Nearly there now

Well hi Everyone do come in and make yourselves at  home.  I was home late tonight from work so have only just got on to the computer.  I have been itching to get home to try and finish the birthday bag and make a start on the cushion.  I am sure you have had this happen to you - I made plans to get away at a reasonable time but one thing led to another, then after I got home there were a few phone calls, then some emails and more emails, make tea, tidy the things away, more emails.............When does it stop? 

Anyway I am here now and it is so lovely to see you all - what a treat it is for me.  I must admit that I stayed up late last night to sew the lining into the bag - it wouldn't work with the sewing machine so it was hand sewing all the way around.  Since I have worked on the machine I have found it easier whereas in the past I would have always hand stitched as much as I could.  When I look at my handiwork it doesn't look that professional so I am never as pleased with it and would always rather machine it.  But needs must. 

 

 

I must say that I used a different type of wadding this time and was not as pleased with the end result as I was with Lauren's bag.  This one was much more fluffy and tends to get tangled in the machine, I kept worrying that the needle would break but it didn't.  I certainly wouldn't use this type of wadding again in the future for things like this. 

 



 

I have used more buttons on this one as I thought they would make a change from my usual beads.  There are some beads on it but not as much as Lauren's as I was very conscious that I was going to run out of time before the birthday party next week.

 

This is the front with the little elastic tags on.  I am going to attach some orange buttons as that is her favourite colour. 
 

Below is the little bead to signify her special birthday date - I hope she likes it.

 

 

Here it is finished below.  Looking at it now I feel disappointed as I think there are too many buttons on it but I had to move on as time is short.  What do you think lovely Folks?  I always seem to leave myself short of time - not deliberately as there is a lot to do as we all know but time seems to slip through my hands like water.  Any advice about time management gratefully received.

 

 

I bought a Cath Kidston birthday card which contains a little hankie which I thought was sweet.  I always hope handkerchiefs will make a comeback but I guess they won't as they are quite unhygienic I suppose and we don't all the time to boil and iron them nowadays.  But, who knows..............I know that the lovely Hannapat loves them as I do - am saving you some Hannapat for when we meet up.  

 

 

Here is the hankie - lovely!

 

 

 

You may remember this little pouch below which I made ages ago.  I thought it would make a handy insert for the bag so that she can put any little bits and pieces such as hankies, comb and so on.

 

 

I have put in a little soap and some nice body cream - always useful, especially for me at my age.

 

 

 

As you can see below, the pouch just fits in nicely into the bag.  Oh I do hope she likes it, one can never tell with such things.

 

 

Now lovely Folks I need your kind advice here.  I am dithering over the cushion - shall I make the main piece in the orange which I know she will love and have in the inner piece brown?  Any applique can be then done in the brown and would be quite effective and eye-catching I think.  Or, shall I do it the other way around - I need to make a decision by tomorrow so I can start it.  I am wondering about putting her nick name in big letters, not sure how it will look.  I had thought of cutting out some of the orange patterns and stitching them on to the brown - oh dear, another decision to make and I am stuck.  Help!  

 

I also thought about making a small brooch out of this orange zip and putting it on the cushion somewhere, there isn't much room left on the bag for a brooch now so it would have to be on the cushion.  What do you think?  I am sure you are getting as confused as I am.

 

 

Well lovely Folks I will leave you soon.  I am so so tired today, have had a really weary day and not my best at all so apologies for the lacklustre post.  I get so fired up about life and want to run 100 miles an hour with everything but then get shot down in flames when I overtire myself as I have today.  I was going to cut out the cushion tonight but am going to stop instead and wait for tomorrow.  I am hoping you will send me some lovely ideas as you always do.   

 

One little message to a lovely friend who I love dearly - J has had some upsetting news and she has been on my mind all day - do send her lots of positive wishes dear Friends as she badly needs them now.  She is the most wonderful sewer and crafter and undersells herself all the time.  I am so far away from her it is so hard to do anything really concrete except send her lots of love and good wishes.  I am sending her a big virtual hug and hope you will do too. 

 

I will hopefully speak to you all tomorrow dear Friends, do leave a comment as I love hearing from you, it makes it all worthwhile.  Be safe, be happy and laugh.  Lots of love to you as always, Dorothy :-)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx