Wrist Cuff Weekend

A few cuffs made by Liz and Toni K. over the weekend.
Modeled by Toni K.


Sacred Heart of the bottle cap on grandma's embroidered doily cuff. Denim band.


Tie Dyed trim from Aunt Ann's inheritance cuff with button from mom's button box cuff.



Faces cuff with Aunt Ann's lace and Darbella Designs face cabs.


Faces cuff in all its glory.



Little lace skull cuff.

Another Completed Bag

Isn't it odd that I made jewelry and bags and I don't wear bags or jewelry?
What is up with that?

I fell in love with this Birdie Sling by Amy Butler pattern and ordered it despite my dwindling funds. I had the very textural fabrics in my stash. It's kind of weird that it's November 23rd and the temp is below freezing and I made such a summery bag. Guess I'll be all set to shop on aa tropical vacation this winter. I wish. It has 2 roomy pockets which didn't photograph well because of the wild tie died/quilted fabric I used in the lining. So you won't be seeing those pics.






I'm trying very hard not to buy fabric and to use up what I have. Anyway, I think I'll vacuum the dining room floor today and put away the sewing stuff for now and take out the polymer clay since receiving these 2 books in the past 2 weeks: Polymer Clay and Mixed Media, Together at Last by Christi Friesen and The Art of Polymer Clay Millefiori Techniques by Donna Kato. I have taken classes from both of these amazing ladies and can't wait to dig into some new projects.

And yet another jeans bag

I'm trying to get these out of my system, but I think I will keep making them until I come up with one I am thrilled with.

This one has some nifty flying hearts and a really long frayed strap so that I can wear it under my coat. There's plenty of room for a small wallet, some keys and other junk.



The back sports a little pocket for maybe the cell phone.

Denim Rose Purse

I got the idea from a designer bag to make a rose out of fabric. Since I am in 'old denim jeans' mode and in to making small bags for when I go out at night, I sewed a denim rose on to a back pocket from some jeans I have ripped up. The rose part makes 2 exterior pockets on the purse which comes in very handy. It's lined in pink cotton.

I used a waistband from a pair of jeans to make the clasp...


... and sewed the waistband to the back.

Works in Progress: scrappy evening bag

Not sure what has possessed me to work on this bag for days and days and days. It's made from hubby's old jeans, my aunt's old lace and ribbons, mom's buttons and some funky brass charms. The strap will be made from the waistband of the jeans. This bag is not fully embellished yet. I think it will be over the top. why not? The next one will be different.

Below is the back of the bag that utilizes some lace that I painted, some brass charms and a weird ribbon I made on the computer.




Below is a closeup of the front of the bag. I don't know where I got the picture, but I printed it onto silk fabric. That lace there must be 50 years old. It's pretty fragile.



As always, click images for larger picture.

Finished red bag

This latest bag features sample fabrics from a home dec swatch book and ready made fringe from the sewing store.

Work in Progress:Tapestry bag

This was a practice project because I'm planning to sew a very large tote bag from the same fabrics. I bought a number of home dec sample fabric books from eBay and just love the tapestry samples even though they are tough to sew on my portable sewing machine. This bag is something I've been working on for a couple of days and it uses fabric samples. It still needs a bit of tweaking, but I think I would use this bag over the winter.

Note to self: Cut out the lining before sewing the bag together. Boy it's tough to get it right otherwise.


click for larger image

Envelope bag class

Had the most fun making this envelope bag today at Gone Sewin'. I used Alexander Henry fabric from my stash. The best thing about the bag is that in addition to it being roomy, it has a big envelope type pocket on each side as you can see from the lower picture where I flipped it up.

It starts out as a 38" square and is folded and manipulated into this wonderful bag. I can't wait to use it although it doesn't go with any of my winter coats which were brought out of storage this morning. It may have to wait until spring. I think I'll make one in darker colors for the winter.

Loteria bag

This loteria fabric bag I whipped up is screaming for glitter, buttons, beads and whatever do-dads I have in my stash. Stay tuned.

