On my sewing table ...

I'm very much a gadget girl. I love all the sewing gadgets from Clover. I love my new purple Clover magnetic pin holder.

It comes with a plastic cover (to stop the kitties pulling the pins off!) and the groove makes it easy to get the pins out. I also recently got a pair of duck billed scissors. It makes trimming seam allowances so much easier!

As always Milly has to sit right where I'm trying to work.

This is my mini design wall. It sits above my sewing machine. It is great for sticking the pattern instructions up so I can refer to them while I'm sewing. The sheets are self-adhesive, reusable, leave no residue and nothing has fallen off it yet. They're by Gripping-Stuff and I got them from OfficeWorks. Very handy.

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Peggy's Bag

I made this bag last month for my mum-in-law to be. I made it using the "Pleated Beauty" pattern from Bend-The-Rules Sewing.

I was having sewing machine issues but gave it a good clean out, a jeans needle and was finally able to finish my bag for Peggy. The fabric is chocolate cord with a small floral pattern. I made the flower design on the fly.

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Its getting hot in here ...

Well, the weather is warming up and the reptiles are coming out.

Here are some cold-blooded locals we snapped up on our last Mudgee visit.

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In Progress - Hummingbird Bag

This is my first zipper project and my first attempt at sewing in a curved gusset! The gusset was tricky! I had to unpick it 3 times - but the fourth time it all lined up. I was so excited about making this bag though because it is so different from anything else I've made. I used a pattern from "Quilted Bags and Purses".

The fabric is a mix of Junko Onishi's Hummingbird fabric and rust coloured velvet and woven material from a curtain shop's offcuts. The lining is chocolate brown cotton drill and the zip is dark chocolate too. I also used fusible pelon and woven interfacing for the first time.

The bag is designed to be carried in your hand but I like wearing bags on my shoulders. So, I'm going to make some more strap lengths and attach them to the existing straps with 'D-rings'. The bag is the most layers of fabric I've ever had to sew and my machine suprisingly went through it all. Using brand new needles really makes a difference. My new "hump jumper" also helped stitching through all the layers enormously.

Finished bag to be posted soon ...

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