Category: Sewing

WIP Wednesday.

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No pictures today unfortunately. I’ve been sewing all day and it’s 34*C here today and I just can’t be bothered fussing with pictures.

My WIPs are doing pretty well. As you saw last Friday, I got my Lickety Split bag done so tick that one off the list! 🙂 This is what I’ve been working on this week:

  • My Brise cardigan – still plugging away on the stockinette stitch. I’ve done about 2 inches of the body, just another 12 inches to go…
  • L’s 1920s dress – this is what I’ve been working on today. I’ve created my pattern for a drop waisted dress from the Laurel pattern. I have cut the pieces and sewn the darts on the front and back. I have also made an extra little surprise for her with the leftover fabric too. Shhh… it’s a secret! 😉 I need to get this mock up dress to her by Friday so I’ll likely finish most of it tomorrow.
  • An amigurumi Roose the Monster – Spent some time on this yesterday and am halfway up the body with the nose and ears complete. Just need to make the eyes and do some more work on the body before assembling and completing. Should be finished well before next Friday’s  FO Friday post. 🙂

So that’s what I’ve been working on this week? What’s on everyone’s cutting table/needles/hook?

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FO Friday

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Hello and welcome to my first FO Friday!

I have two items for you, one of them being a WIP from Wednesday!

First up, my ‘A Loved Thing’ by Caitlin ffrench. I found this pattern free on Ravelry.

IMG_0589I used yarn I picked up for $2 a skein at a local cheap shop. I was stunned to find three skeins of a what looked like vintage Patons Husky 100% wool 12 ply yarn just sitting there. They were all the same dye lot number so I snatched them up.

IMG_0590The colour is coming out pretty true in the pictures. Probably more so in the first picture. It didn’t take much time at all to knit up and is a lovely lace pattern. I particularly like the way the two horizontal and vertical lines veer off into a triangle on each side. 🙂

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It’s a little small for me to wear sadly. The 12 ply bulky yarn makes it too stiff to drape easily too so I’m a little bummed about that. I do have some yarn left so I’m thinking of unpicking the bind off and continue the ribbed pattern to use up the yarn and make it a bit bigger. See my Ravelry notes here.

Next up is my Made-by-Rae Lickety Split bag I blogged in my WIP post on Wednesday.

Photo 4-10-2013 3 12 17 pmI love this outside fabric so much! This is the second Lickety Split bag I’ve made so the construction was fairly straight forward. It takes a lot of edge stitching around the handles and top of the bag and I ran out of the nice silver thread I had for it so I had to do it in a darker contrast thread. Oh well, luckily my edge stitching is pretty good so its not such a big deal.

What’s everyone else making? I’d love to hear. 🙂

 

 

 

