my finish along list 2020!

It’s time for another year of the finish a long, and a fresh start, (although most of the projects are carrying over from last year and some from year before!) The finish a long is going to be more instagram based this year, but I might still try and blog my progress.

I have decided I will write my full work in progress list for reference and in case I just fancy a change of project. I am also going to just pick a handful of projects I really want to finish this quarter.

So Q1:
First is my catty corner quilt. I am pattern testing for @stitchandyarn so I have a definite deadline for the finish. I am making good progress and it will hopefully be finished for mid-end of February!

Next is my #birthdaystitchersswap2020 parcel. I have made one thing this month but have another 3 to make before my partners birthday. As much as I’d like to post sneak peeks and progress photos, I just don’t want to spoil the surprise. They will stay a secret until opened and then I will share.

I’d really like to make a new #snappyzippouch for my phone. I cut it out of some meadowland left overs ages ago but have been distracted by other projects.
I’d also like to make a large fabric basket with my meadowland fabric to keep my hair dryers tidy. Hopefully I will have enough fabric to do it, though I think a bit of patchwork may be required.

A banner for my pin badge collection has been on my make list for ages. My collection has grown so much, I have bought a basket from ikea for them. Now I need to make a fabric basket/liner to go inside and make it easier to use. I will still need to make a small banner for my disney pins too!

Last picks are a couple of pouches. I have had a unicorn retreat pouch cut for a couple of years now and have just been putting it off. It scares me for some reason, a friend recently posted one on Instagram though and it has made me want to give it a try. The other pouch I want to finish for myself is the liberty baby cord and pink cord pouch I started last July. After it looked bigger than I expected during making, I decided to add some hardware and make it into a bag. I have since bought the hardware, but still not finished making so it joins the list.

Now the projects I will probably be leaving til next quarter:

• A father's day gift: I have bought the fabric and have a pattern I’d like to try. Since Father’s Day isn't until 21st of June, there’s no rush.
• A case for Millie’s cool mat: Since Millie hates laying on just the mat, we had to use a old postman pat cover last summer. I have bought some lovely summer fabric to make her a new cover this year.
• A Tasha Noel seaside skirt: I bought a panel in the summer and really wanted to make a skirt. I didn't get it made in the summer ,but hopefully I will this year before all the hot weather comes.
• The Adele dress: I cut a toile ages ago to check the fit and then never stitched it up.
• Halloween cushion: I bought the ghost pattern from then came June but don’t fancy an entire quilt. I found some lovely fabric in the sales though so want a cushion or two.
• Makers mat: I have been wanting to make a makers mat for a couple of years, the pattern designer hosts a sew along for it too. I am really hoping to finally join in this year (about October time) I have my fabric planned and ready. Really I should make 2 but will see how it goes, or if my old sewing machine gets claimed by my sister then I'd only need to make one!

Christmas makes:

• A Christmas cross stitch: This was started ages ago, so hopefully I will just keep doing a little bit throughout the year and have the finished stitching to frame in time for Christmas.
• My advent calendar: I started this last new year and didn't get it finished. I joked that I would end up sewing one a day this December, but with gifts still to make, that didnt happen either. It has been put away and will hopefully be out and finished ready for the 1st this year.
• Christmas bunting: my mum encouraged me to buy a cute panel. I have all the supplies I just need to put together. It shouldn’t take too long, but will be a project for later this year.
• Polar bear cushions: I can't even remember when I started these! I will try and get them finished this year though.

Quilts:

• First I need to finish the car quilt I started in July 2019. I finished making the top, just didn't have the right batting to finish it. I have bought the batting but just not gone back to finish the quilt. I also want to make a couple of extra cushions and seat belt cosy.
• I want to finish the heather ross sugar plum and trixie quilt, it is a big project but I'll hopefully have time to finish it this year.
• A liberty HST quilt: This has been waiting ages. I started cutting and then it got pushed to one side for other projects. It would be really nice to make it though, especially since I managed to get a big piece of liberty in the sale for backing.
• A quilt using the doll house range: This wouldn’t be my first choice of quilts I want to finish, however, my mum is redecorating and I think it could look really nice in the lounge so it has been pushed to the top of the list.
• Ice cream soda quilt: Obviously I still have this to be working on. I am doubtful it will be finished 2020 though, but I'm happy to keep hand stitching them in between other projects and see it grow.
• Green & cream quilted blanket: I started this years ago, but never completed the quilting.

