A Fun Little Meme and some more Fos!

" You are breakfasty, like a pile of pancakes on a Sunday morning that have just the right amount of syrup, so every bite is sweet perfection and not a soppy mess. You are a glass of orange juice that's cool, refreshing, and not overly pulpy. You are the time of day that's just right for turning the pages of a newspaper, flipping through channels, or clicking around online to get a sense of how the world changed during the night. You don't want to stumble sleepily through life, so you make a real effort to wake your brain up and get it thinking. You feel inspired to accomplish things (whether it's checking something off your to-do list or changing the world), but there's plenty of time for making things happen later in the day. First, pancakes."


That just might be my favorite quiz I've ever taken! Breakfast, especially a breakfast at 10am, (which, to me, means a leisurely breakfast) is my favorite meal of the day, and reading the paper every morning has become an important part of my daily ritual. That time of morning always holds so much promise for things to be accomplished in the day!


I really haven't been doing a spectacular job at updating the blog. I blame this on the fact that I'm still not in the habit of unloading my camera each time I use it, and who wants a pictureless blog post?


Since finishing my Urchin, I have two more recent FOs, neither of which I've had a chance to photograph. A pair of Fetchings for me, and a watchcap for my stepbrother. Though I'm not officially trying to only knit from my stash in any real way, I *am* trying to keep it from getting much bigger, and both of these projects were good stash projects. The Cashmerino for the fetchings I bought back in December when I was making a pair for my friend, and the Cascade 220 was bought in Pittsburgh at the beginning of the year because it was on sale. Happily, its shade of blue works well for my stepbrother!


The other finished objects I'll have to share with you are two sewing projects I made - two purses which were belated Christmas presents for friends of mine. Those I can show you now! (The astute might've noticed the green tweed purse as having appeared on my giftmas wrap up page a while back.)

Erika's Tweed Pleated Beauty:

Pattern: Pleated Beauty Bag from Bend the Rules Sewing
Materials: Sparkly tweed "holiday" fabric, green "spring suiting" fabric, interfacing, flannel, magnetic snap
Purchased at: All materials are from JoAnn's Fabric.
Cost: I should pay more attention to this...

Started: 1/6
Finished: 1/12
Total time: 3+ hours, over a number of days





I like the way the green fabric sets off the gold sparkles in the tweed. Though this is definitely more of a fall/winter bag, hopefully the green can help it transition through spring.

Hannah's Clutch:

Pattern: Pleated Beauty Bag from InStitches
Materials: Brown cotton, Alexander Henry Loteria fabric, cotton batting, magnetic closure.
Purchased at: All materials are from JoAnn's Fabrics.
Cost: I should pay more attention to this...

Started: 1/12
Finished: 1/20
Total time: 4+ hours, over a number of days
Modifications: Due to a mistake on my part with the magnetic snap, I had to remake the closure tab, and make it longer than the one in the pattern. I also chose to line the tab with the lining fabric instead of with the exterior fabric.






Pattern notes: This was the first Amy Butler pattern I'd sewn, and the book was from the library, so there was a bit of a time crunch. Though the pattern was not as simple and easy to understand as the patterns in Bend the Rules Sewing, it was more precise. Steps like basting all layers together, though a pain to do, helped to make the finished purse look professional. I definitely plan on purchasing the book for myself so I can make more of these, and so I can make some other patterns in the book. The pattern was quite frustrating at times, but this was also the first "real" pattern I've sewn anything from, so I'm pleased with the result.

As far as the fabrics go, I love the loteria fabric, and it reminds me of the style of jewelry my friend Hannah, the recipient, wears. I liked how I was able to center the magnetic closure on the center of the devil, and if I had enough of this fabric to work a pattern like this again, next time I'll pay more attention to matching up the pattern. Though the brown wasn't an obvious choice to match with the fabric, I think it works, and Hannah enjoys brown.

There, that's enough for now I think!