WIP Wednesday

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After seeing this done by the lovely Stacey on the Freshstitches blog, I am hoping to be committed enough to do WIP (Work in Progress) Wednesday and FO (Finished Object) Friday posts. I have lots on the go at the moment and realised I really should be blogging them. 🙂 I will be sharing projects across my home sewn wardrobe to my knitting and finally the items I’m making to sell under the MyMuddlings brand.
So without further ado, I will now share my WIPs for my very first WIP Wednesday! Let’s start with the oldest WIP in my enormous pile!
IMG_0594This is the Sulka Cardigan by Jane Ellison. I found 5 skeins of a Thorobred Kashmir Mohair Pearl Grey in my stash and as I hadn’t yet knit a garment, I gave this a go. However I think I’m going to run out of yarn. I’m up to the last ball and halfway through the first sleeve. I weighed my yarn prior to starting the sleeve so I’ll weigh again when the first sleeve is done and see if I have enough to make another. Hopefully I will so I can just do a contrast button and neck band. Wish me luck! Ravelry page with notes here.
Also, please note with the knitting patterns, I am linking through to Ravelry so you will need to sign in or join Ravelry to see them. My page links should work. Also, while you’re there, add me as a friend! My username is ‘anneofjulie‘.
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This is my favourite thing I’m making at the moment, the Brise cardigan by Hahhah Fettig from her book Knitbot Linen. I purchased some lovely cotton yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills in 4 ply, colourway ‘Sky’. I chose to use cotton rather than the linen that the patten calls for because linen is a little hard to find and not very affordable.
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The yarn is knitting up really nicely and I’m quite impressed with my even, consistent knitting seeing as I’ve only been knitting a few months. Ravelry page and notes here.
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Next up, I cut out ten (ten!) Buttercup bags to sew for the MyMuddlings brand shop. I’ve made about half I think so far. I’ve cut five large size with straps and five small clutch style. Here’s my final fabrics and interfacings just waiting for me to get back to them!
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If you’ve liked my page on Facebook, you might have seen a picture I posted a little while back of my first self-drafted bag pattern. It’s designed to be a utilitarian bag with lots of storage so it can have many uses such as a baby bag or gym bag or even a shopping bag! I’ve cut the pieces from calico and have begun the assembly, just the outside at this stage. I have used patch pockets inside and out. I think it’s a bit on the small size at the moment though so I think I’ll make the final product bigger.
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As another item to be sold in my store, I have drafted vintage pin-up style headscarves. I’ve already completed one (cherries!), one needs to be unpicked (damn bobbin thread ran out 80% the way ’round, grrr…) and then another 9 need to be sewn. All the pretty colours! 🙂 And yes, there’s buttons, owls and swallows in that mix. 🙂
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My sister has asked me to make her a 1920s dress but I’ve been having a lot of problems finding patterns for what she wants. We’ve finally settled on doing a pattern hack on the Colette Patterns Laurel, with a drop waisted band added in and a self drafted gored skirt. That is, if I can figure out how to draft a gored skirt! Help anyone??? The picture is her muslin fabric (cotton/poly at $4/m, can’t go wrong really) and the printed pattern ready to go. Better get a move on with this one, she needs it in three weeks…
And now for some selfish sewing. 🙂
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I fell in love with the top fabric, Free Spirit’s Silent Cinema Zoetrope Pink twill and just knew it would be used to make me something! 😉 This will be a Made-by-Rae Lickety Split bag. The lining is also a twill as I wanted a fairly sturdy bag. I’m looking forward to having this one done! I can’t wait to use it! 🙂
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And finally, this is my second favourite thing out of my WIPs, a cheetah print cardigan! I’ve developed a bit of a thing for animal print lately. 🙂 This is a Sewaholic Renfrew mod that I saw on Four Square Walls, post here. Going well so far. I’ve made it from a cheap remnant that I found at Lincraft on my last visit. It was only $12 for like, ~2m of this knit fabric. However, it did have a whopping great hole cut out of it and another sections of slightly defective fabric (missing thread). I managed to cut all the pieces out of what I had but the defective fabric ended up on the waist band. I’m going to put that bit on the inside so hopefully it won’t cause me any problems. The only issue I’ve had is trying to sew through the slightly bulkier sections with my machine, not quite sure what I can do there though, any ideas? On the thick bits the feed dogs get stuck and can’t pull the fabric through so the needle just goes up and down on the spot. Damn frustrating I must say. 😦
So, looks like I’d better get on with some sewing! I need something for my FO Friday! 😉

Ideas for my Summer Wardrobe.

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Now, before I start this post, let me say that it’s unlikely that I will make all of the clothes I am discussing today. I am currently not working so my fabric budget is virtually non-existant. That being said, lets move on to the patterns I would like to sew (that are already in my pattern stash) and then a couple of extras that I would like to purchase and sew.

