Reversible Bucket Bag - The Bag Making Bible

Looking through my fabric stash the other day, I came up with these 3 fabrics that I thought were perfect together. 

So, then I had to decide what to make with them lol!

A while back, I bought The Bag Making Bible by Lisa Lam, so I thought I'd have a go at something from there...I chose the Reversible Bucket bag.

It's a lovely pattern, and deceptively easy to put together - I can see me making many more!

Here it is....the fabrics are

Outer: Denyse Schmidt - Hope Valley Prairie Rose New Day

Inner(Reverse): An old quilt cover!

Binding: Some random heavier weight fabric!

Hope you like it! 

Thanks for looking!

Lisa

xxx

Union Jack (Flag!) Stool redo

I've been looking at this stool for a while now...

Poor thing. it sits in our living room, being sat on by Mr. B while he writes his music, looking all forlorn with its 'I'm a reject from a 70's alpine ski lodge' polar fleece cover, that has twisted over time so it's not even straight lol!

So I decided it was time for a change. 

Now, if you follow my blog, you may remember having seen these pictures

and the Union Jack cushion covers... (on the left of this pic - we have 2 of them!)

so I thought I'd go with the Union Flag theme (did you know it's only supposed to be called a Union Jack if it's flying off a ship? I'm a fund of useless information lol!) after seeing this one made by Catherine at OriginalStitch. Awesome, huh?

I picked my fabric, and winging it as is usually my way, I set to work! I decided on a 'shabby chic' type look, with loose threads, uneven stitching etc as that's what I like! it's not just because I'm really bad....ha ha ha! 

 and here's the finished item....I love it! 

Now, what else can I Union flag-ify.......?????

Thanks for looking!

Lisa

xxx

Oddly shaped balls.....

Well, if you're a rugby fan, like me, you can not have failed to notice that the Rugby World Cup is under way in New Zealand!

Now this is very exciting for me...I've been a fan since I don't know when, and now my little dude is getting into it too, which makes me a very happy Mummy indeed! It's not surprising though, really - last World Cup, he was in here - I gave birth one month and one day after this was taken ha ha! 

 He's been walking round the flat ordering 'Crouch! Touch! Pause! ENGAGE!', and was shouting 'Come ON England!' and 'Go Johnny!' - he makes me very proud lol!

So yesterday morning, I decided he needed an England shirt of his own.  

So I found a picture of the England Rose (not hard - it's my wallpaper on my pc!), and traced it onto paper with pencil. I made sure I did the lines quite dark, as I then turned it upside down onto the back of some fusible interfacing, and using the schoolkids trick, rubbed all over the back with the end of a pencil so the design was transferred to the back of the interfacing. This way, the applique pieces would form the image the right way round.

I then cut them all out, and then ironed them onto the jersey scraps, and cut them out. Then Istuck them onto the shirt with washable glue stick to hold them in place - there were too many pieces that pins weren't practical.

Please excuse this photo as it was taken with my phone cam lol! You can see the traced image on the left..this is all the pieces glued onto the shirt.

Then the last thing to do was to stitch them on....I handstitched it all as I think it would have been too fiddly for my machine skills!

And here's the little guy in his new shirt....he seems to like it!

Thanks for looking...and 

COME ON ENGLAND!!!!

Lisa

xxxx

Superman, Custom Feliz, and a sneaky peek!

Hi all!

Thought I'd show you my latest creations....

Russ had this tshirt for ages, and loved it, but it got a little tight for him lol! So I rescued it from the trash, and turned it into a shirt for Jamie.

Jamie decided he needed to do some of his 'posing' shots.....

Then I made this Feliz today...it's a little different to the usual style I make. It has no overdress, no frills, but it does have the sash ties still, with grosgrain ribbon straps and a giant applique flower. I love the way this turned out!

and finally....a sneaky peek at the oilcloth camera bag I'm working on...it's going ok so far lol!

Thanks for looking!

Lisa

xxx

Retro Long Shorts...

Jamie needed some new 3/4 length trousers (or long shorts, jams, whichever you prefer!) so I decided to have a go with this old pattern (it has copyright 1972 on it lol!) I have for some long trousers and just change it up! Aren't they awesome? I really am considering making the whole outfit, waistcoat and all ha ha! 

I used an old shirt of Russ's for the fabric, and added white bias tape trim on the front pocket (the front panel was cut from the front of the shirt, so I didn't even need to make a pocket - it was already on the front of the shirt lol!) and as tabs on the bottom cuffs, just as a contrast accent.

He seems to like them!

Thanks for looking!

Lisa

xxx

Sorry it's been quiet here....

But I have a lot going on right now personally, and I don't seem to have been able to find the spare time or energy to get on here and post.

But today, I decided if I don't start updating it now, I never will...so here goes. 

Firstly, you'll see the new look...I decided it was time for a change, and I wanted something fresh and different - hope you like it! 

These are a few things I've made lately(yes, I've still managed to make time to sew - if I didn't, I'd go bonkers!).

Firsty - here's a (little bit) better picture of the bunting I made.

here's another Imke for Jamie - this one made from linen with a button fastening yoke.

a couple of camera strap covers - one for a friend, and one for me!

a Farbenmix Insa skirt...

and a pair of Farbenmix Dortje pants changed up a little for a boy (it's a girl pattern!)

