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Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Finished x2 Jalie 2921

I was originally going to sew a cowl neck Renfrew for my 6 PAC, but Jalie 2921 kept calling to me. I had 3 yards set aside for this project, so I had lots left over to sew a little dress for Laila. I hope to take some better detailed pics soon, but I wanted to get this post up before 2014 :)

Pattern: Jalie 2921

Fabric: Cotton/Spandex knit from Girl Charlee
Notions: Just thread and seam stabilizer.

Size sewn: I sewed a G (size 3) for my DD and for my self: T in the bust, grading to a U in the waist & a V in the hips.

Alterations/Design Changes: I cut DD's top off at the waist marking & added a pleated skirt. This was my original "vision" Don't be jealous of my mad fashion sketching skillz.
For mine, aside from grading out at the waist and hips, I raised the neckline 1/2" and will raise it another inch next time. I also lengthened it 3/4" and did a double fold 5/8" hem.
Likes: The results are so professional!!
Dislikes: I could have stuck with size T all the way through I think. The sleeves are symmetrical, which is a pet peeve of mine. But, they do seem to have a better fit than other symmetrical sleeves I've sewn.

Time to Complete: Not much! I think mine took one nap time to construct (90 minutes?) and another 20 to hem? Fast.

New Techniques: Rolling the shirt into the collar (the "burrito"). Drafted a pleated skirt for DD.

Total Cost: I had all the notions on hand, so.....about $15 for each.
Fabric: $18 for 3 yards 
Pattern:  12.98

Monday, December 30, 2013

Looking back on 2013

2013 was a good, solid year for my family and my sewing. I fell a bit behind in blogging, but that's just the rhythm of things, I suppose.


I delved into bra sewing, which was more of a miss than hit, I suppose.  It was a confidence booster construction wise, but it was a bad idea to take it on while I was breastfeeding. Too many fluctuations in size & I've never really loved breastfeeding, so I'm a bit more self-conscious then anyway.


That aside, though, the things I did manage to make this year were more solidly built than things I've made in the past & I'm also getting a knack for sewing what I *need*.  I still carry my Necessary Clutch every time I leave the house and it ALWAYS gets compliments. I've been told more than once that I should make & sell them.


I actually had quite few wadders this year. I'm at an odd place technique-wise. I think I'm a solid advanced beginner, moving into Intermediate territory. But when I come across a technique that I'm unsure of, instead of proceeding with caution & being diligent in my actions I just plow through.That's precisely what happened when I attempted the Bombshell swimsuit. I have every confidence that I'll be able to conquer that this summer. A large reason that one blew up in my face is that I was determined to add a bra to the pattern. Which, in theory should have been straight forward. Because I make bras. Or I did. Then. So I think if there is ONE thing that will help me to advance my skills in the next year it will be to SLOW.DOWN. My Minoru jacket is an excellent example of what I'm capable of when I take my time.

Speaking of which, my pièce de résistance was my version of the Minoru jacket. I just love it. I've got my eye on the Robson coat for this spring. It's rated as Advanced....but maybe, just maybe I can pull it off.

It seems that my sewing projects of 2013 were either raging successes or dismal failures that didn't even make it to the blog. :)  Hopefully 2014 will be a little more consistent. And I plan to start blogging my failures a bit more just for my own personal record.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Sewing Space Makeover Reveal

Ages ago I announced my intention of prettying up my sewing corner.  It is in our "office" which happens to be the first room guests walk into when they enter our home.  We've been remodeling our house room by room & for some reason, this room was the last one to get done.

I've been combing the archives for a suitable "before" shot, but can't really find one. This is the room when we first moved in. The blue carpet, unfortunately, remains. We've decided to wait until the kids are done spilling things on a daily basis to replace it. Oh, how I yearn for that day.

 
The unsightly wood paneled walls adorned every room (except the kitchen) in our house. We've dry walled over it in the master bed, wallpapered & painted over it in the living room and just flat out painted over it in the remaining rooms. I dislike the look of it painted, but I hate the look of it unpainted. And of course, time and cost is always a factor when remodeling.

Just as a reminder, here's my initial inspiration board:

And here is how everything turned out. This is close to what it looks like all tucked away when I'm between projects or in the middle of projects but expecting company. It is incredibly easy to reconfigure. Please note these photos were taken while the kids were napping. Typically the hot and/or sharp objects are far out of reach :)

You can just see a peek of the curtains I made. My fantastic husband and I made the sewing table ourselves using Ana White's Collapsible Sewing Table woodworking plan. We put it on 4 caster wheels so that it's easy to maneuver.

