September challenge…

Ever had a challenge put to you, that you were unsure you could manage, one of those that plays on your mind, that you should crack on with, but you keep putting it off… well I have to admit the Island Batik September challenge was one of those moments!

I have made a few bags, but not one so advanced as this…

ByAnnie has generously provide all the Island Batik Ambassadors with a pattern and all the necessary hardware to make a bag of my choice!

There were so many to choose from, and all really practical and useful, I finally decided on the Round Trip Duffle Bag… thinking next time I go away for the weekend, Il be prepared 🙂

I chose the stunning Spiral Surf, Feather in Mauve, and Peacock Waterfall from the Fancy Feathers collection, and Branch in Blue from the Blenders collection

With all the pieces laid out in front of me and 10 pages of instructions, I was ready to begin make a cup of tea…

Supplies

I began working my way through the step by step instructions, which are really clearly written, even a bag novice like myself could get my head around them

I cut and quilted all the pieces, and was loving the fabrics combo I had chosen. (blues and purples are my favourite). The pattern also comes with REALLY handy printable labels for each piece, which I strongly recommend using, this keeps everything in order.

SOOOOOOOO many pieces right?!!! and they just keep coming!

Lots of straps are needed for this bag, so I would recommend an ‘Easy loop turner’ makes this process a breeze. I love adding the metal catches, I think it starts to make the bag feel like its coming together

Pockets were up next, I love a bag with lots of pockets, and this one has 9 (Cool huh!) and a really useful trolley sleeve which slips over the handles on your suitcase/trolley

The front and back were created next, along with the centre panel.

I was getting excited by this point, and all my worries of not being able to do it, were disappearing – I almost had a bag in front of me! Your patterns are genius ByAnnie.

I used Aurifil thread and Schmetz needles to create this bag, and they were amazing considering the layers I was sewing through.

Joining the final pieces of the bag and binding the inside, was made so much easier with the help of my Hemline Gold quilting clips

And with that my bag was complete… here is the inside

Drum roll…

Here is my finished weekend bag, I’m really pleased with out it turned out, and I can seriously recommend ByAnnie patterns

Huge thanks to Island batik, ByAnnie, Aurifil, Schmetz for supplying me with the accessories to create my bag for the September challenge, and my amazing Brother sewing machine – we did it!!

A few more photos, just in case you just cant get enough of this super gorgeous bag 🙂

Thanks for stopping by, please hit the follow button if you haven’t already, and find me on Instagram and Facebook.

Have a lovely weekend

Michelle x

Never too early challenge…

No one typically thinks of winter in the summertime but it’s the best time of all to get an early start on Christmas and holiday projects…

I love a Christmas table, filled with sparkle, so I decided to make some Christmas bauble placemats, using some gorgeous Christmas fabrics including Holly berries and Snowflake

Cute Christmas baubles you can personalize

These placemats are a perfect size for you dinner plate, and can be personalised for that extra special touch at Christmas.

I’ve used some vibrant Auriful thread, the green is 1114 and the purple is 2545 to add the wording details

Each place-mat has Vliseline Thermolam wadding inside, to give it some stability and form, with hand sewn binding, using Aurifil thread and Clover sharps black gold needles.

All finished off with a sparkly silver ribbon and bow, all I need now is the crackers and the Yorkshire puddings

Have you started thinking about Christmas yet?

Michelle x

Mother’s Day flower embroidery hoop…

With Mother’s day just around the corner, I thought this cute little project, would make a lovely gift. you could even change the words and give the hoop for a special birthday or occasion.

Download my free pattern using the link below

Mother’s-Day-flower-hoopDownload

Whilst making this project, I came across this amazing thread gloss by Thread Joy, made with natural untreated British Bees wax and high quality fragrance oil.

The thread gloss come in different blends, which Claire at Thread Joy has chosen to evoke feelings of well-being, and allows you to match your mood to your stitching. Whilst I was embroidering the lettering I used the Release blend, which has been created to DE-stress, as it uses a blend of Ylang Ylang and Neroli, and it smells divine, like you have a calming candle burning in the room. It was brilliant at avoiding all these pesky tangles in my thread, and made sewing a dream.

