Smaller groocery bag

I have noticed that the baggers at the grocery store will fill up my cloth bags to the max. This makes the bags quite heavy to lug in and out of the car and then into the house. I have made a bag pattern that is wider and shorter than the ones I have been making, see my tutorial. You can see the size comparison in these two pictures.
The pattern is 18 1/4 inches wide and 16 1/4 tall. I cut out a 2 1/4 inch square at each side for the bottom. The handles were cut 4 inches wide and 26 inches long. Since the bag is wider I spaced the handles 6 1/2 inches apart. The assembly of the bag is the same as in the tutorial. For the one in this picture I added a 6 inch band at the bottom to give it more strength.

The Blue's for Margaret and Cathy

I made a small bag for Margaret as a birthday gift, I forget to take a photo of it. Here she is today modeling it. The theme is blue / water. Can you see the fish?


I also made a special bag for Cathy, who had a milestone birthday today. This bag is also along the blue/water theme. It is a lot larger than the bag I made for Margaret, note the tape measure for scale. I added some fabric that I have with musical notes as Cathy can sign beautifully. It is embellished with buttons and blue/green yarn in swirls. Some of the pieces Cathy will recognize: one from an apron that I made for her; one from a scrap that she gave me after mending a dress for her mother; one from Margaret's stash; and one from Barbara's daughters dress from long ago. The dark blue polka dot at the base of the bag is material Cathy brought to me from Transylvania. I added a few of my favorites too.

It is really fun to pull these bits together, blending color and memories. Piecing on many levels.






When you are ready to give a gift like this to someone, how do you wrap it up? Paper? No way!
Here I took a rectangle of the scrap from Cathy, pinked the edges and sewed along the edge with a serpentine stitch. Yarn and ribbon scraps make a beautiful bow.

Burda Top / Jacket

I have had this Burda 8478 pattern for quite awhile and finally made this up in May. I believe the Burda 8478 is out of print but the same pattern is also available as Vogue 8090. I was attracted to the asymmetrical bottom on the front and the overlap on the back.

I purchased a very nice cotton but was not sure it would have enough body for this garment, so I underlined the whole garment with a lightweight lining material.

I am wearing the top here over shorts and a T shirt, not how I have been wearing this, but I had a photographer available and did this quickly.

The pattern calls for one large button for closure, I found this beautiful shell button.The fabric is pretty dark in value so even though I made it for summer wear I find that I am feeling I may wear it more in the fall.

Apron

I had just enough fabric left from my kitchen curtains to use as the accent fabric on a Butterick 4945 apron. I made view C. The bottom panel is fully faced, so it hangs nicely and gives the apron good body. I put a review of the pattern on pattern review, see the box at the right to go there.
The retro style of this apron just makes me feel all Suzie Homemaker like when I put it on. I will see if it inspires any creativity in the kitchen.

Blouse made with Japenese cotton

I am going to try to start blogging again. I took a break because I had decided that my blog was boring. (It is) But I have received a few comments lately so am thinking maybe I will give it another go. I also do like doing this to have a record of my sewing projects. So, it's time to do some catching up.

I made this blouse in April from New Look 6598. The fabric is a Japanese cotton that I purchased at the Fabric Gallery, a beautiful fabric store in Williamston, Michigan. If you are anywhere nearby, it is worth the trip.

I was looking for a pattern for a basic blouse, I had just about given up when I saw the New Look patterns and thought I would give one a try. The pattern turned out very nice. It has a cute cut out V at the cuff edge that gives the sleeve a little interest. The back was designed with ties which I replaced with encased elastic. It is very comfortable to wear and I do love the fabric.