Originally I planned on using one of the leaves as a pressing board, but decided against it since I didn't want to have both leaves out while I was sewing. When I'm cutting or tracing patterns, I fold out both leaves like this


If/when we make this table again I'll make it taller & deeper with thicker legs, but it's working out just fine so far. Once I'm ready to get to the actual sewing, I collapse one of the leaves & voila....


I didn't make a pressing board, but I still wanted to use the green fabric so I recovered my mini ironing board. It fits perfectly underneath when it's not in use.

I'm still trying to figure out the ideal pegboard configuration. Right now everything is just kind of thrown on there willy nilly. The baskets are from the dollar store. 

So that's my sewing space. Or as I like to call it "Where the magic happens" LOL.  I'm really happy with my little corner and I just adore how easy it is to put it all away while keeping it close at hand. 

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Two Strikes.

I'm off to a miserably bad start with my SWAP. I picked out a cheap, polyester suiting from Joann Fabrics for my Hollyburn & it shows. It just looks all wrong. I'll be saving the zipper but trashing the skirt.

And as for my Red Velvet Dress. Yeah. That was just one disaster after another.

Firstly, had I realized the dress featured facings, I never would have bought it. I have no love for facings, particularly in knits. And throughout the sewalong Steph (the pattern designer) reiterated time & time again how easy this particular neckline was to stretch & distort. Which made me nervous.

I hemmed & hawed and finally worked up the courage to draft my own binding. Which was successful! THEN the pattern designer said some rather ugly things on Debbie Cook's blog & that totally robbed me of my motivation to continue participating in her sew along. Yick.

Then I hated the bust pleats. But I decided they were well camouflaged in the print of my fabric & continued on. Then the "scissor" pleat looked silly (I think this was an issue with me rather than the pattern). Whatever. But now I am blissfully in the final stretch--hemming.

And I've run out of thread. Completely. After hemming one sleeve.  I don't even have "this will do" color. Nearest notions shop is an hour away.

So I think it's time to call it quits. Despite the fact that the dress would have been wearable, I've just got too much resentment built up toward it I think. It will likely end up as a dress for my 3 year old daughter.

So that's 2 wadders in a row. But my Minoru is still fabulous, so I've got that to hang on to :) I keep using that as proof to myself that I can, indeed sew.

On to the next thing, then! I'm going back to the land of knit tops for now. :)

Monday, November 4, 2013

Red Velvet Dress and Winter 6 PAC



I was pretty excited when Steph released the Red Velvet Dress pattern. I've been looking for a knit dress pattern that had neither a pencil skirt nor an a-line. I didn't know what type of skirt I wanted, but when I saw the RV pattern, I knew it would be worth a shot.

Steph is hosting a sewalong starting on the November 11th & I'm hoping to join in.  The fabric I have picked out (but not ordered) is this fushia polka dot knit.


This dress will actually be the first piece of my Winter 6 PAC. I recently discovered the Artisan's Square forum & they host a myriad of fantastic sewalongs. This "6 PAC" means making a mini wardrobe (6 items) & is hosted each season. I'm completely going against the recommended guidelines, but they are just recommendations & the most important thing is making things that I need in my wardrobe. Here's my initial inspiration board. This color scheme is what I've been shooting for in my entire wardrobe the last few months. I'm in dire need of skirts, so that's my focus right now. I've already started on the grey Hollyburn. I'd forgotten how easy that skirt is. Unfortunately I was dumb and didn't look very closely at the fabric I bought & it's a bit sheer (c'mon Joann Fabrics-really? sheer suiting? I hate you.) so I'll also be making a slip :)


Anyway, I realize all these colors look incredibly bright when put together :) but I'm hoping for a mustard yellow for the pleated skirt, so that will -hopefully- tone things down a bit. But even though it's very colorful, they do all "go" together. That's the brilliance (not my brilliance) of picking a color scheme & building off that.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Finished Object. Goal Accomplished.




