purses and chairs?

Oh, the neglect!

With good reason though..
I've been holding back on creating any handbags, since I have so many and havent gotten rid of them yet. I dont feel that any of them are good enough to sell yet- since they're not perfect. BUT, tonight I had some time home alone, so I set about making a bag from start to finish with no flaws. I made sure to take my time, instead of rushing to the end like I usually do. The only thing I forgot was to put the feet on.. but other than that, I think she came out rather well.

Hawaiian Kim

Technique wise, this is probably one of the best I've made, if not the best. I put the straps on inbetween the lining and the outershell, so there aren't any unsightly ends. I also made sure this time to have my threads matching, so the outside has red thread and the inside, which is lined in a dark navy blue shimmery fabric, has black thread. Yay!


In other news, I decided that I couldn't stand the ugly pink velour chairs any longer. I've never upholstered before- but then again, most of my sewing efforts are trial&error, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Instead of buying one of those chair covers that never quite fits, I decided to have my hand at it. I managed to find a fabric that matched our couch perfectly in colour, so I thought I'd post the progress of covering the chairs (there are two, but no sense showing both!)

This is how they started out..

snug tailoring..



sewn and fitted..


Almost done..


Done! This chair gave me a bit of a headache because I wasn't thinking, did the whole thing, then opened it to recline it (they are reclining chairs) and snapped all the seams! Back to the drawing board.

I ran out of fabric so the bottoms were showing pink.. which I decided to fix by making magazine pockets on both sides..


Magazine pockets!

Hurrah!
Sleepytime now!

Domestic Day

Today was spent doing everything around the house. Vacuuming, mopping, dusting, laundry, sewing, dishes, the works. Liz came over with a bundle of clothes for me to fix for her, and I snapped my one and only needle on the bottom of her jeans while fixing their taper. So I'm "out of action" until I can run off and buy a new needle for my sewing machine.

Luckily, a couple days before, I had a chance to play around with a new design idea I had.
I don't really like it, but I suppose I had to make it to realise that! I'm not sure why I dont like it, since I like the idea of a curved bag.. there's just something not right. Could be that it's a bit sloppy looking. It's not sellable so I have no idea what I'll do with it- seems a waste.

I named her Diana, after the moon, since she's moon shaped. Turquoise lining is so yummy.

Then I made a Lucy bag out of the same old dress that I made the apron out of- this is for my DeNuevo line of reused fabric bags.

I gave her fushia lining since its so pretty and bright!


Now comes the little dilemma we've been having as of late. Now that the dining nook (and yes, its a nook.. this place is so tiny EVERYTHING is a nook) is finally coming together, I want to paint the trimming on the built in shelves. Only I cannot for the life of me decide what colour they should be, and whether we should paint just the frame, or the curvey inlay, or both.

Suggestions welcome!

(its that frame/built in shelf thingy on the left with all the pots and bowls).