Sunday, January 6, 2013

Girls just wanna have fun....


Isn't it funny how our toys have changed over the years.   My DH has his little sports car and I have my sewing machine.  Granted his did cost a little bit more but I bet I have more fun with mine.  :o)
I love my LNS and I try to help her in anyway I can and one of the ways is to save my shopping bag and reuse it over and over again.  Well it was starting to look a little under the weather so yesterday I decided to make one.  First off I went to Sewing Studio for fabric.  Now I know what you're saying....."Doesn't she have any in her stash that will work?".....well of course I did but that's beside the point.  Any excuse you can give DH for an outing at Sewing Studio is allowed.
I found this beautiful mauve, peach, tan and cream flowered print that I knew was exactly what I was looking for.  Then came the mauve which matched and the bag is fully lined with a brown print.


Home I came and straight to my sewing room to plan this out.  First I found the perfect embroidery design and it's been stitched with a pale peach.  Across the top I used the daintiest heirloom lace in a pretty cream.  The handles are hidden and if you look closely where the top mauve piece is sewn on, I have left part of it open in the front and back to form the handles.  I loved making this and I'm going to see if my LNS will let me make some to sell in her store.
I am enjoying this machine so much I can't believe it.  I use to think that I would much rather do all this by hand, and don't get me wrong, I love handwork, but this is so satisfying to see your finished work so quickly.  I guess I'm getting anxious in my old age.  LOL

Next up is something I purchased on Ebay just out of curiousity.  I saw that this overseas seller had a ball of 1,000 yards of linen thread.  I first thought of how this would work up in crochet but yesterday when I received it in the mail, something else popped into my puny brain.....Hardanger!  You can see that the original ball is quite large (those are 4 inch scissors) so I took one of those large empty spools you can get at a craft store and wound some onto it.  This makes it much easier to work with.  I started a Emie Bishop heart design which shouldn't take too long.  I'm stitching it on a small piece of green linen that I had handy which is 30ct.  I love how this looks and the primitive uses are endless.  Plus being that this is linen (about the color of natural Belfast linen) it will dye beautifully so that's another plan.  I will keep you updated on how this is working.
Well that's all I have for today.  I'm still working on a beautiful cream silk shawl and I hope to have that finished soon.  The next time Peyton comes over, I will have her model all my new shawls so you can see them.
Thanks for dropping in and until we talk again, have a Blessed day,
Barbara

12 comments:

Sweet Sue said...

Gorgeous bag Barbara, good eye. You're having soooo much fun w/your new machine ~ delighted you're sharing your escapes with us! Pretty nice linen thread too, never thought of dying it:)

Sweet Sue said...

escapades lol!

Dawn said...

That is a gorgeous bag. Simply beautiful work and I would love to purchase one of your bags if you decide to sell them on your blog.

Karen said...

Your bag is beautiful! What lovely fabric you found. And oh boy, how cool to find all that linen thread. Score!

Vickie said...

Oh what fun. And so pretty too! Good job. Let us know if it works out to sell them.

Karyn said...

Your bag is gorgeous Barbara, I just love the combination of the fabrics and the embroidery...did I read that right that you did the embroidery on your machine? Amazing!
That ball of linen in just too cool and so totally prim looking...and huge! I love it :)
Sounds like a great weekend
Hugs
Ma

Catherine said...

Fantastic bag!! And those balls of linen are a great find!
And I am sure you get to use your machine more ~ after all, you can use yours no matter what the weather or road conditions! Hehehe...

Anne said...

Very beautiful pieces! Love the colours and the daintiness of it. Happy Day! :)

Mouse said...

love your excuse to go shopping heheheh ... and I think you do have way more fun with your machine ... your bag looks lovely and well done on the linen thread find ... can't wait to see more of your hardanger too :) love mouse xxxxx

Valma said...

what a lovely bag !! fantastic ! the colours are so sweet
that's so great to read you enjoy your machine so much =D
We just have one life, we have to enjoy...
can't wait to see your shawls =)
big hugs
xxx

Nicola said...

You never know what you can find on ebay.

I love your fabric for your new shopping bag.

Connie said...

Gorgeous fabrics and a very lovely embroidery design = one beautiful bag! I'd be using it for everything just to show it off! That linen thread was a great find. Can't wait to see what you do with it.