  1. Sewaholic Renfrew – This pattern remains a favourite with sewers around the globe due to it’s easy wear and built-in customisations. I’m thinking I’d like to make at least two of these for summer; both with short sleeves but with two different neck finishes: the scoop and the v neck. Fabric choice would be a nice light-ish weight, natural fibre jersey knit likely in plain neutral colours for versatility. I would make these in zero ease as I found the previous ones I’ve made (yes! I have to blog them!) were a little big for my liking. I made straight size 16s with no adjustments except to length on my second make.
  2. Cynthia Rowley for Simplicity 2443 View A – Cute little knit dress for getting around on warm days. It has just enough interest to make it a little more dressy depending on how it’s styled. Again, I’d make in a lighter jersey knit. Not sure on colour but I do like the navy on the model. 🙂
  3. Lisette for Simplicity 2246 View B – This is almost (to me) a tunic length shirt that would be wonderful and breezy over some capri’s or cropped leggings. Definitely would make it in light shirting fabric made from natural fibres to keep it breathable and comfortable. Likely in a block colour as I’m not quite brave enough to try ginghams yet. Too much pattern matching required! I think I’m far too lazy to ever try ginghams! 😉
  4. Colette Patterns Hawthorn Version 1 & 3 – I haven’t yet got around to making my Hawthorn. 😦 I bought the pattern on launch day and it’s just sat languishing on my sewing table. It’s too sad to comprehend. I have some lovely floral voile in my stash for making version 1. I haven’t decided on sleeveless or short sleeves yet on this one. Most likely short sleeves. Version 3 I have yet to figure out a fabric choice. Natural fibres of course, likely some kind of print. I saw Katy of Sleek Silhouettes version in a tie dye print and I really like it. Maybe if I could source some similar fabric… 🙂 Maybe lighter colours for summer though.
  5. Megan Nielsen Cascade Skirt – There has been some awesome versions of this floating around the inter-webs. I’m just itching to make it. As it’s been winter, the pattern has just been patiently waiting in my stash for the first signs of warmer weather. I do not have fabric for this yet, but I’m thinking some lovely light floral rayon challis. The only thing that’s making me a little undecided about the rayon is that it’s apparently a bit see through so I’ll likely need to underline the pieces. This isn’t a big deal in and of itself, it’s just double the fabric to be purchased and when fabric budget is zero, well… 😉 Same goes for number 6…
  6. Megan Nielsen Tania Culottes –  If you’ve read my blog, you’ll know that I learned to sew just so I could sew myself culottes. 🙂 I want to do these in a nice rayon challis too but of course I’ll have the same issue with underlining as for number 5. Maybe the fabric fairy will bless me. My birthday’s next month… hint, hint Mum! 😉
  7. Kimono Sleeve Dress by Charise Randell – I purchased the digital copy of Interweave’s Stitch with Style magazine especially for this pattern! It’s a knit dress, with a lovely swingy feel and an empire-type yoke above a gathered skirt. I love the fabric used on the sample too although I’m unsure as to where I would source this in Oz.
  8. Colette Patterns Ginger – I have already made one of these and I love it so I want to make another. I have some black and white floral poplin (I think!) that I got on honeymoon that I have ear-marked for this make. It’s all washed and ready to go, I just need to cut and sew as I’ll use the pattern I printed for last time. I’ll make it with the straight waistband again, it crumples enough without having it shaped and then crumpling! 🙂
  9. Colette Patterns Laurel Version 1 – I have some lovely voile I’ve had in my stash FOREVER that I’ve earmarked for this make. However, as it’s a light colour it’s a bit see through so I’ll need to underline it so I can’t make it yet! 😦 I’m hoping it will be made for late spring and through summer. As it has the elbow length sleeves, it could probably work for early autumn too meaning I’ll get lots of use out of this one. Just need the underlining fabric.

Looking through this list it’s a bit top/skirt/dress-heavy… I really like wearing shorts or cropped leggings/pants in summer so I’m thinking I may get a couple of other patterns to balance out the tops. For shorts I’m thinking either Colette’s Iris or Sewaholic’s Thurlows. They both appear quite short however, so either I’ll need to lengthen them or find other patterns. The Thurlows may be the way to go though, as they’re drafted for pear shapes (me!) and also are a trouser pattern too so a bit more versatile. I was thinking perhaps the Colette Clover Pants for the cropped option. However, I have seen around the blogosphere that lots of people have had issues fitting the Clovers. I’m very inexperienced with pants (I’ve only ever made the Tessuti Anita Pants and they’re a forgiving ponte knit!) so I’m a little daunted by the idea of fitting pants. I may just end up resorting to RTW in this case.