Head to Claire’ Etsy shop to purchase yours.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/THREADJOYthreadgloss?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=935311762

Find out more about Thread Joy by heading over to their Instagram page

https://www.instagram.com/threadjoy_threadgloss/

I cant recommend this enough, and one pot will last ages, the only tricky part is choosing which blend to choose. These made a beautiful gift for yourself and for anyone who is into their embroidery, Thread Joy pride themselves on their beautiful packaging and its all fully recyclable.

Happy sewing, I cant wait to see your embroidery hoops

Follow me here on my blog, and share with friends, you can also find/tag me on Instagram and Facebook with your makes.

‘Do what makes your heart smile’
Happy Sewing

Michelle

Last minute gift ideas…

With Christmas just days away, I know you will be busy wrapping and organizing presents…

but what shall I do with these gift vouchers, I hear you ask… they need something to make them look more personal…

Well what about a fabric envelope, which you could personalize

I designed two sizes, download my free tutorial below…

Fabric-envelopesDownload

qrf

Wishing each and everyone of you a really special Christmas, and I hope you get to spend time with those that mean the most to you.

Follow me here on my blog, and share with friends, you can also find/tag me on Instagram and Facebook with your makes.

‘Do what makes your heart smile’
Happy Sewing


Michelle

I’ve let the cat out the bag…

This week I’ve been fortunate enough to try out a few little notions that I’m super excited to share with you, they could make your sewing a little sweeter…

Gutermann have brought out some new hand quilting threads, they come in a pack of 10 spools each containing 80m mercerized cotton. No tangles when sewing, and super strength you can rely on when pulling your stitches tight – so no thread can be seen

Watch my video here…

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A post shared by Michelle (@michelle_creativeblonde)

Next up… Clover have these really cool ‘fork pins’ which allow you to pin your nested seams.

Do you ever get frustrated with seams that don’t match up?

These are so fine, you can sew right over the top of them – great way to get accurate seam matching

Watch my videos, to see my results…

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The Results…

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A post shared by Michelle (@michelle_creativeblonde)

Thanks for watching!

Follow me here on my blog, you can also find me on Instagram and Facebook

‘Do what makes your heart smile’

Happy Sewing

Michelle

Something for the weekend…

So tell me, did you wake up this morning, wondering what to do with yourself…

and then you thought… hmm i could go shopping?… but i have no bag! and what you need is a tutorial on how to make a cute Tilda shopping bag, well i heard you, here is my free tutorial…

Say NO to plastic bags

Download my PDF here…

Tilda Shopping Bag 

If you like this pattern, keep your eyes peeled for my upcoming tutorial for my Dresden quilt, in Quilt Now magazine, coming June 2019.

‘Do what makes your heart smile’

Check out my Instagram and Facebook page @creativeblonde66

~Michelle~

x creativeblonde x

 

Free Pattern…

Hey guys,

Thanks for stopping by again (I know two posts in as many days) but I’m really excited to share this table runner tutorial with you…

This was first time I’ve quilted using Bosal double sided fusible foam, and I love it, its brought a beautiful texture to my table runner. Using this stunning fabric from stoffabrics, added the perfect pattern for quilting.

 

These tiny dresden plates measure just 4 1/2″ in diameter – thats small, right? These were made for the #tinydresdenparty2019 hosted by Deidra @quiltyobsession

My Free Pattern is available to download here –>   Table Runner PDF

I hope you enjoy making this – happy sewing.

I would love to see your finished table runners, be sure to tag me at the following places

‘Do what makes your heart smile’

Check out my Instagram and Facebook page @creativeblonde66

~Michelle~

x creativeblonde x

A little update…

Hey 😊, thanks for stopping by, thought I’d write a little update on what I’ve been up to this week. Last week I was relaxing (me, hubby and four kids without WiFi for a week – maybe relaxing isnt quite the right word, more like ‘surviving’ 😉) anyway we were on holiday in the middle of the beautiful Blackwood forest, riding bikes, long dog walks and chilling in the hot tub, but I was pining for my sewing machine 🤫 …

First on my list when I got home was to make a book pouch for my niece, she loves to read and for her birthday, I’ve bought her a book about a little girl who dreams of having her own horse. ..

