I haven’t had a chance to do much sewing this week. We’re putting my Mam’s house up for sale after Easter so Mr Gertie and myself have been busy clearing out her sewing room.
Even though it was a small room it was full to bursting of stuff. It would have taken hours to go through everything so we just boxed it all up and brought it home.
As my sewing room is also small everything had to be shoehorned into cupboards and bookcases at first. Then I spent several days sorting though both my Mam’s things and mine (I’d become a hoarder too !!!!). The end result was tidy cupboards and bookcases filled with both of our things and several bags for the charity shop and the skip....
As I’ve nothing current to show you this week I thought you might like to see what I made for a friend’s birthday.
Every year Jenny has a party/BBQ (depending on the weather….) to celebrate her birthday.
Jenny is a BIG cat lover. Not only does she have four of her own, some of her neighbours cats like to pop in to say hello. Her house is also full of all things cats – books, pictures, ornaments, soft toys.
I remembered her mentioning that she takes her lunch to work in a battered old supermarket carrier bag. So, I thought I’d make a tote bag to replace the carrier bag and give it to her as a birthday present.
After looking at several cat related fabric I thought this graffiti type cloth would be purr-fect – sorry, couldn’t resist !!!!
I’d already had some lilac lining fabric and thread going spare from a previous sewing project so was ready to get stitching.
As Tote bags are simply two pieces of fabric stitched together I used the measurements and dimensions from one of my PVC Tote bags.
I needed to stitch the quilt ‘sandwich’ together so rather than stitch diagonal or straight lines, I carried on with the cat theme and hand quilted paw prints going up the bag and down the other side of it.
As there was some fabric left I made a purse key ring and attached it to one of the handles.
Jenny was delighted with her birthday present and has used it to take her lunch to work ever since.
Have a great week.
Gertie xx
PS pop over to Handmade Monday to see what other fellow craft bloggers have been up to.
I am glad to hear that your Mum had a good send off. It must be very hard going through not only her things but yours as well but you sound as if you have done really well. I am really not surprised your friend likes her bag. It is very cat themed whilst still being subtle. Live the purple flower :)
ReplyDeleteWhat great fabric and so perfect for a cat lover. Love the matching purse too. A great idea for a gift.
ReplyDeleteJan x
I hope you find some nice way to use some of your mum's stash to make something to remember her by. The cat's paw quilting stitch is a brilliant idea for the bag, love the lilac colour too.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to make a memory quilt using my mam's stash.
DeleteThat's lovely idea :)
DeleteWhat a clever idea to quilt some paw prints!
ReplyDeleteThe bag you made for your friend is lovely.
ReplyDeleteHave fun with your Mum's stash.
What a special present. I'm sure she'll never use a plastic carrier ever again. I just LOVE the paw prints - really original. Great gift!
ReplyDeleteAww what a lovely pressie! I bet your friend really treasures it :) I especially love the paw prints and the little purse key ring is such a cute finishing touch x
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely present, I bet your friend was really chuffed. I love the design and the colour of the fabric. The purse key ring is a brilliant addition, well done
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely idea, I'm sure your friend really appreciated it :-)
ReplyDeleteA super present and very special! The memory quilt sounds perfect too. Jo x
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic present! I have a crazy cat lady friend who would love that! Well done on getting through so much of the clearing out process for your Mum - sounds like you are being incredibly strong. Simmi xx
ReplyDeleteGreat present for a cat lover. The cat paw stitching was a very good idea.
ReplyDelete