One Project A Month - May

I can't believe it is May already and a family birthday this month so I've been busy making a gift as usual because I know the person I've made it for very much appreciates handmade gifts. Here are the usual pictures, a lovely reversible tapestry tote bag with tie fastening.

Edit 10pm  : the bag pattern I used to make this lovely bag, well the pattern designer, Lilly Blossom has shared this photo on her facebook page! 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/LillyBlossom/198273526881067 

Josie x 

One Project A Month - February

Sewing : I bought this lovely Michael Miller fabric a while ago but just couldn't decide which of the 18 bag patterns I have to make!  Eventually I decided on the Buttercup Bag pattern, (another make to sell pattern from Made By Rae) a lovely little bag with front pleats and a shoulder strap which makes it just the right size bag for an evening out somewhere, anyway it was finished earlier today and I'm really pleased with it, it's the second bag I've made with a corsage and I think it goes really well with the fabric which is called Flutter.

It is now listed in my folksy shop - http://folksy.com/shops/sykesssillysite and at an introductory price of just £12.50 which I think is very reasonable for a one off handmade bag. 

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Bills : we had our winter gas bill the other day, E-on emailed me for a meter reading and the bill for November - February was just £112.01 , a lot lower than we were expecting considering we have had the heating on more because of the cold weather. Other recent bills for three months were £57 for water rates and £107 for electric which I think are pretty good too!

anyway have a good weekend

Josie x 

One Project A Month - January

I bought a new ' make to sell' bag pattern last week, a Bucket Bag, earlier today I finished it, new patterns are always a bit challenging especially with curved edges, so there were some times while I was making it , well just replace the 'B' in bucket with an 'F', well I'm sure you get my drift!

Anyway here are some photo's, some not very good as it was just starting to go dark, I'm going to take some more tomorrow and then it will be listed for sale in my Folksy shop. http://folksy.com/shops/sykesssillysite

It's a small but roomy shoulder bag because of the shape and there is a large pocket on the front of the bag with a vintage button from my button tin which I think looks just perfect , it has a magnetic fastener and it's lined too! 

Anyway this is my One Project A Month for January, have a good weekend

Josie x 

One Project A Month - November

November again, clocks have gone back , halloween has been and gone and bonfire night is just around the corner, still that's plenty of time for sewing. 

Last weekend I bought some beautiful fabric, Vintage rose flower linen fabric on a newspaper background, lovely colours and design. 

One Project A Month - October

I bought a make to sell bag pattern earlier this year but I've only just finished making a bag from it as it looked complicated because of the rings and I didn't have any fabric that seemed to go with the pattern, anyway a few months ago, I bought some real tree fabric and it just seemed perfect for this bag pattern, so last month I cut out the fabric but it's just been on the kitchen table ever since.

One Project A Month - September

I bought another 'make to sell bag pattern' the other week, from a shop on Etsy, Bustle & Sew, it's called the "Sweet Pleat Shoulder Tote, a pdf pattern which you pay for, then download and print off yourself.

It's a lovely pattern,anyway, I finished it the other day, more complicated than I thought it would be, it took me three days after managing to put the lining in upside down, I seem to have a thing with linings! but I managed it in the end and even managed to find a button to match the heart print fabric!

Anyway here are some pictures, 

There are some more pictures of the bag listed in my Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/listing/109291019/shoulder-bag-sweet-pleat-red-chenille

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Not much else happening, hubby working, going shopping, paying bills, doing housework etc, Millie the cat went to the vets the other week for her yearly vaccinations, oh the hot weather we had a while back, I took this photo of Millie asleep in front of the fan - a cool cat! 

I don't know if anyone follows me on facebook but I've changed the name, its now

https://www.facebook.com/sykesssillysite.co.uk

Have a good weekend, Josie x

ps) just checked my e-mails and I've just found out that a nice surprise is on it's way to cheer someone up in Blogland :-)

2012 - 4th August - One Project A Month - August

2012 - 4th august

Well a year after I started the quilt, it's now finished!  I'm calling it the 'charming curtains' quilt because hubby bought me a charm pack of fabric for December 2009 as a christmas present , Moda "Aviary" ( a charm pack is 42 squares of fabric 5" in size) .

