First I used a pink and white stripe which reminded me of the bags you used to get sweeties in! Fun!
And the other was a piece of fabric I picked up at the crafter's destash last year. I think it cost me £1! Not too shabby!
The next blouse I made was the Monty by Style Arc. I have made quite a lot of the Monty blouse before and I will continue to make them as they're so comfortable! This version is made from one side of a downie cover I got in Asda's sale last year. Watch out for another blouse made from the other side of the downie - coming soon!
The next blouse is from my absolute favourite blouse pattern, McCalls's 5359 - long out of print! This is a lovely polyester fabric I bought in Canada last year. The absolute best thing about this blouse is it doesn't need ironed! Another reason I keep reaching for it! LOL
The last in my April blouse collection is the Rivi blouse from Chalk and Notch. I saw someone wearing this on a youtube video and just had to search for it and then make it. I just LOVE how the pattern is cut out following the stripes on the front and back yokes. So clever! I also made my sleeves with their stripes going horizontally instead of vertically as I knew it would annoy me a lot that the stripes wouldn't match up at the shoulder seams. While I was at it, I also made the stripes on the button bands go horizontally too. The blouse is really comfy to wear and I have plans to make more of this pattern really soon.
Here's the back. Aren't those stripes fab??
Next I decided to make myself a small bag. I wanted one that pretty much only held my purse and my phone and a hanky! I have had this cross body zipped bag pattern from SewgirlintheUK in my stash for a good few years and decided it was time to try it out. I worried that the seams inside were only overlocked - ie not hidden - but then I realised the only person who would know that was me and it wasn't worth worrying about! I LOVE this wee bag and have used it a lot when I don't need to carry much stuff around.
Douglas asked me if I could cover the old stool he used in the greenhouse as it was really starting to show its age. I used an offcut of the same denim I'd used for the bag above. It worked out well!
Lastly, Jo asked me if I could make labels for her floor turtles that I made her last month. I decided to just do them on my sewing machine rather than my embroidery machine. Each one is sewn in the colour of the patchwork top of the turtle. Fun stuff!
I'll be back with more blouses in my May post. See you then! 😊