What’s on your list for summer (or winter!) sewing? Any advice or suggestions for underlining rayon challis or voile?

FOs: Patricia Cowl in two forms

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Since I cut my hair off right before winter, I’ve been loving myself a cowl. Knitted. Sewn. Doesn’t matter, I love ’em. When I saw this tutorial for the Patricia Infinity Cowl from Luvinthemommyhood I was sold. 🙂

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My attempt at a serious shot. I don’t know that they work! I have resting bitch-face. 😉

This was the first one I made. Using blues and greens that I found as stash starters on discount at Spotlight. I loosely followed the tutorial for this one. By that I mean the tutorial called for full fat quarters of fabric to make up the pieces; I cut smaller pieces as I didn’t want to use up all the of the fabric. The problem being that it was then too small to double up around my neck so it has to be worn open and swinging, which I don’t mind at all. 🙂 As they are an infinity cowl, the fabric is sewn as a big long tube, finished by some hand slip stitch so you don’t see any seams.

IMG_0566Smiles better?

For my second attempt, I purchased full fat quarters from Spotlight. This worked better except for the fact that the ‘fat quarters’ varied wildly in size so some alteration of the pieces were required. I was very happy with this one. 🙂 It still doesn’t seem as big as the one on Shannon’s tutorial but at least I can double wrap it. I’ve used this many times to keep my neck warm and add a bit of flair to an outfit. 🙂

If you’re looking for a quick and easy (and of course stylish) sewing project, definitely try one of these. I give it a big thumbs up. 🙂

P.S. I’ve knitted myself a cowl also, just need to take some pics so I can blog. And I haven’t forgotten about my Renfrews!

FO: Simplicity Lisette Portfolio Dress

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So I’ve been a bit late with this post. Seems life got in the way and instead of having my backlog in a week, we’ve had a post a week. 😉 My bad. I’ve been knitting up a ultra-secret test pattern so I’ve been devoting a lot of time to that this week along with the usual housework, dog attacks* etc. (*This is isn’t a usual occurrence, but did happen this week. Long story.)

Anyway, onto the Simplicity Lisette 2245 Portfolio Dress.Lisette-Portfolio-EXP_20

Unfortunately, this is an out-of-print pattern. I searched high and low to find my copy after seeing Roobeedoo’s version and Karen’s version on their blogs (both awesome blogs too if you’re looking for more blogs to read!). As I’ve only recently read their blogs and theirs were made a couple years ago, I was late to the party. I ended up finding a copy on Etsy and snapped it up. I was a very happy chickadee! 🙂 Here’s my version:

IMG_0493Perhaps not the best shape on me (I’m bigger round the backside than those girls!) but I LOVE this dress. I love the fabric, I love the pockets, I love the sleeves. Everything. Totally making more of these. 🙂

It was a very straightforward make. There’s quite a few pieces though and the kind-of princess seams along the front that create the pocket lining was a little mind-bending to put together but I made it. 🙂 All my seams are finished on my overlocker. Although I didn’t take a photo, the buttons on the back are a bright red. Lovely. I did originally sew the neck facing down by stitching in the ditch around the neck piece but it wasn’t aligned correctly so there were a couple of puckers along the neck so I unpicked and then just tacked at either side of the back opening, the shoulder seams and the front just to keep it in place. Worked like a charm. 🙂

And my very favourite thing about this make? THE POCKETS!!!