Well lookee here. I sewed myself a coat!! Early on in my sewing adventures, Gertie hosted a sew along for the Lady Grey coat & I was entranced. I couldn't believe people could actually sew their own coats. While mine isn't a tailored masterpiece, per se, it is definitely my proudest sewing accomplishment to date.  Here's the facts. And only the facts. After the facts I will ramble. Proceed with caution.

Pattern: Sewaholic Minoru

Fabric: Stretch twill from Fashion Fabrics Club
Notions: Thread & 2 zippers. Huge shout out to Zipperstop. I mailed a swatch of my fabric to them to match on Friday & had my zippers on Tuesday. Amazing customer service.

Size sewn:I muslined both a size 6 & 8. In the end, I sewed the 8 since I underlined with flannel & will possibly be wearing under bulky-ish sweaters.
Alterations/Design Changes: Added welt pockets. Shortened (at hem) 1.75". Raised elastic 1". Added .75" for broad back alteration. Omitted sleeve cuffs. Instead I made a self facing by lengthening outer sleeve fabric 2". I also graded down to a size 4 at the hips & probably could have gone down to a 2.

Also, instead of stitching the ditch for the collar, I hand sewed it. I just couldn't' get my stitches just right on both sides.
Likes: Loved the process. Love the finished product.
Dislikes: I do wish it had outer pockets, but there's about a billion different ways to add yoru own pockets, so it's no big deal. 
Time to Complete: I cut my fabric out on October 2nd, and wore my finished coat on the 20th. I didn't sew every day, and I took my time getting things just right.
New Techniques: Welt pockets! Separating zippers!
Total Cost: $57.85
Fashion Fabric $11.85. Lining fabric $27. Zippers $11. Thread $8. I'm not counting the pattern cost because I bought it almost 2 years ago :)


Alright. Let the rambling commence!  I actually pre-ordered this pattern when Tasia first released it. I was all set to participate in her sewalong and then I discovered I was pregnant. So it got set aside. For a year and a half.

With Fall approaching I decided to get this baby sewn. I muslined a size 6, which fit perfect. But in the end I decided I wanted a bit more ease to accommodate the flannel underlining & bulky fall sweaters.

The welt pockets were a major cause for concern. I've never constructed them before, but I also needed to figure out where to put them, what angle to have them & how deep to construct the pocket bags...without having them interfere with the hem or plackets. All in all, I'd say they're just right.  But I left the internal pockets just in case my welt pocket design was lacking.

I lined the hood, removing 3/8" to account for the seam allowance rather than a hem allowance. I also tacked it down by hand along the center seam so the lining wouldn't bag out.

The lining itself is a horrendous polyester; you know the type. It frays if you look at it wrong.  So even though the seams were all enclosed I was really diligent in zigzagging (and sometimes fray checking) my seam allowances. 

Instead of stitching in the ditch at the collar seam (couldn't get it to all line up just right even though I hand basted first) I just sewed it by hand. It took a little extra time, but all in all wasn't too bad. 



I omitted the sleeve cuffs, but I didn't want my lining to peek out at the wrist, so I created a self facing (I might be making that term up) by lengthening the outer sleeve pieces by 2 inches. This gave it a really nice, clean finish & if I sew another hooded Minoru, I'll likely use the same method on the hood.

In conclusion, I love this coat. A lot. And it was a good sewing exercise for me, too. It's the first 'Intermediate' pattern I've sewn (not counting bras) and I'm really happy with the results.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Minoru fabric choice



Left: Organic Canvas Cotton from fabric.com  Right: Magenta Pink Stretch Twill from FFC
I ordered 2 different fabrics for my Minoru. I never do that. But I wasn't positive either was what I wanted. I ordered on the same day, moments apart, and of course, my fabric from fabric.com arrived a week earlier than that from Fashion Fabrics Club.

Once I received the twill (from FFC) though, I was glad that I had waited to cut into my fabric. The canvas looks quite dull compared to the twill. But what really sold me on the twill was the price. The Organic Canvas Cotton cost $40 while the twill was a steal at $18 (including shipping). 

Since my sewing room makeover put a halt to all sewing for a couple weeks, I'm really looking forward to getting started on this! As it turns out, Pattern Review's Lined Jacket Contest starts today, so I'll be able to participate in that, too! There seems to be a number of us who are planning on sewing Minorus.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Sewing Space Makeover


It is past time to pretty up my sewing space. Ever since I started sewing, my machine has migrated around the house. It's currently housed in the "office" which works out well except that its the only room in our house that we have yet to remodel. The walls are wood paneling. The furniture is a bunch of odds & ends that we've procured from random spots (including the side of the road).  It is without a doubt my least favorite room in the house and it's time for that to change.

