Anyone who stops learning is old,
whether at twenty or eighty.
                              ~Henry Ford

    I have just completed my third project for Martha Pullen's online class for Teaching Beginning Sewing.
I completed the tote in about 3 hours, taking my time and enjoying the process.

   The directions were easy to follow, and with lots of roomy pockets, this will be a fun and comfortable tote to carry.






I wanted to use fabrics from my stash, and knowing the school loyalties of the rest of my family, I decided to use this ugly navy and orange fabric.


                                                                                                       I used Sally's Soft and Stable to give the tote some soft
 body, and for the pockets I used Warm and Natural, which is not quite so firm.  I liked the little polka dot for the lining and the footballs became the body of the tote. There are 3 deep pockets on either side of the lining.

   After making the lining with pockets, the body of the tote, and the straps, it was just a matter of slipping the lining into the body and stitching the handles in place.  This pattern is taken in slightly at the opening to give it a nice shape.  I stitched around the top and added a large orange rickrack trim.

   So now I have to find a nice crisp black and white hounds tooth check, and a pretty crimson to use for the lining.  And after cleaning my Bernina I will stitch up another tote that I will be happy to carry!

   

Each day learn something new,
and just as important,
relearn something old.

graphicsfairy.com

                 ~ Robert Brault


Project #2 for Marth Pullen's online class is a simple
blouse.  It has a little button at the back neckline, short sleeves and a
simple round neckline with facing.  I used machine stitching for the hem
and sleeve hem, making it quick and easy to make.

That should be the story, but we have Bibi sewing here...so what could I do to make
 this simplest of all blouses difficult?  Right!
 The MONOGRAM!
 It stitiched out so nicely using 2 layers of polymesh and a little 505...
.ON THE BACK PIECE OF THE BLOUSE!


I started to just walk out of my sewing room, but this was such a quick little project I wanted to get it


finished.  So there I was, back at the kitchen
counter, (aka my cuttiing table) and I cut out another back piece.  I used Master Circle in a soft cream that blended nicely on the linen.  Maybe I can use the first monogram for a little zipper bag.

The final version is complete, photo taken and posted on Martha's site. Woohoo!