The tremendous tote makes its debut

I've finished the tote and posted the pictures in Flickr for the contests. Check them out here:


This bag was so fun to make, although it was definitely a challenge. Stitch, rip, stitch, rip, stitch... Although it's practically perfect, so completely worth it!

The bag itself is a wonderful prize, but I sure would love to win that grand prize... Sewing many layers on my baby machine precariously balanced on a TV tray is a tad bit tricky, to say the least!

Closing in...

Almost done with the front!Tick tock, tick tock! Gotta hurry if I'm going to finish...

Making progress

The lining is done! One small step towards completing my super duper tote.
One side features a zip pocket and paisley embellishment, plus a ring for clipping reusable shopping bags.
The other size features multiple slip pockets for my many modern gadgets that need a home plus a key chain so the little buggers don't get lost in the bottom.

Still much more to do...Back to sewing!

Uh oh, more fabric

I spent a good portion of the day at Stitcher's Garden in Franklin yesterday. I even called Mom while I was there to see if she needed anything, and she was incredibly jealous.
Anyway, that store has all sorts of goodies. They had the AB oxford stripe I was thinking about, but I wasn't so in love with how the Waverly fabric went with it once I saw it up close. Never fear, I found something even better:"Vintage" Amy Butler Charm fabric. I don't even remember seeing this when it was first out, but I LOOOOOVE it. It has the yummy peach color, so it goes with my faux suede. I picked up some green light weight twill to use for the piping. I'm even going to attempt to isolate some of the paisley motifs for the front. This store never gets rid of anything as they still had quite a bit of this fabric as well as other discontinued AB fabrics. And the ladies working there actually have a method to their madness and know all the fabric they have, even if it does look like a textile truck barfed up bolts...
Apparently they don't ever get rid of notions either. I picked up these too:
Cover-a-buckle? I don't think they even make these anymore. If they did, they would certainly be more than $1.75. The plastic is all brittle-I stuck my finger through the front pulling it from the bag! Ha! Gotta love those little small town shops...

FABRIC! (and so the sketch changes..)

I was out in suburbia this weekend, and went into JoAnn's. I had a coupon, they were having a sale, so I couldn't resist. But I did find something for my "Amy Butler" bag:
On the right is a faux suede and I just loved the color. Yummy, like peaches. Or lilies. Or other warm weather-like things that I'm craving now. It wasn't quite the right color for me to use with some reclaimed shower curtain fabric from the old house. Never fear, the waverly print in the middle is much nicer! I know, not very green, but I figure this is special circumstances. And then the requisite matching cotton for lining.
I love the fabric, but it required reworking of my sketch:Yeah. So I've decided I need even more fabric! I'm picturing an Amy Butler stripe for the piping, like this one:
And maybe I'll take a flower motif from another fabric to appliqué on the front pocket. Of course, I'll have to look at all this in person as I'm insane about color matching. Next weekend I'll take a trip to the quilt shop in frankin. That place is crazy, with bolts of fabrics floor to ceiling. If they don't have it, no one will!

My new Baby (-lock that is)!

I've brought home my 16 lb bundle of joy! I'm now the proud owner of a new-to-me Babylock Eclipse Serger!Awww, isn't the little bugger cute!

I got a great deal on this like new Baby (almost good enough to make me ashamed of myself!). I've played around with it, and have gotten the kinks worked out and it's serging like a dream! Now I just need to get a move on and actually sew something that need serging.

Of course, the Baby has been home only a few days and I'm already thinking of the next one. I really really want a coverstitch machine too! Is that greedy? :)