The Nappy Bag NOT from heaven: :

This bag was definitely not from heaven (I'll leave it up to you to figure out where its from).  Although I must say the finished result is pretty heavenly!

One of my good friends is having a baby this October. She is also a sewer (seamstress?) and so of course she is churning out lots of goodies in anticipation of number 5 (!).
Everything I decided to make for her, she's already making! Seriously! My first thought was a quilt (no surprises there) but I think she is currently onto quilt number five at the moment. Then I thought a stool...yup she's made one of those too, and the list goes on.

So I thought I was getting out of it easy when I volunteered to put her nappy bag together.

I was wrong!

This sucker was sooo thick I broke at least 6 needles!! Yes, yes, some of you may question my needle choice, they were just universal needles...and maybe a few quilting needles (What? I was getting desperate!), but the craft store isn't open Mondays, and well, today being Monday....you see my problem?

Anyway, lets look at some photos

 

The fabric is all from fabric.com, and is mostly Cotton and steel. The outer, horse fabric is canvas, with some fake leather accents on the bottom and in the middle of the ruffle. My friend picked the pattern, and to be honest I'm not 100% sold on the ruffle and I was tempted to leave it off, but I reminded myself that its not my bag and put it on there.

Its probably one of the things she loves most about the pattern :)

It has loads of storage, as every good nappy bag should.

I added the blue pipping around the lid.

 (See that baby block? That's me styling! Yeah! I'm doing it!)...that's me being sarcastic if you couldn't tell.
When I was cutting the bag I really stewed over pattern placement, especially on the lid. I knew I wanted a whole horse on the lid, but didn't want it to be smack-bang in the centre. I could've fit two horses on the lid but it looked silly, so after lots of internal debating, I settled on one horse off-centre.

I also *tried* to match up the pattern on the lid with the front of the bag, but it didn't turn out too well, so lets just pretend that I didn't and it just happened like that.

The last step in the pattern was to top stitch all around the top of the bag. I tried...I really did, but I came to the conclusion that its physically impossible without an industrial sewing machine, so I unpicked my poor, poor effort and left it.  (I don't think I'll mention that to my friend either).

The pattern is called 'The Lola Bea Diaper Bag', Im *pretty* sure it came from Etsy. Check it out if you like it.
You may notice that I omitted the strap and went for a pre-made leather strap from a previous bag. The side ring-holders (don't know what they're called!) were made by me and my ingenious brain! (and therefore are not part of the original pattern.)

Its always hard to sew for a fellow sewer, as they can pick mistakes, but all in all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!

Next time though...I think I'll just stick to quilts :)

Jessica

Oliver + S Garden Party Dress : :

Ever since I made Miss I a new Sunday dress, Miss E has been pestering me for hers.  Usually they ask for the same dress.
I often will make them the same dress but in different fabric...or same fabric but different colour. But I decided to make Miss E a different dress this time around.

I settled on the Oliver + S Garden Party Dress. This is a sweet little dress with a shirred front bodice.
Lets just get right into photos shall we?

I sewed a straight size 7 for Miss E who is 6 (as they are quite tall), however looking at the photos, I think I could have sewed a smaller size as she is quite slender. But never mind. Who ever complained about room to grow?? (that will teach me for not measuring!!)

I changed the pattern up a little by having a different fabric for the bodice. I had this oriental-fan fabric (skirt) in my stash, but I didn't have enough. (Its Tilda for those who want to know). So I went back to the store to buy some more, but alas they had run out. So I matched it with the small floral print (also Tilda) and used it for the bodice. It ended up being a bit more work for me as the front pattern piece is one piece with the bands overlaid on top, but it wasn't too difficult.

I actually love it even more with the contrasting bodice.
This pattern would be so much fun to use for a really fancy dress. I love how Oliver + S Patterns are so easy to customise...and I honestly feel like I learn something every time I sew with one!! It feels like I'm taking dress-making courses!

I also loved the button closure. I have never made a thread chain loop, and I really like how delicate it looks, while also being very functional!! I can see myself using this for other things as well, not just button closures. 

 

Needless to say Miss E loved it. I told her she looks very pretty in it, which she followed up quickly with a "I know".

Jessica

Baby Boy Quilt : :

You remember how I posted that I made 3 baby girl quilts here?

One for my friend, one for my sister-in-law and one for my neighbour?  Well, I had given two out (to my friend and SIL), and still had the last one to give to my neighbour. I hadn't actually met her baby yet, but I wrapped it up and sent hubby over there to give it to her.

The whole reason I thought she'd had a girl was because Mr handsome told me that he'd seen her with a pink-coloured blanket. Anyway, as your probably guessing by now, when he gave it to her he found out that she'd actually had a boy!!

She said she loved it sooo much though that she was happy to keep it. She even came over to thank me, and tell me how beautiful it was.

I however was frantically whipping up a quilt for a boy so I could swap it with her.

Honestly, I finished this quilt in RECORD time!! My friend had actually given me the top sewn together to make myself a baby quilt for Little Miss S....but to be honest, I knew I wasn't going to use it for her as to me its more "boy", and I already have a lovely quilt planned for her!
I had to unstitch and resew some of it to make it more of the shape I wanted, then pin and quilt it to the back. I flipped over the back, which is a lovely soft minky, and used it for the binding as well.