I'll be purchasing a new (cheap) white desk (for the "office" portion of the room). And painting our bookshelf from black to white (that should be interesting). And I'll be making that collapsible sewing table you see above. I sew--woodworking can't be that hard--right?? Right! The wood paneled walls (gag) will be painted with that beigy-taupe you see above which is the same color we have in the adjoining living room.

I'll use the green fabric to make a pressing board on one of the leaves of my (made by me) collapsible sewing table, the rectangle fabric will be backing on my soon-to-be-white bookshelf and that turquoise blue fabric will become simple curtains.

I've seen been hunting around for pegboard inspiration & have not been disappointed. I'll be using one to house as many of my tools & notions as possible.  Feel free to take a look at my Office Makeover pinterest board.

I'm very excited about the whole thing, particularly having a pressing board attatched directly to the sewing table. And I like that the table can just fold away when sewing is forced to take a back seat. I love even more that I'll make it with my own 2 hands.

I find planning to be much more exciting than the actual execution of said plan, but that's alright.

On the sewing front, I've muslined the Minoru, traced & altered my lining pieces, and now I'm just waiting for the fabric I ordered from Fashion Fabrics Club. I ordered purple canvas from FFC & fabric.com and I'll be sending one back. I really like the canvas I got from fabric.com but FFC is much cheaper, so I'm holding out to see what their's is like. I also still need to get thread & zippers for my coat, but I anticipate getting my fabric cut out by the end of this week! Woo Hoo!


Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Minoru Muslin


I got my muslin all sewn up & I find myself putting it on just to wear around the house. I love it that much. It is quite fitted, which I wanted, but I'm thinking I'll need a little extra ease in my final version since I'll be using a bit thicker fabric & I'm also planning to underline with flannel for extra warmth. I'm toying with the idea of just sewing with a smaller seam allowance at the side seams.

I did make some minor adjustments that I'll transfer over to the final pattern.  Here's what I've done:

Shortened 1.5" at the hem
Raised the waist elastic 1"
Took it in at the hips 1" at each side seam (My hips are a size 4 according to the pattern measurements, rather than the size 6 that I cut out)


I'm also feeling some tightness in the back when I stretch my arms forward, which is actually really common for me in jackets. But I never associated it with a broad back.  Fit For Real People recommends cutting & slashing the pattern down the back for a broad back alteration in a Raglan sleeve so that's probably what I'll do. I just need to figure out how much to slash. I DO have a raglan sleeve sweatshirt I can measure & compare to the pattern.

Sewing mostly knits, I've never really went from fitting a muslin to transferring the changes to the pattern pieces and on into the fashion fabric. It's quite daunting :) I'm just taking it nice & slow and tackling it one alteration at a time. 

I'll also be adding welt pockets to the outside.  This is something I've never tried before so I'm really excited to delve into something new! 

I'm still awaiting my fashion fabric & once I have that in hand, I plan on sending a swatch to zipperstop.com so they can send me the closest matching YKK zipper.

Friday, August 30, 2013

Coordinated Kids' Clothes

It's that time of year again. Some of my readers will remember that I've made my kids matching outfits each summer for our annual District Convention. Well, this year I had three little outfits to sew & I'm happy to say that this year's outfits...by far, are my favorite.

I started out knowing that they would be coordinating, rather than identical. Mostly because my oldest boy, Shawn, has pretty strong opinions these days and prefers to wear red. And by that I mean the only tie he'll wear is the red one I made for him 3 years ago...which is falling apart.

When I found these fabrics, I knew they were exactly what I needed.

But Shawn wasn't sold on the polka dots. And the sailboat fabric was blue--not red.
So I kept looking & we found the winner in a white quilting cotton featuring little red & blue whales. He loved it. Quite by accident we found ourselves going with a nautical theme.


I'll post an individual review of the dress, but here's the outfits. We still haven't managed to get one picture of all three kids together (and I'm not holding my breath!) but we did get some cute individual shots (sorry about the quality & the formatting). I'm happy to say that Shawn will now ONLY wear his whale tie & he's gotten a TON of compliments on it. I had one mom even stop me to ask where I bought his tie so she could get one for her little guy. I felt a little bad telling her I made it :)







Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Grand Plans: The Minoru


I've loved the Minoru since the first time I saw it. When Tasia released it, I bought the pattern right away. And then I started planning on participating in the Sewalong. I traced my pattern and then...

