Thank goodness it is Friday!

Hello my Lovely Friends, how are you all. It is really wonderful to see you again, do come in and make yourself at home.  I had  planned to write a couple of posts this week but unfortunately I have had to work over for three nights making the week extremely long and tiring.  It is just the time of the year with an Open Evening where I work and having to cover for people off ill.  Hopefully spring is on the way and things will calm down.  The interview went well for my voluntary work and I am now just waiting to be matched up with my elderly person.  They had a few people available for me to visit but I would have to travel around 30 - 40 miles one way which I felt was a little far with the time I have available.  Hopefully they will find someone nearer for me. 

 

I have been trying to keep up with all your fabulous blogs and leave messages but the last few days have been frantic as a lot of my students are attending university interviews so it has been tense for all of us.  I like to think of all my learners as part of a big family - I have 6 groups in total to look after which is around 100 students and I think they are all just fabulous. They range in age from 20 to 50 and are all aiming for vocational degrees in nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy and social work so it is hard for them, working on the course and maintaining their families and home duties. 

 

I set myself a challenge to make three small bags with zips by myself without the guidance of Rachel my sewing teacher.  I only managed two and these have been sent off to my lovely granddaughter and daughter-in-law. Rachel is on holiday this week so no sewing classes which was pretty helpful as I have to work over and might not have managed to go to my classes.  I have really missed her though.

 

I made my daughter-in-law's first.  I am not sure if you remember this fabric (the one with the stripes) but it is one of Cath Kidson's line which I bought ages and ages ago.  I am not sure if they still stock it but it is so lovely to work with - just a dream.  The pink lining is a small piece of scrap which I found in my sewing basket.  At this stage of my design it is all a bit hit and miss I am ashamed to say is very hit and miss and this continues throughout the making process.

 

 

I cut out some hearts and flowers to decorate the bags with pieces of scraps from my basket.  In think they look so pretty.

 

 

Below is my lovely granddaughter's fabric.  It is very chic and French which I hope she will love as Paris is her favourite city.  You can see all the bits of applique pieces laying on top of her fabric.

 

 

I wanted to put a heart in the centre of the bag and her name on the front so had a few experiments with the yarn to see what the effects would be. 

 

 

I had bought a glittery type thread which I thought would look fab.

 

 

I tried both the glittery and the ordinary thread out on the machine - see what you think. 

 

 

As you can see the glittery thread is a little vague whilst the ordinary thread is much more distinct.  I guess that it is a case of working out the tension on my machine to get this one right. I did manage to use it on the inside of my granddaughter's bag which was quite effective.

 

 

Because I was short on time this week so went with the ordinary thread for speed.  I used a blanket stitch to secure the heart on each bag.  I must say that I do love blanket stitch......do you like it too?

 

 

 

I used a plain fabric to line Lauren's bag as I wanted to put some little flowers and hearts inside it so thought a cream material would look more effective.

 

 

I had set myself a challenge this week to insert three zips but only managed two.  I was pleased though with the results as I am trying to get more confident with these, particularly with the finishing of them.  My new machine is so helpful with the lovely patterns it can do - I have fallen in love with it Folks.

 

 

This is the lining of my daughter-in-law's bag - the scrap piece worked really well and looked very pretty.

 

 

So what was the end result?  Here they are, I hope you like them.

 

 

 

 

Well all my Lovelies I must love you and leave you now as I have to get some housework done before my eldest Son comes to stay tomorrow for the weekend.  We are all going out for a meal for my husband's birthday so I want to make sure everything is spic and span.  I also need to catch up on all the blogs I have missed this week.  Looking forward to doing that as it is always a treat to see what everyone has been up to.  Don't forget that my mystery St Valentine's giveaways ends tonight at midnight and I shall ask my Son to do the honours tomorrow and post the results on Sunday. 

 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend wherever you are in our beautiful world.  Keep safe and happy and leave a comment if you are able to as I love to hear from you all.  I took this photograph this morning before leaving for work as it was nice to see the garden a little sunnier than it has been, although it was raining soon after!

 

 

Sending you all lots of hugs and loves.  Dorothy :-)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx