I don’t know if any of you know Katie Henry and Made by Hank and if not you should definitely check her out, because she really inspired me to make my own bags with my own pattern.

So about a month ago on a Friday I came home, after a really crappy and stressful day at work, and started drawing my own pattern. I knew that I wanted it big enough for at least a book, my MacBook and my Yoga clothes and that I wanted to use piping, but that was about it. I actually just wanted to make the pattern and maybe cut the fabric, but then I got into some kind of sewing flow/high (ha, who said you only get this if you do sports!) and the next time I checked the clock, it was 3:30 am and I was very tired but also extremely happy.

I used two different colors of wool/felt fabric (actually the same I used for my Cozy on the Couch Pillow) and some Ikea fabric for the lining. I wasn’t sure what kind of interfacing I should use and because I wasn’t really thrilled with the papery feel of the last projects I made, I decided to only use iron-on interfacing on the outside and some polar fleece for the lining. I can definitely say that it’s great combination for this type of bag. It gives the perfect amount of sturdiness without being stiff and adds a nice volume to the fabric.

The bag has two inner pockets with the same bias binding I used for the piping, and I used an old H&M belt for the handle. To finish it off, I did some top stithing on the flap in the same color the belt is.

So happy, happy, joy, joy, I made the first I-truly-did-everything-myself bag, and because Made by Hank inspired me I call this bag “The Hank Bag”.

Planing the mermaid quilt I thought, hey wouldn’t it look really cool to have some loopy free motion quilting on the border? I knew it wouldn’t be easy after reading about it and watching some videos, but I just wanted some loops and not the fancy complicated stuff, so how hard can it be?  I ordered the foot, it came and I stuffed it away. 

Yesterday I tried my first sandwich and let me tell you: everybody who is capable of quilting even two loops that look the same is my new hero. Boy that was a classic case of overestimating myself. Maybe I should learn to walk and not to run first,  I mean I only started sewing 4 month ago for heavens sake, what was I thinking?

It’s impossible to hold the fabric straight and to move steady. I’m not even sure I can do it even if I would practice everyday, but I’m gonna try it anyway. I’ll definitely try to wear some rubber gloves the next time *sexy* and see how that goes.  So if any of you have some tips I would truly appreciate it.

In other news, look what Tony gave me for our anniversary, yeah!

Now I only have to get my sewing machine to his place and start cutting the fabric for my quilt. Because at the moment he is sitting next to me playing Mirrors Edge (the other present he got from me), while all I can think about is sewing, sewing, sewing, sewing, sewing……

Funny thing: when I was a kid my mum used to craft a lot, but mainly she did embroidery. I remember her sitting on the beach when we where in Italy on vacation, stitching while I probably complained that I don’t want to wear a t-shirt, and no mum the sun won’t hurt me. I always wondered how she could bring up the patience to stitch a whole blanket with flowers and leaves.

Well about 25 years later, I understand. It’s kind of relaxing, and busy hands… how does that saying go?

Anyway, I made this little cake for my boyfriend as a present for our 4th anniversary. I already framed it, and it now hangs on his kitchen wall. In case you are wondering why it says “the cake is a lie”: it’s from a computer game called Portal where you have to survive in test chambers while a crazy computer voice promises you cake and grief counseling if you survive - which is obviously a lie.

Yup, we’re geeks.

This part of “Make something” is for Joanna from Joannabags, because she was crazy enough to sew three of the pouches in less than 20 hours after I posted the links. Talk about sewing addiction. So here are the tutorials for sewing storage boxes and baskets especially for you Joanna.

Storage Baskets - organize your magazines and sewing pattern

Fabric Buckets - cute, round buckets for your scraps & everything else

Charging Basket - store your gadgets while they charge

Patchwork Basket - a lovely version with handles

Fabric Baskets - another patchwork version

Trim Box - store your trims, or make them bigger for Cd’s

Storage Cubes - colorful cubes with labels

Jewel Case Cube - no sewing and it doubles as a candle holder

And since Marie from Protect The Cookie!!! made another four of the pouches, she got to chose the topic for next week’s “Make something”.  I hope to get it up around next weekend if I don’t die of Christmas cookies overload :)

This is some of my Ikea fabric stash. I already made bags out of the first three and the one on the right will  be turned into the Amy Butler Weekend Traveler Bag as soon as I can build up the nerves to tackle the pattern.

Want to show off your Stash? Join the Sunday Stash at 1/4 of an inch.

Wanna see more stash? Check out the Sunday Stash flickr group.

…. because I like the macro feature on my new camera, and I like pincushions.

You can always click on the picture for a larger version and more pics on flickr if you like. Or if you’re bored why not make your own pincushion?