The Notebook

My dear mom is celebrating a milestone birthday this week so the family got together for brunch at a nice restaurant on the weekend. Copious amounts of delicious food was eaten; plenty of meat for those so inclined, but fortunately an impressive variety of offerings this vegetarian could enjoy. And chocolate cake and profiteroles to top it all off!

My sisters and I gave my mom theatre tickets and a photo book put together on my sister's Mac. But I just had to add one little handmade thing. Couldn't help myself .....


This notebook is a project from Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I really like the way it looks and it was easy to make.

My mother is expertly organized and is always keeping track of things. Heck, she even keeps track of the recipes she tries from various cookbooks and attributes a rating to each. I figured she could find a hundred uses for a little notebook.


I used a small moleskine notebook with lined pages. This is a great project for using up itty bitty fabric scraps. And there is something about the needle punching through the cardboard and producing delicate zig zag stitches which is very satisfying.

Happy birthday mom! Many happy scribbles to you!

Fabric shopping on Etsy

If you're familiar with Etsy, you know it's a great place to find handmade items. It's also a fabulous place to find fabric for your own handmade creations.

I love to browse fabrics on Etsy and find the selection much more inspiring than what is typically on offer in large retail stores.

On Etsy you can browse by designer, colour, or by keyword. For example, try typing 'fabric bundle', or 'fabric owl'!

Here are some of my favourite fabric shops on Etsy:

First, the original handprints......

The Cotton Press - Hand-printed using a variety of eco-friendly, organic, natural and water-based materials.

Large-scale White Dandelion Clock (100% cotton sateen)
Image from The Cotton Press
(Click image to see item in shop)

Melbomba - Original fabric designed and hand-printed by Melissa Bombardiere.

Belbird in Bright Blue (55% linen, 45% cotton)
Image from Melbomba

greenolive textiles - Original designs, hand-printed using environmentally-friendly, solvent-free inks.

I love that this design is based on a drawing that the designeer made at the age of 5!

My Bike bits and pieces pack (100% linen)
Image from greenolive textiles

And then there are the shops that offer an impressive assortment of designer fabrics......

Whipstitch lets you make your own mix and match selection of 2, 3, 4, and 6 fat quarter bundles. They have a great selection of cotton prints and also some denim, twill, home dec, bamboo and corduroy.

Damask Rock by Michael Miller (100% cotton)
Image from Whipstitch

Fabricworm has a great selection of designer fabric and a good sale section as well. I love browsing the half yard, yard, and baby quilt sets.

Saffron Craig Owl Range, Owls Nesting (100% cotton)
Image from Fabricworm

BE WARNED: If you love fabric, shopping for it on Etsy is seriously addictive!

If you're not familiar with Etsy, you should definitely check it out. It's an online marketplace full of handmade and vintage treasures, as well as art and craft supplies. Customers provide feedback on shops and purchases and that means that you are very likely to receive exceptional customer service. It's like word of mouth on a global scale.

Summer Wrap-up

It's officially the last weekend of summer so it was apt that I finished something called Falling Leaves Wrap, a lovely lace pattern by Dory Brown.

With the blue colour I chose though I think it also resembles waves, of which there were plenty at the beach yesterday.


My husband wanted to do a lake watch as windy weather at this time of year pushes various jaegers and gulls close to shore as they migrate south from the far north. The beach was a perfect backdrop for some photos of my new wrap.


I used a 100% bamboo fingering yarn from Dye-Version. The bamboo stretched less than a wool would so the wrap is a bit narrow, but it's still sufficient to keep the chill off my shoulders and a nice light wrap for early fall.

I enjoyed this stitch pattern because, as Dory points out, once you've completed one of the 16 row repeats it's easy to see what comes next so you're not likely to lose your place.


The shawl pin is from the River John Needle Company of Nova Scotia.


We were a bit concerned that the beach would be packed, and there were certainly a lot of people there. Funny though, most people don't venture too far from the parking lot so several hundred metres down the beach we had the place nearly to ourselves. But for the wind and surf it was quite tranquil.