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This coming week will have my backlog… ;)

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Okay so I have a backlog of clothing that I have made and not blogged. This will be remedied!!! Yesterday I had a mini photo shoot to get pics of some of my makes. I realised after all was packed away that I didn’t photograph my Sewaholic Renfrews!!! So those will likely just be photographed flat now. Most of you will have seen them before so mine won’t be anything much new. 😉

Anyway, onto today’s item: Colette Pattens Sorbetto with Sleeves! I believe this is my third rendition of this pattern, but the first with sleeves. 🙂

IMG_0458When I first made this top (back in summer) it was my go-to top for going out! It was just so easy to wear and teamed well with jeans or skirts.

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I made this version from a cotton lawn I got from Spotlight. I used the size 16 pattern and did a 1 inch full bust adjustment. It’s a little small on me at the moment as I’ve put on a bit of weight but I’m working on that so it will fit perfectly (or be a little big!) soon. 🙂 I made self fabric bias binding for the neckline and drafted my own band sleeves using Gertie’s tutorial found here. I constructed this Sorbetto the same as with my others using French seams on the shoulders and sides. However, I didn’t use French seams on the sleeves as the tutorials I looked at confused the heck out of me so I didn’t bother. I just sewed them in as normal and pinked the seam allowance.

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My only issue with the making this top was that I didn’t measure for the band sleeves properly so they were a little short. I just covered the remaining raw edge with a little of my bias binding to cover all the raw edges. This doesn’t look so awesome but it worked well. I’ll be more careful next time I draft my sleeves.

There was a slightly devastating turn of events with this top too unfortunately. As I was pinking the seam allowance on the sleeves, I accidentally nicked the actual sleeve with the tip of the shears!!! 😦 Cue much swearing, crying (I’d been sewing all day and was tired and up til that point this top was perfect!). I did a bit of a fix by putting some fusible interfacing into the hole and ironing it over so it stuck the hole down. I don’t think this fix will last forever and I’ll likely need to redo the sleeve or darn the hole at some stage but it works for now. 😦

Overall, I’m very happy with this top. I know when the weather warms up again it will go back into regular rotation. And I can’t wait! 🙂

Stay tuned for more posts shortly getting through my backlog. 🙂

 

Still working away…

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Never fear that I am not working away just because i haven’t posted dear readers! I have been doing LOTS!!!

I am well under way making bits and bobs and learning new skills to incorporate in my new MyMuddlings store.

I have bags:

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The Showoff bag & Lickety Split bag respectively both designed by Made by Rae.

Knitting:

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Perhaps not this style though.

iPhone cases:

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These were commissioned by my sister-in-law. She just has to pick her preferred style. She chose the colours 🙂

And I’ve even begun to learn Amigurumi!

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Hello little birdie! 🙂

So, as I said LOTS going on! 🙂 What do we think??? 🙂

FO: Anita Ponti Pants

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So  I have two finished objects this week, both from the same pattern! The Anita Ponti Pant pattern by Tessuti Fabrics.

My sister and I were discussing while out shopping recently a pair of slim leg ponti pants she was wearing and how much she loved them. I also liked them very much! 🙂 She was telling me they’re so comfy but also stylish and can be dressed up or down depending on the circumstances. I thought to myself I gotta have me some of those, I wonder if they’re like those ones I saw on that blog?

And they were! I came across this pattern while reading about Rachel of Boo Dogg and Me’s Bleach Boys pair. They looked so lovely and by Rachel’s own admission comfy and cosy and as I’ve moved away from flared pants to more slim-line style, I really liked them for that too. I also have a new-found love of Ponti so these were perfect! I knew they were very similar to the ones my sister was wearing and only for $10 for a downloadable pattern – winning!!!

I recently put in an order on Fabric.com for some fabrics for making products for my store and as I was already there, picked up some fairly cheap as chips ponti (or ponte as they call it) for a couple pairs of pants. The only ponti I’ve purchased in Adelaide was in the vicinity of $18.99 full price (although I paid only $8; again: winning!) so at US$9.98/yard each of these pairs of pants cost probably <$20 so I'm chuffed with that. I purchased 1.5 yrds each of the Blue/Black Leopard print ponte de roma (I’m wearing these today! 😉 ) and Geometric in Putty/Black ponte de roma.

