I am a makin' fool!

Ok, distraction over.... Torchwood is gone for the rest of the year, and after all that, do we even want it to come back?? Only if Jack comes back, is all I can say!!

Roughly in the order that I completed/worked on them, here are some recent projects. First, the finished, in-action shot of the Amy Butler Patchwork bag that I made for Vickie's birthday. She uses it all the time, which makes me happy! I think it came out so well, despite my lack of skill with the digital camera. I haven't made any progress on mom's bag since the piecing, but it is at the top of the sewing queue!

Next, finished Nanners. I was sad not to win anything in the Ravelry KAL, but it was a fun pattern, and I am pleased with the finished object.Learning to get the fit right is ongoing.... At this rate, though, I think everyone is getting socks for Christmas!

This past weekend, I made my first project from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross... The Everything Tote. Have I mentioned how I love my sewing machine?? It is made out of lightweight denim and polka-dotted quilting cotton for the lining. I failed to discover, however, that the yardage requirements in the book are wrong until AFTER I got back from the fabric store. It required more sewing ingenuity than I though I had to get this bag out of roughly half of the material called for....

I didn't have enough fabric left after cutting out the main pieces to cut whole handle pieces in either the main fabric or the lining.... I didn't even have enough of the lining fabric to get two whole handles OR the pocket piece cut. I cut four half handles out of the denim and two half handles out of the polka-dots. Then I used some green quilting cotton that I had on hand for another project to get the pocket and the remainder of the handle linings cut out. You can see the green lining peeking out from under the binding, which is an effect that I ended up really liking!

I really wanted the polka dots to show on the underside of the part of the handle that shows, so I cut the green handle pieces into four pieces and sewed them to either end of the half-handles of polka-dotted fabric. If that makes any sense.... The green shows up like the binding under the sewn-down edge of the handles and the dots show under the un-sewn.

All this courtesy of the fact that I didn't follow the directions for the binding. On purpose. I read blogs where people complained that if you fold the binding twice and then try to sew through two separate pieces of it for the spot, it is nearly impossible. Not to mention that you get tiny, skinny handles that are goofy thick. So, following the advice of sewers more talented than I, I only folded it once.... I will repeat the modification when I sew my next one!

This one is for Thia's Bat Mitzvah.... I love it so much that I am having trouble giving it up, so I know that I will be making another one! As a matter of fact, I went and got the fabric for another one, ENOUGH fabric this time, today after work!!

By the way, it is well neigh impossible to buy a Bat Mitzvah card in Florence, SC. Seriously. I have looked extensively. Found two Bar Mitzvah cards, but not a single one for the ladies.... Frustrating!

Here is a very dim picture with a sleeping Maggie and the sock-in-progress: She is obviously indifferent to the beautiousness! These are the Mockery Socks, found on Ravelry, which I am making an attempt at modifying to toe-up. So far, successful. It is an easy, subtle pattern, and the yarn is great. It is Trekking XXL in the loveliest pastels..... Fingers crossed, this one seems to fit so far, too!! I am rushing them off the needles so I can work on my August KAL socks..... It is true, it is an obsession!

To close, here are more pictures of my lovely bag, which I have to give up all too soon. Sigh.