Another use for brocade curtains...

You know how it is.  You spot a curtain shop that you haven't been to in a while so it would be rude not to go in and have a look at their fabric, right?  Right.  Exactly!

So that is what I did.  And I discovered two fabulous, fabulous pieces of fabric.  I could see lots of potential in them so I bought both of them there and then.

And this is the resulting fabric adventure...

I just knew that the sumptuous brocade fabric would look positively divine as the outside of a bag. 

With very long straps...

I love how the sun reflects off the gold thread.

The interior of the bag was made with the second fabric which I think goes perfectly with it! 

It's amazing how many times I find two pieces of matching fabric in the same shop at the same time!

In keeping with the gold theme I added a golden magnetic snap.

And made an internal pocket with the piece of fabric I cut out from the top of the bag. 

It's lined with the inner fabric and the cuff of the pocket was set at a jaunty angle for a bit of fun!

One of the most surprising parts of making this particular bag happened when I came to make the straps.  Each strap was made from two pieces of outer fabric which were sewn together down the middle.  Something I noticed after I had completed the bag was that I had cut the fabric so well that it matched all the way down the centre of the straps. 

This is where some might say 'I meant it to do that' but I say 'wow, that was lucky wasn't it - I'll look out for that again LOL'!

 

A girl can never have too many bags!

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Cushion cover bag

So you find a wooden handled bag which has a stain on the fabric but you buy it anyway because you know those handles will come in handy at some point.

Then you spot a rather fetchingly thick cushion cover that appeals - you know it's a rather good one because it has a few real soft downy feathers still inside.

Then you come across a rather sumptuous throw.

And a zip...

Put them all together and what do you get...

Why, a cushion cover bag of course!

 

The interior is made from silk from the middle of the throw.  How do I know it's silk?  From the way it smells like pork scratchings when you set light to a little piece LOL (a real test, apparently!) 

The bag itself also has a zipped pocket for all your bits and pieces.  And those wooden handles are really comfy to hold too!

I had so much fun making this one!!

Knickers!!

So you're sitting at your sewing machine wondering what to do next...

You have some lycra, lace and a piece of ribbon and half an hour to spare...

What do you do?

Make some knickers of course!

Find a pair that you particularly like the cut of...

Draw round them...

Sew up the sides...

Add the lace...

And the ribbon...

and ta-dah...

your very own knickers - quick as you like!

 

 

Sure, you can complicate them by making them in two pieces and adding a lining ('gusset' is not a pretty word, is it?), but why not make a simple pair with just one piece of lycra?  If you've got the lycra, why not use it is what I say!

 

Another great thing about lycra is that it doesn't fray so you don't have to finish off the edges.  You can if you like, of course, but you get to choose :)

 



Add a couple of side bows and you're all set!!

Next...

Seaside shopper

A couple of weeks ago I purchased a few pieces of oilcloth for a new project or three.  I do like working with oilcloth - it's so darned durable once you know how to treat it!

This is the first project that I made - a large seaside shopper:

It's large enough to carry all manner of things home from a shopping expedition - or even a day at the beach!

I decided to bind the inside seams to keep them nice and neat and tidy.

 

And because it's not always easy to find my phone or purse or other important but small items, I added an inside pocket too.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out!

Righto - on to the next project!

Sew Selena: One Year On

It's surprising what can happen in a year.

One year ago today I set up a sewing blog to keep track of all the projects and refashions I had done.

Well, if I was going to give them to other people then I wanted to ensure that I had a record of what I'd made.  I haven't blogged everything mind you, some things were thrown away before I could 'capture' them on my blog.  No worries.  I still have the experience of making them.

Nearly one hundred posts later I'm still at it.  It looks as though it wasn't a flash in the pan after all!

I can distinctly remember how I used to despise sewing when I was at school.  Even my old school friends have reminded me of that one!  You won't catch me sewing, it's far too girly.  But I slowly remembered that underlying sense of satisfaction that being creative gave me. 

Mostly I think about the complete joy that creating something with my own hands gives me.  And finding different ways to use fabric.  I have far more fun making things with preloved fabric!

Within four months I had set up my own small business - Sew Selena.  I never dreamt it would be possible to do that.  Never.  But it felt right.

Thanks for being with me on this journey!

Razzmatazz bag

Two days ago I went into a charity shop and nearly jumped up and down at one particular skirt that I discovered there -

Can you see why?

It's utterly vibrant with all the gorgeousness of, well, something really gorgeous!!   And I fell in love with it.

While I was there I spotted another skirt that I thought might come in handy - it's a lime green linen skirt. 

It just so happened to go really well with the pink skirt!  What are the chances, eh?!

So what have I been doing since Saturday?

Creating another bag of course!!

Did I follow a pattern?  Nope!  With so little fabric available it was nigh on impossible to follow a pattern so I decided to wing it.  The amount of fabric in half of the pink skirt would have to dictate the dimensions and style of the bag.  I have journal plans for the other half...

So I got my graph paper out.

And drew and measured and measured and drew.

After much designing and sewing, this is what I conjured up:

As you can see the lime and cerise were made to go together.

The bag itself is softly padded.

With comfy padded, two-tone straps.  I had much fun figuring out how to make double-sided handles - and now I know!!



I love playing with colours so I used the pink as the interior top band and used the lining from the lime skirt to line the bag.



I also added an internal pocket and magnetic snaps to finish it off.



Have I kept my design details?  You betcha!  I might make a pattern for this - what do you reckon?

Ok, back to my orders!

Celtic dress bag

So I find some fabric.  But it's not just any old fabric.  It's a dress with the most wonderful celtic pattern on it. 

I had no clue what to do with it at the time but I knew that it would come in handy at some point - how could I leave something as pretty as this in the charity shop?

The bottom of the dress was almost Aline which meant that there was more useable fabric available.

But what to do with it...

When my friend asked for a bag for her big birthday I just *knew* that she would love something made from the dress.  The celtic pattern is so her.

So I cut off the bottom of the dress below the band and turned it upside down making a perfect bag shape!

Then I interfaced the ties and used them as straps.  Thankfully they were quite long anyway.

As I was playing with the sleeves that I had cut off the dress I had an idea.  What if I squished them, added homemade bias binding and turned it into a pocket?

Well, that seemed to work!!

 The base was made from more dress and the bag was padded throughout to give it extra body.

With the addition of a label it was all ready to go... but would my friend like it??

Well, I gave it to her today and she seemed really quite happy with it.

That makes two of us!