Bagilicious: the 241 tote

Hello there!

Thank you so much for the lovely comments on the last post. Its great to be back!

Its wonderful to see lots of bunny pouches springing up all over the place! They are super quick & easy to make, so you've still got time to make one before Easter... just click here to go straight to the tutorial. If you do make any, do let me know & I'll post some of your pictures on Sunday.

One thing I make a lot of is bags... & its funny to see how many of you share the same obsession :) 

So, for the next couple of weeks I'm going to show you some of the bags I've been making & let you know how you can too...

First up is the extremely talented Anna from noodlehead. I've been following Anna for about 5 years now & I love her blog which is full of inspiration, tutorials & patterns. Her wee lil cutie pouches were one of the first zipper pouch tutorials I tried & I've been hooked ever since! I noticed a lot of 241 totes appearing all over the place - like this gorgeous one from Leila (wheretheorchidsgrow)

Source: Leila at wheretheorchidsgrow

So here was my first one:

The pattern was easy to follow & I love the scrappy look of each of the sections. I made a couple of alterations - for the straps I stitched a second layer of fabric onto the webbing, just to give them a bit more structure & I added a wee key chain on the inside

I had such fun making one, I made another, this time with a zip

It's such a great bag for the summer - perfect for shopping or the beach.... with lots of room & pockets to keep your stuff safe. If you fancy making one yourself, the pattern is available here

I'm off now to take my life in my hands... visiting a theme park with the children!! But I'll be back on Sunday with some bunny pouches & another bag review, so I'll see you then

In the meantime, try to take time to listen to those birds singing!

Love

Karen x

A mummy of teenagers....

Being a mummy of teenagers means ....

• When the boys come home filthy  (& deliriously happy) from a week away at SU camp my first thought is to make them something to eat.... 

Chocolate Marshmallow Delight

• Jumping into the car & driving from one end of Ireland to the other (that's over 5 hours driving) to watch son number one in the Irish Rowing Championships

in the rain (of course!)

• An endless battle (which I never win) with the laundry pile...

• More cooking... 



Barbecue Pineapple Chicken with Wild Rice & Leeks

• Squeezing in a little bit of sewing when everyone has gone out 

Liberty Purse for my In The Frame Swap partner

• More baking....

Making Millionaires Shortbread

• And, if I have any free time left.... trying to catch up on all the wonderful stitchy stuff in blogland!

I hope you have had a great, fun-filled week. I'm so sorry I haven't been around, but I'm off now to see what you all have been getting up to...

In the meantime, if you fancy the look of the Millionaires Shortbread, here's the recipe:

Preheat the oven to 160' C / 325' F

Ingredients:

SHORTBREAD: 

• 225g Self Raising Flour
• 150g Butter
• 75g Caster Sugar

CARAMEL: 

• 1 tin (397g) Condensed Milk
• 150g Butter
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 15ml Golden Syrup
• 2 drops Vanilla Essence

TOPPING:

• 150g Dark Chocolate

1. Shortbread: Mix flour & sugar & rub in butter. Tip into a 30cm X 20cm swiss roll tin & press down evenly. Bake for 20-25 mins in preheated oven. Leave to cool in tin.
2. Caramel: Melt butter, sugar & syrup in a saucepan. Add condensed milk & vanilla essence & simmer for 6 mins, stirring continuously. Pour over shortbread base & leave to cool.
3. Topping: Melt chocolate and pour over caramel. Leave to set (if you can resist!) & cut into squares

I hope you have a great weekend... I'll be back soon.....
Take care
Karen

Sunshine (and showers) Tote

Hello there!

How has your week been so far? Have you had sunshine? Or showers? Or both?? I'm writing this post from a wee island off the North Coast of Scotland called Orkney (which is where my great grandparents came from) & as I write this the rain is pouring down & there are wee streams of rainwater trickling over the cobbled stones... But at least the plants in the gardens look happy!!

This week in between exam runs & the rain, I've been busy finishing off a surprise for someone in our do. Good Stitches bee

I designed the bag expecially for this person & I really enjoyed making it.. It has a lovely curvey bottom....

