Lots and lots of lovely fabrics

I received some new fabrics this week (ordered from Quilt Home, which is like a goldmine of designer fabrics). Some fun prints and lots of dots in vibrant colors. Can't wait to use them in my upcoming projects. In fact, some of them are already being turned into flag banners, so they won't be shown in this blog post.

Kaffe Fassett , Heather Bailey (Nicey Jane), 

Michael Miller (Dots and Stripes) (Children at Play) (Tammis Keefe)

Michael Miller (Dots and Stripes) (Children at Play) (Tammis Keefe), Kathy Miller (Color Stories)

And last but not least: a cute pattern from Valori Wells - Prudence & Henry.

My first garment (almost)

I've made a skirt!! After a lot of ripping, some grouching and some not so nice words it's finally done. It's not perfect, but I'm so proud I managed to get it done :-) And I think this is something that I'm actually going to wear. (Unlike the bright orange anorak with a large floral print, that I made in school)

I had lots of trouble understanding the directions for sewing this thing. The pattern is from Burda Style (2/2010) and it might have been a bit too much for me and my sewing abilities so far. It didn't really say anything about how to finish the different steps, just "attach the zipper" or "make the waistband". Difficult for a novice. (The pattern was rated easy, but maybe they meant easy for an experienced sewer?)

Fabric from Stoff & Stil (don't know what kind of fabric, but it's kind of thick, and if you cut it diagonally it's a bit stretchy.

From the side

 Back

 Removable belt 

 Without belt

Button, zipper and pocket

Amy Butler's Style Stitches

I have discovered a new and fantastic book! (It might have been around for a year or so already, by I haven't found it until now.) It's Amy Butler's Style Stitches, with sewing patterns for 12 different bags. The pictures are very colorful and makes me want to sew them all. Which one should I choose? Hmmm...maybe I'll start with the cosmo bag (last picture), even though I've read on other blogs that it's not as easy to make as the book claims. Or perhaps the clutch; could be a great challenge.

I've seen that some people are having a kind of sew along, creating one project a month from this book. Sounds like a lot of fun; too bad they all started in january though. New round next year, maybe ;-)

Cow Play Mat

This turned out really cute! I made this for an expecting friend, using fabric I found in my closet. The turtle fabric is from Hart´s Fabric, the brown with white flowers and the red are from Stoff & Stil and the dark green corduroy was bought in the '80s, I think. Pattern from Stoff & Stil (Lektäcke)
The head is detachable and held in place by three strips of velcro, to make the mat easier to wash.

I like this mat not only because it's cute, but it also makes different sounds that are supposed to stimulate the baby: in one of the hooves there is a sound box that makes a clank, in the other one is a crumpled piece of a bag of chips and in yet another one is  plastic granulate. Underneath the brown fabric on "the body" (and in one of the ears) is also material from a bag of chips, making a faint creaking sound as the baby moves on the mat.

Gift wrap store

Something to put all gift wrap paper in, to prevent it from disappearing, or from rolling off the shelf as soon as you open the closet door.
I used remnants from two different fabrics that I made pillow cases from earlier. Cut them into 10 cm squares and sewed them together, 10 in each row, before creating one large piece of squares. I used an interior fabric to give more stability to the cylinder and I quilted the interior and exterior together. The bottom is also made of two fabrics, but not quilted. At the top, I just folded down the edge, sewed around it (twice) and then made a strap. A pocket was added to put small things in.
It turned out pretty well, but if I'll make another one, I'll definately make the cylinder lower, so that you can see what's inside.
Fabric from Stoff&Stil.

Labels

I ordered some labels to put on the things I make. They really turned out great and I'm so happy with them. They're even nicer on the back side, though (where yellow is the dominating color) , so when I've sewn 100 things and used them all up, I'll order some with yellow background and grey text instead ;-). 

One more

I made another toiletry bag in oilcloth with cotton fabric on the inside. The corners are a bit tricky to sew, but overall it went quite well. (oilcloth from webshop (?) and cotton fabric from the 80s (unused)). I used the same pattern as for the red toiletry bag I made earlier (from "med nål och tråd").

Christmas presents

I thought about making a few Christmas gifts myself this year. (Sewing, knitting etc.) And to try to make them from things I already have at home (or from things I by second hand).

This is the first one. It's a bag store and I found the instructions at this place: http://saidosdaconcha.blogspot.com/2009/10/scrap-buster-tutorial-scrappy-carrier.html. Made from scraps I found in my closet. Really fun and easy to make.

Privious creations: baskets

Great for keeping scarves and mittens in, or anything that needs its own place. The fabric is from IKEA (quite thick) and I found the pattern and tutorial at this place (in Swedish): http://mednalochtrad.blogspot.com/2008/09/produktiv-dag-med-tygkorgar-broderier.html

Privious creations: Birdie Sling Bag 2

This green birdie sling bag was a gift for my grandmother. Same pattern as the other bag (see post below). Fabric by Amy Butler (from quilthome.com)

Birdie Sling side view

Privious creations: Birdie Sling Bag 1

Fabric from http://quilthome.com/ and pattern from Amy Butler (bought at the same place as the fabric).

Privious creations: Toiletry bag

Christmaspresent for my mum. Made in oilcloth bought in some webshop. I found the pattern and tutorial at this place: http://mednalochtrad.blogspot.com/2008/11/jag-hrmapar-en-necessr.html (in Swedish).

Privious creations: Mr Frog

Cute and cuddly :-). Fabric from Stoff&Stil. Pattern bought on eBay (Contained a small sketch of the frog, but you had to draw the pattern yourself. A bit tricky.).

Privious creations 2

Baby romper made for M in size 77. Fabric bought on eBay, but I think it's originally from IKEA. Pattern from the book "BabyGarderoben" from 1982.

Privious creations

Toiletry bag made for my dad. Fabric from IKEA.