Ready for Easter

I am trying to get into a spring mood inspite of constant snow showers we've been having (at least the weather keeps my snow shoveling muscles nicely toned).

Spring might be far away but the first buds are starting to show - tulips already left for a new home but the water lily shoulder bag is still available in my Etsy shop.

These three bunny plushies were made as a gift for three siblings who don't care much for cats, my usual stuffed animal of choice. So I redesigned my kitten plushie a bit and, what do you know, it's Easter!

My creative space

I admit I am not the most organized person around (understatement of the month!) and it shows in the way I stock my supplies (so far I still manage to keep the new order installed recently) and in the way I design the sewing patterns for my bags...

Pictured here are a few of my old patterns, scattered on the floor - my only clear surface at the time this photo was taken. When I am designing a new bag, I draw the pattern on any available piece of paper. Sometimes I use cardstock, label all the pieces of the new pattern and neatly tie them together with a piece of string. And some other time I might use any sheet of paper that is large enough, even a page of a newspaper, and quickly make some notes and a more or less accurate sketch of the bag.

Organized or not, I like my folder of sewing patterns (yes, I have enough sense to keep them all in a large cardboard folder). Whenever I am looking for an inspiration or a little motivation push to make a new bag, I go through these old and tattered pieces of paper - and every time I am amazed at how many different purses, bags and pouches I have made so far.

It is time to design a new bag!

Cath Kidston, the creative force behind U-handblog, a place where you can find loads of fabulous& free sewing tutorials, has just published her new sewing book. You can sneak a peek and with a little bit of luck even win a copy of the book if you enter her giveaway HERE - but hurry, the deadline is November 20th!

Try-something-new Friday

This evening I finally got a chance to try out the new embroidery foot I bought for my Bernina. It is in fact a darning foot No. 9 but it works very well for free machine embroidery. I've always admired these delicate drawings with thread and have decided to try it myself.

I grabbed a piece of light linen fabric and outlined a small car with my marking chalk. I then stitched around the basic lines, "drawing" additional features of the car as I went along. It is not a masterpiece but it will do for a first try - next time I will draw a more complicated design on a piece of water soluble film and perhaps make a mean construction-site machine for my son's T shirt...