Sew busy!

I hope you all had a great summer, I've been busy sewing lots over the last few weeks.  One of my first projects was to make a new purse, using this fab tutorial from Emily Levey.  I used a bundle of metallic prints from Dear Stella which I got for Christmas.  Unfortunately I realised after that it probably wasn't the best choice, the metallic print starts to wear off after lots of handling which for a purse which will be handled daily is not ideal. But it does look good.

I have to admit I made this purse twice.  The first time I followed the exact pattern but then I struggled when it came to adding the metal snaps. I didn't have a pair of pliers to attach them and couldn't get them through all the layers of fabric without. I then had 2 holes left in the fabric which looked awful when I tried to cover them so I gave up and started again.

I decided to re-make it using magnetic snaps, I added a tab to put one of the snaps on and put the other on the back of the card pocket. I also added a loop for my keys too.  Luckily I was recently sent one of the new Sewing Journals from Sew Crafty Sewing Centre (they are fab, check them out!) so I made a note of the changes I made so I can repeat it again in the future.  Handmade purses all the way from now on!

Next up was a tote bag I made for the Easy Swap on Instagram.  I made an applique tree on one side, and a tree print fabric on the other side.  However when I made it I loved it so much I knew it'd be hard to give away.  So I made myself one too (pictured below).  I didn't do the applique again as that took ages.

My son has been doing well out of my sewing too, I made him Lego curtains to go around the den under his bed.  The curtains that came with the bed were a couple inches too long and that meant we kept standing on them and they ripped.  So I made these ones a couple inches off the floor so that won't happen again.

The fabric was some vintage Lego fabric a friend was selling off because it was a little sun bleached but you can only tell if you look up close.  My son hasn't noticed at all. For £10 I got enough to make 3 curtains to cover 2 sides of the bed (the rest is against the wall). Bargain!

I also had some pirate themed quilt panels that I made a couple years ago intending to make my son a quilt.  I never got around to finishing it and when I bought him a quilt from Lynne at Lily's Quilts he didn't want another because he loves hers so much.  I rather than let them go to waste I had the idea of turning them into a toy storage bag, with a few internal pockets for toys too.  He has tons of toy animals so this will keep some of them tidy at least.

Last and not least I made myself a quilted mat for my sewing machine.  Sometimes when I'm sewing at high speed the sewing machine rattles on the table top so hopefully the mat will reduce the rattle.

So plenty of sewing done this summer, I've cleared a few of my WIPS and a couple of things off my to sew list.  Hopefully I'll manage several more over the next few months.

What have you been sewing this summer, do feel free to post links to pictures or blog posts below so I can take a look.