Guitar Case

My youngest son Jason recently got the Xbox Guitar Hero game for his birthday and asked me to make a guitar case for the guitar. It is quite small compared to his real guitars so I thought, sure, I can do that! He wanted specific fabric for it so we searched Etsy and found what he wanted from Kate at http://loveapple.etsy.com/. I have designed a pattern and cut it out, but have not started yet.

The outside is black cotton with white skulls and bones on it. The lining will be plain black cotton, a long zip and black piping will round it off. A bit more of a task than I expected, but sounds like fun! I love the fact that I can make something useful for the boys. Normally they just wander into my room, look over my shoulder and make appropriate noises about my projects...I will post the completed project soon!

Current sewing projects

I have several projects in progress at the moment. I plan to finish several of these this coming weekend. The first on my list is a private swap with my sister Linda. I have already made her a tote to keep her knitting needles and yarn in and bought her some lovely knitting patterns books and yarn to knit three jerseys with. I did want to make her something else.

Now I am busy with an apron and potholder set. I made several knife pleats in the skirt as you may be able to see in the picture above. This came out quite nice. Since my sister adores cows and her kitchen is filled with them, I decided to personalize her apron set. This is the first time that I have tried my hand at applique' of any kind.

I searched for a cow picture I could use to do the applique' with. This was the simplest design I could find and I did a handdrawn version of it on paper, cut the individual parts out and then cut the fabric accordingly. I quite like the mix of colours! Now comes the real problem. I have a very old sewing machine that cannot do fancy quilting stitches or even satin stitch. I experimented with various stitching options I do have and the buttonhole stitch worked the best.

This is a close-up picture of my first attempt. A bit scew but I am pleased with the result! Here is the matching potholder.

Once this is done I can send off her parcel!

Felted Bags

Did I make these? No way! I can knit but my sister Linda is the expert knitter in the family! This was however her first attempt at felting and I think it looks devine. I sent her a copy of Nicky Epstein's Fabulous Felted Bags and some 100% wool yarn and she started playing around.

She also made me some extra roses with some wool left. Not sure what I will do with this yet but I am sure it will come in handy sometime. I do plan to make a fabric lining for these bags and more sturdy handles. Another item for my "to do list" which grows all the time!

Grand Sac de Voyage!

I purchased a nice handbag book from http://madebylova.wordpress.com/ a few months ago but only found the time to make a bag from the book recently. The pattern that made me buy the book was the Grand Sac de Voyage. Then one Sunday morning I decided to make the bag with the cutest flannel fabric I found in a local shop.



I found some cute flannel fabric in my stash for the lining. Can you see the cute little sheep? I did forget to add pockets on the inside, so there might be some extra work to fix this soon...








The bag was really easy to make. I don't understand a word of french but the photos and instructions are easy to follow. I certainly plan to make another one soon!

New home for Pinktulip!

As of today, this is the new home of Pinktulip. I feel at home already! Watch this space as I migrate older posts from http://www.pinktulip.co.za/ and post some new sewing adventures.