Espritpatch

  All the pouches are finished and gifted now! I made another 7, all with the same fabric at the top and cream zips.  I changed the colour of the faux leather at the bottom and also the lining fabric depending on the topic of the teachers. And of course I added a cute little label I don't have a picture with the 7+3 pouches together, I finished them in batches as they were needed! Nothing like a deadline to get going... Happy to have managed to make as many (well one extra) as the girls wanted to gift! Linking to  Brag about your Beauties ,  Off the wall Friday ,  Patchwork and Quilt Céline

  It is the time of year again and as usual, I have left it quite late... although the 2 first presents which will be gifted tomorrow are already wrapped and ready to go and a third one is also finished! The end of the school year is fast approaching so it is high time I finally make the presents. Once again I have opted for the tried and trusted Open Wide Pouch pattern by Noodle Head, I am not sure how many I have made through the years but quite a few. This year I decided to make the smallest size, which finishes at W:4.5 x H:5'' so a good size to store small bits and pieces, make up or USB keys and cables or sewing supplies or art supplies or whatever really! My middle daughter is leaving Collège (Middle School) to start Lycée (High School) in September so there is a larger than usual order to say good bye to her favorite teachers! For now, as I said the first 3 pouches are completed ready to go. I used the same canvas fabric for the top and the same lining fabric for all 3....

Nothing better than a tight deadline to focus my attention! I bought a panel to make a birthday present for my friend a few months ago and of course it had sat there since. Well her birthday was on Sunday and she invited us for a meal so I knew I had to finish my gift by then. I was originally planning to make a pouch but the panel was rather large at 17''+ so I decided a tote bag would be more appropriate. First step was to pick a complementary faux leather for the back of the bag as well as a lining. The printed panel was quite thin so I decided to use faux leather for the front and back and to simply attach the panel to the faux leather. I added a small pocket to the lining, as well as an elastic to keep a water bottle straight in the bag and of course, a cute little label. Once the panels were assembled I cut out a 2'' square off each corner to box off the bag. And I found this lovely black glittery webbing at my local market on Saturday morning for the straps. All ...

I made another batch of little pillow card holders, with a bit more colours this time and I remembered to take pictures!!  Still using the same pattern:   Pillow Card Holder pattern from Sewing Seeds of Love . I cut a pile of them on my cricut from various scraps of faux leather which had a nice enough wrong side since these are not lined.  Once cut, they only need folding and they are finished with 2 snaps. Task I delegated to my daughter since she was off sick from school.  And then my husband was called to the rescue to hammer the snaps and secure them.  I also made a special one, adding a hot fix crystal that I bought in New York last year and never got around to use! This one was gifted to my friend when she visited, an early Christmas present! All 12 have been given away, the main batch to school for their fundraising and the diamanté one to my friend.   Linking  to  D esign Wall Monday ,  Midweek Makers ,  Wednesday Wait Los...

  We all travelled back to England this week to see friends. Before we went, I made 2 more baskets as gift. A Barbie pink one for my youngest to gift to her friend and a blue one w ith horses for my eldest daughter to gift to her friend too After my first basket following the tutorial for the binding, I didn't like the bulk at the junction so I decided to join the binding with a 45 angle and it is much neater. I also serged the seam of the lining to have a neater finish there too. 4 little baskets made over the last 2 weeks and I can really say it's made a difference to my stash BUT it's for me spending some sewing time almost every day and following  Kate's challenge . Linking to  Put your foot down ,  Brag about your Beauties ,   Off the wall Friday ,  Can I get a Whoop Whoop ,  Peacock Party ,  Patchwork and Quilt ,  D esign Wall Monday ,  Midweek Makers ,  Wednesday Wait Loss ,  Happy Needle and Threa d Céline

  It seems that somehow the end of the school year has crept on me even more than usual... I suddenly realised last Sunday that the kids were about to start their last week, i.e. that teachers' presents were needed to be completed by the end of the week but I hadn't even made a start... I needed 4 this year and one was needed by Wednesday morning not Friday + Wednesday evening was the annual fete de la musique (music festival for the summer solstice) which meant that that was one last evening to work on the presents. I settled on the Zero Waste Wave bag pattern by bag.uettes that I had used extensively 2 years ago before our big move. I digged into my faux leather stash and found 2 sets of 2 fabrics that would work for the outside. The bag is not lined in the original pattern but my faux leather back is not necessarily pretty so I opted to line them. With the pieces all cut, first step was to make the handles, I opted for the spaghettis ones this time, which ends up being quit...

School is now over and with that teachers'presents are also completed! And on time too. Granted, I made a lot less than last year with all the bags we gifted before or big move, not just to school teachers. But considering the very little time I  spent creating in the last year or so I had to be realistic. So for my youngest daughter's teacher, I also made 2 Open Wide Pouch from the pattern by Anna. I picked a different fabric combination for those ones, a leftover from a handbag I made a few years back (I still love this fabric) paired with a chartreuse faux leather.   For the lining it was a cotton with a dark blue Chevron. All from my stash of course, including the zips. Again I made the bigger one and the smaller one.  Maybe it's because I had just made them the week before but they came together very easily and quite fast actually. Which was just as well as time was running out!  Finished in time to be gifted to the teacher on the last day of school, exactl...

  The open wide pouches that I started last weekend are finished and gifted! They were meant to be end of year gifts for my middle daughter's main teacher who has been very good at helping her settle in school in France. Her last school day was Thursday so there was no other option but to finish them on Wednesday night, which I duly did!  A big massive pouch and a tiny one Both with a UK-themed lining I didn't have 2 identical zips so the smaller one is pink, the larger one is beige with tabs of assorted colour.  I hope her teacher likes them and find a use for them! It felt very good to be seeing again and to use a little bit of this massive stash we've moved... It has been such a long time since I didn't finish something! 2 this month feels great.  Linking to  Brag about your Beauties ,   Off the wall Friday ,   Finished or Not Finished Friday ,   Put your foot down ,  Peacock Party ,   Patchwork and Quil t Celine