Sunday 4 May 2014

Remnants

Hello,

Recently I spent a few hours on a Saturday making a patchwork cushion, I posted about it here. I had a smallish piece (measuring approximately 22 cm by 30cm) of patchworked material left over which of course I couldn't discard. I pondered over what I could use it for and a small zipped bag seemed the most obvious answer given it's dimensions.

So on Thursday when I was in town I found myself at the harberdashery market stall and without hardly a blink of an eye I'd bought an 8 inch zip in bright yellow. (I hadn't actually measured the piece of material before I left home and I hadn't taken it with me to colour match so purchasing a suitable zip was pure guess work). But luckily it was the right size and colour. So here is my remnant and said zip.


The remnant wasn't quite wide enough so I used my newly purchased patchworking equipment to cut an extra strip of green which I sewed onto the right of my remnant. 
My patchwork class taught me the importance of ironing each piece as you sew.

Then I cut some more of the same green material that I'd used to back my patchwork cushion to a suitable size to act as a liner to my bag.
Wow - it's so much easier to cut accurate strips of fabric using a cutter and cutting board than scissors!

Now to find some cotton. As you can see I have quite a collection/mess of cotton threads, stored in a lovely wooden box. There must be a yellow in there somewhere to match my zip....


Would you believe it, the only yellow I could find was this one below in the middle of the photo! But I reckoned there was just enough to sew in an 8 inch zip. For the remaining sewing I was happy to use green thread of which I have plenty.
And thus my zipped bag began to take shape.

In fact, I became so absorbed in the task I forgot to take any more photos until I had finished!
And here it is!

I'm not quite sure why these photos show a grainy pattern to some of the material.


I like the lining too.
I am pleased with my little bag made out of remnants - and all for the price of a little time and an 85p zip!

Happy sewing!
xXx

10 comments:

  1. It's lovely, very beautifully done and no doubt it will be very useful. I do love your box full of thread, everyone should have one of these!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's funny, it doesn't matter how often I sort those threads, they soon end up in a mess again!

      Delete
  2. Your patchwork zipped bag looks great! Lovely sewing there! I've been thinking of getting a cutter and cutting board too. Where did you buy yours? By the way, I've had photos with the same grainy pattern as in yours. Not sure why either.
    Have a lovely weekend! x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you - I bought my cutter and cutting board from a shop in Leicester - I think it is worth shopping around as prices seem to very quite widely.

      Delete
  3. It's really nice and, like you say, very good value! I love it when I can use up scraps - of fabric and yarn - efficiently, it's so satisfying! The green shades are nice and fresh, perfect for spring. x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Gillian, I really do hate waste and save up the smallest scraps of thread, fabric and yarn!

      Delete
  4. Such a gorgeous little bag and its so beautifully made, I love it.
    Kate x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind comments Kate
      Have a good week
      Caz xx

      Delete
  5. adorable.....re your skirt question the skirt pattern does come up big so if you are an 8/10 the size 10 will be fine, hope that helps, lovely blog by the way!!
    Daisy j xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your help Daisy - I read somewhere that pattern sizes weren't true to shop sizes so I was cautious of which size to buy
      Hope you have a good weekend
      Caz xx

      Delete

Hello, thank you for dropping in on my blog. I hope you found something of interest and I would love to read your comments.
Caz xx