Some birthday sewing
It's mayhem here at Chez Cheese and I seem to have dropped off the face of the earth for a few weeks there - sorry about that!
It's one of our peak periods at the day job (airport bus) so I'm very busy driving all those lucky schmucks happy to start their Christmas holidays, and in my spare time I've been sleeping, exercising, and taking care of my big mountain cottage.
December and January are also big birthday months for me (and we've got Christmas to consider too - eek, only 3 weeks away now!) so I managed to squeeze in some quick birthday sewing for a very lovely friend of mine.
One of my all time favourite blogs is Pink Penguin, and I'd been wanting to try out her lunch bag tutorial for the longest time. Like all of her tutorials it really is an absolute breeze to sew. I changed a few things but that was definitely no reflection on the pattern or instructions! I made the bag a little bigger than the pattern, and I changed things about a bit so there is no 'rim' on the front of the bag, and the seam of the drawstring part is hidden in the lining+rim on the inside.
The monogram stencil idea (which I love, and consequently want to apply to every flat surface within reach) came from the TidyMom blog and it was a cinch! I love the doilies she used for her stencil, so I'm on the lookout for something a little fancier than the simple paper doilies we seem to be stuck with down here.
{Stenciling with doilies is popping up everywhere in the blogosphere lately! As I was typing this post (and browsing my google reader) I found this tutorial by One Pearl Button for stenciling on votive candle glasses with a doily and a sharpie - love!}
I'd fallen in love with this bag before I'd even finished it! I kind of wanted to keep it for myself, but I'd already gone and stenciled Steph's first initial on the bag so if I kept it I'd have to go and change my name, and that seemed like too much trouble.
So I'm thinking I definitely need one of these bags, too. I love that it's a deep-bottomed bucket bag so it stands up on its own, combined with a drawstring-bag top so you can hide all your bits and pieces from view - and stop everything rolling out if you're a bit of a clutz like me!
It's one of our peak periods at the day job (airport bus) so I'm very busy driving all those lucky schmucks happy to start their Christmas holidays, and in my spare time I've been sleeping, exercising, and taking care of my big mountain cottage.
December and January are also big birthday months for me (and we've got Christmas to consider too - eek, only 3 weeks away now!) so I managed to squeeze in some quick birthday sewing for a very lovely friend of mine.
One of my all time favourite blogs is Pink Penguin, and I'd been wanting to try out her lunch bag tutorial for the longest time. Like all of her tutorials it really is an absolute breeze to sew. I changed a few things but that was definitely no reflection on the pattern or instructions! I made the bag a little bigger than the pattern, and I changed things about a bit so there is no 'rim' on the front of the bag, and the seam of the drawstring part is hidden in the lining+rim on the inside.
The monogram stencil idea (which I love, and consequently want to apply to every flat surface within reach) came from the TidyMom blog and it was a cinch! I love the doilies she used for her stencil, so I'm on the lookout for something a little fancier than the simple paper doilies we seem to be stuck with down here.
{Stenciling with doilies is popping up everywhere in the blogosphere lately! As I was typing this post (and browsing my google reader) I found this tutorial by One Pearl Button for stenciling on votive candle glasses with a doily and a sharpie - love!}
I'd fallen in love with this bag before I'd even finished it! I kind of wanted to keep it for myself, but I'd already gone and stenciled Steph's first initial on the bag so if I kept it I'd have to go and change my name, and that seemed like too much trouble.
So I'm thinking I definitely need one of these bags, too. I love that it's a deep-bottomed bucket bag so it stands up on its own, combined with a drawstring-bag top so you can hide all your bits and pieces from view - and stop everything rolling out if you're a bit of a clutz like me!