"WOT Is She Wearing?!"

I call this "My Swear-y Pants Caftan Set". The reason they're "swear-y" is because I was doing a lot of swearing while making them.

I made these when I was brand new to sewing, and bitten with the "gotta-make-something" bug. So, rather than risk throwing away money on store-bought material on a potential disaster, I "re-fashioned" an old bed sheet with cool tribal-animal print design at the top of the sheet.  I featured the tribal-animal print at the pant hems [photo below] just for fun!

The short caftan top is actually a shorter version of a so-called "30-minute 4-Seam Caftan" pattern I found on http://www.allfreesewing.com - mine actually took me a couple of HOURS; partly, because I was still learning how to use the button-hole feature on my sewing machine to make the belt slots. That bit got quite swear-y!

At the time, I had no firm surface for measuring and cutting, so I monopolized the entire living room floor of my apartment. It wasn't pretty. For the pants "pattern" I used a pair of my favorite palazzo pants and improvised. I felt very smart and pleased with myself for that concept.

I continued to feel smart ...up until I went to put the pants pieces together: I realized that the part at the top where there is usually a center seam was much too short! The material had shifted as I was cutting it! This was roughly where the swearing REALLY began.

LOOOONG story rather shorter, I had another stroke of creative "jenius"! There was just enough sheet material left over to fix the faux-pas by way of cutting 2 inverted triangular panels for the front and back to fill in the large gaps in the pants pattern pieces. So, my pants have 2 seams front and back, instead of the normal 1 seam. Oh well! The short caftan top covers up that "whoopsies" . They fit, AND they're both super comfortable, even if they are exotic & funky-looking. :0)

So, now you know ...

"WOT Is She Wearing?!"

'It's "Tie-Dye" For!'

I know.  It's been a long time.  However, my "cunning plan" got a bit derailed by illness, other commitments, and my new, intense "Medical Terminology and Medical Transcription" studies.  So, I haven't had the time or "wherewithal" to create anything new ...until now.

My BFFs birthday was on 9th April, so it was a perfect excuse to make her something. I was itching to be back at my neglected and lonely sewing machine!

Not able to make up my mind exactly which project to pursue as a birthday gift, I broke down and called her.  A tote bag?! I can do that!

With my time being so limited these days, I wanted to make something nice (of course), but not too time-consuming ...or else I might have been tempted to grab a plastic bag, adorn it with a bow, sign it (using my best handwriting), and call it good; while telling myself, "Hey! It's the thought that counts.  Right? RIGHT?!"

I scoured my favourite go-to site AllFreeSewing for patterns - Eureka! I found a pattern for a Large Tote with Rounded Opening.

I had to modify it a bit because I didn't have the heavy canvas material used in that pattern; instead, I used heavyweight fusible interfacing on my chosen cotton fabric from my stash.  And, since neither my friend nor I are into flowery things, I opted for ribbon and buttons for decoration, instead of the flower motif featured on the pattern I used.

Luckily, I scored on an 8 oz. bag of assorted buttons on Ebay a while back - that assortment contained the perfect buttons for this piece! Yay!

I learned a few new tricks and techniques in the making of this tote, such as creating boxed corners to create more room to fit more ...stuff.

For the lining, I used plain, cotton flannel in hot pink, and plain black flannel for the handles (both from JoAnns) ...I liked the soft feel of the flannel - I'm a texture girl! :0)

The outer "rainbow tie-dye zebra print" material was actually from JoAnns remnant bin - I purchased it during a 50% off sale ...AND I got to apply my coupons! Woo-Hoo!

[I was originally saving the material to make a different sort of bag with it for my BFF.  I bought a commercial "hobo bag" pattern; but, still relatively new to sewing, I've been too much of a weeny to attempt to interpret pattern instructions yet.]

I did have to use decoration to disguise a minor flub in its creation.  Luckily, the bold print helped to hide where I had to use a bit of "stitch-witchery" ingenuity to hide a snafu where my machine needle broke: I had forgotten about the placement of one of my pins.  Oopsies!

Although, this project definitely had its "swear-y" moments, I still think it turned out well.

Hopefully, my BFF will like her new tote enough to think ...

'It's "tie-dye" for!'

FRONT of Tote

Ta-Da!!!

 

BACK of Tote

I Have A Cunning Plan ...

Welcome to "Penny-Pinchers' Purses'" new abode ...fresh for 2013!

I'm back with Blogger because I was not happy with the Opera browser as a forum for my blog for a few reasons; but, at the time, Opera was new to me, so I had to check it out and, at least, give it an honest try ...

If you followed me over from my blog on Opera, (Thank You!!!), you're already familiar with my creations (and sometimes wacky & cheeky blog-style).  If not, and you'd like to review a little background on "Penny-Pinchers' Purses'" concept, beginnings, and photos there, please do feel free to click on the previous link to do so. :0)

Thankfully, returning to Blogger allows me to provide a more in-depth, better-organized, more fun & attractive weblog ...without the limited features, and "quasi-dating-site" issues apparent with Opera.  Not least of which, it's easier to link it with my current Google+ pages. :0)

Before, I create and publish any new projects here yet, I need to finish a few others first.  In the meantime, I am excited to post photos of some of the gorgeous flannel fabric I recently invested in  ...thanks to a recent "killer" SALE (and coupons!) at Joann's Fabrics! (Woo-Hoo!)  [The photos will be posted under the tab marked: "MATERIAL GIRL"].

Maybe I'm just weird, but I feel it's so much easier to be inspired to create something cool when there's fun and beautiful material in one's stash!

All that said, my fingers are itching to be back at my sewing machine, causing my next creative brainstorm to materialize ...I'd let you in on that "secret" (read: scary?) thought-process; but,

I Have A Cunning Plan ...