That was the starting point, I always wanted to make a quilt  so I decided it would all be 5" inch squares.

I couldn't afford to buy any more new fabrics so I've recycled four pairs of curtains and two duvet covers and the colours of the fabric are pinks, blues, creams and greens.

the size of the quilt was originally 15 squares by 15 squares ( approx 63" by 63" size) and after sewing the squares together which took about three weeks, at this point I got fed up and it was put away until about three weeks ago, I decided I was going to finish it.

The backing fabric is some curtains I've had since 1991, a lovely cream script fabric, nice thick cotton, so I cut the fabric to size, there was also a matching duvet cover as well, so I cut that up for squares for the front of the quilt.

Instead of wadding, I'm using a thin wool blanket which is just stuck in the blanket box and never gets used....

and I was going to make a start on the binding but Kitt had other ideas! 

so I've been quilting around all the applique hearts (this yellow fabric is left over from making my Mum's apron a few christmas's ago)

and then made a start on hand-quilting, I was hoping to machine quilt but because of the weight of the blanket, the quilt was just too heavy to work with so I've laid out the quilt on my large ironing board and decided I would hand quilt every nine squares...

I made a start on the binding, the fabric on the left is what I already had and the fabric on the right is what I bought the other week and I think they go quite well together!

the hand stitching on the back of the binding ...

at this point I have stitched binding on just over two edges and two corners which I've managed to do very neatly too, I had to practice a few times though!

Edit - Millie inspecting the quilt for softness! 

Altogether over a year, it's taken nearly six weeks to make, the quilt is not perfect, it's lumpy and wrinkly in places, it won't win any craft shows and probably not good enough to sell but I'm pleased with it because I've made a quilt that is going to be used and loved and because it's made from fabrics I already had, it's got lots of memories in it too! 

Have a good weekend

Josie x 

One Project A Month - July

I bought some new fabric the other week, with my birthday money, two out of the three lots of fabric have arrived, this lovely cheater print patchwork fabric, I think I will make some cushion covers from this

and this fabric, which I've ordered from America, is just gorgeous!  Real tree print fabric, I can't wait for this to arrive as I've got an idea what I'm going to make.

and finally this arrived earlier in the week, Michael Miller fabric, I've already bought the blue version of this but I think the yellow version ' French Journal' looks much better, much more cheerful, at least being stuck in with all this rain, time to so some sewing

Anyway I've made myself a shopping bag and here is the finished bag!

so that's my One Project A Month for July

Josie x 

6th June 2012 - One Project A Month - June

This month I've made another shoulder bag but a different style, from the fabrics I bought last month, 22.8 metres in seven different colours and some lovely brocades for the linings so I will be busy with lots of ideas for a while! Anyway here are a few photo's of the first two bags.

Yes I have posted two pics of the same bag, the pic on the right has been Fotofuzed, the photo has been altered to have a white background added, I've had some feedback from someone saying that's perhaps why I have slow sales, so I've been altering some photo's in my Etsy shop, I'm not convinced it will make a difference, but time will tell. I take photo's with the camera on the mobile, not the latest and greatest expensive digital camera but I try to get the best photo's I can with what I have.

This is the lovely gold/brown brocade lining of the green chenille shoulder bag, I think it finishes off the bag just perfect!

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The second bag I've made, a traditional style shopping bag, also has a lovely silver grey brocade lining which compliments the gorgeous chenille floral fabric. Once again I've stitched the fabric on inside of the handle to match the lining and no I haven't stitched the handle on the wrong way, I think it looks better this way!

There are some more pics on my facebook page, which I seem to be updating more often than the blog these days, but then again I have opened a facebook shop as well!  

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I'm waiting for some business cards to be delivered too! Here is a sneak preview.....I've already had some feedback from someone else, they said to take off 'upcycled' but that is what I make, so I'm leaving it on as I think its only fair so people know what they are buying, don't you?

The bags I've made have now been listed in my Etsy shop , have a good week.

Oh, our cat, Kitt is now on You Tube,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfRrmsb_2EM&feature=youtu.be

Josie x