Tuesday 3 September 2013

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

4 comments:

  1. Ah Dorothy, you are much too busy and it would be good to slow down and be kind to yourself!
    I am sorry to hear of your friend's troubles and of course send her warm hugs!
    For the main part of the cushion I would choose the orange fabric but you should go with your intuition .. .. ..
    The birthday girl will be so happy with her new bag and contents - a very thoughtful lovely gift!
    Joy x

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  2. Firstly I couldn't agree more with Joy, you really need to be kind to yourself and make some time to put your feet up and relax, read a book or just flick through a magazine. You are always so busy and the problem is that I can so relate as I use to be exactly the same, and still very much is although my health doesn't allow for it anymore, so do take care of yourself will you. Ok rant over.

    I think you have done a lovely job with that bag in the end and the little insert is just gorgeous. I am sure Floss is going to love it, and especially that hanky (oh my, I was drooling!!. I have never thought of hankies as unhygienic, but I suppose they are. I have always used them, and suspect I always will. How very kind of you to think of me Dorothy, you are so sweet! Hopefully we can meet up at this month's Treacle or the next.
    Now for the cushion, I personally think you should just do it in the orange and do the inner in brown. I personally wouldn't put a name on it and as for the brooch, I will use a gluegun (if you have one) and add a little brooch pin as I think it will be very sweet to add to a jacket over the autumn and winter. Goodluck with it all, looking forward to the next chapter. Sending you much love xoxo

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  3. I am so looking forward to seeing the end results, especially the zip broach.
    I have a fancy to make my granddaughter, Mae, a cushion with the number 5 on one side (at just 2 years she tell everyone that 5 is her favourite number) and her name on the other side.
    I need templates, any idea????

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  4. Aww I love the fabrics you've used, especially the little calendars which are really unusual but I can think of so many awesome things you could do with them :) It might remind me to blog once & a while haha!

    I do the same, staying up late to sew... It's addictive isn't it!

    x

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