Experimenting With Printing On Fabric

For this quilt block which has yet to be embellished, I printed a couple of tombs from a New Orleans cemetery on silk (Jaquard product) and am now in the process of adding scrappy bits of fabric and antique lace. Then I will do a bit of embroidery and some beading. This will be part of a series of blocks that will comprise a wall quilt or perhaps pillow tops, depending on my mood. Or maybe it will become a bag. Stay tuned, but do not hold your breath.

Hobo Bag

Tried my hand at a hobo bag this weekend. I got the pattern here and it totally rocks. I'm sure by the time I make myself a second one, I'll be pretty good at it. My sewing skills are still rather rocky.

New Market Bag

What a great way to go green.

I made this market bag for my friend yesterday with skull lace fabric I bought a year ago at Joann's. I backed it with hot pink cotton and lined it in black. It has a lovely feel to it and it sparkles in the light.

The start of apron mania

I never wore them, but maybe now I will. aprons. I'm such a slob and my clothes get wrecked when I cook or work in the garden, so it would be a good idea to wear an apron, but these are too pretty to mess up.

I'd like to get into making more artsy and funky aprons but I haven't made an apron since 1960 something in my first sewing class. So before I get all artistic, it's time for the basics. The first one made without a pattern is my faux poodle skirt pink apron. It features a cute little poodle I picked up at Joann's in the iron on decal section. Too cute to actually wear for cooking. Maybe I'll have to hostess a dinner party or something.




This is the second apron I made without a pattern. It's a full length job that features cocktail waitresses.



as always click for larger picture.

Today I am going to a rally at the park across the street from me to see Crosby and Nash. Woohoo!

The Sewing Disease Kicks In

I thought that only beading was a disease. But being the bipolar gal that I am, now I like to sew. I have a huge fabric stash because like beads, I can't help myself when I see interesting fabrics which I am saving for when I get good at it. Right now, I'm not that good at it and I intend to make art quilts because I have so many vintage scraps in my stockpile, but for now I am practicing with less wonderful fabric and making useful items now that my money went down the tubes thanks to the Republicans.

On Thursday evening before I went to the tiki bar for happy hour, I took a class at my local Joann's to learn how to make this table topper. It was supposed to be 2 colors, but I kept screwing up and since they didn't have more of the fabric squares I was using, I had to pick different ones to complete it. I should have taken a picture of the back of it, which is quite lovely and makes this reversible.


Gosh, with all the scraps I have from my sewing disasters and successes, I tried my hand at some crazy quilting over the weekend because crazy is right up my alley. I never officially learned how to do it, so I made it up. That was probably the original point of crazy quilting. I used a pattern I found online at BH&G for the 2 smaller bags and made up my own for the larger bag.



Since I love making jewelry, I intend to try my hand at some fabric cuff bracelets that use beads and other kookie findings I have kicking around my mess I call a studio. Stay tuned.

When I find just the right fabric, I want to make this purse.

Polymer Clay Pendant

What possessed me to make a whole lot of little polymer clay pendants with bronze powder escapes me. I was experimenting. They look good strung up on antique brass or copper chain though. I have dozens of these.

My sewing machine broke so I brought it to an authorized Brother sewing machine repair place. The guy told me that I had a cheapo machine (I know, that's why I bought it) and he almost sold me another one but they cost over $1000 these days and I lost a bundle in the stock market and don't feel like pissing away that kind of money. So I told him to fix mine. I brought it home yesterday and it sews like a dream. I made an apron and a pocket book. There's a quilt I have to finish for a baby but that's what broke my machine in the first place. I think the machine is too delicate to handle quilting. Tomorrow night is another sewing class where we are learning to make Dresden Plate quilted table toppers. I'll take pictures.

Sewing Lessons Results

click for larger version

I took 2 classes at my local Joann store. Made this snappy wall quilt and quilted tote bag with sugar skull fabric. Next week, we are making a quilted table topper. Can't wait.