Denim Hexie Bag!

In my series of denim bags I've been making this summer, here is bag no.2!

Back in June, when my daughter was in hospital for a day, I had brought some epp hexies and denim scraps. I had 5 hours of sewing to fill, so needless to say, I got a lot of them basted and sewn together that day.

I unearthed them again recently, during my 'denim dalliance', and incorporated them into this patchworked bag!

The back

Special features include a zippered pocket in the (bright) lining, and repurposed tabs and leather from the chopped up jeans used in the bag!

I used a leather needle for the 'organic' tab

I also inserted some curtain eyelets (super easy) just to try out something different with the handles.

The bag is simply ditch quilted, and the fold up bottom meant no fiddly box corners or angled sides to contend with! As with all of these denim bags, I have reinforced the bases with handbag mesh plastic.

I love this bag, especially the many different shades of denim used (& I just stuck with blues!). They aren't as difficult to EPP as you might think, especially as most of the denim has been softened up through lots of wear!  Just use a bigger needle and seam allowance & glossy magazine papers.

So next time you rip or wear out your jeans, think 'handbags'!

Jude xo

Denim & Selvedge Bag

So you know I was working (aka playing!) with some denim recently!  I'm working on a series of bags which I may teach in the Autumn term.

Well I got 2 bags completed today (you can thank the continuous rain since Sunday for that!).

Today I'll show you my Denim and Selvedges bag!

Like most trends and fads, I was a latecomer to the selvedge craze, but I'm head over heels about them now! I think it appeals to my love of recycling textiles, especially when some designer selvedges are so adorably cute!

The front and back of this bag have the same design, just different selvedges used. The denim is all from recycled jeans, and the handle was a belt from another pair of jeans!

Bag linings are a great excuse to use loud and vibrant fabrics and I didn't hold back on this one!

Because of the pleat I couldn't insert my usual array of pockets, so I simply popped in a wee denim pocket (which was once on a child's dress) and a key fob to keep those keys handy!

The magnetic closure tab has been finished with a felt button given to me a while back by a lovely quilty friend.

I really enjoyed many aspects of making this bag, especially using Coats Creative thread for the feature quilting. I haven't used this thread before, and just happened to have the right colour of 'jeans orange'. It's much thicker than standard thread, and you need a size 100 (jeans) needle, but the sewing was smooth and I will be on the lookout for more of this range (Gutterman Creative & Gutterman Jeans threads are not as thick as Coats Creative & I have still to try Aurifil 12wt).

My playtime continued with a little matching pouch to go with the bag.

Clearly I couldn't stop sewing down those cute selvedges!

L: Porthole Hexie; R: EPP hexie

I've put an eyelet in the pouch too, so that it can be clipped onto the keyfob inside the bag. This will keep a sewing/crochet project handy to throw into the handbag on trips out!

Apologies for the long post for this one! It feels like I've been birthing this bag for a while and it's so satisfying seeing it not only complete, but turning out just how I imagined it!

Stay tuned this week for bag no.2!

Jude xo

A Little Dabble with Denim!

How has your week been?

There's been the usual flurry of activity here at the Hollies Household, with 2 extra lovely uni guests entertaining us!

I've managed to snatch some sewing time here and there, playing mostly with one of my favourite textiles - denim!

Satin stitch applique and twin needling

English Paper Pieced denim hexies

Selvedge strips & denim

These will hopefully become handbags of varying shapes and sizes, all to be revealed in good time!

Porthole selvedge hexie!

I've also been doing a little secret Christmas sewing, but I'm afraid you will have to wait until the Merry season to see the rest!

I hope you are having a sewing summer!  

Apparently we are getting monsoon like conditions tomorrow (!!) Batten down the hatches!

Jude xo

Holiday Coin Purse!

Need an extra little coin purse for your holiday currency?

Keep your Euro's, Dollars, Rupees or Krones safe & separate from your Stirling with these cute little coin purses!

They'll fit snuggly into your holiday bag and the key fob attachment means you can clip it securely to the inside of your bag.

If you want to have a go at making these easy peasy pouches, pop on over to Fabric yard for the full tutorial.

And while you're there, check out the stunning new fabrics, or grab yourself a summer bargain!

Happy Sewing!

Jude xo

Hexie Framed Purses

Due to enforced resting, and not being able to do my usual 'up on my feet' hours, EPP was required to keep this natural 'fidget pants' from going nuts!

I wanted to thank 2 very special friends for their help to me in recent days and knew just what to make!

I like small EPP projects, and for 1" hexies, scraps are perfect.

One friend particularly likes Bonnie & Camille fabrics ....

....... and the other plum shades with grey (Irish linen).

These were the perfect little projects to test out my dodgy ankle on the sewing machine presser foot! Wee buns!!

I even managed a bit of driving today too!

Onwards and upwards!

Linking up to Nicky and Leanne's Scraptastic Tuesday!

Jude xo

Brit Bee Medallion!

I can't tell you how excited I am to finally get to see, touch, stroke and drool over my Brit Bee Medallion!

This Brit Bee 'round robin' type project started almost 2 years ago (Sept'13). We all worked to the same design (thank you Hadley), made our own centre block, and then waved goodbye to it as it got passed along 11 more ladies to add borders and work their magic.  This means we have all contributed to each others medallions at one stage or another.

The medallions were exchanged in person among those who were able to attend Terri's Memorial Service yesterday.  For those of us not able to make the handover in person, we opened ours at the same appointed time!  A true bee event!

I'm ridiculously pleased at how well my Brit Bee buddies have interpreted my tastes and fabric likes from just my centre block and a few scraps of fabric!

The original inspiration for my medallion was the new wallpaper in my front room and the medallion is TOTALLY PERFECT in that room, right down to the little birdies in the corner stars!  Crazy perfect!

I have no clue how I'm going to back or quilt this beauty, so I think I'll just gaze at it a while longer!

And the other special post I received yesterday were THE BEST Millionaires Shortbread ever (thank you Trudi) and the sweetest ceramic medallion from Di!

I'll leave you with a glimpse at some of the other medallions (pic by Hadley).  Brit Bee forever!

Jude xo

Blocks and Bumps!

The 100 Quilts for Siblings Together 2015 was not only reached in time, it was surpassed!  The latest tally is 116!  How great is that!!  That means 116 kids, separated from their siblings by the care system, will this summer each receive a quilt at specially arranged camps.  You can read more about Siblings Together and donated quilts here.

Thank you everyone for your involvement and support this year.

The Siblings Together Together Bee2 continues on throughout the year, getting ready for next year's quilt drive. Yesterday I got July's block completed.

This 15" block is called Squirrel at the Wheel and was set by Charlo/Quiltification - check out her great tutorial on making this block.

I'm glad I got the block made yesterday, because last night I had a little accident and am now trying (not very well!) to get around on these!

A leisurely walk with friends turned into a trip down a ditch, 4 hours in A&E and a chipped ankle bone and badly torn ligaments!  No walking, driving or sewing for me for a few days!

What a numpty!

But I'm more disappointed at not being able to travel tomorrow to meet up with my Brit Bees at Terri's Memorial service on Saturday! I know it will be a special day, celebrating the life of our dear friend.

I will be with them all in spirit!

Jude xo

Back to Porridge!

Well the welcome back home from Portugal was a little on the chilly side, especially when you get this every day for a week!

So back to porridge it is!

I was away for the traditional Fresh Sewing Day round up on the first of the month, so here is my mosaic of makes for June:

There are a few more magazine submissions coming up, which I'm looking forward to showing you.

In the meantime, let's hope another heat wave is on the cards soon!

Jude xo