A Ghastlie Accessory Set

Since I have this fabric of Sebastian Ghastlie that I love, and I have new Cargo Duffle (The Ghastlie Cargo Duffle is here, the first Cargo Duffle I made is here), I wanted to make coordinating accessories.

First I made a simple quilted zipper pouch. There wasn't a pattern for this, I just used the fabric scraps I had and a zipper and made it work.

Second, I made another triple zip pouch. You can see my first one here. The pattern is by A Quilter's Table and the ending is by Marci Girl. Once you understand how this pouch goes, it's actually very easy to do. I think this is my fourth one, so it was a quick project now.

This one is different from the rest, since it made using only quilting cottons. I did nothing to line this pouch. I am interested to see how it holds up and compares!

Both these pouches have Sebastian Ghastlie as the main outer fabric. They are both lined with From Outside In by Malka Dubrawsky for Moda pattern #23235. I wanted a bright liner for contrast. Also bright liners make it easier to see into the pouch and find what you're looking for.

The liner fabric. I found most web images do not seem representative of it. They make the green too dark.

A Ghastlie Cargo Duffle

The Cargo Duffle pattern is a free pattern by Noodlehead and can be downloaded here.

I came across The Ghastlies collection by Alexander Henry Fabrics and fell in love. I saw the Sebastian cat print and had to have it! My kitty cat is black and often gives me the exact same looks that Sebastian has. This fabric is perfect representation of her!

This is Sebastian Ghastlie in Taupe

I wanted a project to show off Sebastian, so I decided to make another Cargo Duffle (you can see my first one here). Last time I didn't line the bag with canvas but rather quilting cotton. Over time, my bag lost shape, so this time I wanted canvas. I also wanted to add a couple interior pockets to help organize my bag.

These interior pockets were done by making two extra panels that were the same size as the front and back of the bag, except they were cut to be 9 inches tall. The panels are canvas on side and quilting cotton (Sebastian again) on the other with batting in between.

For the front pocket, I used the dividing line of the cargo pockets to divide the pocket. I just extended it all the way down being careful to match my thread on the front of the bag. For the second pocket, I added a little tab flap to keep it closed since it was a very long pocket. I then basted the exterior edges  of the pocket and the main panel together prior to bag assembly. The rest of the assembly was done per the instructions. A little warning, use a denim needle for the basting and assembly since you are now going through three layers of quilted canvas instead of just two!

Given the Ghastlie theme, I did try to not make the bag too Halloweenie. I want to be able to use it year round, without it screaming Halloween! I do see myself making a Ghastlie Halloween quilt though since this fabric is amazing. I need more Sebastian Ghastlie in my life!

I want to note that my Cargo Duffle varies slightly in size from the pattern. I cut my pieces large to allow for quilting (and to minimize fabric waste) and only trimmed down what was needed. The bag is fairly representative of the pattern though.

I do fussy cut my cargo pockets so that the pattern is centered and matches. This will require extra fabric.

The fabric for the cargo pockets. I like a pattern that repeats so I can fussy cut nicely.

Hooded Car Seat Wrap and Pillowcase

Since there was still no baby by Black Friday, I decided to go take advantage of Jo-Ann's flannel fabric sale. While I don't usually sew with flannel, there are some things that aren't worth using quilting cottons on. And flannel can have such a nice texture for some baby items.

Anyway, I had come across this tutorial for making a hooded car seat wrap. Since baby will be born in winter, I thought this would be a good item to keep her warm while going to and fro the car. I pretty much followed the tutorial exactly, except I bought about 1 1/3 yards of flannel and prewashed it on warm with a color catcher. I wanted the result to be roughly a square before I cut out my pattern. I also left out the batting from the core. Given my climate, two layers of flannel should be good for my needs.