Jamie seems to like them...lol!

and finally...a first attempt project - I followed this sandpaper crayon transfer tutorial here...it's fantastic.

Now I know it works, next time I'll make it a little neater ha ha!

Jamie's nickname is Monkeybum, so he's my little surfin' Monkeybum - bet you won't find another tshirt with that one anywhere lol! 

 Phew - that was quite a lot of stuff - thanks for looking!

Lisa

xxx

Hot hot hot!

Wow, the weather has been glorious here for ever.....long may it continue lol!

I haven't got a lot of sewing done, but thought I'd share what I have made.....

I needed to make up a Romance bag for the tutorial I'm doing to go with the pattern pieces I've already put up, so this is what I came up with! It's the Big Romance pattern....and a phone case I self drafted to go with it!

then, as my lovely man bought me the 'Sewing Clothes Kids Love' book, I thought I should get some more use out of it other than just the Feliz! I decided to have a go at the Imke hooded top for Jamie. I upcycled it from two of his Daddy's tshirts - the stripey one had a huge logo/pattern on it that would have been cut through and looked odd if I had left it, so I self drafted a square yoke for the shirt that eliminated the problem nicely!

Jamie likes it, and I'm pleased with how it turned out, so that's good - I'll definitely make it again.

and finally.....yes, it's been in the 80 degree range here....but sometimes, a boy just needs to make fairy cakes.

So we did.

I love to bake with Jamie - he's so enthusiastic, and gets so annoyed every time we have to actually COOK them before we can eat them - he's so funny!

Thanks for looking

Lisa

xxx

Yesterday's Bargain shop!

We all trooped off to Lakeside Shopping Centre yesterday to pick up some bits and pieces, and while we were there I thought I'd pop into Primark and see what bargains were to be had - I love a bargain, me! lol!

This is what I came out with - the 3 fabrics on the left are all XL ladies shirts to be upcycled - the birds has little matching fabric covered buttons, the matrioshka doll fabric has those gorgeous little heart buttons, and there were some lovely little red buttons on the rose fabric, so I can re-use all of them as well!

Even better - they were all £1 each in the sale!

The three on the right hand side are all single duvet cover sets...imagine how much fabric is in those - and they were £5 each! 

So I got the whole lot for less than £20 - I love a bargain, and upcycling!

Thanks for looking!

xxx

Crop Hoodie

Well this is the 2nd thing I've sewn for myself - a crop hoodie! It's another upcycle - from 2 sweatshirts. 

Excuse the bad photo...I HATE being this side of the camera, it's late, and Russ was then running out the door to go to work, so it's a little rushed to say the least lol! I'll try and get a better one tomorrow!

Thanks for looking!

xxx

T-Shirt Flower Tutorial

Yes, my first tutorial...

No, it's not for a boys shirt lol!

I thought I'd break myself in gently with a tutorial for these pretty flowers...I have a feeling you'll be seeing a few of them when I start making things for myself to wear!

Firstly, you will need:

an old tshirt (size doesn't matter!) or tshirt scraps

some co-ordinating thread

a needle

some scissors.

First, cut out a petal shape you like from the tshirt.

This is mine.

Next, cut out 7 more. It doesn't matter if they're not identical...I actually think they look better if they're not - just make sure they're all pretty much the same length!

Next, you need to thread them onto your needle, like this...make sure you double stitch them (so the needle goes through twice) otherwise they won't gather properly!

Keep going until you've done all 8....

Then gather them all up together (I like to call it 'squishing' lol!)

Next, carefully tie the 2 end of your thread together as tightly as possible, and trim the shortest of the two threads.

You can now leave the flowers like this (in a bud shape), or you can fan them out into a flower shape, making sure the gathered ends in the middle are on the side you wish to see, so they make a nice centre!

You now have your flower!!

You can use the length of thread still attached to sew it onto anything you like...tshirt, bag, hair clip, hair band...the possibilities are endless!

Happy making, and thanks for looking!

xxx

Skinny Jeans upcycle

I've been working on these for a while....not that they've taken long to do, but I just keep finding other things I'd rather do more lol!

I'm very glad I finished them up though - they turned out quite well, and Jamie even told me 'I like these Mummy,  they're comfy!', so that's a seal of approval right there!

Excuse the picture - I couldn't get him to stand still for love nor money (or cookies!) - and he insisted on wearing his hat again ha ha!!

The worn patches on the back were the knees on the original pair of his Daddy's jeans.

and I thought I'd add this one just for fun...what a cutie, eh? 

Thanks for looking.

xxx

Contrast Hoodie

Made this for Jamie last night - he seems to be loving all these new clothes lol!

I was going to do a picture tutorial for this, but it's hopeless trying to get photos at night (the only time when I get to sew) - the photos all come out awful!

I will do another one of these in the near future though, and see if I can get some better pictures for a tutorial for you!

Anyway, here is the finished product - the weather was actually nice today, so we went out in the garden! Yay!

Sorry about the number of pictures - I got a little carried away ha ha ha!! 

Thanks for looking (and well done if you made it this far lol!)

xxx