A new school pencil case

My second daughter, who is soon to turn 18, asked me to make her a new pencil case to go back to college tomorrow morning. I am very proud.

She chose the Asian inspired fabric. The lining is a lovely purple, and I had the zip in stock.

Job done.

Yesterday was a great day as we had a party at home to celebrate our 20 years wedding anniversary. Lots of friends came but I was so busy that I forgot to take photos. Such a shame.

We had about 40 people, spent the day cooking. I brought some wine back from France last week, and we have some left as we were offered some.

I know that 20 years is not that much, but there were so many changes. We had 4 girls of course, we also changed country. We bought our first house, worked on it and sold it. We are still working on our new house to make it properly ours. And now our first born is going to leave for University.

Let's see what the next few years will bring.

Enjoy your sewing.

Pascale.

small round zip pouch

I saw this pattern and tutorial on this blog :" Dog under my desk" by Erin Erickson.

I liked that idea, although the family was not so keen, I thought they might use them once they are made. Either to protect their ear-buds for the iPod, or other small things like coins or keys.
I have not bought the new tutorial she made but used the one on the blog, and made some notes as I went, as well as some changes. So here we go.

 Do not cut circles. It is easier to work with 5” squares as the fabric tends to move when you sew the zip on. Better cut the shape at the end, after sewing the circle.

I’ve cut the pull fabric as a 2” square as on the photo of the tutorial, and then followed the instructions.

 I've cut enough fabric to make 6 cases, in different fabrics, mainly left over from other projects.

 On the sewing machine I use a Zipper foot, and a walking foot when there is wadding in the construction. It helps the fabric move at a regular pace.

 I sew the backing to the zip first, with a very small seam that will disappear later in the seam allowance, before sewing the front plus wadding. This way I am sure that the back is not going to move while I’m concentrating with the front.
I have used some zip by the metre, where I fit the pull myself. I tend to buy 2 metres at a time and cut to size. As I am in England I buy them from Dunelm. I believe they are made for cushions or upholstery, but perfect for small items as well. You have to put the pull on before you sew the zip as it can offset the 2 sides of the zip by a margin.

 Oh and for my round shape, as I couldn’t download the pattern There was a storm in the afternoon and the internet was down for a while), I used an Ikea plastic bowl. It is just the right size for my 5” squares, but you might find something else in your own kitchen.
I sewed 1/4" inside the line drawn with erasable  pen.

 It’s better to cut off the wadding before cutting the fabric down to a round shape. You have more grip on the fabric and can reduce the bulk created by the wadding.

 This is my case, right way out, but I preferred to sew around on the outside. It flattens the shape and gives it more definition.

 And so at the end I made 6 cases for my 4 girls and as presents. I am sure we will find lots of use for these. I just need to find a metal ring to put in the tab.

 Slightly open so that you can see the lining.

I hope this makes you want to do more sewing, or start a little project that doesn't tie you down for long.

Enjoy your sewing.

Pascale.

A present for my friend, two pink cases

In  January there was my friend Katherine's birthday. She is my running partner, very important at the moment as I don't seem to find the will to run by myself. It is pretty cold outside.

Our other friend Helen made her a felted bag. She is very clever, made it without a seam. That's something I would like to learn.

I thought I would make something to go with the bag, and here we are.

I wanted my cases to be 5 1/2" by 4 1/2" for the smaller one, and 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" for the bigger one ( that's including the seam allowances), which can take pencils. So here are my sizes :

Small case bottom pink cut 2" by 5 1/2", top fabric 3" by 5 1/2".

Bigger case bottom pink cut 2" by 8 1/2", top fabric 3" by 8 1/2"

 You need 2 panels per case, and the lining is cut  in one piece for each panel. Same with the wadding, 2 pieces per case. I chose some synthetic one, very light. Sew the top and bottom fabric together for each case.
I quilted the front panel with one seam 1/4" under the separation between the 2 fabrics. Quilt as you like.

 My first step was to sew the zips to the lining. I do a small seam allowance, and a normal one when I attach the main panel. It hides the first seam.

 This photo shows the way the zip is.

 Now I have attached the front panel on both sides of the zip. Make sure you can operate the pull, that it doesn't catch the fabric.

To finish the case, open the zip halfway at least, and pin the parts as on the photo, the 2 linings together and the 2 fronts together, right sides facing. Sew all the way around. Don't forget to leave a gap at the bottom of the lining to turn everything out.

I thin the wadding out with scissors to limit the bulk in the seams.

 And I cut the corners so they are neater when turned.

 Now turn your case inside out, slip stitch the gap at the bottom and Voila, a beautiful case, like you can't find them in the shops.

The small one is a great size to take all the cards you have from coffee shops and the like. It takes less space than having them on display.

Have a great time sewing.

Pascale.

I'm back!

Thank you for staying during this brief interruption of the program...
Time has gone quickly and I am ready to take my blog again.
So first I will wish you a Merry Christmas/ Joyeux Noel. Mine was very good with all the family in France. Thank you.
Then I can wish you a Happy New Year/ Bonne Annee 2012. The french know that with the rush to prepare everything for Christmas, they won't have time to write cards. So they allow themselves to send them until the end of January. See I'm not even late.

