My new baby

No, not *that* kind of baby.

This kind.

I ditched my little not-so-trusty Singer for an upgrade. It's not a huge upgrade, but enough of one that it's making a huge difference in my sewing time. A local sewing shop is going out of business and I got it for a song.

It's first night home I pulled out some of my new fabric and made a little dress for Madeline. I think this one might be one of my favorites to date. It was fast and easy, but still super cute. If there is any interest, I may do a tutorial.

I love this fabric. It's "Fresh" by Deb Strain.

I know I've been a little scarce, but this new machine is just the kick in the pants I needed to get back to sewing. I just finished up a doll quilt that I'll share soon, I'm slowing honing those quilting skills!

Just call me the bag lady...

Through a series of events too complex and detailed to list, I ended up at a flea market this past Saturday. I brought a handful of bags and hats that I had made and sat in the drizzle for about 4 hours. I sold one item and finally called it a day.

I'm going to call it a learning experience, since I'd rather not admit that I wasted a Saturday.

I did have fun making the bags, though! Most of the bags were made with Premier Prints outer fabric and some fun cotton interior prints.

This one has a Joel Dewberry lining that I adore.

See the deer?

This one is my favorite. Since it didn't sell, it's now my new library bag.

Isn't this little clutch just the cutest? It's from this tutorial. Don't let the size fool you, though. It took me twice as long as the full size bags!

Same fabric as my currect favorite bag. I love it so much. Mmmmm, green!

Another shoulder bag. Lined with Nicey Jane. Another fabric line I can't ever get enough of.

I bought this material ages ago at Hancock to make draperies for my living room. Then I changed my mind. (What? You can't change your mind when after you buy 4 yards of expensive Waverly fabic? Shut up.) I think it works pretty well as a bag though - this one would be perfect for fall.

This one went to the beach with me on Memorial Day. Yes Siree. Lined in Nicey Jane...again.

There's a couple more that I forgot to take pictures of, but you can sort of see them in the first picture of my table, I really, really love the orange one too.

Just call me the bag lady.

Up next...a doll quilt and pillow for Madeline's baby. Got to get some practice in before I get started on the real deal!

Molly

EIGHT

After my mother's day post, a few people have asked to see close ups of the filmstrip I posted of my sisters and I.

So, since I love you, I love my sisters and I love these photos...

Here we are. All eight of us.

I pretty much have the best sisters ever.

Molly

My new favorite bag

I figured I'd better get this post up quick, I've been on a bag kick lately and I'm perfecting a pattern that is threatening my *current* favorite bag. Which is this one:

It's probably not not a totally fair assessment, because I love the fabric so, so much, I can't NOT love it. It's chartreuse. Green. I love green. LOVE green. I tried to pick a shade of green for every room when we were painting our new house last year but hubby put his foot down. I did get guacamole in the living room, though.

Wait, where was I?

The chartreuse bag, right.

The lining and pocket is in Nicey Jane. Because if I could only pick one line of fabric to use for the rest of my life, that would probably be it. I'm sort of addicted. Exhibit A, B, and C.

It's big enough to hold all my stuff , but shallow enough that I can still see everything when I open it up. I love it. Wait, did I say that already? I sort of followed this pattern. Uber easy, you guys.

The only thing I'd probably do differently is add some interfacing to make it a little more structured. It's pretty soft and floppy. Which is actually kind of perfect for a summer-time bag.

I'm on a bag kick now. I have three different bags cut out, and a bunch of ideas rattling around in my head, so you'll be seeing some more posts dedicated to bags pretty soon.

Okay, I'm signing off. It's a gorgeous Saturday here on the East Coast and I'm heading to the playground with my munchkin.

Molly

Mother's Day Gifts

I finished my mother's day gifts at the eleventh hour last Saturday. Although, that's not entirely accurate. Two of my grandmothers are out of town, so I *still* haven't finished their gifts. But I will. I will.

I spray painted a bunch of frames....

Then I made a mat and covered it in fabric for an interesting photo presentation. This one was for my Mother in law. I made smaller versions of this for Madeline's three great-grandmothers.

I spray painted 8 of these watermelon frames...

And then my sister and I took pictures of ourselves and our sisters (yup, there's 8 of us!) for my mom. We're all holding up a number for our birth order. Mom loved it! I still need to get a picture of them hanging on her wall. It looks pretty awesome.

(click to enlarge)

This tote bag was for my mother in law, super easy bag and very practical, I think.


I loaded it with pockets.

And did a simple button closure.

A ruffled clutch for my sister, who is quite possibly the best mother in the world:

This clutch was a pain in the butt to make. At one point I ripped out every single stitch and started over. The finished product is pretty cute, but I have no idea how I got there, my design process was totally flawed. I do love the lining and card pockets, though!

I also made another bag that was intended as a gift, but I loved the fabric too much to part with it, so it became a mothers day present to myself. I've been using it for a week, and it might be too early in our relationship to make these kinds of statements, but I think I'm in love. At the very least, I'm smitten. It deserves it's own post, so I'll introduce you guys later.

A big thanks to everyone who voted for my top in Made By Rae's Spring Top Week. I think I ended up in 4th place out of that group - not to shabby, right?

Molly