*I wont bore you with a list of the other quilts I want to make. I have bought the fabric and picked patterns for quite a few. I highly doubt I will finish all the ones above, never mind these but I can always add them later this year depending how things go!*

Lastly I must learn to crochet! I was bought a couple of toft kits to make crochet animals. I really want to make them, but am not having much luck actually learning to crochet. I am really hoping I will manage them this year though.

I think that is everything although I am only planning the get the first few bits done this quarter. I will be posting my finishes on instagram and will try and use the #craftylilmousefal2020 to track my progress. You can also check out the @finishalong account if you want more details on how to join in.

Mx

Snappy zip pouch

So I have now released my first pattern! It’s called the snappy zip pouch and I thought I’d tell you all about it!

It all started with the gift I made for the #send a little love swap I took part in January/February. I decided to create this double sided pouch. One side has a zip and the other a snap fastening (or in this case 2)

I was very happy when the recipient loved it and I got many compliments. A couple of people asked if I’d be making a pattern because they would like to make one too. I wasn’t sure at first but then thought why not... it wasn’t the easiest to do though. I tend to make little scribbles as I sew when I’m making it up as I go, sometimes I can’t even understand them and definitely not enough to write instructions! 

I decided I’d start again, worked out the measurements and take pictures as I sew. Then came the written instructions, for this I talked my sister into helping. She is loads better at English but only a beginner at sewing, so explaining everything wasn’t the easiest. We thought we had done alright but wasn’t quite happy with our first attempt. I sent it to a couple of people to pattern test for me and give some feedback. Then came the stress of making amendments, a few diagrams and deciding the pictures weren’t quite right. I ended up making another pouch to show everything clearly and I am so glad I did. Then it went off to the pattern testers again, plus an extra as a fresh set of eyes.

During this time I also made a couple more and changed the sizes and made a few alterations. My sister was not pleased when I asked to add more to the pattern, but as a consumer I always love bonus sizes so thought it could only be a good thing. 

I’m so happy with how it turned out and the pdf download is now available in my Etsy store. I feel nervous about the whole selling thing but also I’m so excited to see everyone’s pouches. 

Would I do it again... part of me thinks no. It’s a lot of effort and I found it quite stressful, however... maybe, yes. I have another pouch I’m desperate to make myself but feel it could also be a nice pattern to share. I think we learnt a lot and it might be easier the second time, so we shall see...watch this space!

If you want to make your own #snappyzippouch visit my Etsy here to buy the pattern!

This whole experience was part of my finish-a-long project list for this quarter. You can read more about my projects here. It is almost time for Q3 so if you fancy joining too, visit their blog here.

Mx

My birthday stitchers swap

 

This year I signed up to take part in a birthday stitcher swap, over on Instagram. I recently had my birthday and these are the wonderful gifts I received. Maria (aka @madame_tailor on Instagram) sent my gifts from Germany.

First is my main handmade gift, which is this super carry all caddy. Marie used some beautiful art gallery fabrics and rose gold hardware. It looks so pretty plus with so much space and pockets, I’m sure will be very useful for holding plenty of projects.

 

 

 

 

My second handmade gift was this mini makers station, which is designed to go over the arm of a chair. It has some great pockets on either side, a thread catcher which buttons on and a tray on top. It has magnets in the bottom of the tray and pin cushion to stop them falling off and so you can use it separately too if you wanted. Maria used some more of the sonata fabrics that coordinated with the caddy. It is backed with a really great low volume print that I love. The third handmade item is this adorable mouse toy. She has a pretty dress and a beautiful hand stitched face, even some blush.

