Posts

Small pouches

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Made: September 2017 My daughter often goes for playdates and outings with her friends. I wanted to say thank you, and wanted it to be something unique. I decided I would make some matching things for the three girls. I considered skirts and bags. Then on purses. Initially they were to be coin purses, but these needed zips sewn in. So pouches it was. They don't look like a lot of work went into them! But they took a fair bit of time. I love the end product. My one regret is not getting more photos, showing the linings - each girl got a different colour of polka dot fabric, chosen by my daughter. This was the tutorial I used: http://birdandlittlebird.typepad.com/blog/2010/03/tutorial-easy-pocket-pouch.html It was straightforward to follow, really liked it. My daughter chose the exterior fabric and a set of fat quarters for the interiors at Hobbycraft. To give them structure I ironed interfacing between the two layers of fabric. At least, the second time I d

Owltini cape

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Made: Months ago My two daughters love the cartoon  PJ Masks , about three superhero kids who fight crime in the night, to save the day. They're particularly big fans of Owlette: She has a pretty cool cape. My eldest has the dress-up costume, with the cape to match. This one: But my youngest is too little for even the smallest dress-up costumes on sale. But, as is the way with younger siblings - she had to have the same as her sister. Though with an Owlette already in the family, we couldn't have another. So we have Owltini, Owlette's side-kick. And Owltini needs her own cape. Owlette's cape has a basic bird's feather pattern, of red and pink. It looks simple, but I decided to go with majority red, with some small feather shapes at the bottom. The main fabric a thin red cotton, the feather a pink satin. Mainly chosen because they were the fabrics I had to hand. In retrospect, I wouldn't have gone for the cotton, it ended up so creased all

Getting started

I don’t know exactly when I first got interested in sewing. My mother had done some when I was a kid – it wasn’t a hobby, though. She made various important items, including her own wedding dress! She also made the dresses that she wore to my bothers’ and my weddings. So she has skill. Initially, I was only dabbling but the urge to make things that were going to be of use, or at least that had a purpose, had rubbed off. My sewing machine is a Brother XL-2620 , a birthday present from my boyfriend. Proudly carried through Wood Green, North London. Despite having now had it for about 10 years (!) I've done relatively little. But now I have two small customers. And so it begins...