Quilted bags

I've been making some quilted purses/bags the last few days. I didn't have a pattern for these bags, so they are just made up as I went... It was really good fun. I really enjoyed the quilting... the batting made them so soft and lovely. They are all living in my etsy shop now.

White handbag with flowers

I just remembered that I still had one handbag left after my handbag sewing marathon before christmas... I didn't have anyone to give this one to, so it's now in my etsy shop.
I had so much fun sewing handbags for christmas presents last year. I think I'll make some more bags soon (more night work...)

Small purses

A few days ago I used a couple of the squares of fabric I bought a wee while back to make a... triangle purse... pyramid purse.... don't know what to call it. I felt that it would be a bit small with just two of the fabric squares, so I added on some green and black fabric strips as well... and an orange ribbon as a wee strap. I also had a green zipper that matched the green in the stripy fabric (altough it doesn't really looke like it in the photo).
This little purse was really fun to sew. I'm not sure if I want to keep it myself or if I should put it in my etsy shop...

Of course, when my 5 year old saw me using the sewing machine, she wanted to join in as well. She found some scraps of fabric and asked me for a zipper, so she could make herself a wee purse for her coins. She sewed it all by herself, with me only supervising and giving her some hints and tips on how to do it. She even put in the zipper herself.

I think Maja's purse turned out gorgeous!! I was hoping she'd give it to me for my birthday in a couple of weeks... but no... She wants to keep it herself.

Birthday!

We had a birthday party for Susie today with a few of her friends round. Her birthday isn't until Monday, but Saturdays are better for parties. Happy Birthday, Susie! Where did the past year go? I can't believe you're one already!
I just thought I'd show you Susie's dress. This dress was made by my great grandmother, and I wore it on my first birthday 30+ years ago. It's crocheted and it's quite thick (and short....) but I thought it was a bit fun to dress my girls in it on their 1st birthday too (Maja had it on on her first b.day too.)
Here's the proof... Me on my first birthday. You'll have to excuse the colours... the cameras wasn't all that in the 70's... (Why did she make it that short?? Was it fashion?)

Happy birthday!

It's my little brother's birthday today! Sooo... I've made him a card and a present. I don't think he's got the present yet because I was a bit slow getting to the post office... well... to be perfectly honest, I hadn't finished his present in time (I was waiting for the batting to arrive in the post). And it's really hard using the sewing machine with Susie around. She tends to "help" me a bit too much... pressing the pedal, pulling the cord, running away with the rotary cutter (or licking it)... or just rearranging the bookshelf and make a general mess... So I'm mainly a night worker when it comes to patchwork/sewing. I don't think my brother read this blog, so I'll take my chances and post some pics of what I've made.

Just a quick card for him... (Why can't I just make up a batch of cards to save for when I need them?? I always end up with just having to throw something together in a hurry... )


Ok... now you're getting impatient.... "will she never get to what she's made"... Place mats!! I saw these place mats on a blog a few months back and fell totally in love with them. I just knew I had to make them. So after a bit of research on the web, I found the pattern for them (thanks Merete). I really wanted to keep these myself.... but I couldn't think of anything to give my brother for his birthday, so I decided to make these for him instead. I hope he likes them...

I made four of them. I'm kind of hoping that won't be enough... cos then I can make some more and give him for christmas....hehe...
Oh... forgot to say... this is what I needed that black fabric I wrote about earlier for.

A couple more for my shop

I've made another couple of needle books for my etsy shop.... Both Hardanger embroidery on white evenweave with black fabric lining and two white felt pages for your needles.

Come to a party!

It's quite unbelievable, but Susie is going to be 1 in a couple of weeks! Where did the time go?

I'm having a small party for her, so yesterday I found my stamps and sat down to make some invites. The three top ones are just different lay-outs I tried out, and as you can see I settled for the left one... well, Maja helped me choose... actually she decided that we were gonna go with that one....
This is what they look like on the inside:
Of course, Maja couldn't resist a chance to use my stamps, so she helped me out. This is what her invites looked like:
I think this one is really nice! (almost nicer than the ones I made....) Don't you just love the rainbow sheep...?