Friday, August 10, 2012

Tropical Ukulele Case...

Just finished another ukulele case. HAVE to love the tropical fabric! Again, this fabric was a gift, and it was so well suited to a ukulele case! I cut some double-sided cotton quilted fabric (another remnant from Joann's I had around) in brown for a lining, and I used a hearty 22" separating zipper for a jacket that I also had around for the zipper. I first of course closed off the zipper ends with some whip stitching so it wouldn't actually separate on the case..:) I used the same pattern and method of assembly as in this post about a year or so ago. I don't need a strap as I never seem to carry the ukulele anywhere but around the house! The pocket is a nice touch in a coordinating stripe - also a gift. :) You know who you are, so THANKS! :) I added a picture of Luna sticking out of the case so you could see she actually DOES live in there. :) And now of course there is a choice of gig bag. Unless I decided to get another ukulele to put in the other case, or in the new case. It would have to be a Concert size with a low-G tuning though. Something different. Something fun!

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Lunch and a Little Pillow....

Just today I made my new lunch sack. I used a medium sized smallish brown paper sack, and cut it down the middle of the sides and across the middle of the bottom...self-made pattern appears in the photos. This was a fun project. I used instructions from two sources, one is a lunch bag pattern from Sew News and one a tutorial that is just great - I wanted to make the bag like the tutorial but finish the top like the lunch bag pattern! However, I wanted it reversible, so I didn't assemble it quite like the tutorial either. It was FUN! I don't like the ones with plastic inside....bbbrrr...who knows what that stuff does or what fumes it releases. I had a purchased lunch tote and it had begun to stink after the first couple of weeks, and that is with me washing it out with detergent and letting it air another week. Needless to say I tossed that thing, and prepared to make my own. The outer print fabric was a gift from a good PR friend. The lining is double-sided quilted cotton from JAs and the bag reverses. I do love that double-sided stuff. I always pick up the remnants when I see them because double-sided fabric is so darn useful for so many projects! I think I can toss this lunch bag into the wash on cold with some towels or the like and clean it thoroughly, an idea which makes sense with something which has food in it on a daily basis. You could make this smaller or larger, depending on the bag or just make your own pattern - with the shape of a brown paper sack!

Meanwhile, I did finish a free motion quilting project on my Pfaff. I had done two small quilt sandwichs with which to make a nice quilted pillow case for my small travel pillow. I used Masterpiece thread on the bobbin and a variegated cotton on top. After finishing it I preferred the back side to the front - because the variegated stitching wasn't really good on this fabric. I am so happy to report that the bobbin side looks better than the top because the even stitching the Pfaff 1222E did and the Masterpiece thread - well - it's a winning combination. In future I am going to be using my Janome MC6300P for FMQ, and I hope it has the same lovely stitching as the Pfaff. I know the Janome 8050 has a nice stitch, and I have been able to try the new J6300 on FMQ too, just to set it up and give a whirl and she preformed extremely well even without the special bobbin case which I do have. Then I assembled the pillow case with my J6300, and sewed it like you would any pillowcase, which made a fairly thick seam in places, but the J6300 treats that like nothing is different! Sews right on through. Nice machine - quiet and smooth. I am very much enjoying the flatbed aspect as well.