Mouthy Stitches tote finished

I just need to make the keyring.

I actually messed up a bit- I’ve cut the points off the ribbon star when sewing the lining in and I was going to put an internal pocket in and totally forgot.

I’ve deliberately blurred out the bottom right as it will give away the recipient. I like the block though and I like the quilting- I was going to have a go at quilting Paisley but it always turns out as swirls, which still look good.

Advertisement

Can’t stop the block

I’m trying to get my little bits and pieces done and out of the way. This weekend I’m working on a tutorial for a magazine using Oakshott shot cottons (as well as making 300 chocolates for 2 weddings, but that’s another story) so I look forward to showing you that soon.

I’ve already made my block for my tote bag for Mouthy Stitches. I need to correct some rubbish points on the bottom section and actually construct it into a bag, but this bit is pretty much sorted.

And I’ve made the starting centre block for Free Two Bee that is about to start.

Both items have a posting deadline of the end of the month so I’m on it like a car bonnet. Which leaves me more time later in the month to go and watch ice hockey games in Nottingham with OH, my new favourite thing. Go Panthers!

My beautiful Mouthy Stitches pouch!

Since Jen posted this on the Flickr group pool I had an inkling it was for me. There have been another couple of hedgehoggy themed pouches, but I just had a feeling! I also really really wanted it to be mine, and it is, hurrah!

It’s double sided so we have a hedgehog on one side…

And a fox on the other- and it’s got a lovely hedgehog lining and I got some AWESOME scraps. Sullivan- who knows a lot about pouches as he has four of his own that he sleeps in (without zips)- approves (of the hedgehog side anyway)! I think he might be slightly boss-eyed… or maybe that’s normal for the morning? He prompty fell asleep in his toilet after this photo so I think he’s possibly slightly special.

I love it, thanks so much Jen! 😀 I feel inspired to try a bit of paper piecing again (lord knows last time didn’t go that well)- and Jen has been kind enough to send me some good starting points via Flickr mail. How kind is she?!

Mouthy Stitches Pouch completed!

I was naughty and skipped Fencing last night because I desperately wanted to get my Mouthy Stitches swap finished. I’ve been working on this pouch on and off for a month, getting intimidated by various elements (and angry hedgehog under the sewing machine) a various stages and hiding it in my WIP drawer for a bit.

Each panel is separate and I made it up as I went along which means Y seams and yes I may have had to go back over a few of them…. The outer fabric is a tough duck canvas (which frays like you wouldn’t believe) with little patchwork squares of Kaffe Fassett fabrics- because I know my partner likes his designs, at least some of them. The zip has a little keyring pull on it which has a couple of pieces of matching fabric in too. I wish the shape was a bit more rigid, especially at the corners, but I think I would have had to use boning or buckram to fix that, and I didn’t. So it is what it is…

My pouch seemed a bit boring when there were so many other beautiful and more complex designs being completed (click here for the group pool!), but as a relative newcomer to patchwork, who has recently discovered a dislike of paper piecing and only having ever made one pouch previously, I didn’t want to push it too much. So I decided to have my first ever play with perle cotton last night and herringbone stitched around, which I think works. I must confess to having done all of the stitiching whilst propped up in bed with the radio on, a bottle of pear Rekorderlig and a half finished bag of marshmallows.

Because I put the top piece on last, I needed to cover the joins on the inside with bias tape, I am hoping my partner doesn’t look too hard at the corner where the ends meet as it’s a total dogs dinner, luckily because of how the zip is inserted, it’s not easy to see this area. Yeah, that’s how I meant it to be, honest! So it’s a bit like looking into a cave, but the lining fabirc is also Kaffe Fassett- however it is one of my favourites in my collection and I was a bit sad to have to use it! it did go nicely with the rest of the colours in the design and the purple zip though. there’s also a felt panel at the back for jamming needles and pins in- yes this is a pouch intended for sewing projects (LARGE ones at that- this bag nearly fills a shoe box!).

And of course there’s a 1/4 metre of scraps included too (and NOTHING ELSE as per the rules, though I was so tempted to put some chocolate in- sorry partner!).

I really hope she likes it- luckily my partner is a frequent commenter so she seems to like it from the picture. Fingers crossed!

Sewing Snow-in

After last year’s car accident, I decided it wouldn’t be wise to venture out in the snow we had this weekend, other than to take Fletcher to the park. This meant I had a lot of time in the house, and as OH had to go to bed mid afternoon both days ready for his night shifts, I had a lot of time on my own to get on with quiet stuff- meaning I had an excuse not to hoover the living room or set up my noisy chocolate tempering machine!

So happily I spent many an hour in the garage conversion. I have nearly finished ironing and folding my fabric collection, and I only really started doing it properly on Friday night… About 5 or 6 BIG pieces of fabric to do and I’m done- I even ironed my scraps! Still plenty of space on these two shelves to grow into 😉

Also, do you remember that finish-a-long I’m doing? I have finished one of the 5 sides. I did a few more pinwheels as well but I got bored quickly, but I will get there. I just don’t find making tons of pinwheels that exciting… I’m writing it up as a tutorial as I go as I’m hoping to sell the project to a magazine as it’s been ages since I did that kind of thing and I want to get a lot more involved in writing this year.

Next, I love to infringe a bit of copyright as much as the next girl… I was asked by OH’s brother to make a Lady Googoo for his stepdaughter for her birthday in a couple of weeks. I drafted a pattern, found the body was too long on more than one occasion, snipped and restitched and came up with this… I’m going to make her a microphone out of felt too as I still think the body is a bit too long. If you don’t know what this is- join the club! It’s called a “Moshi Monster” apparently. The skin colour was really difficult to match as everything was too bright pink or too orange, but the fleece blanket I bought to line my hedgehog’s enclosure was perfect- and I had a spare bit big enough. Yey for upcycling!

Next, I discovered that I hate paper piecing! This is my first attempt and I just couldn’t see through the fabric to line things up properly, which resulted in a helluva lot of excess fabric to cut off and unpicking and starting again. I really didn’t enjoy it, but maybe it’s something to stick at and I might grow to like it as it becomes easier. I also need to try the freezer paper method, I just can’t get my head around how that works, this was hard enough! It is baggy in places too as I only finger pressed, I could have done with the iron downstairs and pressed along the way and I certainly will next time…. which will be after I buy a tabletop ironing board and cheapy iron to keep in my room. This tree is part of a cushion project with 3 different trees by Lynne Goldsworthy in the latest issue of Fat Quarterly.

Lastly, I did a bit more quilting on the Goldfinch quilt, then I cut and pieced the patchwork squares for my Mouthy Stitches pouch swap. I’m going to do a trial run on the construction with other fabric to see how it works (and to practise my zips!) before I put this into the pattern. I *finally* get to start my dressmaking class this week as I was working away last week and it was cancelled due to teacher illness the week before. maybe I will get some zip pointers then!