My free tutorial is available here, it shows to add a decorative lace zip 💕

book bag with matching book mark pdf

I was itching to get going on the #savethebeesquilt hosted by @jacquelynnesteves, the first of four patterns was released on the day we left for our hols, there are some amazing prizes to be won too, check out Jacquelyn page https://jacquelynnesteves.com/save-the-bees-block-1-is-here/

I chose a bundle of fabrics from my stash called ‘Bumble Berries’ – Moda fabrics.

Wednesday brought the release of block 7 in the #sweetestthingssampler  this month was designed by myself ‘quench your thirst’ this seemed rather appropriate as we have had one of the longest, warmest summers for a while in the UK this year.

There are 12 FREE blocks available in this quilt-a-long, and still plenty of time to join in the fun, head over to @dawn_honeybeecloths blog to sign up and download all the blocks so far – happy sewing  http://www.honeybeecloths.co.uk/blog/4584195226

And last but by no means least, I spent a couple of days cutting out the smallest of applique pieces, to make this Jewish New Year wall hanging for Craftcotton

(my tutorial and pattern is available now on their blog, https://www.craftcottonblog.co.uk/single-post/2018/08/22/Rosh-Hashanah-Wall-Hanging  Be sure to check out all the other free tutorials available, my Tartan Christmas stocking is free to download on there too, personalise yours for the perfect Christmas gift 💕

https://www.craftcottonblog.co.uk

Well that’s wraps up the week, oh one more thing, if you love your batiks, there is a mammoth blog hop currently in progress, with prizes up for grabs, showcasing the new fabric lines, be sure to check out my quilt and enter to win the bundle of ‘all a flutter’ fabrics. In the link below, you can find a link to each and every Island Batik Ambassador to see what they’ve made, grab a cuppa and enjoy…

https://creativeblondeblog.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/all-a-flutter-inc-giveaway/

Thanks for reading, would love to hear from you, if you have a few minutes to leave me a comment ♥ check out my Instagram and Facebook page @creativeblonde66

Happy sewing

~Michelle~

x creativeblonde x

FREE Reading pouch with matching bookmark tutorial…

With my niece on her way for a visit, I couldn’t resist making a book pouch with matching bookmark for the new book I bought for her birthday, she is mad about horses

She chose the horse ribbon herself too, so it will be extra special

If you would like to make a child’s book pouch with matching bookmark, you can download my FREE PDF here: book pouch with matching book mark , be sure to tag me when you’ve finished, id love to see your makes

To see more of my tutorials, you can follow my blog www.creativeblonde.co.uk and/or Instagram page www.instagram.co.uk/creativeblonde66 and www.facebook.com/creativeblonde66

Stockist for the fabrics found in this tutorial

Designs by Sarah J

Stockist for Gutermann threads

gutermann@stockistenquiries.co.uk 01453 883581

Stockist for stabilizer

www.ladysewandsew.co.uk  01628 890 532

Stockist for Clover Tools

clover@stockistenquiries.co.uk

#sew6organizers…

Its my time to show you No 3 of 6 from the #sew6organizers hosted by@mycreativelypottylife and @craftylilmouse 

This month i chose to make the ‘Book and Tool Folio’. 

Book written by Aneela Heoy 

After being so impressed with my zips in last months make, i was keen to jump right in with more zips, i even threw in a button hole…

 

I used fabrics from a collection called ‘Panorama’ by RJR fabrics, a gorgeous variegated Gutermann thread, colour 4025 and my very handle haberdashery tool by Clover –  ‘point 2 point turner’

I love the well written instructions and would recommend this book to anyone wanting to have a try at all the fiddly things we try and avoid

Thanks for reading, be sure to head over to Instagram and follow the hashtag #sew6organizers to see all the gorgeous makes from this beautiful book by Aneela Hoey

To see more of my tutorials, you can follow my blog here at www.creativeblonde.co.uk and/or Instagram page www.instagram.com/creativeblonde66 and www.facebook.com/creativeblonde66

Happy Sewing

x creativeblonde x