Sewing vacation

For the past couple of weeks we have been on a much needed staycation whilst my mom and dad have been here, on vacation from chilly England. And dont let the title fool you; there was no vacation from sewing as mother got off the plane with a LIST of things to be made.....

And to be honest, I'm sure glad she did! It meant we got to spend a couple of days pootling about in my shed together, doing girly sewing things, and hopefully she ended up with some useful items to boot! And she only nodded off once..... Although she says as there was no drool this definitely does NOT count as sleep. Something to do with jet-lag.....

Project #1 was a peacock cushion for her to give as a Christmas gift. This is what we came up with:

For the feathers we fussy-cut pieces from a large scale paisley print.

The pictures dont really do them justice as the camera couldn't seem to capture the colors very well.

Mom chose the fabrics, and I think she did an excellent job. He's one posh peacock!

Want to make your own? You can download a PDF template here. It includes the peacock and feather outline and a couple of layout suggestions, so have at it!

Project #2 was a tote bag.

It was a make-it-up-as-you-sew kind of affair, and it turned out pretty good. I want one now...

Mom chose some lovely home dec weight fabric for the outside and some cream quilting for the interior. We did a couple of things to make this bag a little bit fancy, the first of which was to add fusible stiffener to all the exterior pieces to give it the right 'feel' and make it look 'like a real one'. Secondly, we added a fancy interior pocket...

It was my first time doing this kind of pocket and I'm sure glad it all worked out. The other side just has some regular divider pockets and there is a small pocket on the front of the bag.

Projects #3 and #4 are without pictures and were a cushion for a childs rocking chair and a case for moms circular knitting needles, the latter of which you may see make an appearance on moms blog if you ask nicely.

All in all, a good sewing vacation!