 

I think it turned out really cute!

If she loved the first quilt, she a.d.o.r.e.d this one!!

Jessica

P.S. sorry about the photos! They were super quick snaps taken on my living room floor before I rushed out the door!

Sew Bossy..or should I say "Sew lazy!!" : :

Ok ok!! So I'm incredibly lazy!! This 'sew bossy' project has been on my to-do list for such a long time!!
For those of you who don't know what it is, have a quick read of my previous posts here, and here and to see what Mary sent me, check it out here.  *ahem* please ignore the dates (2013!!...yep this has been looooong overdue!)

But in my defence, I DID finish this project about 5 months ago and I just haven't got around to blogging about it yet.

This was such a fun project. It was sooooo fun shopping for Mary, and seeing her make what I picked into a really cute little cape for her daughter! You can read about what I sent her right here at her blog.

What was even more fun was receiving her lovely package in the mail!! Honestly...if anyone wants to do this with me....I'm totally up for it!! Just leave me a comment or send me an email :)

So, as you may have already read in one for the above links, we decided to swap Oliver + S patterns because we both love them, and seriously, you just cant go wrong with any of them!

Mary sent me the Art Museum vest and trouser pattern!! I was so excited that she picked that pattern! (I may or may not have hinted a little in our emails that I really liked it ha ha)

So here is what I made....

I made the vest and trousers, so please ignore the slightly wrinkled plaid shirt and lovely neon green socks for the moment.  

It was also really had to get decent photos as my 'model' (Mr Z) was very uncooperative! He just wanted to get back to playing with his new helicopter (that you can see in the photos!).

I LOVE the material that Mary choose for the vest. Its sooo classy! I loved it so much that instead of using the material she sent for the back of the vest I decided to use it for the whole exterior. 

Mr Z loves the pants!! I just realised I didn't get a really good shot of my lovely welt pockets on the pants, but they are there, trust me. ....and they look fab! (if I do say so myself)

If you don't believe me...just check out the welt pockets I did on the vest...which i did manage to photograph!

 

Cute! These pockets usually hold a matchbox car each for during church. Mr Z is really loving pockets lately, and I usually find all-sorts of "treasures" when I'm washing his clothes!

The back has a lovely belt with button detail. This pattern is the real deal. You could seriously make a professional-looking suit from this for you little man (and for a fraction of the cost!)

I definitely want to use this pattern again! I already have two more projects lined up for it. I love the lovely soft material Mary chose for the pants (sorry I didn't get a better shot of it). Mr Z for some reason is getting really picky about his pants lately. He wont wear jeans, or anything that isn't comfortable...so mostly he wears track pants everyday. I'm glad that getting these on him isn't a struggle.

However when Mr Z out grows these I want to try making the pants with something a little more stiffer, perhaps some blended wool? I think it would really help the pants to look like suit pants, and give them that crisp suit-pant look.

Thanks Mary again for so much fun. I really appreciate everything you sent me and your lovely letter! I really enjoyed sewing this!


Jessica

3 Moda Giddy Mini Quilts (+ tutorial) : :

There are so many of my friends and family who are having babies at the moment! Really! There must be something in the water.....or maybe they all took one look at Little Miss S and got clucky *wink*

Anyway...because there are so many babies that have either just been born, or are currently cooking, I've decided to make them smaller gifts. (I just did a quick count and there are 6 babies!!)

3 of the 6 bubs are girls, and I had a moda "giddy' jelly roll sitting in my cupboard just calling out to be used.

I wasn't ready to commit to cot quilts for each of them (not because I don't love making them, I just really don't have the time...and if I'm being honest, the motivation), but I decided a smaller pram/bassinet quilt would be perfect, especially since its sooooo cold at the moment here in Australia.

I wanted to keep it simple. No triangles or flying geese...just strips. So I opened my jelly roll (am I the only one who loves opening a new jelly roll?) and selected a good range of colours.....really no need to over think this part....just reach and grab.
When I had a good handful of strips I cut them in half...again no need to measure, I just eye-balled it...and started sewing the strips together into runs of 4. I just kept grabbing more strips and adding them in as needed.
Then once I had a smallish pile of 4 strips sewn together, I cut them into 2 1/2 inch strips. (I didn't take any photos...but its not that hard to imagine)

After that I just sewed all the strips together and voila! Baby quilt!
I continued this until I had 3 quilt tops.

Then it was a simple matter of pinning to the wadding, quilting the top (just 1/4 inch from every seam), then I pinned it to the back and just run down a seam every 5 inches or so.

These were the first quilts that I have backed with fleece. They turned out so soft and warm, but not too heavy like minky can be. I think its the perfect back for newborns.
I ran out on the last one however to I threw in a strip of tilda farbic in the middle. It still turned out cute.
I then used left over jelly roll for my binding. 

Two of these quilts have already been gifted and are currently keeping a couple of baby girls warm. This one will be going to its new home tonight.

If your looking for a quick make...I can definitely recommend. They were quick and easy...but look fab!

Jessica

Oh, I should add they measure roughly 32 1/2 inches by 24 1/2 inches for those interested.