Spring Lusciousness

Spring Lusciousness

Spring and the month of May.....

Clematis

Clematis close up

Japanese Maple

Lily of the Valley

Lily of the Valley plus a guest.  See some pale purple ones, too?

Mint -  I love to make mint iced tea,  and just smell the mint!

 is bringing out  more than new growth and  blossoms around here...

Michelle Patterns    The Secret Pocket Envelope Clutch

.....I may be acquiring a new addiction to pearl snaps!  

I saw this adorable pattern on Michelle Patterns  website,  and had to buy it! 

The Secret Pocket Envelope Clutch    by Michelle Patterns

 It is pure instant gratification.... I got it in  a pdf file as soon as I paid for it!
  And, (plug your ears now)   excuse me while I squeal out in glee, 
 (you can unplug them now)   .... it comes in FIVE, yes 5 , different sizes!!

The medium sized clutch

I made the medium sized clutch, which is big enough for my keys, cell phone and a mini card wallet. Just what I want for short errands.

Loaded for a small shopping mission

Did anyone happen to notice that the fabric matches my pouch set?

The pouch set      blogged here

I love adding the pearl snap!  I'll blog  about installing pearlized snaps soon.

If you join in and make  one,   you can link your blog and picture up at Quilt It Out blog.  Susanne is having a Secret Pocket Envelope Clutch Sew Along,  with a giveaway .  I am a devoted follower to her blog and love what she creates!

Is it just me... or does anyone else think those rain drops on the leaves  look  a little like pearl snaps?!

Happy Mother's Day to all Moms, Mums , and special sisters , aunts and friends .... those who love and nurture .    

And thank you, Mom, for helping me figure out how to thread and use my sewing machine about 4 years ago!  I love you!   xo

I'm off to my sewing room!

Thinking outside of the basket.....

Kitchen  mixer cover and a  basket


Last month, Diana asked me if I could  make her a cover for her Kitchen Aid Mixer .   And she wanted to know if I had any ideas for covering up a large box of plastic wrap that she keeps out on her counter.  I wasn't exactly sure what she was talking about, and asked her to take a picture of it and send it to me. Here it is.  

Plastic wrap box.....  14 inches across by 6 inches deep by 5 3/4 inches high

Wow! That's a big box!   I knew I had a paper pieced pattern for a Kitchen Aid Mixer already in my files.  The big plastic wrap box was going to require some thinking and some trial and error.  I got my regular muslin out, to use until I figured out how to make it!

I decided to start making the mixer cover first.  I knew that Diana liked neutral and brown tones in her kitchen.  And that her mixer is white.

The pattern:    KitchenAid  Cover  from  Sew-Ichigo blog
                      ... super cute!!

Photo from  Sew-Ichigo blog

Fabrics:   Moda  Primitive Muslin Time Worn   
               Lining-  JoAnn fabrics:  a text  and a bright orange
                Mixer-  Michael Miller  Pindots  Snow

KitchenAid Mixer Cover   made by Susie

Lining and  accent on the bottom edge

Lots of fun colors  on the lining

View on top....  the gusset

Now I had to make something work for that plastic wrap box.....
The first idea I tried, with muslin, was to make a simple bag and box- out the bottom.  Then I thought I would make a drawstring closure and just draw it up to the outer edges of the top of the box.  Diana needs to be able to pull the plastic wrap up, and slide the cutter across the whole top to cut the plastic off of the roll.   This didn't work.  

And then it hit me... I had been looking at basket patterns earlier this month, to find some fun projects for our Basket theme in the  May  Across The Pond Sew Along.  I ran across this cute basket pattern---   The tutorial is Geta's Fabric Boxes at  her blog Geta's Quilting Studio.

Geta' s Fabric Basket      Photo from Geta's Quilting Studio   

The pattern:    Geta's Fabric Basket   at Geta's Quilting Studio
The fabrics:   Moda  Primitive Muslin Time Worn   
                    Lining-  JoAnn fabrics:  a text  print

I made a practice basket from my muslin  ... using  Pellon FF 987  interfacing for stiffness.

