gift bag tutorial no.2...

Happy gift bag making!! these will be used at Christmas time for my gifts to friends and family, instead of traditional gift wrap. 

This week my kindness gift was given in one of these bags and it was a jar of homemade apricot jam...yummmy!!!

Have a great weekend.

bunting fever...

As it is birthday week, we have buntings and balloons hanging up around the house to celebrate with Summah her birthday.

I went on a little bunting crazy making one for the party, here is what I did.

I set out on an Op shop expedition one day hunting for some cute old pillow case's that were pretty florals, in soft pink/green tones.

my fabric selection, sides seams unpicked and ready to be cut up
NB: each pillow case cost me 50cents and I purchased 8! cheap option for buying fabric for your next bunting.

next I cut out a template from cardboard and drew triangles on each strip of fabric.
I was able to get at least 4-5 strips from each pillow case and then 3 triangles fitted on each strip of material.
This gave me at least 12 triangles from each fabric, lots to work with.

                       
next I cut around the triangles I had sewn on my fabric strips.

this is what they looked like all cut out and sewn around.
Next turn them right side out and zig zag around the edges to give a better finish.

                                                          

the trickiest part was pinning the bunting altogether, with my two helpers.

I saved one pillowcase to make bias tape from for the triangles to be attached too.

Needless to say there was a lot of sewing and even more pin pricks but the end result was two super long awesome buntings for $4!!

These are great birthday party decorations and will be used multiple times and possibly pulled out for Summah's 21st as a momentum of her 1st birthday. 

a little green bag...

Last a week a friend asked if I could make her a nappy (diaper) bag from an old dress of her's, so I said "Yes".

The fact is when I was pregnant I couldn't bring myself to pay $100 plus for a bag that was to carry all this stuff you were expected to cart with a newborn, realising that the phase would pass quickly. I went on a hunt to find some cool material and a pattern, neither of these proved too difficult to find.

As I've mentioned before in blogs I found my material at a interior design shop, this is my favourite place to buy from Turton Oliver. All up my bag to make cost roughly $25-30 a lot cheaper...although there were some stressful moments when sewing it!! with gritted teeth, broken needles, and some poor stitching (which required unpicking..dislike!!) at times the bag became finished.

NOW... 

I'm making my second bag which is going a lot better, I found my pattern here, and made changes to make it more personalised.

For this bag I've used material from my friends kilt dress (a NZ fashion label) and paired it with a black (indian cotton), and I am super happy with the end result.

One day I may even draw up my own bag pattern and make more of these it is actually really fun.

One thing I have learnt in the last year with my sewing is, pressing your seams is worth the effort and time it takes.  It makes the world of difference to your final product.

I've done it!!!...

....reconstructed a top!!!

I've finished my first attempt at reconstructing a top of mine that I loved the front and detailing on.

            




Top 1: From Jeans West, nice linen the sleeves tore really easy, so I was unable to wear it.  I loved the detail on front so I kept that and recut a new back and sleeves.

                              the torn sleeves were replaced

Top 2: From Stax, this top had uneven collar heights, which bugged me every time I wore it.I have cut out a new back from this to go on the above top and used the sleeves and put a cuff on them from the back of the above top.  This top also had a cut sash belt which I can wear with my new top, like below.

 

(it's hard to get a good pic of yourself when there is no one else around to take it)

The end result is this cute top, that I can wear with a skinny belt, the sash belt or with out either.  I also made the back of the top a little bit longer than the front.

The verdict:

I think I'm addicted and will rethink when I have wardrobe clean out now, I will see my clothes with different eyes.

It has been a fun project for the last day, what can I make now????