Confession: I’m a selfish sewer. 99% of my sewing is garments which are meant for me. On occasion, however, I can be persuaded to sew something for someone else. Here are two gifts I made {over a year ago, eep} and when I look at the photos and remember how pleased the recipients were, I’m encouraged to make more gifts. 

The first is a bag that I made using a pattern from an old copy of Love Sewing. It has a circular base, is lined and closes with a drawstring and chord. On the pattern the motif is a flower but I guess you can adapt this to anything you choose. I used some felt and basically free hand designed a camera. I then used my sewing machine to attach {appliqué?} it together. It was the first time I had tried to do anything like this and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it and how effective it was. 

One of my favourite things about this bag is that I made it entirely from leftovers ~ or should I say the fabric was all leftovers. I ordered the eyelet metalwork, which was, incidentally, pretty tricky to insert. But other than that, the maroon wool was leftover from a little cropped jacket I made when I first start sewing, the denim was from a Cynthia Rowley dress which is sadly long gone due to a zip failure {repairs really aren’t my favourite} and the black and white cotton lining fabric was scraps from another Cynthia Rowley dress ~ one of a series which barely got worn as they were a size too big, I did love that Fabworks fabric though! 

Something did go a little bit wrong with the the construction of this bag, most likely user error and quite possibly something to do with how I put the pattern together. The upshot was that I kind of pleated the lining fabric to get it to fit. I think it looked OK in the end, and I liked that all the raw edges and messy bits ended up encased ~ and even though this bag was effectively made of scraps I felt the colours went together really nicely. 

The second bag I made towards the end of 2017 {yes, that’s when these makes date back to, don’t judge me} was a quilted tote bag. I’ve succeeded in irritating myself today as try as I might I can’t find the tutorial I used to make this bag. I remember having it open as a tab on my phone for months, but now that I want it to be able to credit it and share the link, it’s gone. Please, if it rings a bell, do let me know ~ I would love to be able to update the post and add the link.

*Update* I came across the tutorial saved in a blogpost! If you’re interested in making a similar bag please click here ~ and be sure to let me know.

As Christmas approached I decided to make a bag for my mother in law ~ she hadn’t requested it but I thought she’d like it. I think the charm pack I used was just from eBay, and I chose it because I liked the mix of colours. It also seemed good value considering it removed the need to cut the squares to size: I’ll definitely buy more charm packs/jelly rolls and save time in the future. I stitched the squares together plus used some leftover Cotton + Steel cotton pomegranate for the lining and the handles {alas, this was used to make a Day Dress which is also now the wrong size and therefore gone}. I believe I sewed up and quilted the bag, using some lovely bamboo wadding for the first time, but then took a break from sewing for a few weeks. School got in the way, I imagine. When I sat down and actually got on with it I think it came together really quickly. Remind me why I haven’t made more of these since? Again, I enjoyed making this and I think it was appreciated. It’s so nice giving something that is unique and meaningful isn’t it?