DIY: Tote bag

As I mentioned in past posts, I recently purchased a sewing machine! Unfortunately, I have been so busy that I still haven't got the time to properly explore all its potential. However, I did somehow managed to sew a tote bag!  

Here are a few pictures of the bag:

 Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take enough pictures of all the steps I took when sewing it, but fortunately there are many blogs that post pretty good tutorials to follow. My favourite one for  a Tote bag, is this one here, by one of my favourite sewing blogs, Made.

Here are a few pictures of a detail of my stitches, not sure if I should feel this proud of my Tote bag, but I am!

I simplified the tutorial, by not doing it as a reversible bag. I did not think that was quite ready to do it, and besides, I did not have the time for it.... Also, this tote bag will be  used as a reusable shopping bag, so it does not have to be such a glamorous bag! And finally, I was using leftovers of fabric from my previous projects, and did not have sufficient fabric for it....

Maybe in a future attempt!

 

procrastination projects

I have been really busy this past days.... I am a little behind on papers that I should have already submitted, and so work and stress starts to pile up!

yesterday I arrived really late, and had this little gift waiting for me! I was sooooo happy, my heart melted once I opened it! 

You really love when you feel supported on you little procrastination projects! And what exactly are procrastinations projects?.... Well,  it´s everything that you start to do.... or plan to do....instead of what you really should be doing.... Here´s a clear picture of what I am dealing with:

 And so, if I already had so many projects.... Now I even have more! Not so sure about the knitting though....

 Even so, I can´t wait to explore freely all my endeavours...

So let´s get back to work, so I can explore properly my "sewing skills" ...

 

New Forest

Last weekend I visited new Forest for the first time. For the ones who don´t know, New Forest is a national park located in southern England.... and is simply beautiful. This park is filled with commoners'  horses and cattle, that simply graze away freely in the park. So, now and then, you usually have an extra party companion following you!

 I wasn't there simply for sightseeing, I was helping out a friend with her PhD fieldwork, so besides enjoying the amazing landscape.... we worked...! I was completely beaten by the end of the day, we walked a lot, and I was able to visit areas that would not be usually visited. We were a bit unlucky though, for the weather wasn't the nicest one (surprisingly, right?), but it was completely worth it!I will be definitely returning and hopefully with a sunny weather....

For now I will just leave you with a few images of the park!

 

Meet my brand new......

Sewing machine!!!!

As I already blogged a long time a go, one of my wishes was to purchase a sewing machine. And.... I did it!
I had a few doubts about the machine I should purchase, as I am a beginner, and I don´t know a lot (practically anything) about sewing. My latests projects were done hand-stitching, and the blogosphere was  quite handy for me to learn hand sewing, all that I learn so far was thanks to blogs out there that have tutorials.


John Lewis web site does have a web-test on the type of machine that someone should purchase (find it here).  I found it quite useful as a machine guide. When I went there for purchasing the selected machine, the employees there were even more useful and thought me a few basic steps and how to use it!

So, I am less then a beginner when it comes to sewing... And even less when using a sewing machine, again I am so thankful to these amazing tutorials that show the basic steps on how to use a sewing machine! DIYdesign has these really good tutorials with a few videos that I am following (you can found these here). So I spent time getting to know my sewing machine, and getting the sense to the different stitches and I absolutely loved it! I can´t wait to try it for real, I have so many projects in my mind!
Here are a few examples of the stitches I sewed.... I used a leftover of fabric from my project "purse organizer" for this experiment...

Bear with me, as I explained I am less than a beginner! But I am improving with time, I can notice a difference, the final stitches (on the right) are done forming a really straight line!! Not bad for a first time right?

Blog as work in progress, Chapter3!

OK, lets see a black & white signature!

Much better...But not yet the final one....