. I can remember Lizzie when she was a little girl, running around when her dad used to play cricket against Mr F's team, many many years ago before I had my own girls (gosh that seems like another life!!) Sue said the wedding colours were purple and cream, with a little bit of green. Well, of course it just HAS to be Lecien fabrics, and of course it HAS to be an AnnAKa pattern! The cosmetic bag is based on the pattern "Anna's Sminkepung", and is available from Lappedilla and Lapp-Elisa. I had some gorgeous velvet ribbon trimmed lace, in green and purple, that went perfectly with these fabrics. (This lace is from Little A Designs)..... .....once the cosmetic bag was completed, it was time to get started on the toiletry bag. "Toalettveske" designed by Elin R Roland was my choice for this - I used the same fabrics that I'd used for the cosmetic bag, (I really do love these Leciens!) and added a strip of cream swirl fabric too. There are pockets inside the bag, to keep smaller bits and bobs in, and the long zipper ensures the toiletry bag can be opened fully..... .....and I embellished the cream strip of fabric with some vintage buttons, these colours matched the fabric perfectly! The toiletry bag was decorated with different lace trimmings so that both the front and the back will look slightly different. The ties keep everything neat and tidy at the sides, and finally one of my labels is stitched into the side seam..... .....I delivered this to Lizzie's mum a few days ago, and she thought Lizzie would love it! Well she's getting married later today, at 1pm, so does that means this will be packed in her case ready for her honeymoon? - I do hope so!
I've been a huge fan of Lecien fabrics for quite awhile now, and was thrilled to see that I still had some fat eighths from the Flower Sugar collection, that were just waiting for the perfect project!! Well of course I knew they would look perfect as cosmetic bags, so using the pattern "Anna's Sminkepung" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa, (her patterns are available form quilt shops in Scandinavia - try the links for quilt shops on the side of my blog). I used some red cotton lace by Sass and belle to trim one of the bags, and love how this looks. I've also got a piece of this fabric in the pink stripe too, so maybe that will also get turned into a bag over the weekend!
One of my colleagues had a VERY special birthday last week. Judy is a lovely friend, and she has been a great mentor at work - I really couldn't have asked to work with anyone nicer. I wanted to make her a special gift - so I set too with some fabrics and buttons and lace, and printed off a retro picture (I used a piece of EQ printables - these are really great for printing off pictures - they don't distort, and are lovely to sew with too) - I thought this picture would be perfect to have on a bag to keep all your beauty bits and bobs in..... .....anyway, I made up a rectangle using some other fabrics and a quilt-as-you-go method, then embellished it with some vintage buttons and lace. This was based on a pattern called "Anna's Sminkepung" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa. Well now I've just got to get this wrapped up, as Judy is coming round for afternoon tea today - as I'm still off work recovering, I haven't seen her to give her this earlier - hope she doesn't mind it being a bit late!
As most of my blog followers know, I love using Norwegian patterns, I love making bags and I love batiks - so what better combination to make a special gift!! These batiks have been in my stash for WAY too long and they were just perfect for the project that I had in mind. I used one of my favourite patterns "Mathilde's Sommerveske" by the Norwegian designer AnnAKa, and set to work..... .....inside it has a zipper pocket and a slip pocket too (I used a tutorial from a pattern by Elizabeth Hartman for this pocket panel - I make all my bag linings like this now). And there is a tab for keys to clip onto, and finished it off with one of my labels stitched into the side seam of the lining..... .....this bag is quite roomy, and also has two pockets on the front with a flap - I have sewn magnetic fasteners to these, to keep the contents secure..... .....the handles are made with a variety of the batiks for a scrappy look, and are a bit longer so this tote bag can be worn over your shoulder. This one is for my mum for her birthday next week so please don't tell her and spoil the surprise!
Do you remember the "Beyond Measure" sewing machine mat (pattern by Bloom) that I made a few weeks ago? Well I used some gorgeous sewing themed fabric, and had enough left-over to make a zippered bag to keep my smaller sewing things in, like my thread snippers and spare needles and a reel of thread etc. I added one of my "Quiltystuff" labels to a piece of fabric, and sewed it to side of the zipper to use as a tab. I used an AnnAKa pattern, called "Anna's Sminkepung" and quickly stitched up this bag last weekend. I like to alter these patterns using whatever size fabric pieces I've already got, so for those of you who like to know the size is important, this one measures 11" long and is 6" in height. AnnAKa patterns are available form quilt shops in Scandinavia, and there are links to some of these shops on the side bar of my blog - sorry, but despite numerous requests, I am unable to supply copies of these patterns!..... .....oh and do you remember the fabric divided basket (pattern by Noodlehead) that I make to keep my sewing things in? Well it really wasn't working for me. So I did a bit of unpicking (NOT my favourite pastime!) and removed the divider. I re-joined the lining, and attached it using a different method to the original Noodlehead pattern, which gave me a much neater edge along the top. (The first time I made this basket, I had a real problem keeping my top stitching neat, and thought Pfffttttt!! this is no good - and used a zig-zag stitch instead. Well, this time I re-did it stitching very slowly, and the 2 rows of top stitching look MUCH better). Oh and I put my label inside the lining this time too!! As you can see, I've got a very smart, co-ordinated set of sewing accessories now! My sewing table will look very suave ;)
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July 2023
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