 

 

 

Lastly is this Lola zip pouch. It matches the other 2 gifts and I think it is my favourite print from that range too. They look so lovely together, I definitely think I will have to keep them all together and be super organised. 

 

Maria also included a few other extras including a mini charm, pin cushion ring and ribbon (shown in the makers station above) some chocolates and bath soaps. Not forgetting my dog, Millie, who also got some treats and a toy... Although she was rather more interested in my mouse! 

 

 

I can’t share what gifts I have made for my partner yet, because it’s not my her birthday until later this year. I would say I don’t want to spoil the surprise, which I don’t, but I also haven’t made them yet! 

 

Mx

Epp on the go

 

 As part of the #100hexies100days Instagram challenge hosted by @sewfoxymama, I was encouraged to baste 100 hexies. I chose to do all cotton and steel fabrics, although it was hard to find fabric to fit the weekly themes I just managed to do it. I was so pleased I completed all 100 days and on time! I was determined to make them into a project for me to keep and use. I originally thought of a bag but decided on this 2 in 1 pouch designed by aneela hoey. I actually had too many to just make this one pouch so I chose which hexies I wanted and gave the other half to my sister, for her to make a pouch too.

 

 

I decided on this layout and set to hand stitching them all together. Once stitched, I added batting to the reverse and did some straight line quilting going diagonally through the hexies. I chose my favourite girl with balloons fabric and used a medium/heavy interfacing on the reverse to line. Sparkle vinyl was an obvious choice for my pouch. I found a couple of bits from my scrap bag for the fastening tab and decided on a bright pink kam snap. I picked pink zips and the wonderful teal sprinkles fabric from cotton and steels basic range as my binding.

 

 

I must admit that I didn’t follow the book instructions completely. After making this pouch as part of the sewalong last year, I had a few little adjustments that made things a bit easier this time.

I am so happy with this pouch, all of my fabric choices and the cute fussy cut hexies makes it perfect. It is also super handy and has been used to hold my supplies for my ice cream soda EPP quilt I’m making. I will be doing most of the sewing on the go so it’s great to be able to pick this up in a rush and know I have everything ready to see, well apart from my glasses!

Mx

2019 finish-a-long Q1

It’s a new year and a new quarter of the finish-a-long. I was so pleased to find this planner on studios sew of course blog... it makes it so much easier to plan and see what stage my projects are at. I didn’t however put them in any reasonable order, so we will see how it goes and possibly make an edited list next quarter. 
 

 

There is simply too many projects to list, you’d fall asleep before you got to the end, instead I have picked out my top 16 (8 shown above): 

• Finish the pouch made from my 100 hexies 
• A patchwork for my nana’s 80th birthday 
• The unicorn pouch I didn’t finish last quarter 
• Bambi gifts
• Mermaid cross stitch 
• Micky quilt 
• 2 Easter projects 
• Continue making my advent calendar
• Pin badge banners
• The blocks for abbie
• Car acsessiories
• Birthday stitchers swap project 1
• send a little love swap

Plus I’d love to make a start on my ice cream soda Epp, postage stamp quilt and my liberty quilt.
 

I know this list is unrealistic but you can dream and aim high, if all else fails there is always next quarter!

 If you fancy joining in too, click link here to the blog and find a host, alternatively, go check out their account and hashtag over on Instagram.

Best get sewing!!
Mx 

my #sew6organizers sewalong

This year I decided to host a sewalong on instagram, with the help of a friend zena. We chose to do 6 projects each from the Aneela Hoey stitched sewing organizers book, one per month. Everyone who joined in could choose their own patterns and make any little adjustments to the projects to suit them. The idea was to share our projects and we had a little group chat for any questions or help, making the most of the lovely sewing community on Instagram.

These are the six projects I made for the sewalong: I used the distant dreams collection from dashwood studios. I split the collection into 3 mini collections and added some dashwood twist fabric, (indigo and cherry I think).

