A Copycat Experiment

Whew!  Where have I been?  Well, I've been steadily crafting as usual, but just didn't have a whole lot interesting to show for it until Thursday night, and then I didn't have time or energy to post until now!

I've been knitting away - the cool, cloudy weather we're having is perfect for that.  I finished all the pieces of my Shimmer cardigan on Monday, and they've been sitting ever since.  I just haven't summoned the will to sew those raglans together to work the neckline!  So meanwhile I finished the pair of socks I had started on our San Francisco trip.  And I started knitting an Auden sweater using the yarn from last summer's ill-fated Saffron cardigan.  I really hope this pattern ends up being "the one" for this yarn - it's my fourth try!  Nothing else really seemed to work!

On Tuesday I made 3 more feathers for my quilt, and on Wednesday I finished watching the Making Leather Bags Craftsy class for the second time and started a little leather clutch.

On Thursday I bought some lovely fabric for my weekend sewing project:  Hubby's requested shirt.  But I also made up a couple of framed clutches that have been on my list for quite a while.

Ever since I came across this post, I've been wanting the same exact purses, so a while ago I bought a little of each of the Dear Stella prints needed to make them.  I followed the linked tutorial to create my own pattern - I knew I wanted my bags to be slightly deeper and more square than the ones shown, so I adjusted my measurements accordingly, and I'm very happy with the shape my pattern produces.

I decided to make two bags and do a little experiment.  For one I used leftover quilt batting and for the other I used fusible fleece on the back of the outer pieces.  I wanted to see what the differences were in the finished product.  I was really hoping that I'd like the batting version most, because I have a LOT of leftover batting laying around!  But I ended up perferring the fusible fleece, so I'll be using that for future bags.

Here's my first bag.  This is the one made with batting.  The bag is nice, but it lacks stability - it kind of falls into itself when empty.  You can see that the sides are a little crumply.  For the outside I used Piper Stripe, and for the inside I used Patterned Dots.  Such fantastic colors and designs on these Piper prints!

For my second bag, I used Queen Anne's Lace in purple for the outside, and Sprinkles for the inside.  This is the one using fusible fleece, fused to the back of the outer fabric.  Look at those crisp, stable sides!

front

side

back

inside

inside

And here are the two of them side by side.  The difference is slight, but I think it's visible in this photo:

Both my purses were made to fit 8" x 3" frames.  I followed the sewing instructions in the Dear Stella tutorial, which was a different method than I've used in the past but which I think gives a superior result.  The stability of the bag made with fusible fleece made it possible for me to insert the purse into the frame without having any of the glue seep out - a first for me!  The glue I use is Beacon 527, which I've been able to find at JoAnn's.

I can see making lots more of these, even though I don't really have a use for them!  I just love them so, and they're very fun to make.  Perhaps I'll need to open a little shop . . . 

Hazel of the Maasai Mara

While I was making my first Hazel dress, I was already planning the second.  I knew I had to try the pattern out with a stripe to take advantage of the interesting bodice design.  So I got onto the Hawthorn Threads website and started scrolling through all the striped fabrics they had.  I found a lot of fabrics I liked, but I absolutely fell in love with one - a faux ikat stripe in blue, green and white.

Now, I'm a lover of ikat fabrics from way back.  When I was in graduate school in the late '80s, I acquired a number of garments made of Guatemalan ikat, including but not limited to:  a bucket hat; a reversible bomber-type jacket with double ikat on one side and single ikat on the other; a couple of fanny packs; and last but most definitely not least, double ikat Hammer Pants.  What can I say?   My fashion choices have, at times, been questionable.

All this is to say that I'm glad ikat is a trend at the moment, even if a lot of what we're seeing is ikat-like prints and not true ikat fabric.  And apparently I've been living under a rock, because it took me until now to discover the Dear Stella Maasai Mara collection, from which my Hazel fabric hails.  This collection was from spring 2012 - now I'm worried I won't be able to get all the prints I want!  And I'm not sure what any of them have to do with a Kenyan game preserve, but they're lovely nonetheless.

Because the background of the fabric is white, I chose to underline this dress as well to keep the seam allowances from showing through.  The bodice is underlined in cotton batiste, but I used a lightweight muslin on the skirt because I wanted something a little more substantial.  I'll admit though that the finished dress is a little on the heavy side.  But the good news is that I don't have to wear a slip if I choose not to.

This time, in order to reduce the bulk a little, I finished my seam allowances with a three-thread overlock instead of my usual four.  I'm really happy with how that worked out and will try to remember to do it that way in the future.  And because my underlining was white and my thread was also white, everything is very clean and neat on the inside, even though it's just serged.  I also really love how easy it is to catch-stitch the hem to the underlining so that it's completely invisible on the outside.

Because I already had all my fitting issues worked out and had just made this pattern less than two weeks ago, it felt like a very easy project.  Still, I worked on it slowly, doing a little bit each day over the span of a week.  Well, actually that's not accurate - there were a couple days when I didn't work on it at all, so let's say five days.  I did add the 2" in length I felt was lacking from the skirt before - something to keep in mind if you make this pattern and you don't want your skirt too short.  I'm only 5'4".

And now here's the good stuff:  I had a lot of fun playing off this Maasai Mara theme.  What does one do in the Maasai Mara?  Go on safari, of course!

Look at that lion!!

Yes.  We have a pith helmet in our home.

Here's a better look at the bodice and the angles the stripes made.  I'm very happy with how this one turned out!

And minus the binoculars, here are the accessories for this fun photo-shoot:

Fake leopard sandals.  Real pith helmet.  And I didn't have time to actually do my nails, but I was planning on using this polish from the China Glaze On Safari collection from last fall - how perfect is that?  Both the name and the color!  Incidentally, this is probably my favorite blue polish.

As much as I love both my Hazel dresses, I think I'm done with the pattern for now.   But expect to see some projects using other fabrics from this Dear Stella line soon!