Reversible Wrap Shirt

I've been itching to make some more clothes for K, but I needed something that wouldn't take me ages to finish. I found a great (almost) instant gratification project in this free pattern on the Birch Fabrics blog by CINO.



It's a quick, easy sew with just enough cute factor in those ruffled sleeves to give it some personality. I made the 4/5 size and it fits nicely over a long sleeve shirt. I probably should have made it a smidge longer than the pattern. I always seem to forget I've got a long-waisted girl.



Who doesn't love a reversible shirt that can work double time? This fabric is more left over tradeshow table covers from work using vintage* Gypsy Caravan by Amy Butler. I used this fabric for the first dress I ever made for K. Oh, do I miss her being that little!



She's growing up to be a pretty awesome kid though.



And the photo shoot is over!




*Vintage = as in the first release back in the early 2000s, not from the re-release a year or two ago. I had Amy Butler in my Stash before it was cool. Ok fine, she was always cool.

Beautiful Belle Handbag

I treated myself to a new spring bag by sewing up the Beautiful Belle Handbag by Amy Butler.



I had been holding on to a few half yard cuts of Washi for a while. If you've ever read my blog before you'll see a fabric hoarding trend here. I rarely, if ever, buy a fabric and immediately use it.

I didn't follow the pattern for any of the insides of the bag. The large divided pockets it called for didn't seem all that useful. So I made a zip pocket on one side and a couple of open gusseted pockets on the other. It's hard to get good photos of the inside of a bag once it's sewn, so I snapped a couple quick shots before I sewed the lining together.





Unfortunately, the cell phone pocket called for in the pattern is too small for my phone (even though I did a quick test measurement and thought it would!). I stitched it on, found it too small, ripped it off and reworked it (using the same piece of fabric) by changing the way I pleated it. Technically it fits now, but it takes quite a bit of fiddling with it to get the phone in, so most of the time I end up just tossing my phone in with all my other junk. It is a nice pocket for my sunglasses though!

I also added a magnetic snap closure to the bag. So glad I did because otherwise the bag would flop wide open every time I set it down.



I also made myself a matching fabric envelope (using this tutorial, with a size adjustment) for my coupons.

Birdie Sling

I did it! I finished another bag in time for Purse Palooza! It's the Birdie Sling by Amy Butler; a pattern that's been sitting on my shelf for ages. Size-wise, this bag couldn't be any more different from the bag I made a couple weeks ago. This baby is substantial. It could eat 3 of those clutches for lunch and still have room for dessert.



It's rough to get sewing projects done in the summer. So much of my time is spent outside and keeping little people entertained (which is a good thing! most of the time...). It felt like it took me days just to fuse all the interfacing to the various pieces of this bag. There's a lot of structure to this bag and it doesn't make it the easiest thing to maneuver under the needle. After I was done with the final seam attaching the lining and exterior I felt like I had just wrestled a badger. I've never bent up so many pins— in trying to pin the many layers of fabric and interfacing together AND in running over them with the machine. That was a combination of being too lazy to take them out as I came to them and also not having a hand free as I tried to wrangle the beast.

But for all this whining, I am quite happy with the results. All that interfacing may be a pain, but it gives the bag good bones and makes it look more professional. And who doesn't love a good chevron print these days? I saw this home dec print in Hobby Lobby and passed it up the first time because I didn't have a use for it at the time. Then I decided to make this Birdie Sling and had trouble finding it again. So glad I did! The contrasting band and handle fabric is from the Summer's End collection by Hoffman.



The directions called for two pockets. I used the pattern for the smaller pocket, but made an even shallower pocket on the other side so it would fit my cell phone better. This bag will carry all my "essentials" and then some!