My First Sewing Projects - Bag and Skirts

Hi all,

So as you can probably tell I'm not great at keeping this blog updated. But it's one of my New Year's resolutions to post at least 1 post and 1 video on my Youtube channel per month. So I thought better get a head start and post in December!

Last post I promised to share some projects I had sewn. My beautiful Mum took me on a sewing retreat earlier this year, and I made my first ever sewing projects (not including some simple things made as a child!). 

First up I made this bag:

I chose this gorgeous patterned fabric featuring orange feathers. I'll admit it was probably a bit ambitious for a first project, but I'm so happy with how it turned out. The first step was quilting the fabric together with pellon/batting to make it sturdy enough that the bag would hold its shape. This took a lot of work and was probably the most time consuming part of the whole process! 

Next was cutting all the pieces from the pattern and sewing them all together. As the fabric was quite thick at this stage, it was difficult to sew, but doesn't it look pretty? I added this orange panel on the front and sides to give it some variation, and sewed on some vintage lace to finish the look. 

We lined the inside, which was hand stitched on (my mum might have helped a lot with that!) and added two pockets inside. It opens with a zipper which was a learning curve - my mum always avoids using them! Overall I'm super happy with the result. :)

We got this mostly made in a day, which I was pretty happy with. So for the next day I made three skirts!

They're just simple round skirts with elastic in the top, but I had a lot of fun making them. I especially love the wonder woman and vintage pattern fabric, and the spots will go with anything!

I couldn't wait to get home and wear one out! 

I think for a first attempt these projects turned out pretty well! Stay tuned for some more projects soon

- Sarah -

File Folder Mini - Wedding Survival Guide

Hi all! Well, it's been a long time since I've used this blog. Time to get the ball rolling again!

Today I'd like to share a file folder mini album I made for a friend. I got married in April this year (YAY!) and she gets married this month, so I thought it would be fun to create a 'How to Survive Your Wedding Day' album.

Here it is:

 I made the base of the album using this youtube tutorial. I originally viewed this tutorial a few years ago when I first got into mini-albums, but I've used it many times since. I used plain manilla file folders for my album and decorated it with creams and golds to give it a vintage feel.

For the cover I tea-dyed some elasticised lace that I found in my stash - here are the before and after photos. I love how it turned out!

On the inside of the front cover I hand-lettered the title of the album. I've never thought my writing was very pretty, but after a few tries I think this turned out well! If you want to practice different writing styles, I highly recommend this website. You can search for a range of different styles of font and then type in what it is you want to write. It will show you what your word/sentence looks like in the font you've chosen, and then you can practice it. I think it turned out well for me!

After finishing the cover I then filled the book with ten different 'tips' for how to survive your wedding day. Most of them were fun little common-sense reminders, but I thought it was cute regardless. I filled the book with vintage papers and lace - I've recently learned to sew (look out for a new sewing-related post!), so it was fun stitching all the lace and trims down.

And of course a wedding album wouldn't be complete without some Prima dolls! Here I paper pieced Rita...










                                 

                                  And Audrey....

And Nikki!












Overall, it was a very fun project to make, and hopefully my friend will love it! Head over to my Youtube Video if you'd like to see the whole album.

- Sarah -