Buttercup Bag - Take 2

This week over at The Crafty Bums Sewing Group, we have been set the challenge of making the fabulous Buttercup Bag from Made by Rae.  As you may recall, last month I made this bag using my gorgeous teapot fabric, but felt it would be cheating to enter something that wasn't made that week.

Therefore the sewing machine came back out and I hijacked a pair of hubby's jeans to make this denim version.  For the lining I found a lovely purple fabric in my stash, which I think compliments the denim well.

I decided that as it was a plain colour, it needed something to liven it up a bit, so after a little look around the web to find a good tutorial, I made the flower out of a jelly roll strip left over from my quilt and finished it off with a button from my collection.  I then sewed the flower onto a safety pin, so that it can be taken off if necessary.

I think the overall result has come out really well.  What do you think?  I am loving the Buttercup bag pattern and I think it's only a matter of time until I buy the bigger pattern for it!

Jackie. x

Tea for two?

As mentioned in my blog post yesterday, I did manage to finish the handbag I started on Sunday night.  I had bought some gorgeous 'tea for two' fabric a few weeks ago from The Fabric Warehouse and as soon as I saw it I knew that it was perfect for the Buttercup Bag tutorial that I had found on Made By Rae's blog.  If you get the chance, go check out her blog, she has some fantastic patterns and tutorials on there.

All in all, the making of the bag went well.  I have never attempted to make a handbag like this before and I am really pleased with the result.  I did find that after putting the pleats in as directed, the main part of the bag was still a bit bigger than the top band, so I did have to trim that down to size.  Other than that, all went really smoothly.  My sewing is still a little bit wonky, but I'm sure that will improve with practice.

So, without further ado, I present you with my Tea for Two Buttercup Bag. :-)  I really can't wait for my night out on the 28th now so that I can show it off!  I may even take it for a trail run at darts tonight.

What better to line it with than cupcake patterned fabric. :-)

Jackie. x

Something a little bit crafty

At the beginning of term a few weeks ago Aled came home with a nursery newsletter advising me that they will be doing P.E. this term and he needs to bring shorts and a t-shirt in every Monday.  Now Aled already has a bag that is used for his spare change of clothes, but I thought it would be nice for him to have his own P.E. bag.

Tonight, I finally got around to making it.  Using this tutorial, I got to work.  I decided that I wanted a different coloured panel through the middle and this will (maybe) have his name appliquéd onto it.  I also decided that I wanted him to be able to wear the bag like a backpack, so added grosgrain ribbon tabs at the bottom to feed the drawstring through.  I am rather proud of myself, as this is the first bag that I have taken on by myself without needing my mum to take over!  I did run into some trouble with the 'tunnel' for the cord and ended up unpicking and restarting a few times, but all in all, it's not a bad try I think.

Hopefully I will get a photo of Aled wearing the bag, I am hoping it fits round his shoulders, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.  In the meantime, here is the finished article.

Jackie. x