I found out I was pregnant.

And that pretty much put a halt to any jacket sewing plans I may have had. Until now, that is.

I was planning on entering the Mini Wardrobe contest over on Pattern Review, but I have doubts that I'll be able to see it through the the finish & I'm pretty determined to keep my fabric stash down to a minimum. As in, muslin a pattern, buy the fabric, sew the fabric. Lather, rinse, repeat. No stashing. Anyway, I could see myself buying fabric for all 4 wardrobe pieces & only sewing 2 or whatever. And plus also, sewing a jacket will fulfill one of the goals I've had since I started sewing. So that's cool.

Anyway, when I initially traced my Minoru, I traced size 10; my measurements ranged from sizes 8-12. Now, my measurements are in the 4-8 range. So I'll have to retrace. I'll start out muslining the size 6. I made the Renfrew in size 8 & it was a bit on the too big side, so hopefully I'm on the right track.

For the outer fabric, I'll be picking up a purple cotton canvas.  And I've chosen a leopard print satin for the lining. I plan on including a flannel underlining for additional warmth & I'll add some sort of pocket on the outside, either side seam or patch; I'll decide once the muslin is all sewn up.



Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Finished: Hollyburn!

This skirt has been finished for months. MONTHS. And I wear it all the time. But I just finally got around to photographing it. And most of the pictures were blurry. It seems some little finger smudged my camera lens. Sorry.


Fabric: Gorgeous coral stretch denim (no longer available) from Harts Fabrics (LOVE them!)
Pattern: Sewaholic Hollyburn
Notions:Thread & zipper. A bit of interfacing for the waistband
Size sewn: 12. View B.
Alterations/Design Changes: It ended up being closer to the length of View A (because I'm short) but it is the perfect length for me. I couldn't find a zipper to match, so I was left with the option of doing a contrast teal zipper or using a grey one. I decided to do a lapped zipper. I don't really like how it turned out. Definitely looks home made...as in "I couldn't find a matching zipper so I used this one and desperately tried to hide it" (which is exactly what happened) I think I'll probably rip the zipper out & the centered teal zipper (since writing this review months ago, I've decided to live with the grey zipper--it's really not that bad...time heals all things?) 
Likes: The pockets!! It's a simple style, came together really quickly (save for blind hemming by hand; that took forever). Definitely well suited for beginners!
Dislikes: None. Though, I definitely should have staystitched my skirt pieces before the pattern suggested.  I had some definite stretching, & the pattern suggested sewing a gathering stitch along the top of the skirt before applying the waistband, but by then I already had the pockets and staystitching done so I couldn't really get it to gather nicely across the seams.  Anyway, I ended up cheating & just chopping an inch off at one of the side seams.

Time to Complete: Not long...a couple days?? If I were to sew it again with a deadline I'd give myself 3 days. 
New Techniques: Blind hem by hand
Total Cost: Eek. Ok. Pattern: $17.25 with shipping. Fabric & thread: approx. $30.  All told, $47.25. Holy Moly.  Suddenly the cost of the skirts from Mod Cloth don't seem so ridiculousI've never spent that much on a RTW skirt! And in case you couldn't tell...I didn't do the math BEFORE hitting "add to cart".

After having this skirt a few months-I'm going to go out on a limb & say it was worth the cost. It comfortable, can be dressed up OR down, the fabric is great, the color is FUN....I'm super glad I made it. :)

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Creating a Custom Storyboard



I'm strongly considering sewing myself a mini wardrobe in September & participating in Pattern Review's Mini Wardrobe Contest. In preperation , I created a storyboard using my possible fabrics & patterns. A couple ladies wanted to know how it was done, so I made this tutorial. Keep in mind I'm using PSE8 and can't really speak to other versions.  :) You'll need a image of the pattern line drawing and a digital swatch of your fabric (just copy & paste from your browser).  

Edit to add: There's a number of typos & I apologize :) PSE doesn't spell check & this tutorial was a long process. I hope you find it useful anyway. :) 

This is incredibly long & you'll need to click on the pictures to make them bigger. (You can also view via this flikr album. Here we go!

