In the Bag

 I've been doing a little sewing lately and if feels good!

This bag is from the Metro Slouch pattern by Lila Teuller.  I really liked how structured it is and I liked the size when I saw a sample in a local fabric shop. 

I think it turned out pretty good, even if I couldn't find all of the hardware the pattern called for.  

 There are some fabrics in my stash that I have a hard time using because I love them so much.  I almost always think my fabric looks better folded neatly on a shelf than in one of my finished projects.

This red print is one of those fabrics.  

It's out of print, so if I messed up or didn't like the end result, my lovely American Jane cotton would be gone.  As you can see, I could not commit enough of it to do the pockets AND the lining.

 And I whipped up this Taxi Tote bag by Anna Maria Horner for Henry's teacher's Christmas present.  She loves owls and has her whole room done in them.  I also know she likes chevron stripes because I stalked her on Pinterest.  

I feel like that's a little creepy, but I'm putting it out there anyway.

Tweed-ish and Tweaking

The last time I went to Dallas and discovered Heaven on Earth, I picked up some interesting cotton called Quilter's Tweed to add to my stash. It's visually textural, but fairly smooth to the touch and lighter weight than it looks. You can click here to learn more about it. I really liked the blend of colors and thought it had a lot of potential. So, in the midst of my School-Clothes-Sewing-Extravaganza, I realized Lucy would need some shorts (especially to go with this shirt) and I thought of the tweed. Tweaking my Oliver + S Puppet Show pattern was the trickiest part. Enlarging a pattern (four sizes larger than it was meant to go) always makes me break a sweat. I'm never quite sure if I've been exact enough with my measurements until they're finished. But, these little shorts seemed to turn out okay. I guess we'll see if they hold up after a day of breaking in!

Never mind my reluctant model, good help is so hard to find.

Summer Lovin'

I think I'm in love. Ever since Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks line came out, I've been drooling over its Indian summer color scheme, ultra soft, almost silky, light weight texture and fabulous folksy patterns. But, I've been tentative to actually make anything with it. In fact, I bought some a while ago, but ended up just framing it because I didn't want to mess it up.

But, after seeing a friend's recent project with the voile, I gained a bit of courage to try sewing with it myself. I used Oliver + S's Ice Cream pattern to make a little blouse for Lucy. The voile sewed and washed beautifully. I was afraid the delicate fabric would snag easily, but it's actually really sturdy. Now, I'm itching to get some more voile in a solid to make shorts...