{michellepatterns.com}

Denim Tote with Half-Moon Pocket

tote bag

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It has been a while since I've sewn a bag.  But finally, one is done!  This bag is big enough to hold my laptop (13") with room for other things as well.  Click the image or links to read more about each photo.

tote bag pocket

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tote bag lining

Killing Me with Cuteness

Look at this specimen of adorableness!  Seeing this bag made by OMGitsaLisa in the flickr group made my day. Look at how happy that unicorn is to be dancing on a rainbow.  L-O-V-E it!

Found in the Flickr Group - Retro Bloom

How cute is this scrappy bloom made by mightyaphrodite128?  I love it! 

The flickr group has 515 members now.  Please feel free to join and post things you make to the group.  It is great to see what everyone makes.  Very inspiring!

The tutorial for these flowers can be found here.

Dumpling flickr Gallery

I feel like organizing things.  This will surely pass, so I'm making the most of it! 

I've added some "galleries" to the flickr group.  Here is a snippet of the Dumpling gallery:

I'm not 100% sure how to make the most of these galleries.  Maybe someone else has some insight? 

The only way I can find them is by looking under "you" in my account and going to "your galleries", or by coming across a photo already added to a gallery.  BTW, if your photo happens to be added to a gallery somewhere on flickr, when you are looking at the photo you will see something like this in the middle of the right side of the page:

Originally, I thought the galleries might show along the right side like the "sets" do in my photostream.  Which you can get to them by clicking on "more sets" at the bottom of the page, and then selecting the galleries tab, but they don't seem to be prominently displayed anywhere.  

So my intentions are good, and my intuition tells me there is a good reason to do this, but I'm not quite sure how to make the best use of the galleries!  Maybe they are just to make me feel organized for a brief moment in time.

What I learned about sewing this week.

Check out my first zippered sewing project. I'm quite proud of this little dumpling. It is not perfect by any means, I'm new at this sewing business, but I love that I was able to follow Michelle's Dumpling Tutorial with ease.

While I was sewing this dumpling, I had an a-ha moment. 

Slow down!

I realized that I needed to go slow. More than just reading the directions carefully and more than easing up on the machine's pedal.

I've been so hurried to see my finished projects that I'm pressuring myself to go faster, faster, faster. But I really don't need to. Is it better that I've finished a project in one hour when two hours is just fine, too? 

I'm not sewing for profit. I'm not on a deadline. I can take my time.

I was always that kid that had to turn in her test first. That employee that needed to finish the work the fastest and ask for more. 

Since my dumpling induced moment of zen, I've noticed a definite change in my sewing. I won't say that it has gotten easier, I'm still learning, but I've found that I am more forgiving of the errors I make.

Now I find it easier to get up from the sewing table and leave a project to wait, rather than sewing until midnight just to finish. I want to sew for pleasure and I want to make things for the people (and pets) I love, so what's my hurry?

--Bryanne--

Dumplings - Make one today!

I have a very silly sense of humor. A few weeks ago, I really wanted to sign off on a blog post by saying "May the stitches be ever in your favor." Today I wanted to title this post "Dumplings, It's What's for Dinner."

I apologize in advance if something like this ever sneaks through. I will try to control myself.

As my experiments in sewing continue, I've decided I'm ready to sew something with a zipper. Michelle's Dumpling Zip Pouch tutorial is my weekend project. I'm a little nervous, but I've really taken to heart some advice Michelle recently gave me regarding sewing.

You just have to go for it.

In preparation for my dumpling making, I've been scouring the Flickr feed for inspiration. I'm the type of person who likes to read about things, look at examples, read some more (is there a library book I can check out?) and then finally, just go for it.

What is the best piece of sewing advice you've received? Or something you learned on your own that you wished you knew when you first started sewing?

 

1. Gwenny Penny, 2. taschenmaedchen, 3. Gwenny Penny, 4. sayonion, 5. craftyozgirl, 6. judihurst

 

I challenge you to make your own dumpling this weekend.

--Bryanne--