I guess it's time I do a little more blogging, eh? Trust me, I've been doing a lot more sewing than I have blogging. Sewing is definitely more fun. Ha.
Heading back to Christmas for just a second... an online friend and I decided it'd be fun to gift each other a subscription to the Jan.-Apr. Bag of the Month Club. It was only $15 at the early-subscribe rate, and this time around it was going for 4 months instead of the usual 3, for the same price. We couldn't really beat that, especially when sending a physical gift would've been much more expensive, considering international shipping rates. Win-win, right?!
Each month the pattern is by a different designer, and you don't get to see what the pattern is until that particular month. The January pattern was for the Goldfinch Handbag and Goldfinch Clutch by Lockwood and Webb... so actually two patterns! I decided to make the clutch, as the handbag was much larger than I would want to carry.
The next decision was "which fabrics?", which is always one of the hardest and takes me the longest. Soooo many choices. I narrowed mine down to these. I knew I wanted to use the bottom one, which is one of Jess's earlier barkcloth designs. The two lining options were pieces I'd gotten in fabric grab bag purchases. Which would you choose?
Though the brown fabric matched so well, I decided on the other. I thought the pop of color on the inside would be more fun. Below is a view from my sewing room, just after I'd finished fusing the interfacing on all the pieces. (The book was for reading while on my NordicTrack, which you can't see.)
Some more in-process photos....
And here you have my completed Goldfinch Clutch. The original pic. It was hard to find a good place to take photos at the time, so I opted for a chair by the window.
I wasn't pleased with the space behind the bag, though. However, I'd recently stumbled across an iPad app called "Retouch" for editing and removing unwanted objects in photos. I tried it on that pic, and see how it turned out below. Better, right?
And the inside... hmm, I didn't like my finger there, so....
I "Retouched" it out. Yay!! Worked like a charm!
So that's my first BAGOMC project. Actually, I didn't quite finish it, since I didn't add a strap. It could be carried without it, of course, but I mainly didn't add it because I didn't ever expect to use it (it's just not my style), so why bother? Anybody want it? It's up for grabs. A strap could easily be added with strap clips, which the pattern called for.
I did have some struggles getting it made. There are some really thick seams, and the final topstitching nearly got the best of me. Also, there wasn't enough room to topstitch past the turnlock, even with my skinny machine foot. I had to improvise. But I got 'er done.
As for the Feb., Mar. and now April patterns... I haven't made them and don't have plans to do so. I'm not too crazy about any of them. I don't think we'll be doing the club again. I'd rather see patterns before I purchase them, even if they do cost a little more that way. So much for that.
I have a half dozen other completed projects to blog about! And another one to start today or tomorrow. I'll be back.....
(Did you notice I didn't even mention THE BIG TOPIC OF THE TIMES even once in this post? You can read that elsewhere. Everywhere else, in fact. I'd rather sew. We're fine. So far.)
2 comments:
Looks good, but I’m with you on the “it’s not quite my style” opinion. And I also agree that I’d rather see a patterned and know what I’m getting before I buy it.
I hope you are doing well with current events. I am “teaching” virtually, but it’s not the same as being in my classroom, and so far the assignments have been optional for the kids. The whole thing is very weird and I hope we are back to normal by the fall. When I was last in my classroom, I didn’t think I wouldn’t be allowed back in for such a long time.
I have had lots of extra time for crafting. I created a pattern and sewed a liner/bag for the basket on my bicycle. I am also working on a tree skirt for a small Christmas tree and I’ve made about 8 cards. Maybe one of these days I’ll put a picture of some of it up on my long ignored blog. Hmmm...
Stay healthy!
Hi, Jenny! So nice to hear from you again! Thank you.
We’re doing fine. But yes, even though my situation hasn’t changed much, there’s still that feeling of surrealness hanging over everything. And I feel bad for so many others who are suffering in one way or another. It’s also a feeling of waiting and wondering, which is always a challenge. We take it a day at a time.
I’m glad you’re getting the craft time, at least. Doing creative things always helps the morale. I’d love to see what you’ve made, but understand if you don’t feel like blogging. I have to make myself keep at mine, but I do want to keep up the record of what I’ve done, in case I want to go back and see how I did something. Otherwise, Instagram gets all the immediate pics and stuff.
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