 

I kept the first project simple with a little fold up pouch. This is a great little project that doesn't require a zip. It is an simple pattern to follow and can easily be adjusted to make other sizes.

The second project was this handy needle book. I liked this pattern, although I did make a few changes to the suggested pockets used in the pattern. In the book it shows 2 different sized pockets at the back, at the front is a single pocket with the addition of a small pin cushion. I changed the back to just have the 1 large pocket and since I didn't need a pin cushion, I chose to just do one large pocket at that side too. These work out perfectly to hold all the needles I keep in packets.

 

 

 

The next project was the see-it-all pouch... this is a very useful pouch and quite simple construction although the use of binding does make it slightly harder. I used sparkle vinyl as I liked the look and fussy cut the back to ensure I had a full peacock in the centre.

The fourth project was the 2-in-1 case. I love this case and I am using it to hold all my tools. This is made in a similar way to the see-it-all with the addition of a fastening tab. I had a few options for fastenings; I did try a button first but the button hole on my singer machine was not very neat and I was struggling with placement, I also considered using a magnetic clasp, but decided against this option as they are very strong and I didn't want my tools attracting to the magnets. The best solution I found worked as a fastening was a kam snap, both simple to fit and to use.  

 

Next was the fold up sewing folio. I found this project slightly tricky, not because of construction but directions. I kept getting very confused about the direction of things, so my layout differs slightly from the one pictured in the book. It is still fuctional though and my mum has taken it to store her sewing supplies.

 

The final project was the boxy pocket pouch, I like this pouch and it is definitely bigger than I expected it to be. Since it was the last project and I had been avoiding it slightly (I'm not sure why, maybe because I didn't want the sewalong to end) to give me a little nudge, I added this to my  finish-a-long list of things to make. You can read more about that here!

 

Overall, I enjoyed hosting the sew along and would definitely do another one. It was a joy to see everyone else's projects and make some friends along the way too. If you're interested in seeing all the projects for yourself, you can visit the #sew6organizers on instagram.

Mx

Blue liberty pouch

I made a patchwork panel using liberty fabric in blue shades. I was originally making something else but that didn’t go to plan!! Since I didn’t want this panel to go to waste, I made a pouch instead.

I decided to make the pouch to hold some scissors and a rotary cutter so I added wadding for protection. I wanted the closer/flap of my pouch to be in a solid colour, so I used some art gallery pure elements fabric. I also added interfacing to this and the lining for some stability. I used a kam snap fastening to be easy to use. 
 

 

I made this for my mums birthday, unfortunately I had to cut my panel in half to make the pouch the right size so the patchwork isn’t as even as i would have liked, but she likes it and that’s all that matters.

This was on my finish-a-long list of projects to do and you can read more about that here!

Mx

#sew6organizers sewalong

For Christmas I got the wonderful stitched sewing organisers book by Aneela Hoey. I am excited to get sewing some of the projects and since the only thing that makes sewing better is doing it with friends, myself (@craftylilmouse) and Zena (@mycreativelypottylife) are hosting a sew along on Instagram. Since we are first time sew along hosts, it will be pretty simple and relaxed sew along.

The plan is to sew 6 projects from the book, one per month. If you would like to join in you can sew the same projects as us (listed below) or choose your 6 favourites to sew... we don't mind! If you want to adapt the projects to fit your needs perfectly, feel free to make small tweaks to the patterns. 

The only thing we ask is to be respectful to the lovely Aneela Hoey and do not share any of the pictures, instructions or tips in the book. 

The sew along begins in April and starts off very simple, we will be using this month to get all the prep done. Interested in joining us?choose your projects, your fabric, collect all your supplies and get cutting!!

My projects will be:

• Fold up pouch (may)
• Needle book (June)
• See-it-all pouch(July)
• Two-in-one case (august)
• Fold up sewing folio (September)
• Boxy pocket pouch (October)

The sew along will finish in November, before the christmas rush, with a little giveaway.

