Saturday 11 October 2008

Buttons, Beads and Fabric

I was looking for a small sewing project to ease myself back into sewing, and I decided to make the 2 sizes of cosmetic bag from Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle. This is a nice book with some very do-able projects.
The pattern is for a plain purse in all one fabric, but I can't help messing with a perfectly good pattern. I decided to try the larger size with a foundation-pieced flap, and it turned out not bad.
When I first read through the pattern it wasn't clear whether the outline was the cutting line or the sewing line, but once I had worked out it was the sewing line they were really easy and quick to make, even for someone like me with not much experience of bag-making.

I used Velcro for the fastenings. Those sticky Velcro dots are difficult to push a needle through! The buttons are just for decoration. The beads weren't actually my first choice of colour, but they were all I could get locally.
I think this is a great plain pattern which is suitable for individualising (is that a word?) in all sorts of different ways. I had loads of fun playing with different trimmings and buttons.

It's nice to have some handwork on the go as well, and I've got into the habit of crocheting squares in the evenings. Squares are addictive! The pile is slowly growing.