It's Monday, Again

Sometimes a girl just has to have fun.  On Friday I decided to take a break from prepping kits for my upcoming visit to The Pomegranate Guild Of Jewish Needlework's biennial convention in Atlanta and just play!  I bought some linen last time I visited NYC and bought some more at Byrne Sewing Connection when I taught there 2 weeks ago.

I had to search for my Print Gocco.  It has been many years since I had used it, but I had an  idea that I wanted to try.  It eventually turned up in the basement.  I heard it was a Japanese children's toy back in 2009.  It's an easy way to silkscreen, making the screen and printing all in one.  The problem is that the bulbs used to expose the screen and the  screens themselves are single use only. Although in limited supply, replacements can be bought, but they are pricey.  I had enough to make 2 screens and that's what I needed.

I searched for some copyright free designs and found what I was looking for.  I experimented a bit with the size, printing with my inkjet printer.

I prepared the screen.

and got ready to print.

It took a bit of experimentation, and then success.

After these dried, there was Step 2.

Here they are drying and here's a close up.

On Mother's Day, I always do some sewing for myself.  Sometimes it can last an entire day and other years it's just a couple of hours.  Since I'm leavng for Atlanta in less than a week,  I only had a couple of hours.  I had the perfect set up with my favorite companion, breakfast made by my hubby and a Netflix show on my iPad while sitting at my sewing machine.

 I did have fun turning my silk screened sewing machine into my zippered pouch.

I used the directions from The Sewing Chick.  She has great instructions 

for inserting the zipper that lays perfectly flat.  You can find her instructions HERE>

  Thank you Tessa Marie.

Speaking of dogs, I used my dog print on linen for the inside.

And to make the day even better I had a visit from my son who cooked me a wonderful meal and brought the perfect cake.

Hope you enjoyed Mother's Day whether you are a Mom or you celebrated

 a Mom you know or knew.  

Stop by on Friday for the next Stitchography interview.  Beth Helfter of Eva Paige DEsigns.I am learning so much about the different paths that we "creatives" take along with advice for people waning to earn some money doing what we love.

I"ve Gotten Carried Away

There are advantages and disadvantages to having a scientific background.  For me, the biggest disadvantage is that when thinking about a project, I envision all the permutations and variations.

I can't help myself.  It's very hard to constrain myself.  I work very hard to FOCUS - sometimes.

 

I made this zippered pouch before I left for Key West using the tutorial for easy zippy pouches on a blog called dog under my desk. The directions are wonderful and if you have ever struggled to insert a zipper into a pouch, Erin shows you the easiest way ever.

 

The directions are for a pretty small pouch.  It was too small for my purposes.  I enlarged the directions and made this pouch to carry my key, money, credit cards and phone when I rode my bike.

 

I knew I wanted to make more and brought fabric with me for this purpose.  It was supposed to be one fun day while working on my Bailey quilt.  One day turned into 3 days, because I just kept imagining all the possibilities.  I ended up with 12 zippy pouches and a handbag!

 

 A trio from my new favorite color combination- orange and pink!

It's a batik.  I really like choosing a contrasting zipper color.

 This bag was cut as 10"x13".  I added a gusset.  they are very easy to do.

These smaller pouches were made 2 at a time.

 I quilted a 10"x10" square and then cut it in half to 5"x10".

These long pouches can be use as pencil cases or for brushes or for a rotary cutter.

They are both made from fabric treated with vinyl  The starting dimension was 9"x11".

I put a piece of batting inside of the bicycle one.

 I do love this bicycle fabric.  I started with 1/2yd that I bought on a visit to The City Quilter in NYC. I see more zippered pouches in its future.

 Not so successful use of a photo printed on fabric. 

Not enough contrast and the stitching was too distracting.

 Successful use of a photo on fabric.  A gift for a friend.

 So then I thought, why couldn't a make a shoulder bag using this zippered pouch technique.

At first I was going to choose a nice conservative black fabric, but decided to use a WOW! fabric.

Looking at it finished I realized that it is not really that wow,

 so maybe next time I will choose a show stopper.

 

This started with a sandwich measuring 10"x 18". 

After quilting it, I added an inside pocket.

I sewed a bottom seam and then I stitched down the middle.

I like a place where it is easy to find my phone and camera.

This is the hardware that I used.  There are not a lot of places to shop for sewing supplies here, but I found the clips at Ben Franklin. The plastic for the strap handle, I 'borrowed" from the back strap of an inexpensive backpack. 

I think it will make a great, lightweight travel purse.

It fits across my body - and it's adjustable.

 

Now that I have had a play day that turned into 3 days, it's time to get back to the Bailey quilt.