Handmade holiday presents 2014: shopping totes and more

Alisa's shopping tote

Here are the rest of my handmade holiday gifts for 2014.

I started out with the aprons featured in my Dec. 2 post "Handmade holiday presents 2014: Hot Cider apron panel" . For one of my favorite gifts, I used that same apron panel to make a shopping tote for Alisa using the Metro Shopping Bag pattern from Bags: the Modern Classics by Sue Kim (Stash Books, 2011) p. 81. I used a coordinating fabric from Wilmington Fabrics "Hot Cider" line, and for a touch that I really love, I added piping to the seams of the front and back panels. If you add piping to your project, don't forget to strip the cording out of the last one inch of both ends of the piping to make the top seams easier to stitch. The tote handles are made of webbed belting available at JoAnne Fabrics.

Tote in cotton twill by Project by Cotton, made in Japan

I also made this tote in a cotton twill with a multi-colored, stylized cat design by Project by Cotton, made in Japan. This tote also has webbed belting for the handles. I used iron-on batting for the front and back panel interlining and DecorBond for the side and bottom panel. Those cats are the cutest!

Harper Rose's Very Hungry Caterpillar Christmas pillows

I made two pillows for Brandi's one-month-old niece, Harper Rose, from Andover's "Very Hungry Caterpillar Christmas" panel, copyright by Eric Carle. The ruffle is made from "Very Hungry Caterpillar Christmas Scribble Red" yardage and the pillow backing is "Very Hungry Caterpillar Christmas" allover print (below). I hand-quilted the design on both pillows, inserted a zipper in the bottom seam of each pillow, and used 20-inch pillow forms from JoAnne Fabrics for the filler.

Andover's Very Hungry Caterpillar Christmas detail

12 Days of Christmas panel crib quilt

And for Kaden's first Christmas I made a hand-quilted crib quilt from the "12 Days of Christmas" panel by Gingerbread Angel Fabric for Benartex.

"12 Days of Christmas" panel detail

That was a lot of fun!

Comments

Starbucks mini-sling

by Linda Theil A bagmaker from the Kandou Patterns Community on FaceBook posted a bag featuring the Kandou "Mini-Traveler Sling" pattern using a Starbucks coffee bag as part of the fabrication. I am from Pittsburgh, so perhaps it comes naturally that I am intrigued by the use of iconic advertising in works of art, so I asked Alisa to please buy me some Starbucks coffee so that I could sew with the bags. I am also a fan of this slim, six-by-twelve-inch sling pattern that has three pockets and no inside! Alisa was particularly fond of the "Brown Sugar Cinnamon" limited edition bag, so I used this pink and gold bag for my first Starbucks sling. For the body of the bag, I used a cotton from the "Seedlings" collection by Katarina Rocella for Art Gallery Fabrics. The lining is Roccella's "Stacked Stones" design from her "Abstract Art" collection, also for AGF. "Stacked Stones" from "Abstract Art" collection by K. Rocc...

Origami wallet

by Linda Theil This little Lewis Men's Wallet pattern by Diane Spencer-Ogg is one of the quickest and cleverest wallets I've ever seen. The single-pattern-piece construction folds together like a work of origami. The wallet features several card slots and a slip pocket. Of the many fastening options available, I like the Velcro hook-and-loop fastener for security and ease of use. This little wallet is especially nice for kids. Back of wallet with AppletonDance badge applied.

Diane's Archie

by Linda Theil Diane Spencer-Ogg, owner of Spencer-Ogg, Ltd. in Greater Manchester, UK, released a new mini-duffle pattern she calls "Arch Zipper Pouches" in two sizes with printable pattern pieces and video tuturial. Her video introduction can be viewed at the end of this post. As always, Spencer-Ogg has hit the ball out of the park with the elegance of her design and the precision of her process. I have made two of the 10x8x4-inch large-sized Archies -- as her fans have dubbed the new pattern. The bag shown above is made of Mora Faux Leather in grape from Emmaline Bags of Alberta, Canada. The interior, shown below, is cotton from the "Art History" collection by Marcia Derse for Windham Fabrics. For my second Archie, I quilted a panel from the "Guess How Much I Love You" collection by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram for Clothworks. With this new design, Spencer-Ogg debuts an updated pattern-production method that provides printable pattern pieces and a c...

Appleton Dance

Search This Blog