In The Press

The Melbourne Age it ain't .... but here is an article on my little 'ole sewing school .... of course I don't just teach retirees .... come one come all I say! Thanks Sheryl for being my pinup girl!

Thanks Kylie at The Star Newcastle and Lake MacQuarie

More Cleverness

Here are some more creations from my students ..... Anissa finished her formal dress - this dress will be traveling back to Belgium for a wedding .... it's a gorgeous blue / green / purple silk taffeta ...
It was a challenging project for a relatively new sewist, but Anissa endured to the very end ...

The pattern is McCalls 5382. Great work Anissa!

Next we have Jo and her completed Swing Bag from the Sewing Basics 2 class ....

Embellished with delightful butterflies ...

Lined in hot pink with a pretty pocket

Fabulous work Jo!

Clever Girls!

Here are some finished products from my students ..... I am so proud of their interpretations and ability to complete great articles ... here is Di's Swing Bag from my Sewing Basics 2 class ... She used a mossy green corduroy, appliqued a dragonfly to the front flap - and she actually did another little dragonfly on the inside pocket that I failed to photograph ...

She also stitched on a lovely cotton doiley ... and piped the curved edge .... it is fully lined and she even added cotton lace along the shoulder strap - this bag is feast of luscious textures and thoughtful colour combos! Well Done Di!!!!!

And here is Sheryl's Mod Bag .... it looks great in this grey toned curtain / upholstery fabric ...

Complete with belt and buckle ...

And a zippered gusset ...

Here is the pattern ...

Sheryl has industriously completed two of these now, and the third is just awaiting a buckle . ..
This is another upholstery fabric - it has great body and suits this bag to a "T".

Here's the inside zippered pocket ...

Fantastic work girls! Stay tuned .... cleverness is catching on! Don't forget, if you live in the Newcastle / Central Coast region of NSW - you can buy Nicole M Bag Patterns from me - you don't have to do a class - just contact me and pop in!

Sling Bag with Measles

I had to use this spotty fabric

So I spotted it randomly onto some brushed canvas moleskin type brown fabric ... which I had cut out for a Sling Bag from Nicole M Designs.
I set the Bernina to a number 84 for the applique stitch - I'm over blanket stitch ....
And off I went ...
I used the Edge Stitching Foot (which can also be used for Blind Hemming) to give me an accurate guide for topstitching the straps .... sorry about the photo - but hopefully you can see the metal guide running through the middle of the foot - by adjusting your needle position, you can run the guide along the edge of your fabric - too easy!
Here is the lining - a white print on off white background - quite like it for lining ...there is a zippered pocket inside and a magnetic catch ...
With some bright pink buttons on top .... here she is ....
The Sling Bag has a very cool shape - the base had template plastic to keep it firm, but I like how the straps form seamlessly into the body of the bag - fluidity is the word I'm looking for.....

Day Bags

Here is a new bag to add to my collection ..... Miss Day Bag ...
She is fashioned in Anna Maria Horner fabric - in decorator weight - I interfaced and fused Pellon to the bag body......

When I was at the Sydney Stitches and Craft Show, I was impressed to see all the Day Bag variations in the flesh. It's a very versatile pattern - I hope to make all the variations as well.

It has a zippered inside pocket, a zippered closure - shame about that beige zipper colour! But at least I added the cool little bronze zipper puller to restore some self respect!

And even though a girl shouldn't stick her bottom up for the world to see .... here are her purse feet ..... hmmm shame about that lack of pattern matching.... rather a bit too obvious ....

She's super cute and as it happened, as I was in the process of blogging this, my newest student Sam sent me photos of her finished Day Bag .... the fabric is really great - can't recall the name of it sorry .... and isn't the lining fabric cool?

Sam did a different style of strap - sew many variations ...


Great work Sam!

Who sewed this?

Annalise sewed this! This is the result of her 2nd lesson - a Sewing Basics 2 bag.

With floral lining and a touch of applique ....

She is now the proud creator of a very cool bag ...

Sorry about the lack of focus .... and next we have Nicole's monumental quillow for her neice ...

This is the pillow that the quilt folds into - all hand embroidered with love .... Nicole was an absolute beginner at the start of this year - she is now sewing with confidence and creating some fab projects ....

This is the quilt - fabric range is "Hello Betty" by Chloe's Closet (MODA) - she used a Layer Cake - nice and easy - she also added some piped contrasting strips to break up the pattern a little ..

Here's Nicole (on the left) and Anissa (Happy Birthday!)- yes! the quilt works! It's soft and cuddly!

Now, for some of my sewing .... here is a very very very big cushion -

You can see that it is the KING of cushions up next to those weedy ones .....

Fabric - IKEA ....

This is a birthday pressie for my 17 year old neice ..... Happy Birthday Miss B!

Cushion Insert from Goldies ..... BOUND to be BOUNCIER!

You may already be aware that I dabble in dyeing ... this time I had a go at the opposite - removing the dye - bleaching some denim. The tub on the left has a bleach solution - just your laundry liquid bleach .... you put the fabric in and wait for it to bleach to the degree you want .... then the tub on the right is a neutralising solution - something like an enzyme based laundry soaker - eg. Sards Wonder Soaker or Napisan - read the label - it should say "Do not use with Bleach" - so you place the bleached fabric in that solution to stop the bleaching process - otherwise you'll be left with holes ... leave it for 10 minutes and wash.

The black and white stripey fabric is some interlock scraps that I used as "ties" for the denim - by the way - the striped fabric did not bleach - not one bit - the power of polyester!!!

You can see some of the denim losing colour ... and here is the finished product ...

the effect was quite random - because I bleached such a bit piece at once - smaller bits may be able to be done more controlled if that's the effect you want ...

And here is a bag I made from the bleached denim - another gift for my 17 year old neice ...

It's a Squared Swing Bag - pattern designed by my clever school colleague - it's our new Year 8 Textiles bag - the other one had a curved gusset - it was a tad difficult for beginners so, this one is easier....

I used Vilene S520 as a hard base ...

Tie dyed fabric for the lining - of course!

Now, as I was uploading these photos ready to blog ... I found the following photos ..... my 12 year old Sweet Pea cut off her jeans to make shorts - it's just funny that she thought she needed to photograph the process ...... a future blogger???

Here's the BEFORE ...

And now for the CUT ... right where mum chalked a line ....

And the result! Easy!

Finally, it was Father's Day today - Happy Father's Day Shaun! Here's a portrait by Sweet Pea!