The big news is that we have moved. Like always, everything goes quickly at the end. We moved on the 2nd of December to a bigger house, 10 minutes from the previous one.
It is strange to pass in front of the old one, and to see the carpets and cupboards go in a skip. I'm better about it, it's not my house any more.
The new one is better but it will take us time to make it feel like our home. It is good with the girls and our furniture.... but it doesn't smell right, yet. And we need time to redecorate a bit, change a few things, and hang pictures and quilts on the walls.
The best that happened is that I have a sewing room! I have some photos to show you later, with some changes done already.

Now for some sewing.
While trying to sort out a lot of fabric (I don't know where it all comes from), I found a piece that I used for a craft project when I was around 12 years old. We made a round bag with a zip in school (I don't know where it is any more), and at home I made a pencil case.

So here is my new pencil case, same fabric but with a different technique.

Have a great time sewing.

Pascale.

New oilcloth pencil cases for school

Sometimes you see oilcloth or "Tissu enduit" in French, and the designs are just so great. I use them mostly to make pencil cases for the girls, and only buy half a metre of a design.
Here is my latest batch, made this afternoon.

 Today I made 4, and 2 of them have gone already for DD3 and her best friend Bernadette. They were pretty excited to have them.

 I can't remember where I bought the fabric, but I think it was DD1 who chose it. Tha't s why I have some spares.

 To be able to stand, I gave them this cornered bottom.

There isn't any lining, which makes them fast to sew.

 This smarties fabric I found in Dunelm, I suppose it is primarily for children's parties. It was cheap anyway, and just perfect for a pencil case. Cheerful.

I used the same construction, and DD4 has got one since this morning. I have one spare.

Have fun sewing.

Pascale

Finally meeting Pascale

Again this photo was taken during the Easter Holidays in France. I finally got to meet Pascale, we share the same name, with her beautiful children. If you look again the youngest, who is only about a month old at the time of the picture, is showing his head out of Pascale's coat. I'm the one standing on the left.

We met on the Grand Place in Lille, and it was still very cold at the beginning of April.

There is so much to talk about, we will have to meet again.

You can visit her blog "Journal d'un Atelier". She writes in french but speaks english as well so you can leave her some comments. She has had some of her projects published in France, and is very creative. Enjoy.

As a present I gave her the little purse in the front, the other ones have gone already but I think I might make some more as I really love their shape. They are from Tilda and appeared in a previous post.
I also made on the morning of the meeting this blue rabbit case. It seemed to fit with her having a new baby boy.

It was so nice to finally meet her as she organised 2 challenges I took part in. The first one was red houses, which I need to finish, one of my UFOs. And the second used ribbon embroidery, and I also need to finish it.

She hasn't done a challenge this year, I guess I know why she is busy, but she is still an inspiration.

A new pencil case

Last Saturday, DD4 was invited to a party by her friend Hannah. She likes rabbits at the moment, so I hit the shops trying to find things rabbity for a girls aged 9. If only it had been about cats, there is all this Hello Kitty stuff everywhere.

I found some lip balm and shower cream, but while I was there I just resolved to making something with some of the fabric I have at home. I was bound to have something with rabbits on.

I found this Japanese linen fabric that is so cute. That was perfect.

Cut a rectangle, some lining fabric, find a zip, and Voilà !

Cards and card holder

Before going to the preview at the V and A last Wednesday, my DH printed me some "business" cards with the address of this blog and a piece of one of my quilts as an illustration. They look great, very professional.

So I quickly found some lovely Japanese fabric and sewed a little holder. A bit tighter than what I was hoping for, but the cards fit which was the objective.

Owl pencilcases

In August I was lucky to attend the Festival of Quilts in Birmimgham. I bought this fabric and have made 3 pencil cases with it.

One has gone for DD1, the second to Kandy from BQL and I'm keeping the third one for myself.

I spent Tuesday at Kandy's house and we had lots of fun. She has displayed a lot of her work around the house, and showed me where she sews. I had a little taster on EQ6 (the program to plan your quilts, but it does lots of others things as well..). And very quickly it was time for me to go pick up the girls from school.

We'll have to do it again Kandy. It was great.

Case for my sat nav

Like a lot of you, we bought a satellite navigation system for the car. DH then mentioned that I could make a bag or case for it, instead of buying one. So off I go, with one of my japanese fabric remnants again, a bit of wadding, quilt along the lines of the design. Then I found some blue fabric, and some stick on velcro.

Everything went fine, except the velcro. Why did I bother to buy that stuff, it's horrible, and I wonder if I should bin the bit left straight away. You think the sticky part is going to make things easier, and it's the opposite. It sticks but not enough to do what it's supposed to do, like hold a bag closed. And you can't sew through it : I tried first with the sewing machine, glue everywhere, and then again with hand sewing. So I used fabric glue to attach 2 parts firmly, and then gave up, and DH bought some normal velcro...that was so easy to use.

Anyway I am quite pleased with the result, which is unique, nobody has the same.

I hope it might inspire you to give it a go, you could make a little pocket for your phone (I hope to try that soon), MP3 or ipod, or even your laptop (maybe another project).