Sunday Stash #73

A big thank you to Kristy from Quiet Play for hosting a Sketchy Sunday Stash last week. Next week Sunday Stash will be hosted by Amanda of What the Bobbin?

The most popular Stash visited last week was Gina from Party of Eight: Our Story who profiled the latest Heather Ross' gorgeous Briar Rose collection.

Last Monday night I had dinner with my lovely friend Marieka from Bespoke Bites. She was up in Lismore for a 2 day conference and so we felt very special having a night off, sans children, to catch up. Marieka and I have been friends since 2008 when we both moved to Tumut. We live about 200Km (130 miles) away from each other now. We both know the lifestyle of being married to Civil Engineers and having to move towns often for new projects.

She had a little fabric offering for me  - extra wide Essex linen/cotton blend in Natural. This is beautiful to work with on Zakka projects.

And another linen fabric which actually feels like linen. I wonder if it will sew and crush like linen. 

Recently I bought a couple of Denyse Schmidt prints that were in the $4 per/m discount section at Spotlight .

This for backing. I love orange.

This for binding.

Now it's your turn to "flash your stash". (Borrowed that hilarious phrase from Kristy's post last week!)

You can share

• newly purchased fabric
• precious fabric that has been in your stash for a while
• op-shop (thrifted) fabric finds
• swap triumphs
• give-away wins
• books, magazines
• patterns
• rulers
• threads and other sewing notions.
• fabric stamps.

Please also feel free to link up the place of purchase and even a price. I am all for supporting small businesses on Etsy and Facebook as well as Local Quilt Stores - no reason why the big retailers should pocket all our cash. 

You can also share a post about some fabric that has been in your stash, what you have made with it or plan to make with it, if you wish.

Delightful Linen Bag

And it is a delightful project and yet another bag! The picture in the book is deceptive because according to the pattern it turns out quite small. Thanks to other bloggers in the Zakka Sew Along, learning this in advance meant that I was determined to make mine large enough to fit an ipad or kindle book in.

I must say it did come together quite easily and you can make this bag as simply as you want. I took a bit of time decorating the front and back panels and then adding a over-the-shoulder strap too - so that took up the majority of my time.

Tips


Cutting - No need to cut the front and back panels separately, I used a single piece of fabric for the both the front/back and the inner lining. I sized mine up to 10" x 24" (but folded in half in came down to a nice 10" x 12"). I did not use linen (well aware of it's fraying qualities) but some textured solid in brown.

Embellishments - Some of the clever ladies had time to make their own cross- stitch and crochet items. I had whipped through the book months ago and spotted the decorations on this bag and so I kept my eye out for handmade lovelies at local op-shops. It never ceases to amaze me that, not only do these precious items end up in thrift stores but, they are priced so cheaply. Luckily many of us see their true value and then re-purpose them into our handmade projects.

I had a selection of embroidered and crocheted doilies to choose from. I wanted to make a bag for my mum that matched the previous Messenger Bag and Tweed Pouch - so I looked for those colours in the embroidery.

I was able to use the leftover scraps and applique some extra features on as well. I had a couple of orphaned charms that fit the style as well. I cut them into smaller 2.5" squares and also used a full one on the back. I used zig zag and straight stitches with various stitch lengths to achieve different textures. I also used different coloured threads (light green to contrast and also variegated).

Extras
Velcro - As well as the button closure, I added a full strip of velcro to the lining to keep precious things from falling out.

Straps
I think Elnora's idea of adding a strap turned the bag into a more useful item. I did not have the right material and so had to make my own. It took longer but I used one of my favourite fabrics on the inside.




Use what you have
I think the best thing about this project was ferreting around in my buttons, ribbons, scrap boxes to find the bits and pieces necessary. Look at this garish retro button I found that works perfectly.

Go and visit the Flickr or Linky page to see how others made their linen bags delightfully individual.


Back on the Zakka Train again at...

Sunday Stash #11

Most of the projects in the Zakka Style Sew-Along involve using linen. I hadn't realised this early on and have just made do with linen-looking fabrics such as French General and also some offcuts of thick linen I picked up at an op-shop. 


Linen is my new favourite fabric to work with. I love the texture and grain. I also love it's versatility - goes with just about any cotton print and gives projects a clean fresh appeal.  You should see the lovely colours and variations being used in the ZSSA Flickr group.

I did however order some gorgeous Robert Kaufman - Essex linen from an Etsy store called Fresh Stash. Shop owner, Lisa, was kind enough to do me a custom listing of 2 yards of steel and 3 yards of natural for less than $7 per yard and fit it all in a $17US parcel. It arrived safely earlier this week and I cannot wait to use it in the next ZSSA project.


It's not easy to find linen blends here in Australian retail stores (couldn't even find a sniff at Spotlight) and smaller quilt stores are not cheap ($27 per meter), so heading into Esty stores is a great alternative.


Fresh Stash also sell Organic prints - my favourite is Daisy Janie's new 'Tilly' line.

photo courtesy of Fresh Stash Etsy Store

Earlier this week, the Daisy Janie Facebook page published some photos of a gorgeous quilt featuring this new line. 

photo courtesy of Daisy Janie Facebook Gallery

I think I am in love - but it is an expensive love. You will pay more than double the linen blends price for these organic prints. It's about now I wish I was a retailer and could order direct from the Daisy Janie store.

photo courtesy of Daisy Janie Facebook Gallery 

Anyway, I am keen to track down the quilt pattern above. It's a little different. I love how this table runner version is quilted too.

photo courtesy of Daisy Janie Facebook Gallery 

So what's new in your stash this week?