New Purse For Me

 This is a cute little crossbody purse I made for myself.

Mostly the Sunshine Wristlet by Bagstock patterns, I added some hardware to add an adjustable strap.

I used some of my favorite cork fabric along with some cotton fabric that has a cork design.
This purse has an outside pocket for my phone and a zippered security pocket inside the zippered body. Perfect small size for me.

I took it on my trip to Reno to see my son.

I cut out another to sew up for my RunningWithHandmade Etsy shop. Must sew now.

I have decided straps are my least favorite part to make.

Double-Sided Clutch

 This was a fun make.
Detailed in one of my facebook sewing groups, this double-sided clutch was super easy in it's simplicity.

I've made three so far with these Ikea fabrics.

One sold to a special person so I added in some other Canby-made goodies: hand-crocheted face scrubbies and honeysuckle lotion.

The clutch has three pocket compartments so you stay organized. Very ingenious pattern idea.

On my second one, I decided to add a leather strap to the side, riveted on. Purely decorative. The leather strap was scavenged from a vintage leather belt.

My Bloodgood Laceleaf Japanese Maple is in full leaf. It's about 27 years old and huge. I could prune it up to see the twisted trunk but then you would need to do that every year. Too much work. I just trim up from the ground so it's fairly even. My old dog, Rocket, used to love lying underneath with his head peeping out.

I've got to find our original landscape plans. I swear this variety is Bloodgood but all the internet sites say bloodgood is an upright maple.

And here it is from the other direction with my dwarf purple bearded iris's and weigelia in the foreground. with the stinkin' purple violets getting all weedy in there.

I'm also getting my patio pots ready for the summer. The hanging baskets and the 'groupings'. We're getting some nice May weather with not too much rain so things are growing fast.

purple columbine

These rhodies were given to me free. The homeowner changed out her landscape and they've done quite well for me.

Morning dew on those delicate pink blossoms.

Unfinished Projects

 I had some unexpected time off the day job in April and I was able to start multiple projects.
Will I finish them?

UFO's are unfinished objects in the sewing room.

 Except for this one.
My daughter came to visit and brought this dress with her. Somehow she had obtained it for free but it was a tad frumpy with full-length sleeves. She asked me to put pockets in. When my kids ask me to jump, I immediately reply, "How high?"

The dress is a sheer overlay over a base fabric. Both float free of each other in the skirt. Unpicking the side seams of both  to insert a piece of pocket went well. I happened to have a pocket pattern piece out for a dress I'm working on (crap, forgot to add those photos to the laptop).
We drafted it a tad longer to accommodate our penchant for carrying our life in our pockets.

I promptly installed the first pocket upside-down. Did I mention the outer fabric was a sheer and fraying like crazy? Had to un-pick all the seams and re-install correctly.

This dress also had sheer long sleeves that ended in a wide 'cuff' that was elasticized. Very frumpy. So dd chopped them off neatly. Her solution was fine as she will always wear a cardigan in her office. But I was on a roll and offered to finish them with a silk rayon vintage bias binding to make them neat - just in case she were ever to encounter hot sunshine in alaska.

 This is my other project I'm working on. I referred to it in a previous post. It sat in time-out until I could  visit Pencil Girl (DrawnToSewing on IG!!!).

I like the back pleat but the whole shirt was too long for my 5'3" frame. So she helped me figure out the length and tinker with the neckline.

 I am going to utilize the mesh around the neckline.
I originally placed a triangle of mesh at the back neckline but I will make that a more shallow design detail.

 Pencil Girl said this was a bit short (about 5" shorter), I may hem it a little longer. Between Papa Bear long and baby bear short.

 I'm mostly all done with this Sunshine Wristlet, aka, a nice cross-body bag for me. A little large to be called a wristlet, it's the perfect shape for my crap. I'm not a big purse gal.

 This strap is to hold the wristlet in your hand and place your fingers underneath. I have zero intention of doing that but it turned out to be a nice detail.

I still need to make the cross-body strap. I don't have enough cork to make the strap lengthwise with the grain. I have enough to make it the other way - which stretches a bit. I'm figuring out how to stabilize the strap so it doesn't stretch.

I also made another little bag but haven't take photos yet. I'm kind of excited about it. It needs a finishing detail as well.

As you can see, multiple projects just needing one or two more steps to finish.

slip pocket on backside added to drop phone into

I did make a set of greeting cards from my dd's awesome photos. Sunset and Sunrise at Turnagain Arm in Alaska. If you're interested, they are in my RunningWithHandmade Etsy shop.

Four photos - four cards. Blank inside.

I have another week off in May, so I'm sure I'll be sewing like crazy.
We'll see if we make some finishes.

Knitting Project Bag

 My blogging buddy in the UK made a zippered pouch utilizing the Pythagorean theorem
With this method the sides stand straight-up-vertical instead of sloping up towards the zipper.

I ended up with a tall zippy pouch with a somewhat narrow opening that would be perfect for a knitting project bag.

This, of course, was never my intention, as I rarely knit.

But it's tall-ish and has plenty of room for that sweater/shawl plus an outside clear vinyl pocket for knitting stuff.

To offset all that tallness. I added a riveted leather strap and to made the proportions work very nicely.

I cannot re-create this.

On the outside I used some awesome fabric from Ikea - yes! Ikea sells fabric.
The lining fabric is a gospel quilting cotton that I bought too much of for a fabric swap.

The two fabrics pounced on the sunny yellow zip because we're all tired of grey, drizzly days.  (or, the infamous minnesota blizzard, if you're over that way).

For some mid-weight structure, I quilted the inside lining. As I was winging it, I free motion quilted after I attached the zipper. this is not a recommended technique.

Finish measurement is about 9" long x 5" wide x 8" tall.
I didn't add enough sub-structure so my sides don't stand up straight and vertical, but they are.

 And, here it is. In my hand.

And, In my etsy shop, RunningWithHandmade

Wee Braw Bag

 I might have had a moment a few weeks ago when I purchased three PDF sewing patterns.

God knows I dislike PDF's. Having to print out the pattern myself, tape it together.

I need to sew a dress up for myself and the pattern I liked only came in PDF form.
In a moment of madness, I went with it.

This wee drawstring bag is only five pages of instructions. It's all rectangles so you don't need a pattern piece for this. For the dress - more than 80 pages. Thank goodness it came with a copy shop option for a commercial printer to print it out on the big sheet of paper. That will be another blog post right there.

i was in a mood to sew something new and for once, I didn't have the energy to figure out the dimensions myself.

I took the pattern and ran with it.

It's fairly smallish but will hold a sewing kit. With pockets on the inside as well as the outside, it organizes small items quite well.

I just happened to have that orange and black striped trim in stash (think OSU Beavers possibilities). which jumped on the zebra bandwagon very nicely. The blue fabric is a cotton/poly that coordinated well. The zebras were purchased at the recent SewExpo so that's nice to use one item I bought already.

The picture on the wall is a needlepoint purchased at a garage sale. In fact, I recently found another that is similar. It's isn't framed, so now I'm looking for a similar frame at a garage sale so I can hang the other sewing-themed needlework art.

 WeeBrawBag: A Sewing Pattern by Laura Zuckerkuss   https://payhip.com/b/gmI4

The other two pdf patterns I purchased are The Fringe Dress  and The Augusta Moto Pant


I almost forgot to add dd's newest Study In Blue photos.
Byron Glacier, Alaska.