February Makes

Here is the monthly collage of what I have completed and posted this month.  I thought it had been a less creative month, but looking at the photos I'm not so sure about that.  Sales are getting underway now - next one is tomorrow (at Cambourne Church, Cambridgeshire if you are in the area) - and it feels good to have a lot of stock already made!  Not least because I have managed to book at least two sales every month this year - and I already have bookings till December.  Not sure how I managed that one!

More embroidered pouches

These are slightly longer than the previous set - great to have a variety of sizes, I think.

Shared at these link parties:

Create and Share	Made by Me	We Made it Wednesday
A Creative Princess	Whatever goes Wednesday	WIP Wednesday

Boxy pouches

I thought these would turn out bigger than they did.  Ah well!  I like the fact that I have been able to use the belt part of the jeans on these, and will be making some more but in much longer lengths.

These are based on a simple rectangle of fabric.  The zip is sewn in and then the sides are joined before all corners are boxed.  This started out as a 10" by 8" rectangle, but obviously need to be much longer!!
I'll be adding this post to these link parties:

Sew Cute Tuesday	Too Cute Tuesday	Take a look Tuesday
You flew Tuesdays	Nifty Thrifty Tuesday	Ladybug Blessings

Glasses cases

I had a few requests at Flitwick for glasses cases and, while I did have some, they were designed for sunglasses.  What was being sought was smaller reading glasses cases.  So I have been experimenting with some designs.
Here is the first version. It is basically an elongated version of the zipped phone case I have made before. I think the pocket will be handy for keeping a glasses cloth in for cleaning the spectacles.  I look forward to customer reactions!

I'll be adding this post to these link parties:

A Round Tuit	Sew Can Do	The Girl Creative
Manic Monday	Sew Chatty	Calling all Crafters
Inspire me Monday	Craftomaniac Monday	I MAde it Monday
Etcetorise

Embroidered pouches

This is another style of pouch I have been making recently.  I had fun using some beautiful embroidery designs, as you will see.
I drew the pattern up myself.  This is what it looked like:

I suspect you could make it any dimensions you wished, as long as the bottom of the triangle and the side of the base are the same length.  I cut two of these in denim, and two in lining.  I sandwiched the zip between them and then joined the lining pieces together and the denim pieces together, initially leaving a hole in the base for turning.  The bottom of the bag was boxed.  These came out looking great, and I will be experimenting with other sizes in future.

I'll be adding this post to these link parties:

Sew Darn Crafty	Sunday Funday	Submarine Sunday
Bouquet of talent	Sundae Scoop	Sew-licious
Just something I whipped up	Petite Hermine

Sale at Flitwick

This was an enjoyable sale - well organised and very well publicised.  There were a lot of customers and, for a sale this early in the year, I made a pleasing amount of money.
For the first time I kept a list of exactly what I sold, and it made for an interesting read.  I only sold two bags; everything else I sold was priced at £4 or less. Purses went well, as did the new keyrings.  The biggest sellers were the bookmarks, however - which is great, because these are easy and fun to make!
So, keyrings to replace (these were the monogrammed ones) and more small items to stock up on before the next sale in just a week's time.  That will be at Cambourne and I am really looking forward to it - it was such a great venue when I went for the first time last year, and again was very well publicised.  If you are in the area, do come along and say hello! Saturday March 2nd, Cambourne Church in Cambridgeshire.

Scrappy pouch tutorial

I have been stocking up on smaller items recently, and experimenting with different sizes and styles of pouches.
These used up some scraps of cotton fabric as well as the denim:

To make them I cut some 2" strips of denim and 2" strips of cotton fabric, four 10 x 4" pieces of denim and two 10 x 9" pieces of lining fabric.
I first made the decorative panel by sewing the strips of denim alternating with strips of cotton and cutting them to two 2" x 10" finished pieces. I then put one of these between two of the 10 x 4" pieces of denim.
Next I attached the zip, sandwiching it between an outer piece and a lining.  I then sewed round the entire bag and lining, leaving a gap at the bottom of the lining for turning (and making sure I had unzipped the zip first!)  I cut a 1" square out of each corner of the bag, and boxed the corners.  I then turned the bag right way in and stitched up the gap in the lining. Job done!

I'm adding this post to the following link parties:

Happy Hour Fridays	Find a Friend Friday	Anything Goes
5Days5Ways	30 Handmade Days	Flaunt it Friday
Can I get a Whoop whoop	Diana Rambles