A couple weeks ago I made a quick excited post to facebook about the dress/bag swap Sarah and I arranged, and there were so many positive comments and ‘likes’, that we thought everybody would like to see the end result.
It all came about when I offered to make Sarah a cute dress to wear at quilt market {this week!!!} if she made me one of her coveted bags. I’m sure I could make my own bag just as easily as Sarah could make her own dress, but since I love to sew clothes, and Sarah makes the most darling bags around, I thought it would be a good trade. Sarah was pretty excited too. In fact, when you’re done reading my blog post, you can read her side of the story over at the ‘BlueSusan Makes’ blog.
So… this is the dress that she picked out. It’s from the Ottobre Design Women’s issue that came out this spring (2/2012).
The first thing I did was sew up a quick muslin (or test dress) using a vintage sheet I had picked up at a yard sale somewhere. I love using these for my test projects because they cost pennies and sometimes make really cute things. I made the muslin in my size and wore it the next time I saw Sarah so she could give me input. She loved it (especially the sleeves) so we pushed ahead.
Next, I knew that Sarah’s favorite fabric comes from Anna Maria Horner, so I found a cute AMH voile at Fabricworm and ordered a bunch. When it came, it was so silky and beautiful we nearly died!
And here it is! We put fewer gathers in the front and added clear elastic to the back horizontal seam allowance to cinch the waist in a bit, and I’d say it’s perfect (not to brag or anything).
And what about my bag??? Well to tell the truth, I haven’t actually held it but Sarah keeps sending me pictures to drive me bonkers! Just kidding, I know she’s had a terribly busy day and we’re getting together tomorrow and I can’t wait. So here’s the pictures:
Swoon… It’s a whole new design she made just for me! We talked over a few details like the size, and the cinched paper-bag type top, but it’s so much cuter than I ever imagined. Isn’t Sarah the most talented bag maker you ever saw? I think so. If you’re wondering, she might have a few pieces left in her etsy shop, but this whole quilt market thing has kept her too busy to replace all the sold orders (sorry, babe).
Okay, that’s all I’m gonna say about our swap. If you want to read more, head on over to the BlueSusan Makes blog. And watch for our Quilt Market pictures coming soon!
p.s. Have you ever done a sewing swap? Tell us about it!
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This was so much fun. Making bags is fun (in my opinion), and being able to make everything from scratch, including faux-leather handles is just icing on the cake. My inspiration for trying this at all was Heather’s blog post…
Use up small pieces of fabric and make an amazing fabric match box. This is perfect for holding and organizing sewing supplies such as thread, safety pins, bobbins, and more! Or make it an adorable gift with a surpise inside. I can think of about a million and three uses for a handy little organizer like this!
I sewed a bunch of boxy zipper pouches using laminated fabric and they look great! Boxy pouches are going to be a huge craft fair item this year. Maybe I’m just saying that because I have lots of craft fair friends, and maybe not. But I’m pretty darn confident that if you don’t make one (or more) of these yourself, you’ll be getting it somewhere else. So why not make your own???
It’s been a couple months since I first told you about the Inspired LED sewing machine lights. The company (Inspired LED) was putting together a kit and they sent me some to test and giveaway. I love my lights so much and love sewing at night too since the having enough light is never a problem anymore.
At my daughter Chloe’s high school (can you believe my baby started high school???), the lunch lines are so long that she has been skipping lunch! She’s always starving by the time she gets home because she doesn’t want to carry a big lunch bag as well as her heavy backpack – poor girl!
I used to visit a small quilt shop at least twice a month. I’d go in because there was something I needed, or I happened to be shopping nearby and I wanted to see what was new, or because I was traveling and I needed blog material (like: check out this new quilt shop I found!).
But then something I never expected happened and it’s still hard for me to think about without a lot of anxiety.
One Comment
Thank you for the idea for the elastic in the back of the dress :). I was googling for ideas on how to customise this pattern. I just got a lot of thin cotton fabric, patchwork fabric I think, from someones mum, and thought that it would be nice for the Cordelia dress, but needed it to be more flattering.
Thank you for the idea for the elastic in the back of the dress :). I was googling for ideas on how to customise this pattern.
I just got a lot of thin cotton fabric, patchwork fabric I think, from someones mum, and thought that it would be nice for the Cordelia dress, but needed it to be more flattering.