TIP: If you ever find yourself having trouble, double check that the layer you want to be selected is selected. :) 
























Saturday, June 15, 2013

Bombshell Sew Along





Have you guys seen this pattern from Closet Case Files!?!? When I first started delving into bra making*, I thought 'Wow! It would be AWESOME to make my own swimsuit.' In searching the internet I saw Heather's orginal emerald green suit & fell in love. It was perfect. Unfortunately, there wasn't a pattern for it. And altering an existing pattern is quite possibly out of my reach.

But LOOK who's been working her tail off so the rest of us can look fabulous on the beach too! Heather's hosting a sew along starting on Monday to sew up the Bombshell and I am. so. exicted. The fabrics have been ordered and I am ready to go! I originally was going to order from SpandexWorld, but their shipping was positively outrageous. $17 to ship 3 yards of fabric. NoThankYouVeryMuch. But The Fabric Fairy had this pretty purple swimsuit fabric (& I ordered a nude lining) AND as a bonus, she carries swimsuit elastic, too. $25 including shipping. If all goes well, this suit will cost me only $35 to make. I should even have enough fabric left over to make a matching suit for my daughter.



I'm really excited to get started on this! I may end up adding a bra for support...but maybe not. :) We'll see. I don't want it to be something I get hung up on. Besides, I think I might end up needing a 2nd suit at some point anyway. 



*I've burned myself out on bra making. I haven't blogged my triumphs & (mostly) trials, and to be honest I'm still a little let down by  my lack of success. Part of the challenge is that I'm still nursing. The other part is that while bra sewing is very cheap compared to buying RTW (at least in my size), it is  CONSIDERABLE investment both in time & money on the outset. I still dream of being able to whip out a beautiful, well fitting bra, but for now, I'm taking a break. I think my next "move" might be to find a great fitting RTW bra and clone it. The other option is to GULP draft my own block. Someday.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Back to Bags: The Necessary Clutch


 
 I have pretty specific needs needs when it comes to a wallet. I need it to be small enough to fit in a diaper bag, but large enough to carry on it's own when I'm out without the kiddos. So, it needs to fit my cards (only 3 are money related, but insurance cards for 5 people adds up fast), my iPhone (decked out with an Otterbox), and my car keys. I've searched. For months I've searched to no avail. Then I started poking around for wallet patterns. I started considering designing my own. Thank goodness I found The Necessary Wallet Pattern; it's much better than anything I could have come up with on my own.
Image courtesy of Emmalinebags
I bought the pattern right away (how great are instant downloads?!) and set about fabric shopping. I wanted something floral & summery, but decided on this fabric since the black background meant it would transition easily into the cooler months.

 
This pattern is nothing short of brilliant. It had everything I wanted: removable straps, credit card slots, zipper pockets (I added the one on the outside). And the twist lock hardware really pulls it all together (aesthetically & literally, I suppose)  I'm still in awe of how well this came together. It really is one of the best thought out designs that I've used. The instructions were crystal clear. Not once did I find myself confused or bewildered (which really is saying something!) The tone of the tutorial was very conversational, pointing out helpful tips & hints making it easy to see potential roadblocks.  I almost feel as though Janelle (the talent behind Emmaline Bags) and I are sewing BFFs now.

 Credit card slots at both the front & back of the wallet, with slip pocket behind them.
 Between the zippered pocket & the divider is about a 1" space, perfect for holding my iPhone & my car keys, and the sides gusseted sides of the wallet keep everything safe from falling out.

Adding the twist lock on the front was nerve-wracking just because of the fact that you're cutting a HOLE in your beautiful wallet (that you tried uber hard to match the print on). Speaking of print matching, here's how I did it:

I traced the print of my flap onto tissue paper and then matched it up against fabric for the flap border. This fabric (Hello Gorgeous Tossed Flowers on Black) had very little repeats. I had 1/2 yard and struggled to find 2 sets of identical flower clusters.
One other tip I have for sewing thick fabrics (this wallet is well interfaced, which is key to a professional end product) is to use paper clips or bobby pins to hold your fabric together. I've seen
seamstresses use handy looking clips, but I've been unable to find any locally, so my in progress projects often look like this:

Next I'm looking forward to stitching up The Emmaline Bag (as soon as I decide on what fabrics to use).  Just one more picture for the road....

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