Gifts · Sewing Projects

Back in the swing of things

wwhandmade

After a hiatus from blogging (life just gets in the way sometimes), I’m happy to add a few new projects.

Writing has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. In fourth grade, I was convinced I would be an author (that may still happen one day); I spent more than a decade as a newspaper reporter/editor; and then the idea for this blog came along, and it seemed like a natural thing to jump into. But, as a mom of three boys and an avid sports-fan husband, quiet time to focus on composing my thoughts is hard to come by. (As I write this, my 5-year-old is singing and talking aloud to himself while he happily plays in his rice bin and my husband is yelling at the television over a football game.) So, rather than waiting for the right time to come along, I figure it’s time to just jump back in – noisy, crazy life, and all.

Anyway, though I haven’t been writing about my projects, I have still been working steadily on new stuff. If you want to follow along with up-to-date stuff, I pretty regularly post things on my Facebook page. I find it easier to just toss up a photo or a quick thought than composing a full blog post about it, and not everything I work on ends up here. So, feel free to join me there, too.

Now, on to the good stuff – the projects!

Purses galore

I’ve found I really enjoy making all sorts of purses. Some come together in just a couple of hours, and others I can work on just a little at a time, so these have been a go-to project as of late while I work on new techniques and test out new patterns.

I typically use a myriad of tutorials to complete each purse, taking different aspects of varying patterns to Frankenstein my own project. I’ve got a draft post going to put all of the pieces together to re-create my purses, but I haven’t completed it yet… Maybe sometime soon.

In the meantime, I’ll say that I do draw inspiration from these patterns/tutorials:

I’ve also used the shapes of purses I have already to fashion a pattern and look at the overall construction to come up with ideas on what I want and how to do it.

Here are some of the recent purses I’ve completed:

 

Wallets and zipper pouches

Along the same lines, I’ve been busy with a couple of wallets and pencil pouches…

I pretty well just used these tutorials, adding a zipper pocket to the one wallet design for carrying change:

Back in school

With my youngest beginning Kindergarten, a tote bag was a necessity for carting all of his papers and art projects (they are much easier to use for little hands than backpacks, I find). He’s also quite the picky eater, and if I want him to have any nutrition at all, that means I’m packing his lunches.

I loved this lunch bag tutorial – http://www.sewmamasew.com/2014/06/insulated-lunch-sack/. When I make him another one, I think I’ll add a should strap; but the handles are fabulous for little hands, and super sturdy.

I loosely used this tutorial – http://www.skiptomylou.org/how-to-make-a-simple-reversible-totebag/ – for making his tote bag. I say loosely, because I added a stiff interfacing to help the bag keep its shape and to make it more sturdy since I used simple quilting cotton; and I also boxed my corners using the cutout technique vs. the one listed. It has held up really well so far, so if you don’t have canvas on hand, I would recommend fusing some stiff craft interfacing to your cotton – unless, of course, you don’t need your tote bag to withstand a 5-year-old boy’s rough handling.

Well, that’s it for now… I’ve got some more food goodies, and a few more sewing projects I’ll be posting about soon.

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