I have met Sian Singleton of Kittenish Behaviour on several occasions and when I attended the last two workshops she admired the sewing accessories that I had made in a pretty daisy printed cotton fabric. The set consisted of a Sewing Organiser case from an ‘Annie Unrein’ pattern, clamshell pouch, large & small scissors cases, machine needle wallet, machine needle organiser, thread bin and Dachshund pin dog.

The Sewing Organiser case is a very complicated and time-consuming project which unfortunately I did not have sufficient time to complete. Sian’s birthday next year is something to aim for! Instead for Christmas I would make the some of the other items and hope that she would enjoy them instead.

I deliberately chose a cotton print in a colour that Sian enjoys and set to to make the different items.

I started with the scissors cases. The original larger size was featured in a ‘Threads’ magazine many years ago and I have since adapted and refined the pattern to make it my own. I drafted the smaller case to fit the little scissors that I buy from New Threads Quilt Shop, Weyhill Fairground, Andover. The button loops on the cases are hair bungees and the buttons are made up of a large button in one colour plus a smaller button in a contrast. A nice feature I think.

The storage bin and Clamshell pouch are designs picked up at Sprat & Winkle Quilters sewing retreat days. The wadding in the clamshell pouch is Bosal ® which gives a good firm finish to help the pouch stand upright. I finished of the pouch with a co-ordinating tassel. Everything these days seems to be finished with a tassel!

The Dachshund pin dog was featured in a sewing magazine – again a long time ago and is stuffed with polyester toy filling. I buy my toy filling from eBay in large quantities. The most recent consignment arrived in a Double Duvet sized box!

I designed and developed the sewing machine needle wallet to counteract the frustration as my packs of needles were forever ‘migrating’ around my sewing room. I could never find the size and type that I wanted quickly. The pockets are made using the same clear vinyl that I also use in my window project bags. An alternative can be low volume printed shower curtaining which I have used in the past. I have refined the pattern sufficiently to be able to release on the internet and look forward to seeing lots more around and about amongst my sewing friends.

completed 5th December 2019

Having made the XL size of Necessary Clutch Wallet three times now, I felt confident in making another to gift to a good friend. Jenny usually wears monochrome fashions and I thought that my signature bold and colourful print would not be appropriate. I found some Grey and White Linen in my ‘landfill’ stash and there was just sufficient to make the outer, flap and wrist strap in this fabric.

I wanted the insides to be a little more ‘exciting’ and used some colourful cotton prints from my Fat Quarter stash in Black, Red and White for the card slots and zip compartments. I used Red zips and finished off with Red tassels on the zip pulls. All the hardware was nickel. Due to the thickness of the linen fabric and stabilisers I used 9mm x 7mm stalk rivets.

completed 5th December 2019

For the past several years I have been sharing my sewing adventures with a lady in Germany. We exchange gifts on Birthdays and at Christmas. This year, with my confidence high I decided to make an Extra Large NCW for her.

I know that Antje likes Blue as I have noticed that many of her garments are in this colour. I chose some pretty Paisley on Blue print for the outer and a contrasting Mustard for the inner. Fabrics were purchased specially from New Threads Quilt Shop, Weyhill Fairground, Andover.

I used Nickel for the hardware and the wallet is finished off with two tassels on one of the D rings for the wrist strap and shoulder strap.

completed 2nd December 2019