A few weeks ago I got a bee in my bonnet to make some wine bottle gift bags. I looked at Etsy and saw a few examples, and I figured I could make my own version pretty easily. So, I did. I have tweaked the pattern a bit since the first version, and I now have two sizes to accommodate large or small bottles. Here are a couple of pictures of the latest one I made:
I’ve been busy working on some sewing projects, but I can’t show them to you yet because they are Christmas presents! I’ll post some pictures of each thing after Christmas when the cat is out of the bag.
Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas, everyone!
Here is another zipper pouch I made last week. It is part of a birthday present for my son’s friend (a girl). When he saw the Cameo zipper pouch I made, he said, “I think Coco would like a bag like that, too.” He said the bag should be orange to match the orange Nerf football he is also giving her. So here it is. I appliqued a letter “C” on the front, and I don’t really like the way it turned out. It was my first attempt at applique, and I learned a lot.
The fabric is from the “Sassy” collection by Sandy Gervais for Moda. The lining is the same fabric as the applique.
I tried a different location for my foldover label this time. What do you think? I think I like it better on the side seam.
I finally made my Amy Butler Cameo Sew-A-Long project this week. Woo hoo! I had a hard time deciding what to make but finally decided on something small: a zipper pouch. I have made several different varieties of these in the past (you can see them in my projects gallery), but I wanted to do a quick project that I could finish in an afternoon, and I love to make zipper pouches. So there you go.
I decided to use three fat quarters: “Anjelica” (in Carmine) for the exterior side panels, “Pressed Flowers” (in Carmine) for the exterior center panels, and “Forget Me Not” (in Midnight) for the lining. The finished dimensions of the pouch are about 9 x 5.5 inches. (If I did it over again, I would make the pouch about a half-inch shorter to avoid that partial flower at the bottom of the center panel.) I used a 9-inch long pull purse zipper in princess pink from Zipit.
I used one of my new, homemade foldover labels on the side seam of the pouch. I am still experimenting with these. What do you think?
If you’d like to see all the steps of this project, check out my Flickr set.
I’m working on a couple of substantial posts, but they’re just not quite done yet. In the meantime, I thought I would share a picture with you of me and my pup, Lucy. She is an 11-month-old wire fox terrier, and she’s full of energy. Here she was doing her best to distract me from organizing my fabric. (I’ve been trying to get my fabric stash organized into bins using Jeni from In Color Order‘s stash storage by color method, but I’m not done yet. There may very well be a future post from me on that topic as well. Stay tuned.)
I saw on Twitter today that Amy Butler is kicking off a sew-a-long to celebrate the launch of her new Cameo collection. The details are all right here. You can pick any project you’d like, you just have to use Cameo fabric and post pictures of the project to her Flickr group along the way. This sounds right up my alley, especially since I bought a whole fat quarter bundle of Cameo last week when it was 40% off at Craftsy. Anyone want to do it with me?
There may still be some Amy Butler Cameo fabric on sale at Craftsy. At the time of this post, the FQ’s are gone but there are charm packs and design rolls for 40% off.
I think my favorite Cameo print is “Harriet’s Kitchen” (featured on the front pillow in the picture at left). I think it would make an adorable vintage apron. BUT since I only have fat quarters I probably better pick something smaller to do.
How about you? What’s your favorite Cameo fabric? What project would you like to make?
Later on the same day that my friend “dragged” (yeah, right) me to Crafty Planet, we headed to St Paul to visit another great little shop, Treadle Yard Goods. My friend was particularly excited to show me this store since it has a large selection of interesting apparel fabrics, and she likes to make apparel. Me? I haven’t quite gotten bitten by that bug yet. But maybe someday. Anyway, the store is on Grand Avenue, which is known locally for its shopping and dining. (Check out more about the Grand Avenue neighborhood.) As we walked into the store, we were greeted by large rolls of laminated cottons and oil cloths in a variety of patterns and colors. Then there was a display of premium quilting fabrics. Among them I noticed several prints from Kate Spain’s “Serenade” for Moda, as well as several from “Vintage Modern” by Bonnie & Camille. There were, as my friend had described, lots of apparel fabrics in lovely colors and textures.
There was a shelf of vibrant, imported Japanese fabrics. I believe these are a cotton-linen blend. I stood and stared at these for a while before finally passing them by empty-handed. They are a little pricey (~$22/yd), so I want to make sure I have a project in mind before any of those hit my stash.
Farther into the store, I found some other fabrics I recognized: Dr. Seuss fleece (Robert Kaufman), Amy Butler’s “Gypsy Caravan” (in both the periwinkle and merlot colorways), “Oh Deer!” (Moda), “Lucy’s Crab Shack” canvas (Moda), Lotta Jansdotter’s “Bella” (which I just bought at Crafty Planet), and “Bicycles” (Michael Miller). I know there were others, but those are the ones I can remember. I snapped a few pictures of my favorites with my phone before we headed out.
Treadle Yard Goods, you will see me again! 
I went on a little adventure the other day to two local craft/fabric stores that I had never been to. In fact, I’d never even heard of them. A friend of mine told me about them and said, “Let’s go!” To which, of course, I responded, “You betcha!”
Crafty Planet is located in NE Minneapolis at 2833 Johnson Street NE. Here is a map link. It is a cute little store in a quiet little neighborhood. (Apparently there have been news stories lately about the family of wild turkeys that have made this particular intersection their home, but we didn’t see any turkeys today.) As soon as we walked in, I knew this would become a favorite place to visit. There were cubbies filled with yarn (for those who like to knit — not me) and knitting accessories just inside the door. There were project examples of sewn and knit things, trying to inspire me to buy a pattern and some fabric. Then there were several aisle filled with high-quality quilting fabrics. There were whole sections of Amy Butler and Japanese imports such as Echino. I found Michael Miller, Moda, and “Bella” by Lotta Jansdotter (which I have been eyeing for a while, so I bought some!). There were patterns to buy as well as remnants and single yard cuts for “one yard wonder” projects. What a fabulous little store!
My only regret is that I didn’t take any pictures inside the store. I was so overwhelmed by the beautiful fabrics that I totally forgot!
Here is what I bought: (3) “Bella” by Lotta Jansdotter, (2) chevrons from Riley Blake, a Bicycles (Robert Kaufman) remnant, and a few one yard pre-cuts.
Now… what to make with all these goodies?