Also, I’d like to just stop for a moment and give kudos to Fabric.com; I was so impressed with their service. Postage from the US was only ~$25 and I received my parcel about 3 days after it was shipped. Gotta love that! 🙂 They have tons of great percentage off offers too and a daily deal so definitely check them out. And no, I’m not being paid to say that! I just think it’s so hard to get a decent selection of fabric types and designs at good prices in Oz so when you find a place (albeit not in Australia) where you can get a good deal with good service and quick postage, you spread it around! 😉

 

IMG_2087I diverged from the prescribed construction method after reading some other blogs about these pants. Other people had simply put them together on their overlockers so that’s what I did. It really cut down on construction time by sewing and finishing in one go. I decreased my stitch length a little though, bringing it down to ~2-2.5mm so it was more inline with what I would use on my sewing machine.

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Outside leg seams done.

I did originally try my machine but for some reason the stretch straight stitch wasn’t sewing properly. It was leaving all these loops on the bobbin side. I guess it might be something to do with tension but I couldn’t remedy it and along with the added ease of overlocking the decision to just overlock was the winner.

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Nearly have some pants!!!

Everything in the construction of these pants was quick and easy until I got to the twin needle part. Oh. My. Gosh. I hate twin needles!!! I spent the better part of an hour working out the best settings on my machine thanks to some awesome tutorials on the web. I’ve discovered I need to make a lot of changes to the settings on my machine to make the twin needle work. I had to change tension, needle position, threading of the needles… I was nearly pulling my hair out over this!!! And then when I thought I had it, the thread would snap and I’d have to re-thread, unpick and try again. BUT, all that being said, I did figure it out and got a half decent result on my waist of one pair (I stretch stitched the other) and the four hems. See proof below:

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A little dark I know, but you can definitely see it. Right? 😉

The only fit changes I would make would be to deepen the crotch a little, and lengthen the legs by about 2 inches or so. I have only short legs and thought I’d be okay but when I tried on the first pair, after I’d hemmed them by the prescribed 3cm (after trying on and deciding the 3cm would be fine *eye roll*) they were about an inch too short. Perfect cropped pant length but not what I was after. I couldn’t be bothered unpicking and resewing (after all the problems with the twin needle!) so I’ve just left them as they are. They’re fine for at home with ugg boots or going out in the slightly warmer weather with some ballet flats. The second pair (leopard) I hemmed at 1.5cm and they are pretty much perfect, although another half an inch wouldn’t have gone astray. I wore them today with my ankle boots and they’re just long enough to overlap the boots and look fine. In fact, I very much enjoyed wearing them today for a trip down to Victor for lunch with Mr. MyMuddlings. 🙂

 

Etsy Store Update

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So I’ve been slowly drawing designs and accumulating bits and pieces for my Etsy store. Nearly there. 🙂 Anyways, spent about half an hour this morning working on some lavender bags that I’m going to be selling. Here’s my finished product:

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I made these from scraps of my Lisette Portfolio dress that I have yet to blog about. I love this fabric so much; it has a lovely retro kind of feel to it. It’s a cotton poplin so it has a lot of body and it worked wonderfully for these bags. I think I underestimated just how much lavender I’ll need if I make a lot of these though. Might have to look into bulk buys. 😉

Here’s a pic of one of the bag styles that I’ll be selling too:

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This one isn’t my design but the Buttercup bag by Made by Rae. Rae very generously allows you to make and sell items from this pattern (once you’ve bought the pattern which includes two sizes unlike the free pattern). I think it’s a great way to support cottage industry by making a licence available for people to sell items made from your patterns so thank you Rae! 🙂 This bag in the picture was a birthday present for my dear friend S. I love ladybirds and when I saw this fabric I knew I needed to buy some! I love the minty green lining too. And in case you’re wondering, S loved the bag so birthday present success! 🙂

Now I’ve just got to make more stock so I can open my store. 🙂