I also tried to pick more modern fabrics for baby. I am not a big fan of pastels, and that seems to be the common baby color options. I loved the dog print I used so much, I decided to make myself a pillowcase to match out of it (it is made the same way as my unicorn pillowcase here)! Hopefully that will make labor and delivery a little more enjoyable with a nicer pillow!

For reference, my car seat/stroller is the Doona in the color storm. I have not used it for baby yet, but it came highly recommended by a friend. It is really neat, because the car-seat has the stroller wheels already built in. I just pop them down and away we go!

Necessity Sewing

While most sewing projects of mine are done more for pleasure and aesthetics, there are a few things I will sew more out of necessity. These are mainly specialty items that can be very expensive. In preparation of baby's arrival, I made myself some post postpartum pads, regular pads, and breast pads. While I have some disposable items of these, I would much rather use reusable cotton items. It you look into the pricing of these items, they are actually a lot cheaper to make, unlike most handmade items. Thus, during October and November, this was my "un-fun" sewing task.

The cloth pads are made using the Luna Wolf cloth pad pattern (as of this writing, the pattern is free and can be found here). For the beast pads, I just used various containers and lids around the house to get some circles of different sizes. Since I don't know what will work best for me, I also did some various thickness of cores on these projects. All were done using 100% cotton flannel. Thread was cotton to join the pad core and polyester for the rest of the stitching to minimize wicking when not desired.

Jelly Roll Race Quilt 2

This is the second Jelly Roll Race / 1600 Inch Quilt that I've made (see the first one here). The fabric is Meow or Never by Erin Michael for Moda (for the pdf of the line please click here). It is currently on display at In the Making if you want to see it in person!

It is only a quilt top right now, but I have plans to finish it the same way I did my last one! I loved the pieced backing and it made a nice second quilt on the back.

Before being pressed

The Jelly Roll Race quilt is a great quilt for a beginner since you can easily complete the quilt top in a day or two and no major cutting is needed!

Selvage Challenge 2016

This summer I entered a few projects into the #selvagechallenge2016 contest on Instagram run by @selvagechallenge. The contest is now closed, but you can go back and see all the great projects made using the selvages from fabric.

I have been collecting hoarding my selvages for a while, so I knew this would be a great opportunity to use most of them up. I knew what project I wanted to make immediately too. This past year I've started to knit and crochet more. After making my crochet hook roll, I knew I needed a roll to store all my double pointed knitting needles in but I had been very lazy about making one. Thus, I planned to use up my selvages on a knitting needle roll.

The giant roll before being cut into two smaller rolls

In the end, I actually made two rolls. Initially, it was going to be one large roll, but then it was very fat and heavy with all my bamboo needles. Thus I cut it into two before finishing it out. Now I have a roll for my entire bamboo needle set (this is the set I have, it's a steal on Amazon, but I have broken the points of some of the smaller ones) and a second smaller roll for my metal sock needles.

I loved that I could make something for my knitting that would allow me to show off the scraps of old sewing projects. Now when I knit, I can see some of the fabrics I love too!

The second big project I did was a tote bag. In September, we took a vacation to Chattanooga and I had the opportunity to try out an Accuquilt cutter (it is amazing by the way!). There is a local quilt shop there called Spool and they let you rent time on their cutter. I had been dying to try this thing out for a while, so I brought a whole big box of fat quarters with me! I ended up cutting 46 fat quarters and 4.5 yards of Moda Bella Solids in less than 2 hours (my husband did help me out though). I ended up with enough fabric cut for a Drunkard's Path quilt, Robbing Peter to Pay Paul quilt, and some clamshells. Keep an eye out for those quilts in the future!

The result of all this was a lot of scraps! I trimmed off all the selvages from these upon getting home and knew I had enough to make a bag! I have been eyeing the Market Bag by Noodlehead for a while now and decided to make that (pattern is in her book called Handmade Style). I did modify the pattern a little by doing quilt as you go for the selvages and binding my inside rather than doing a drop-in liner. I also added a zipper closure and key hook since these are features I always want on my bags. I love how colorful it turned out!

