Half-Moon Handbag

My latest escapades in bag making has produced this very handy Half-Moon handbag, again by my favourite bag pattern maker Keyka Lou (I've had a look on her site to link directly to the pattern, but can't find it! Perhaps she has discontinued this pattern?). I decided to make this bag, which is very similar to my curvy clutch design, but with a shoulder strap, as I am in desperate need of a black handbag that will go with everything and is small enough to take out in the evening - and I think this fits the bill pretty well.

This bag came together rather quickly. It's not as sturdy as my clutch, as it doesn't include sew-in interfacing, which made it a lot easier to sew. The closing is a hair elastic (!) sewn into the flap, which loops round a shank button that I had in my stash.

The fabric is a curtain sample which I had picked up for £1.50 from my local fabric shop. I had planned to line it with plain black cotton, however when I unpicked the white lining off the curtain I discovered that the 'wrong side' of the black fabric was the reverse of the pattern - I knew it would work great as the bag lining.

The pocket adds a fun pop of colour when you open the bag. I have to admit, this bag is a lot tamer than I would normally like to make things, but I wanted to make sure it was as versatile as possible.

I hinted recently about being one step closer to my 'dream' - which is selling my bags. Easy enough you would think, but I seem to be a big procrastinator! Anyway, although I don't plan on selling this bag, I thought I'd sew in one of my prototype labels. I plan to call my line 'Third Time Lucky' as all the pieces will be made from recycled fabric and restyled to give them a new lease on life and another chance at being loved! I've been slowly (my boyfriend would debate that choice of word!) collecting second hand clothes and other bits of fabric (for example this curtain sample) which I think will work well being refashioned into bags, or other things, so I have quite a lot of resources ready - I just need to get going...I'll keep you posted!

Tuesday's Tutorial Treat

We all love a good tutorial (check out my own here), and I have been collecting links to my favourites for quite some time. So I thought I would stop being so selfish and share them with you all!

Welcome to my new theme day: Tuesday's Tutorial Treat! (you gotta love alliteration!)

Each week I'll feature a tutorial that I have found and hopefully it may inspire some of you to try it out. I would image that some of the tutorials I'll feature you will have seen before, but perhaps I may introduce you to a wee gem.

So to kick things off, I'm linking you to quite a MEGA page - a whole blog dedicated to sewing tutorials!!!

http://sewingtutorials.blogspot.com/

Work in progress

Thanks for all your feedback on my question about how to approach telling people you have made something - it was really fun to read all your comments, and it's good to know that I'm not the only one expecting to be showered with compliments whenever I'm wearing something me-made!!!

I'm so glad it's Friday - I've had a really awful week in work and I'm about to head out for a well earned dinner with my man....yeay!

So I'll just leave you with a couple of pics of what I've been working on this week. I'm really excited about this...for a couple of reasons...

One - it's turned out really nice (I'll try and take proper photos over the weekend to share the end result with you next week)...

and two - it's one step closer to my dream....

P.S. I have also finished my lace dress, which I hinted about previously...but the weather has been so dismal recently that photo ops have been few and far between - fingers crossed for this weekend guys!!!

Do you like my top - I MADE IT MYSELF!!!

My fellow stitchers (term shamelessly stolen from Tilly), I wish to pick your brains. You see, last week I finished my lovely (if I do say so myself) Pendrell blouse and I excitedly wore it out for lunch with my friends the very next day. I was all primed and ready to gush 'what, this old thing - why I made it myself'....but the compliment I was waiting for (expecting??!!) never came. I did get a lovely compliment about my white jacket and my purse ...but even though I was obviously very happy to be complimented at all (I don't want you thinking I expect compliments thrown at me every day!), I really wanted to say 'Yeah yeah, but what about my top - did you not notice my TOP??!!'. But you can't do that - or can you?

Offending jacket and purse!

So this is what I wanted to ask you...when you make something and wear it out for the first time do you tell everyone you see straight off that you made said item, or do you leave it for them to comment and then say in a very blase manner 'oh yes, I made that'? If you are anything like me, you are just so excited and pleased to have made something (actually wearable) that you are dying to tell everyone! But then I fear of either sounding like a complete show-off (which is not what my intentions are at all) or else I fear that they will get sick of me saying it. Or worse - and here comes the complete paranoia - if you tell someone that you made something then they are obliged to tell you how nice it is...even if they may not think it is!

Yes yes, enough about the jacket - what about this top??!!!

So I'm curious - what do you do in situations like that?

P.S. I wore my Pendrell the next day to work and I got a lovely compliment....on my shoes!

My Pendrell!

Finally - an 'FO' to share with you! It's been a while since I've had some finished sewing on this blog so I'm really excited to be able to show off my lovely new Pendrell top! I have long admired all the lovely Pendrells out there - for those of you who have not heard of this top before, it's the first pattern from Tasia of Sewaholic. The top has received rave reviews, and I have to say that I am jumping on that band wagon - I LOVE this top. It was fairly easy to make, even in slippy polyester fabric. I followed the sew-along which Tasia held and it was fantastic help. The instructions in the pattern are good - but the sew-along has lots of photos to help you fully understand how to do everything, which I always find very useful.

I decided to go for view A as I don't think I'm really a 'frill' kind of girl - and I have to say that I love this draped sleeve. It really takes the top from basic to classy. When I saw the pattern piece for the draped sleeve I was confused...and nervous - I didn't know how my slippy fabric would behave. But basting really is the key...and pins. Lots and lots of pins!

I had heard that the pattern has a lot of give in it - intentionally so. Based on my measurements I should have cut a size 10, but when I checked the finished garment measurements I decided to try making up a size 8 - and I'm glad I did, it is absolutely perfect for me! Sewaholic patterns are made with pear-shaped ladies in mind, so as a fellow pear (!) I am so delighted that I can cut out a pattern and it fits well without having to grade into a larger size at the hips. I know a lot of ladies had to do a FBA when making up this pattern though, so bare that in mind if you are thinking of making this up and are not pear shaped! Oh, I also didn't bother with a muslin and luckily it turned out that I didn't need to (phew!). I have to admit that I find sewing up a muslin very boring and because I sew so slowly (or rather, infrequently) by the time I get round to sewing the real fabric, I have slightly lost interest!

I know Tasia always wears her Pendrells tucked in, but I equally like the top un-tucked, for a more relaxed look (as above).

Here is a close-up of the print. I'm really into blues at the moment, so this fits into my wardrobe very well. Actually, I know right now that this top is going to be the most worn item that I have sewn. So far I have sewn up things that I like, but aren't things I would wear on a daily basis. It's something I've been thinking about recently and something I think I need to bare in mind when making my future sewing plans. Speaking of future sewing plans...I see many more Pendrells...in lots of different colours!