It's Beth's birthday today, and although I have already bought her a camera for her main present, I wanted to make her a little something else too. As she's off to Edinburgh for a few days with her lovely boyfriend, and needed something to keep all her beauty stuff in, I decided to make her a toilettry bag. I used a Norwegian pattern called "Toalettveske" by Elin R. Roland that I have used a few times before. It's a rather complicated pattern, but I have really enjoyed making it. The fabric in the corner looks shiney because it has a layer of plastic laid over it after it has been quilted - this will become the bottom of the bag, and the plastic prevents the bottom from getting wet and soggy - the other panels are added using a "quilt-as-you-go" method, and have been trimmed with lace that's not-quite-so-vintage as it was leftover from when I made Beth's Christening gown when she was just a few weeks old.....
.....I decided to make the bag in tones of cream and white, and used lots of scraps from my stash box for this project. I also printed off a picture onto fabric that I have appliqued to the back of the toilettry bag....
.....I decided to alter the original pattern, and added a pocket inside with an elasticated edge. This looks great, and I'm sure it will be really useful for all Beth's bits and bobs and general stuff. The fabric that I used for the pocket and the lining is a beautiful cream paisley print that was leftover from an earlier project (in fact it was extra wide backing that I had bought from Janette to back one of my quilts with) - it seemed just perfect for this pretty toilettry bag....
.....and here I am stitching the binding along the sides - I thought this was going to be quite tricky as I was sewing through so many layers, but my Bernina didn't seem to have a problem at all!.....
.....the trickiest part of this bag is putting in the zipper and this one really did try my patience!! As you can see, I had a very busy weekend trying to get this finished. Anyway, eventually the zipper was in place and I'm really pleased with it. It has some ties at the side, and of course I had to add one of my labels - just incase Beth wonders where it came from - the Yummy Mummy shop of course hehe!!.....
..... and the toilettry bag is just the right height for Beth's favourite "Soap and Glory" toiletries that I have hidden inside for her.....
.....also I couldn't resist making her a matching make-up bag to go with the toilettry bag - and trimmed it with the last of the Christening gown lace. I had been hanging on to this for years, so I did have a slight pang of emotion when I was sewing with it, but it's no good hoarding onto beautiful things - they need to be seen and to be used.....
.....I am so pleased with this set of bags - this will be perfect for her trip to Edinburgh. Happy Birthday Beth - hope you like your pressie!!
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