This first one was too floppy with fusible fleece 

I taped boxes together to get the basic dimensions of the plastic wrap box
14 inches across by 6 inches deep by 5 3/4 inches high

I thought I was on the right track with my dimensions of this basket, after fitting in my model of the plastic box.   

The plan:  Make each side of the basket:   outer tan fabric and inner lining, RST sewn together.  After turning right sides out,  add a smaller rectangle of plastic canvas in the middle, to support the rectangle.  Simply sew topstitch along opening  to close it up.
* I decided to not have the sides 'frayed', but to turn them out after sewing, so that the stitching would be stronger .  The plastic wrap box will be moved around a lot when being used.

Sew all pieces to the base of the basket, using wide zig-zag stitching

Zig-zag stitches to attach side pieces to the base

You can see the zig-zag stitching here

Yay!  The plastic wrap box should fit into my basket.  There is a little give and take  with it....

I made a lid , but left it detached.  Then she can get the plastic wrap out and cut  without being hindered.


Here they are in Diana's kitchen !

The lid is reversible

We'd love to have you join in and make a basket, or two,  with us in  our fun and casual Across The Pond Sew Along group.   If you want to make a basket, and need an idea,  check out our blogs:  


Amanda at The Patchsmith

Amanda at The Patchsmith

Amy  at Amy Made That!

Amy  at Amy Made That!

Susie at Susie's Sunroom

Susie at Susie's Sunroom

and our Flickr group  .  Add your picture to the group!  
Baskets make a cute gift for Mother's Day....

I'm off to my sewing room!

A Tisket, A Tasket....

May...brings a new  Across The Pond Sew Along Project

Join in with this month's fun project !

May has arrived, and it's time to tell you what Amy , of Amy Made That!   has chosen  for this month's sew along project.

The project:  Baskets  

I don't know about you, but I LOVE baskets!!  They rate right up there with my faves....  mug rugs, tote bags, and pouches!!  

I not only adore baskets, but actually use them around my house.  I'll share  some tutorials and directions for  a few different baskets with you during May.

 

I made this Fabric Basket     Tutorial by Ayumi @ Pink Penguin

This is a little Fabric Basket, made with linen and  my scraps.  Ayumi wrote a great tutorial at Pink Penguin blog.  

The inside

After I made this basket,  I decided to change the dimensions to make another one to hold Whiskers' cat treats.  It is more of a square, and holds 4 pouches of treats.

"I'd like this one now, please....."

The cat treat  basket

One day, I saw some blogs showing how to make a string block.  I thought it would be cute  to make a small basket with string blocks.  

3 Mini string block baskets  (across the front ) ....(the  Pink Penguin basket is in the middle back )

Making  a mini string block basket: 

 I combined  the tutorials of  Ayumi @ Pink Penguin, 

and   Sukie @ Sukie (sukieDontYaKnow.com) .  Sukie made a great  tutorial to show how to sew  a string block (into a mug rug.)  

What you need:

• 4-  4" x 4"  pieces of copy paper   (for the foundation.)  
• Scraps-  1" x 6"  strips    (about 8-10 per block)  Cut them ahead of time
• 2- 1 1/2 " x 8 1/2 "   fabric  for top border
• 2-  5" x 8"  lining fabric
• 2 -  1 1/2 " x 6 "  fabric for handles
• 2 -  5" x 8"  Pellon FF987  for string blocks  (fuse on after tearing paper away from block)

These mini string block fabric baskets are good for holding my cutting threads and scraps

Three mini string blocks and the Pink Penguin fabric basket

These are just a few ideas for baskets.  I will have more ideas coming up in May.  

  

Amanda  @  The Patchsmith   and Amy  @  Amy Made That!  will be sharing their basket projects and other creative ideas this month, too.  Hop on over to see what they are making !

If you want to see baskets made by our Across The Pond Sew Along group members, hop on over to the Flickr group  .  We'll have a thread going so you can ask questions and get more basket ideas and share your experience.  We LOVE seeing what you make with us!!

By the way, if you need a gift idea for Mother' s Day,  Amy and Amanda's  blogs have lots of patterns that would make beautiful Mother's Day gifts for the special moms, sisters and aunts in your family!  

A-Tisket, A-Tasket,

Won't you make a basket....

I'm off to my sewing room!