Gold Roses

I made my most recent Weekend Away Bag (again from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing) for my other sister, Isabelle. I sent it to her at Mary Washington for Valentine's Day. It is made with Far Far Away II roses in gold (also by Heather Ross!). I lined it with an orange polka dot I found in Waynesboro.

It, of course, coordinates with the camera strap cover/pad I made her for the new camera she got for Christmas. 

The tutorial is from Skip to My Lou via Sew Mama Sew's Handmade Holidays back in December. I made one for my camera first, a Canon DSLR, and followed her measurements (mine actually matches my yoga mat bag). 

For Isabelle's, since it is the smaller Nikon with a thin strap, I measured the strap first and cut the cover a little narrower.  

I still have so many projects still on my list from the Handmade Holidays posts. Maybe I'll get to them by next year!

Happy Valentine's Day

Wool Felt Christmas Stocking

My big Christmas project this year was to make Louisa and Leo stockings. It's taken me a while to find the time to write about, but here goes!

AJ's and my childhood stockings are still at our parent's houses. Mine is needlepoint and his is knitted. I can knit a little bit, but certainly can't do an elaborate reindeer pattern like his, and I don't do needlepoint at all, so I turned to another source of inspiration for our little ones' stockings.

This is my dad's stocking from when he was a boy. They lived in Germany a few years and that is where this stocking is from. It is hand stitched with felt and yarn and sequins and beads.

The angel is my aunt's.

More Weekend Away Bags

I made two more weekend away bags from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing for Christmas presents. (I took these photographs before I had hand-stitched the zipper panels shut on each end.)

Happy New Year

[Sunday Brunch Jacket]

Leo's Sleeping Sack

Since Leo started sleeping going to bed in his crib a couple weeks ago, he has finally gotten to use the sleep sack I made for him earlier this fall—another project from Anna Maria Horner's Handmade Beginnings. The pattern calls for a patchwork front panel, but I just used the same Michael Miller cotton (Lagoon Ring Dot Turquoise) for the whole outside. The inside is another Michael Miller print flannel (Haul It Turquoise). I didn't have enough yardage to have the print going the right direction on the front inside panels, but I wasn't too worried about that.

The pattern is made to fit 6 weeks to 3 months, so I added several inches to the bottom and two to the sides so that it might fit my big boy all winter. He is 6 months, 19 pounds and 28 inches long now.

I made two other alterations to the pattern—continued the bias tape to cover the edge of the under panel as well (piece B) with a mitered corner at the point (she just says to zigzag stitch that edge), and I used six snaps instead of velcro. Unfortunately I didn't think to add interfacing to the snap locations before I joined the outer fabric and flannel, so we have to be a little bit gentle when we unsnap it. Also, I should have put the first snap all the way up at the point. Wish the snaps were not white, but that is all they had at the store.

Much cuter than the store-bought fleece sack Louisa wore!

Favorite Presents

A wallet for me from AJ, Small Frye boots for Leo from Mimi, Toms Botas for AJ from me, and a serger for me from my parents. And for Louisa, from Saint Nicholas himself...

Weekend Away Travel Bag

Needing something to put my deodorants in when I give them as gifts, I turned to the Weekend Away Travel Bag from Heather Ross's Weekend Sewing.

The bag was fairly easy to make, and pretty enjoyable except for the final stage of sewing it together. Just about killed my little machine. I had plans of lining future versions with laminated cotton for wipe-ability... I don't think so. The upholstery weight Echino Ni-Co cotton exterior (in Magenta Sunglasses) and a basic quilting cotton lining is about all I think my machine can handle when it comes to rounded corners and 1/4-inch seams through that many layers of fabric. Hand stitching around the zipper when finishing the ends was not the most fun, but it looks nice in the end.

As other reviewers pointed out, Heather forgets to mention in the book that one-way fabrics won't work, because the print is upside down on one side of the bag. I knew this going in, but decided to use the sunglasses fabric anyway because I had some left over from a tote project from last spring, and thought it might look neat with the chunky orange zipper.

This bag is going to my dear friend Christina, mother of Louisa's best pal Dorothy. Christina's birthday is this weekend, and tomorrow their whole crew is joining us for some hot buttered rum before the Crozet Christmas Parade. Yum!

I'll definitely try making this bag again, and hopefully will have better luck with those corners.