Jane Market Bag for PP7

I sewed this Jane Market Bag for my PP7 partner. From her Flickr photos and favorites, she seems to like birds. I ordered the bird fabric from Fat Quarter Shop and was pleased with how quick everything came. I also ordered a lime green floral for the lining. The only modifications I made to the pattern were on the straps. I interfaced the straps to help them feel sturdier, and I also topstitched each strap four times. Overall, I am happy with how the bag turned out. It did take me a long time to sew this, not because the pattern was difficult in any way, but because I ended up with a sinus infection, we had an early May blizzard that knocked power out for several days, and then I had a kidney stone that really, really hurt. Knowing that we had a blizzard two weeks before this picture was taken, look at how green the grass is.

Jalie

Jalie 3023 Tankini Swimsuit. I made a size I with really no other adjustments. The photos show sides as tight and as loose as the gathers can be. I love the way this turned out as does my daughter. Now we just need summer!!

This is the Little Chef Set from the book, Sew Liberated: 20 Stylish Projects for the Modern Sewist. Both the apron and hat are adjustable with Velcro. The book includes patterns for 2 sizes. This is the larger size in the picture.

Potholder Pass 5

I finally finished these potholders. The pattern is from a Quiltmaker magazine, and it was much more difficult than I thought it would be. I do love how they turned out and hope my partner is happy with them as well. The owl is from an online tutorial.

Potholders Again!!

I finished these for Potholder Pass 3. I almost didn't buy the brown stripe that I used for the bias. I made a remark to the saleslady that I hate sewing stripes. She replied that she usually likes to use stripes for binding so that is what I chose to do. Overall, I think it works. The back is a black cowboy boot print with a linen and red check piece slightly off-centered. I wish I hadn't used the scrappy look to the back, but I realized that I didn't like it so much once the entire potholder was quilted. I'm hoping to go back to the store today to see if they have any fabric left of these prints because I really do like the way it worked out.

I participated in Potholder Pass 2. I really like this pattern and it is much simpler than it looks. The original pattern created 12 inch blocks which are much too big for a typical potholder. My first try at changing the size created approximately 10.5 inch squares. My second try was a little smaller than I prefered so I added a 1/2 inch border. I hope my swap partner likes these.

Ottobre Design Gilda/Jalie 2447 tankini

I sewed the Gilda tankini top (#39) from the 03/09 issue of Ottobre Design with a few modifications, of course. First of all I lengthened the top, added a lining to the front and I dyed foldover elastic to match the brown hearts in the fabric. The bottoms are from Jalie 2447 - Choice of Tankinis. I sized up three letters after reading a review on patternreview.com. I ended up trimming almost 3/4 of an inch off the leg openings, and I used 1 inch more elastic than what was recommended in the pattern.

So far, my daughter likes the pattern. I am curious to see how it will hold up as she moves through the water. Swimming lessons start in a few days so we'll find out soon.