Scrappy Cargo Duffle

It all started when a friend of mine sent me a picture of her fabric she had just received in the mail. It was the Giraffe Crossing line from Riley Blake. My youngest daughter is obsessed with all thing giraffe, so I told my friend that someone here would love that fabric. This friend graciously gifted me the left overs from her quilt project.

 

Then the real thinking started, the steam was really rolling. Part of that was from the thinking and some was from negotiating with the 5 year old. My daughter wanted a quilt, but there was clearly not enough fabric for a quilt. We were preparing to go to Florida for a visit with family. Guess who had to pack in a reusable Disney shopping bag? Unbelievable, I know! This was the final push to find a bag pattern that could be put together with the amazingly cute scraps.

I had already scoped out the bag from Anna over at Noodlehead. She had recently shown a Cargo Duffle, that I knew would work out great for someone in this house. A girl can NEVER have too many bags. Having made several of her patterns, I knew this would go together smoothly!

Everything went wonderfully, including the zipper! The zipper had me a little worried because I had never used a metal zipper before. Wasn't sure how it would work in my machine, but all went smoothly. Well, except for that one part when I sewed the zipper pull into the seam. My fault, I know...

The interior of the bag is wonderful because there are no raw edges left exposed. Unlike most bags I have sewn, this one does not make the lining separately. It is quilted together and then each piece is handled as a unit.

I would reccomend this to anyone that has a little bag making experience. Fun, fast and straight forward!

Happy Sewing

Heather

 

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Family Reunion Dress

My youngest daughter (I have 4) is going to be 6 later this month. Realizing that she is growing up WAY too fast, I thought I should make her as many dresses as I can before she decides my homemade stuff is just not for her. In all fairness, my college girls still like the bags and pj pants I make for them.

Shopping for dress patterns is fun but overwhelming at times. There are so many adorable options for girls dresses. After many hours looking through picture after picture of cute girls in fabulous dresses I chose a few patterns by Oliver & S...The Family Reunion Dress and The Ice Cream Dress.

The Family Reunion Dress is the first one that I decided to tackle. I am not usually a garment sewer, but I like to make simple dresses for my girls. Sleeves intimidate me. As a quilter, I don't sew curved seams, they are scary!

Being slightly afraid, I looked for a sew along. I found just the spot at lolapinkfabrics.com. Her thorough directions and excellent pictures helped me know if I was doing it right. The directions that came with the pattern were also wonderful. There wasn't one step that I didn't understand. By nature, I am good with directions, but in a foreign area like garment construction good directions are a must! Even the sleeves went smoothly, much to my relief.

The dress turned out wonderful! The pin tucks in the front and back add interest to the front of the dress. Adding six lines of stitching at the hem adds a nice touch to the bottom of the dress and makes it more stable, so it shouldn't turn up in the wash. I am so pleased with how it looks and even how it feels. My daughter couldn't be happier. She insisted that she felt like a princess. Every girl should feel like that sometimes.

I can't wait to try the Ice Cream Dress.

Happy Sewing

Heather

 

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