I used some of the printed text I made a couple of weeks ago & lots of my favourite fabrics which I quilted individually

The front has a large padded pocket with a snap closure (which might be good for the recipients camera!!)

There's another zipped pocket inside & a wee key fob too

I used fusible fleece to make it nice & squishy & am really hoping that the person who I've sent it to will like it...

Here's Hannah modelling it to give you an idea of the size

I was thinking of maybe making a pattern for this - I'd love to know what you think....

If all these photos have given you a taste for totes, check out Sara's Purse Palooza at Sew Sweetness. There are lots of fantastic purse reviews, tips & tricks & prizes too...Here's the list from to-day onwards

June 21 - Katy @ The Littlest Thistle (Noodlehead 2-4-1 Tote)
               Terri @ Sew-Fantastic (In Color Order Lined Drawstring Bag)
June 22 - Elizabeth @ Don't Call Me Betsy (Amy Butler Weekender Bag)
               Sarah @ Fairy Face Designs (bag from the Bag Making Bible)
June 25 - Amy @ Sukie Don't You Know Who I Am? (Amy Butler Sophia Bag)
                Laurie @ On the QT - Quilting Tangents (Betz White Hexie Hipster)
June 26 - Julianna @ Jednoiglec (Charlie's Aunt Kitchen Garden Bag)
               Jeni @ In Color Order (Bari J. State Street Tote)
June 27 - Kerry @ Very Kerry Berry (bag from Suzuko Koseki)
               Michelle @ I Like Orange Too (Left Bank Granny Bag)
June 28 - Kay Whitt @ Sew Serendipity Studio (tutorial: adjustable strap with metal slider)
               Amy Barickman @ Indygo Junction (tutorial: installing grommets/magnetic snaps)
June 29 - Melissa @ Bittersweet Designs (Bella Nonna Boutique Shoulder Bag)
                Kelly @ Kelby Sews (Pat Bravo Paris Bag)
                Bianca @ Sweet Diesel Designs (Lisa Lam For Pleat's Sake)

There are some great prizes for completed bags too, including....

1st Prize
* $50 gift certificate from Fat Quarter Shop         

* 3-pack of books from Martingale Publishing
* $50 gift certificate to Zipit
* $70 Pellon gift pack
* fat quarter bundle and sewing pattern from Art Gallery Fabrics

 

2nd Prize

* fat quarter bundle and sewing pattern from Art Gallery Fabrics
* 3-pack of books from Martingale Publishing
* $50 gift certificate from Sew Fresh Fabrics
* $30 gift certificate to Spoonflower

3rd Prize

* fat quarter bundle from Art Gallery Fabrics
* 2-pack of books from Lark Crafts Publishing
* $80 prize pack from Olfa Cutting Tools

I'm off now to explore Stromness... I'll take some photos to show you, but in the meantime click here to see Katy's review of the 241 Tote

Hope you have a lovely day

Karen

{busy}ness

Hello there!
How is your week going? This just about sums up life here on the Causeway Coast at the moment:

Things have been pretty busy over here, & in between, I've been trying to get some of the mountains of  sewing done which I put aside while I was making Hannah's dress (not to mention laundry, bathroom cleaning, floor moping etc....) Here are some of the bits & pieces I've managed to finish over the past couple of weeks

• February blocks for our Care Circle of do. Good Stitches.. embarrassingly a week late! :(

• Mouthy Stitches Pouch..

I struggled a little bit with this as my partner seemed to really like paper piecing which I am not so good at... but I loved the other side:

Fingers crossed she likes the finished pouch!

• A Fancy Frock Camera Bag....

We had a wedding this week of a lovely friend. 

I wanted to take lots of photos, but I needed a nice fancy camera bag which went with my outfit, so this is what I came up with (in about an hour before we left for the wedding!!)

I was thinking maybe of sharing a tutorial with you on how to make one if you'd like....

So that's what I've been up to over here. I hope things aren't as busy where you are...I'll leave you with some wise words which will hopefully brighten your day:

SSSSHHHH please don't tell my children!! :)

Hope you have a great week

Take care

Karen

PS Be sure to call back on Saturday when I'll have some SUPER EXCITING news for you!