To join in, head over to instagram now ... don't forget to use the #sew6organizers and tag us in your pictures!

Mx

a neat zip ...

For this sewing step by step, I made another zipper pouch, but used a different technique for the zip on this one which requires a little more skill to create a neater finish.

 

 

To begin with, I added iron on interfacing to my lining fabric to give the pouch more structure. I then cut the fabric pieces as follows:

• Cut 2 x outer fabric measuring 9" x 4 1/2"
• Cut 2 x lining fabric measuring 9" x 4 1/2"
• Cut 4 x small rectangles measuring 1 1/4 " x 3" (2 from lining fabric and 2 from outer fabric)
• You will also need a zip, coordinating cotton and if you would like, a hand made tag. Some contrasting cotton and a hand sewing needle are also handy when altering the zip.

The first stage once you have cut all of your fabrics is to prepare the zip, by adding coordinating fabric stoppers onto either end. To do this, you will need to press the fabric for the stopper tabs, folding each of them in half, wrong sides together. Using a hand needle and contrasting cotton, tack over the zipper teeth 1" from the end of the zipper tape.

 

 

To attach, place the outer fabric tab right side down (opened out fully) onto the zipper teeth, and the lining fabric right side up beneath. Ensuring the end of the fabric aligns with the end of the zipper tape, sew across the zip through all of the layers approximately 1 1/4" from the end using your zipper foot on the machine. Now fold the tabs back along the half way creases to reveal the right sides of the fabrics. Trim the excess to remove the bulk, leaving only the outer fabric and the outer side of the lining fabric (cutting away the end of the zip and inner lining). Repeat for the other end of the zip, ensuring the zipper is pulled open to remain within the new length of the zip.

 

You can then begin construction of the bag. Layer one piece of the outer fabric and one lining fabric, right sides together. Place the zip between the fabrics along the top edge, with the zipper teeth facing the outer fabric. Pin and stitch using a zipper foot, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. Fold right sides out and press, then top stitch. Repeat for the other side.

  You should now have all of fabrics joined together with a zip across the centre. With a project like this, it may be necessary to trim the edges neat again at this stage to ensure everything lines up.

 

Now, open the zip to allow for turning through once sewn. fold the project so lining pieces are right sides together and outer fabrics are right sides together. Then position the zip so the teeth are facing down towards the lining. Pin your tag within the lining section if you are adding one. Then pin around the edges and sew, remembering ​to leave a gap in the lining for turning through.

To get the really neat points in the corners, it may be a good idea to trim the corners off the fabrics to remove excess... just don't cut through your stitching! Turn out the bag and slip stitch the gap in the lining. Press, then push the lining down inside the bag and push out the corners before giving it a finishing press. You may also need to use a bamboo turner tool to push out the corners without poking a hole through. It's a bit of a tricky one to master, but it does give a professional finish once complete.

 

 

Mx

get organised zipper purse ...

I got this fun Christmas fabric, Copenhagen print factory copyright design by Josephine Blay and decided to make a purse. I have designed it like the zipper purse on last months step by step, only this time with the addition of a divider/pocket inside. It's simpler to make without the divider, but it helps with organisation when using the purse and we all know you need to be organised for Christmas!!

You will need to follow last months instructions to cut the pieces for the pouch, along with an additional piece of lining fabric to create the divider. This extra piece will need to be around 2" less than twice the height of your lining piece. So, if you want a purse with a finished height of 4" x 5" long, cut your divider to measure 6 1/2" x 5 1/2". This will create a 3" high divider to sit neatly inside to create sections without catching on the zip. 

To construct, begin with the divider and fold the fabric in half wrong sides together and press. Add interfacing to one half of this piece on the inside to add stiffness (following to the product instructions). Then, top stitch along the folded edge to give a crisp neat finish, as this will be the visible part of the divider. Next, add the divider to the right side of one of the lining pieces, pinning along the base and both sides. Stitch along the three edges to hold it in place and give it a press. You can then make the purse as normal, simply following last months instructions found here.

Mx