The Archives
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12.24.08Video Threads: Episode 1 – Happy HolidaysHey everyone! We want to wish you all a very happy holiday season. In honor of this occasion - and our boredom due to Snowpocalypse '08 - we made a special video, hopefully part of an ongoing series we randomly titled, "Video Threads from Sewer-Sewist." Enjoy! ~Josh & Sarah Related posts:Snowpocalypse ‘08!!! Portland1957 Redlegs Jersey – Or, the Reason I Learned To Sew One of theCrafts We Can Believe In We hope y Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
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09.07.08Bagged, baby!At long last, the bag I made for our friends from Amy Butler's new book "Little Stitches for Little Ones" arrived in northern New Mexico and I can now share the photos... This one is dubbed the "Modern Nappy Bag" and is really something -- its absolutely enormous! And it certainly doesn't look like your run-of-the-mill diaper bag. I used fabric from Amy Butler's newish line of home decorator weight cotton sateen, August Fields. Some woodgrain fabric of the same weight from Joel Dewberry's Ginseng line looked like it was made to match, so I lined the whole thing and made the ...
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08.15.08Oh so pretty…It's settled. One of us is going to have to learn Japanese. Because all of the goodies that we keep finding at Kinokuniya are getting a bit out of control. This time, and innocent trip to Uwajimaya has resulted in quite the find -- The Pretty Bag Collection. I have such a weakness for bag-making, as you've probably noticed (it's funny, too, because I have only been making bags for a year or so). And this book has some really awesome projects. It's, like many of the Japanese sewing books, brokenn down into thematic sections, this time by fabric type: Silk ...
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08.10.08Behind the TimesWhew! I'm still trying to catch up blog-wise since our computer crash (we lost 100+ photos through that whole mess). So, we're a bit behind the times with posting some completed projects. My mom's birthday has come and gone once again, and once again, I made her a new bag (the woman used to just have one bag and carry it until it died, so I've taken it upon myself to ensure that she has an appropriate wardrobe of bags for various occasions). Last year, it was the Amy Butler High Street Messenger Bag. This year, it's another Amy Butler pattern ...
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05.14.08BaggedMy fabulous Amy Butler Sophia Bag---the one that made my fingers bleed---has gotten kinda of dirty. Between taking it on the MAX, leaving it sitting on the floor of my cubicle at work and accidentally kicking it and the general wet grossness of the weather here, it's looking pretty funky. Now, I'm faced with a bit of a problem: how to clean it up. You see, it's interfaced with buckram, which can't be immersed in water because the structure (starch) will dissolve. So, I may have to (break with my hard and fast policy) and get it---gasp---dry cleaned. (I hear ...
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01.15.08I’ve stopped whining…Because my Sophia Bag looks so awesome! Even though it resulted in a serious pin graveyard and some bleeding fingers... It was totally worth it. I covered a lot of my changes in my first entry about this bag. You remember, the post where I whined a lot. But here's the quick recap: I added some handbag feet. I chose the black plastic ones---simply because black worked with my color scheme. They don't have the satisfying click of the metal ones, but they look the way I wanted. I'm surprised Amy didn't include these in the original pattern, because this bag really benefits ...
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01.13.08No Pain, No Gain?from sarah the sewist I spent a lot of this weekend working on Amy Butler's lovely new pattern, the Sophia Bag. However, this pattern has officially kicked my ass. Or at least my fingers. Yep, that's my index finger---one of the many victims of this little project. As of this evening, I have had to stop bleeding on my fingers three times, and suffered a couple of bruised finger tips. I never knew that you finger tips could actually bruise! I believe about half of our pins are now toast as well. Yes, I'm feeling sorry for myself. No, I'm not apologizing for ...
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12.02.07Hard to give away…from sarah the sewist As we've mentioned a time or two, we're continuing to work on holiday gifts for everyone, and we're finally starting to feel like we're making some progress. I just finished the gift for Josh's stepmother. It's the Amy Butler Downtown Purse. This pattern came in the mail yesterday---thank you Lisa Lam over at the wonderful site U-Handblog. I had won her monthly bag contest awhile back (for the Amy Butler Messanger Bag I made for my mom's birthday), and had my heart set on the Amy Butler Downtown Purse pattern as my prize... Unfortunately, this particular ...
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11.12.07Another one down…We're plugging away with our Christmas gift making, and finished this up recently---an Amy Butler Swing Bag for Josh's mom. It's in one of Amy's fabrics, two different ones from the gray and yellow theme from the "Belle" line. A lot of people have made this bag, and we can certainly see why. It comes together quickly and looks really sharp. It could use some pockets, but then it wouldn't be as simple to make reversible---not that that's a critical feature of the bag, but it's a nice novelty. We think she'll enjoy this one. There's been a lot written about ...
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09.06.07The Vinyl Countdownfrom josh the sewer Pictured here is the Sewist's birthday gift. My Dad likes to say "Vinyl is Final" when explaining his choice of house siding; this phrase stuck with me as making this. Being somewhat limited in my sewing skills, my choice of projects are small. The Sewist loves bags so I decided to bust out the Amy Butler Messenger Bag pattern again. Instead of doing something that I could get through easily and quickly, I decided that she NEEDED a pink sparkly vinyl bag, to deal with the wet winters here in Oregonia. For the interior ...
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09.02.07Very Green Bagfrom sarah the sewist (This is one of those projects that is so not my style. But I know the recipient will love it. The shape of this bag is fabulous, but the fabric... It's just so green. I hate green. And the frogs. For some reason, I have no problem with banana seat bikes, garden gnomes or goldfish on my clothes and accessories, but frogs? Not my thing) I saw this froggy fabric from Heather Ross' new collection for Free Spirit and I new that I just had to make something for my friend (also) Sarah who loves all things green, ...
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08.12.07Bag: (fake) Pig (skin) in the Cityfrom josh the sewer I did it. I made a bag and it isn't too girly. When the Sewist and I started (well, mostly the Sewist) making her mother’s bag, I also cut out the pieces for my own bag attempt and sat it I aside until I had some time to put toward it. Earlier this summer when we were looking around the Mill End Store, I noticed a bolt of pleather football upholstery and thought it would look kind of cool (almost made pants, but that would not work too well and, really, I ain’t the type for those ...
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07.27.07Bag Ladyfrom sarah the sewist I've been on a mild bag-making spree, and Josh is proving to be a very valuable adviser in creating extremely cool messenger bags, one for me and one for my mom for her birthday. First, my Will the Wolf Survive? messenger bag: Now maybe the fabric designer wasn't inspired by the Los Lobos song, but it's been on Josh's playlist (you know, the one in his head that he sings out loud since we're the last Gen-Xers in America that don't have an iPod) ever since I bought this fabric.This is one of the the most wonderful fabrics ever, ...
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