And we spotted this Parasitic Jaeger : ) ......

Bubble Pouch

I made another cute Keyka Lou pattern, the Bubble Pouch.....


I couldn't wait to use some of this birdy Park Slope fabric by Erin McMorris and thought this petite pouch was just the thing.


I used a hair elastic for the closure as per the pattern. Works great!

I haven't really the foggiest idea what to use this pouch for, I just wanted to make it cause it's cute! Any suggestions?

Echino in my mailbox

Yesterday was a good day. I came home to find the fabric I ordered from Pink Panda Fabrics had arrived. I've been checking the mailbox every day this week with so much anticipation. And finally......

...my three half yards of Echino by Etsuko Furuya arrived. I love Furuya's prints. They are strange and somewhat surreal, mixing black and white animals with bold, punchy colours. Delicious!


Tigers and owls, leopards, and pigs on a hot pink background. Why pigs? Why not!


The three fabrics I ordered are all home decor weight and a blend of 85% cotton and 15% linen. I don't know what I'm going to make with them but it will have to be something that will justify cutting up these prints!

Pink Panda is a Canadian online fabric shop based near Toronto. In addition to my order, they also sent me a fair sized free fabric sample in the print below. I think it might be Anna Maria Horner?


I cannot wait to get through work today so I can start sewing!

Everything Tote

I was very excited when I picked up Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. Often there are only a few patterns I'm be really keen to make from any given book, but this one is chock-full of cute projects; stuff for the home, cute clothes to make as gifts for kids, and bags and clothes for myself.


That said, there is a fair bit of grumbling out there on the internet regarding errors in the book and poorly written instructions. My experience in making the Everything Tote was in keeping with the complaints. I ended up with a decent tote bag but the process was by no means without frustration.

Fortunately, others had gone before me and I was able to use their insights to figure things out.

The tote is very roomy, has two interior pockets ......


...and boxed corners ...


Here's my review and what I hope will be helpful hints for others who want to make the bag.


Everything Tote Pattern Review

Pattern: Everything Tote in Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross

Pattern Rating: 2.5/5

Cost: $30 Cdn ($27.50 US)

Fabric: Dark wash denim (100% cotton, not stretch)
Paperweight (Algae) by Kaffe Fassett

Yardage: 1 yd yard exterior, 1 yd lining (the book says 1/2 yd each but the errata gives the correct amount)

Skills:
Joining seams
Topstitching
Box corners
Creating gathers
Making and attaching bindings
Slipstitching by hand

Notes:

• The instructions given for box corners are quite vague, visit craftapple for a great tutorial.

• The instruction for the gathering is to pull the thread tails until '...the top edge is 12" wide from 'peak' to 'peak'...' but this is the measurement from peak to peak before gathering, as Funky & Delightful points out (along with other good tips).
  
  

Gathers along binding

Modifications:

• I read AlewivesGirl 's post regarding the binding, which points out that though the pattern calls for folding the binding/straps twice, the binding/straps in the project photo are obviously only folded once and are hence wider. I liked the wider look so I went with one fold.
  

• The pattern calls for creating the bindings with the exterior fabric on one side and the lining fabric on the other, but if you follow the instructions and fold the binding/straps, you won't see the lining fabric once you've sew them up. You can hardly fold a beautiful Kaffe Fassett print to the inside! I chose to iron the binding in such a way that there was a little bit of the lining fabric poking out beyond the edge of the denim, creating faux piping when topstitched (I was quite pleased with myself for that!).

Faux piping

• I didn't sew the straps in half, just topstitched the binding to the edge of the bag then left the straps open from the point where they separate from the body of the bag so that the lining fabric could be seen and the straps ended up wider
  

I plan to make more projects from this book, but I'll definitely google it first to see what others are saying, and I'll be ready to wing it when necessary.

Weird and wonderful veggies from the farmer's market.......

Purple beans and apparently some kind of zucchini! Hope they taste as good as they look.