Now I’m debating if this bag should be my crafting bag to take with me to the Greater Birmingham Fiber Guild or if it will be a diaper bag for when Baby arrives! So far, I have just loved using as it as a very large purse. 

Fabrics used are almost all Anna Maria Horner fabrics from her All the Colors Fat Quarter bundle (I can't seem to find it now, but I bought it directly from her store, Craft South). The inside main fabric is Enchanted in Sleepy from the Fibs and Fables collection by Anna Maria Horner. The zipper fabric is Helios in Ice from the same collection (it is backed by Moda Bella Solid in etchings slate). The small zipper pocket is Minutes in Sword, again from the same collection. The inside and outside binding is simply a plain black fabric. I also used the Moda Bella Solid to wrap the handles with and to trim the top and bottom of each side of the bag. Since I had used 4.5 yards of this on the Accuquilt, I had a lot of grey left!

The final project I made was done using the side scraps of selvages from the Market Bag. When I made my Market Bag panels, I did not trim down the excess until the end. This resulted in scraps of varying sizes. After looking through them all, I realized I had enough to make another small rainbow. The Rainbow Clutch pattern was the reason I first looked at the Handmade Style book, so I knew this was what I wanted to make.

I did modify the front panel from the pattern to accommodate the selvages. The result is a beautiful rainbow! The fabrics on this clutch are Anna Maria Horner prints and I used grey canvas for the rest of the outside. The inside print is the same as the lining of the Market Bag, Enchanted in Sleepy from the Fibs and Fables collection.

The clutch is a great size for going out with. I can even fit my phone in its giant otter box in the front rainbow pocket and it won't fall out! I am still debating what type of strap I want to make for it, but I knew I would want one, so I made sure to sew in the d-ring (not done in pattern).

Dates:

Double Point Needle Holders: 8/26/2016 - /8/27/2016

Market Bag: 9/18/2016 - 9/21/2016

Rainbow Clutch: 9/22/2016 - 9/23/2016

Some extra shots of the projects!

Unicorn Satchel

I recently found this amazing, and out of print, fabric by Tina Givens. It is from her collection Pernilla's Journey and called Unicorn Land. I am totally in love with it and wanted to use it in a bag (don't worry, I have extra to make a quilt with at some point!).

Using that as my base fabric, I then matched fabrics from my stash to get a nice array of purple colors. From top to bottom, the other fabrics are:

• Tina Givens'  in the Feather Flock collection
• Tula Pink's in the Chipper collection
• Tina Givens' in the Feather Flock collection
• Artisian Spirit's Shimmer 
• Tina Givens' Unicorn Land in Pernilla's Journey collection
• Organic black canvas (used for base, top binding and as the main fabric on the handles)

I also used plum fabric with gold dots as an accent fabric on the handles.

For the inside I used:

• Artisian Spirit's Shimmer for the top gusset 
• Tula Pink's in the Chipper collection for the zipper sides
• Heather Ross's Unicorns in cream from Far Far Away 2 reprint for the main lining
• Heather Ross's Unicorns in purple from Far Far Away 2 reprint for the slip pocket
• A Tina Given's fabric to line the all the pockets

For this purse, there was no pattern. The finished size was dictated by my fabric choices, namely the Tina Givens' unicorns since I wanted them to line up perfectly. Thus their size determined the width and the number of fabrics used determined the height. I wanted it a little smaller, but since I could pick a fabric to remove, it ended up a little taller than originally envisioned. 

Crochet Hook Roll

I've started to knit and crochet recently. Naturally, I bought a collection of crochet needles, but had no way to really store them. They were in a pouch together, but this made it difficult to find the one I wanted.

Thus, I made myself a little crochet hook roll to store all my hooks in. My hooks now stay in order and are always super easy to find!

I now need to make one to fit my double point needles!

Designed and made March 2016