The Cath Kidston Bag

I am an absolute newbie when it comes to sewing bags, having only made four bags so far. Two for my mum, one for my lil prince and here’s the fourth. The Cath Kidston Bag for Christine who won my giveaway.

The shoulder bag instructions from Cath Kidston’s Book was easy to follow but I realized after reading through it that the bag would be unlined. A lined bag is always prettier for the user. So I took an Urban Chiks for Moda quilting cotton which went pretty well with the  home decor weight Kidston fabric to create the lining. I used the bag sewing pattern (MM) for the lining, followed the same instructions, stitch the main fabric to the lining fabric wrong sides together before working on the facings and strap.

The instructions didn’t mention the Cath Kidston label and I totally forgot about it until the bag was completed. I used a red thread and hand-stitched over the original red embroidery lines around the label as I thought it would be cleaner and nicer.

On the lining, I attached an iron on denim to hide the stitching. The denim patch resembled an internal label which I thought was kinda cute.  On hindsight, I could have stitched the label onto the main fabric before attaching the lining.

The bag is rather pretty but it shouldn’t be used to hold heavy stuff as the strap is attached to the bag body by two buttons. I hope Christine enjoys using it.

I’m off to the post office to mail it!

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Sew Mama Sew Giveaway on The Sew Convert

Thank you for visiting my blog for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway! This is the second time I’m participating in the giveaway. The last one was awesome and so much fun!

I had no idea what to giveaway as the ‘handmade item’ until I received a sewing book from my sister-in-law for my birthday two days ago and it’s ‘SEW!’ by Cath Kidston. Her floral fabrics are so beautiful and I was thrilled that the book included her fabric to sew the exact bag on the cover.  So, the first item I’m giving away is this bag which I will sew for the winner. Pretty isn’t it?

The second giveaway item consists of two yards (one yard each) of these cutesy Japanese fabrics, both depicting animals at the farm. Great for quilts, clothes for little ones and other simple sewing projects:)

So, there will be two winners for this giveaway. One will get the bag and the other, both fabrics. For a chance to win, take a look at the items I’ve made under ‘Made Me’ or ‘Made Kids’ and let me know which is your favorite item from the lists. In your comment, do let me know if you would like the bag or the fabrics, otherwise I’ll assume you don’t mind either 🙂

You can get an additional chance to win by subscribing to my blog and for a third chance to win, you can link back to my blog. So, you can get a maximum of 3 chances to win.

The entry deadline is by midnight on Friday, 17 December 2010. The winning entries will be picked randomly by the numeric generator on random.org. I will announce the winners on my blog and email them for mailing information by Monday, 20 May 2010 when I’m back from a short getaway. I ship internationally so keep your comments coming!

Also, do check out the rest of the giveaways listed on the sew mama sew blog, I know I’ll be going through them 🙂

Blessed Giveaway Day everyone! I hope you win something!

Adey

The Sew Convert

Sewing Gifts And Fathers’ Day

I couldn’t really recall when I started sewing clothes as gifts for my loved ones.   As I looked through my image files for some clues, I realised that I have never mentioned them on the blog. I believe it started in December 2009 . Just before my mum’s birthday last year, I thought I should start giving handmade items as gifts as it was a sincere expression of love which would continue to be tangible, unique and would always be special to the recipient.

This is the Floral Ute for my mum’s birthday last year. I followed the Ute Blouse sewing pattern from burdastyle. I enjoyed making this blouse. The pattern has two variations. Blouse A with a Peter Pan collar and blouse B with a tie collar. My mum chose blouse A but requested for the neckline to be raised.  I’ve seen her wearing it on three to four occasions so far and each time, it makes me smile. I thought the princess seams gave the blouse a great fit which showed how slender she is:P I would love to make blouse variation A and B for myself someday. That’s one thing I love about pdf patterns. They are always available when you need them:)

A reversible dress was made for my seven-year old niece. I have been making this dress for my princess (here and here) so I’m pretty familiar with this pattern and was able to complete it quite quickly. I sewed the buttons back to back so that you can see them (instead of button stitches) on both sides of the dress. My niece is kinda shy and didn’t say much but was happy to model it.

Reversible Dress Side A

Reversible Dress Side B

Off course, there was the first men’s shirt I made. A valentines’ gift for my husband this year which was based on burdastyle’s Jakob sewing pattern.  I took 3 days to finish this and was glad that he was really pleased with the fit and wore it pretty often.

He has since requested that I make him a few more of these shirts and have selected two fabrics three months ago. But, alas, I have been too preoccupied with dress making to start on them. Sorry dear 😛

With fathers’ day around the corner, I thought I should perhaps make him one of them, just to show how much I appreciate him. He has been a great dad and husband. He tried it on immediately when he got home 10 minutes ago and here’s the photo:)

For Fathers’ Day, I made another Jakob for my dad. A girl has got to be fair right:) My dad’s shirt was made from a Michael Miller stripe fabric. When I chose this fabric, my mum thought it was too vibrant but after she saw the end product she actually liked it. Phew! Thank goodness!

I have always liked my dad in vibrant print as it goes well with his darker skin tone. For many years now, I have either bought him shirts, belts or wallets. This is my first handmade item for him:) Happy Fathers’ Day daddy!

The instructions for Jakob pattern was very easy to follow. I have used quite a number of burdastyle’s patterns and I must say Jakob has one of the clearest step by step instructions. I managed to finish dad’s shirt in a day and my man’s in half a day. Practice must have really helped me sew faster!