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.