Yarn Crawl - Oregon City

A friend sent me this news link for Wynona Studios. They are participating in the Portland area Yarn Crawl this weekend, March 4, 5 & 6th. There are give-a-ways.

For more yarn, knitting & crochet info and other stops, go  to http://www.portlandyarncrawl.com.

Lavender Sachets

These turned out good smellin'
They are filled with dried lavender from Tracy.
They are fairly easy to make. The real question is how much lavender to add?

   Or, maybe a little lavender embroidery on the left side of the skirt... Across the bottom...

Plus-size Purses

Here is my Sewexpo tote again.
Here are some of the other creations from the recent bag class I took.

 I want this squares with mod circles fabric.
Oh- :(  -right - only solid fabrics can pass the threshhold.

Valentine Tournament - OSU

Sorry, this is for the kid.
He's #5.
Press play.

Mary Bridge Children's Hospital

I finished my Pillowcase today for sewexpo to benefit the Mary Bridge Children's Hospital.
SewExpo put out a call for us sewers to make and donate pillowcases for children.
Pacific Fabrics even gave out a pillowcase tutorial. (Sorry, the link is apparently down). Useful because it lists the size of the unfinished pillowcase. I still ran around the house and measured my finished pillowcases and found a regular pillowcase varies widely but is essentially 19"w by 31" long.

I figured most of the Sewexpo ladies would make girly pillowcases as many of them are quilters and have a tremendous stash of floral-type fabrics. I wanted mine more boyish and used up just a tiny, tiny piece of my airplane fabric stash.
There was a moment last night when I was still deciding fabrics and design on my pillowcase when I seriously realized how tired I was.
Option A was to use the airplane fabric as the base and a white fabric for the cuff with a coordinating trim (rick-rack?) between cuff and base.
Option B was to utilize airplane fabric as both base and cuff with a flat piping trim to break up the pattern.
Option C: was a stern talking to myself about over-designing this pillowcase.
I threw it all back in the air and decided to sleep on the decision when I realized I have no solid fabrics in my stash. ( **I am sure I own solid colored fabrics but there were none last night). They are all prints that clash.  I found some white from a vintage sheet but it was so obviously NOT the same heft & weight of my base fabric.

This morning, I was clearing off the ironing board to iron my base fabric and there was a plastic sack of the remaining scraps that I won from SewMamaSew. One of those scraps coordinated and the design decision was made to go with just the airplane fabric and this red trim. By itself, it is a red & white floral print. Folded over so just a quarter inch shows, it looks cloudy. The red color coordinated perfectly.

We finally had snow the other day and the dogs loved it. These photos were taken about 6pm - sunset time.
Rusty - the smart dog he is- discovered that if HE threw the ball into the snow, the ball would hide, and he could find it WITHOUT involving the easily distracted human.

Rocket making a snow angel

Rusty ready! for someone to throw his tennis ball.

H & M

They are here. In Portland.
I don't have to go to the Mall of America or even Dublin to get inside this store.

 

Sew Expo Bag

I finished.
The bag.
The bag that is HUGE.

I recently took a purse class with my friend, Pencil Girl.

I plan to take it to sewexpo in Puyallup in a few weeks. 

 The back side, or is this the front?

Supposedly, I can carry my lunch and water bottle and the bag will magically hold all of the fabric I know I will succumb to from all of the great vendors at Sewexpo. There is a distinct possibility that there is a bottomless pit inside this bag. It's that big.

 

I like the magnetic closure. 

I bought the orange fabric at Ikea. Yes, Ikea has fabric.

Most of the ladies in the class are quilters who get stuck in the tiny print cotton rut. They were amazed that you could buy fabric at Ikea.
The black fabric (with all the lint(!)) and the linen were bought here.

 This is a distorted view of the inside. 

The pockets mirror the outside pocket details. Plenty of room for everything.

 Laying the purse down. It's got so much batting and peltex that it stands on its own. It was a real bear to fling around the sewing machine table. I believe I only broke six needles taming it.

I added little feet to the bottom of the bag. And yes, this black fabric is a lint magnet.

 The grommets are plastic rings that snap together (yeah, right). They are sold in the drapery section and they were a definite asset to this bag. Glue and clamps were necessary. They still gape but the sash hides that. There are four layers of fabric and batting and the plastic grommets aren't really up to the task. I cannot imagine how they would secure  heavy drapes that hang off the grommets unless there is strength in numbers.

I am very pleased with how the bag turned out but I may ditch the bow-tie sash. It's kinda fussy. Care to weigh in?

Changing out the sash for a black one?  A black ribbon?  Nothing at all?