A Fun New Purse

I really hate my current purse. Its a cheapo that I got from Bali along with my all-time fav purse that died.I haven't found another since that I really liked, so I stuck to the annoying one.  When I saw a pattern from on the blog Dixie DIY (Dixie DYI purse pattern ), I was pretty excited. I WAS GOING TO MAKE MY OWN PURSE!!!

Super excited, I downloaded the pattern and the instructions and took them home and put them on the coffee table. There they sat until I got inspired to cut and assemble the actual pattern. Another couple of weeks went passed. until I spotted some great fabric and decided that I was going to make it this very weekend. Especially as I was feeling sick and was having a indoors weekend with the TV. I bought the fabric and cut out all the pieces. I also opened up the blog as it has photos and more instructions. To be honest, I hate reading instructions. I just don't understand them. So I made Trev read them, with the argument that he is used to putting BBQs, tents etc with instructions so he would have more hope at deciphering the instructions. He actually did help quite a bit.

So there was a lot of unpicking (as usual) as I decided to skip steps and not think about why the steps would be in that specific order. Of course it made sense as soon as I finished and realised that the coin pocket was sewn together and I was unable to open it. Duuuh!

There was a fair amount of top stitching, which was good practise for another project I have in the pipeline. Most of the stitching is reasonably straight (it might have taken two goes). I am a tiny bit disappointed because its a little bit shorter/smaller than I thought. I think I took to much seam allowance at the end when I sewed the entire thing. This resulted in the credit card sections not being long enough. So I unstitched the credit card section to make it more like a money pocket. Credit cards can sit in it sideways or in the other side. It is also a bit wonky when it folds over (you can see in the first photo that the under the flap, the fold doesn't quite match).
I was very happy with the coin purse on the back. It came up really well in the end. I want to make another purse and make it bigger so that I can put in the credit card section. I really like the design of the purse, and now that I know what I am doing, it should be much easier and faster. Need to buy some more fun material though! This material worked out much better than I had hoped.

The Facts

Fabric: crazy fabric from Spotlight, about 30 cms needed about $5 and interfacing
Pattern: Dixie DYI blog
Notions:  zip $1.99 and a press stud, 10 cents
Total Price:  About $8

Bibs!

I haven't posted for awhile as I have been sick, back to study and have spent a week in Sydney for work and have struggled to do much sewing. Hopefully, I get the chance to do more in the next month. I have a few projects that need to be finished.

So many of my friends are pregnant at the moment. So I thought I would have a go at making some bibs and hopefully will have mastered the perfect bib by the time everyone has their babies. It was so much fun buying all the cute little baby prints and it was quite hard to stop with one or two prints so i bought six...

I was able to find a site that has heaps of different patterns that are free to download, see here. People are so generous sharing their great patterns. I really liked the Liberty Baby Bib pattern by Purlbee and so downloaded it. The bibs have been backed with terry towelling. I went to some of the big chain stores and was surprised to find that there is not a large range of terry towelling around and it only came in white. Also all the samples found where very thin. In the end I bought some large thick and fluffy bath towels from Kmart, which seemed better quality and much cheaper. I need to finish the bibs with some Velcro to make them easy to get on and off. Below are my attempts.

I love the giraffes on this print. So cute! Although it might be considered a bit girlie for a boy. I had tried to buy neutral prints, as I am not sure what everyone is having. I think that I succeeded a bit more with the print below.

I am not overly impressed with my top stitching on the zoo baby print. It's very wonky, so I didn't bother top stitching the other two bibs. I also think this print is a bit more boyish.

On the whole I am pretty happy with the results! Hopefully the people that receive these bibs are too! So grateful to PurlBee for their great pattern.