Sewing in a zipper ~

What is it about taking a trip that sends me to the sewing machine? This time I decided we needed a new travel bag, maybe for toiletries or my ever growing knitting supplies so I turned to Heather’s book Weekend Sewing and grew in my sewing skills on Friday.

I usually do whatever I can (or have so until now) to avoid sewing in a zipper – I’ll use velcro, make ties, or sew an envelope opening (on pillows), but on Friday I decided to go for it, to try a pattern that seemed within my level yet still challenging.



So with a weekend trip coming up, I decided to give this travel bag a go as my first zipper project and am so pleased with the results. I wanted to use a solid outer cover as the pattern shows with a surprise inside. The outer fabric on the bag is a canvas/twill fabric curtain that I repurposed and the lining is some cherry fabric I’ve had in my stash for a few years.

I spent somewhere between 4-5 hours on this project, it did take me most of the afternoon, granted I have three little ones that come by often to check in with me. Also, make sure your outer fabric is heavy enough to help hold the shape of the bag. Enjoy~!

road knitting ~

I got very excited when I received a phone call from my local library about this book being on reserve for me. I had been waiting for a mere three weeks for the library to receive their copy of the book since it’s release last month. I couldn’t wait to see The Jane Austin dress, what a great dress for the girls to wear for our family Christmas picture this year and also double as their Easter dresses next spring. I love the knitted bodice and empire waist and the billowy skirt is so playful, my girls will love it!




Thumbing through a second and third time, I saw several more projects that caught my attention: the Swifty and the Mitered Hanging Towel.

Saturday morning as we were packing up for our trip out to the apple orchard, I grabbed this book and yarn to give it a fair shot.

I decided on the Mitered Hanging Towel – using Peaches and Cream yarn as the pattern recommends. Although I will have to mention I didn’t like this yarn first go around, but I’ll give it another shot for these cute, simple {the jovial authors Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne rank the difficulty of this pattern to be “Actually easier than pie”}, and useful projects!