Pattern Review Plus

I wanted to sew myself a shopper, a shopping bag that is. Something like the re-usable bags you can find at the grocery stores but far less...um well, ugly. I put it off for a bit because I just hadn't got around to figuring out and drawing up a pattern. Then I started seeing Alicia Paulson's pattern for her Jane Market Bag popping up on blogs and I thought, what a lovely bag.
Sometimes, someone comes along and has done all the work for you, how nice. Alicia is an immensely talented and creative woman. Her book, Stitched In Time, is stunning and full of great things to stitch. She has the most lovely blog, full of her gorgeous photographs and wonderful writing. She happens to live in my city and I love how she portrays this beautiful place in images and words. If you are not familiar with her, I suggest you spend some time poking around her sites.

So, I purchased and downloaded the pattern. Then it sat around for a while. Finally, I picked out some fabric and decided to have a go. Here is the result.


The instructions were very clear with good pictures to guide you along the way. Everything came together just right. A simple yet creative pattern that ends up in a very satisfying result.
The only tip I have for you on this pattern is this: The pattern calls for pin tucks at the corners to give it that wonderful boxy shape. To achieve this, I used a quilting ruler. I slid the ruler inside the bag, aligning it with the corner and bottom seams. This helped keep the lining smooth and my measurements accurate. I then pinched the tucks, carefully slid the ruler out and pressed the fold. Easy peasy.
Oh wait, one more tip - but this applies to all my sewing projects: Take the time to press carefully and thoroughly as you go. It always ends in a better finished product.

When I was finished, I just had to run out to the grocery store to try it out. As the bagger was placing my items in the bag he said, "This is gorgeous, I don't know whether to fill it with your groceries or take it home and sleep with it!" It was bursting with heavy items and performed like a champ, sturdy as could be. And I have to admit, shopping was just a wee more fun with my pretty shopper. These will make great gifts and I plan to make a lot more of these. You should too!
Thanks Alicia!

In other news...
I have had the honor of being interviewed for SewingBusiness.com. If you feel like getting to know me a little better, go on over and read. Thanks to Sarah and SewingBusiness.com for including me on this interesting site.

Lastly...
I am working up a new pattern here at the Lola Nova cottage and I need your input. If you knit or crochet, I would love to hear what you would want in the perfect knitting/crochet bag. Let her fly, all ideas are welcome. Claire and Mare, I especially want to hear from you.

Until next time my dears, keep well and have a lovely weekend.

Lovebirds #2

Oh yes, more of the sweet tweets.

These come with a template you can download and instructions, hurray!

O.K. I actually debated whether or not to post this project. I just didn't have the time to do it justice but, I wanted to get it up before I went on vacation. Yup, I'm going on vacation (more about that later). So, I just whipped it up in a flurry. Since I have been promising free patterns for the people, I figured I'd better - as my grandma Alta used to say on canning day, "put up or shut up!"

Here is the finished piece of Love Bird loveliness.


What you will need is some felt scraps, small scissors and thread.
The background felt piece I used is 11"x8 1/2". You could easily use a piece of fabric instead. In fact, my original intention was to applique the birds directly onto one of my girl's jean jackets, until she tried on said jackets and discovered them much too small.

Next you will need to download The Love Birds Template here which looks like this.
Now, print out the template. Cut the shapes from the paper and pin them to the felt or trace them onto your felt. Cut the shapes out of the felt following the cutting guide given for each shape with small scissors. Once I have all my pieces cut, I like to lay them out how I want the finished piece to look.


Next I sew the wings onto each bird body. I simply used a straight stitch on my machine and stitched close to the edge, slowly.

For the next step I used a glue stick to set the pieces how I wanted them. You could also use a spray adhesive for fabric. I then stitched again, close to the edge of each piece with a straight stitch on the machine. I finished with a french knot embroidery stitch for the bird eyes, and voila!

This would be darling worked with hand embroidery. Make it into a pillow, sew it on a jacket or applique the birds and hearts onto a tea towel.
I made mine into a little Valentine Treat Bag for my girl since I wont be with her on Valentines day. I will fill it with special treats and fun stuff for grandma to give to her on the 14th.

If anyone wants directions for the bag, I would be happy to share that as well. Just leave me a comment or send me an email and I will get it to you.
Happy Crafting!

Felt Ornaments

The holiday is quickly approaching and I am finally getting to some of the making. It's all about felt these days, felt ornaments to be precise. Eight down and 10 more to go, plus all the other projects on the list. If I could borrow some elves, now that would be great.This little hen needs some company, a small flocks worth would be dandy.My favorite so far are the little soft trees. I plan on making a few more of these since I have decided to keep these first two for myself.Turns out these are quite popular this year. There is even a flickr group dedicated to them. They are pretty quick to make up and their simplicity appeals to me. These stacking cone trees (photo of work in progress) are really easy to make, they don't even require sewing. If you were looking for a no-sew project, you could easily use glue instead. This would be a great project to do with kids. I made mine out of felt of course, but here are some lovely examples of these using fabric scraps by Sarah, of The Small Object. She even includes a downloadable template.

So, I will carry on and hope to meet my quota. More felt matryoshkas in my future, more owls, more little trees and the moon and stars perhaps.