Thrifty Thursday/A Totally Free Ensemble

I have had the BEST week! Super busy, but so much fun :)

The highlight;

I signed Berkley up for an agility class, and we had our first lesson on Thursday evening. Oh how I wish I could have taken pictures!! When we began, the instructor asked if he had any agility training. I said, "no, this is his very first class." The little dog sailed through rings, ran through the tubes, and jumped over bars like a champ. All of this prompted the instructor to ask, "are you sure that he has never had any training?" "Nope, none." The instructor then said that Berkley is like a duck to water, he has truly found his passion. At one point, Berkley jumped through a ring, and then turned around to me, and threw his little front legs in the air with glee. The instructor asked if this was one of his tricks. I explained that yes, I taught him to stand on his back legs, put his front legs in the air as I say, Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! The instructor almost rolled on the floor laughing :)

Not that you drop by to see a picture of Berkley, but...I just can't resist :) This was taken on a recent hike. I just love seeing how he has gone from a scared, and dirty little dog, to a true picture of contentment.

A few weeks back (actually a month ago :/), I shared a top that I made from the free sewing pattern from Tessuti Fabrics, the Zoe Top. I really love this top!!! The fabric was actually from Joann's. Amazing!  

Once I got the top together, I felt that it really needed the lace on the sleeves, so I cut just the lower portion of the lace off of the fabric and then appliqued it to the lower edge of the sleeve. 

 

The neckline has a rather wide opening, larger than what I really wanted, so I took 2 of the motifs from the lace and filled in the corners of the neckline.

And finally!!

A picture of me in the top, and my white Barb pants! Perfect for the horribly hot weather we are having in Chicago right now.

It's a total Thrifty Thursday ensemble, a free pattern from Tessuti, and the free Barb pant pattern from Style Arc Patterns.

The Barb pant is a wonderful pattern meant for stretch wovens. Although it has an elastic waistline, it fits flat across the stomach. After all, who needs extra yardage around the waist???   

It was named best pattern for 2015 on Pattern Review.

It's still available as a free pattern and can be found HERE. All you have to do is sign up for the Style Arc newsletter. So, sign up for a fabulous newsletter, and get a fabulous free pant pattern. A win, win situation :) 

In case you are wondering...

As I said in an earlier post, I was out of town for a couple of weeks. I did have a sewing machine with me, but it started acting up, and there was no more sewing to be had, so I am behind on my Cargo Pant Challenge with Cenntta of The Mahogany Stylist. Be sure to pop over and see her last make for our challenge. Her pants are such fun! My second pair will be up tomorrow, a week late. But, I'll catch up next week :)

Happy Friday!

And if you are in this oppressive heat, by all means, 

STAY COOL!

Rhonda

Bags That Make Travel a Breeze

Over the weekend of September 30th, and October 1st, I will be in Peoria, IL doing a 2 day seminar. The first day will be an entire day of sewing. Fun!

I was asked to do a bag where the participants would insert zippers as many are just not that comfortable with inserting zippers,after all, zippers can be a little intimidating. The large bag will be our primary project.   

The bag is fairly basic, but very user friendly. I have always wanted a truly coordinated traveling set, and now I have one! 

To give a little more stability to the bag, there is a facing along the top. Hanging free from the facing is a large interior pocket with a zipper.

On the front of the bag is a slide pocket, no zipper, that will easily hold your I-Pad.

And here's my favorite feature...

The back of the bag has a zippered pocket that will slide over the handle of a rolling suitcase. So no more killing your shoulder trying to carry the bag.

As I said, the pocket has a zipper, so easy access to your boarding ticket and identification.

To coordinate with the larger bag, I made a toiletry bag and what I call a lipstick bag. The small bag is really meant for anything small that might get lost in a larger bag.

The toiletry bag features an outside zipper, great for combs, cotton pads, etc.

Both bags have a wide bottom.

The challenge with each of these bags is inserting the zipper where there is a piped edge. It's really quite easy to do.

If you live in the United States, I purchased everything for my bags at Joann Fabrics, even the fabric. They have some super fun prints in the Home Dec section.

I will be giving you the pattern dimensions, and a how to in an upcoming Fabulous Free Pattern Friday post. The pattern for the small bags will soon be available for purchase.

The Friday class for the Peoria ASG Sew Special '16 is full, but if you are anywhere near Peoria, and have a little time on October 1st, pop on over. You can read all about the day and sign up HERE. 

Make My Tote at 50% Off

I just couldn't wait to get home and post this!!!

Below is the bag that I made yesterday for this week's Fabulous Free Pattern Friday post. 

I took the bag with me today to the Haute Couture Holiday Party and so many of the ladies loved it, in fact, a number of them left the party and headed straight to Joann's.

Well, you can have one too, even if you don't live near a Joann Fabric store, and even better, the panels are on sale for 50% off. 

Lady Dragoness found the panels on the website and left a message letting me know that they are on sale, so I just had to pass the info on to all of you. Here's the link,

http://www.joann.com/search?q=Square%20By%20Design

There are 14 panels to choose from. I have them all pictured below.

I wasn't able to find the handle that I used in black online, but they do have the tan, and you can find it HERE. The tan handle would work beautifully with the cream ground panels.

Enjoy making your totes!

Thanks again Lady Dragoness!!!

Rhonda

A Little Mindless Sewing

It has finally warmed up in Chicago. I think we maybe hit 80 degrees today, so time to bring out the summer dresses!!!

This dress qualifies for the most mindless of all sewing tasks. One seam down the back and you're done. Actually, it wasn't quite that simple, almost though. I wanted to keep the border, but the piece was too long, so I cut the border off and then reattached it. The straps were made from two different ribbons.  

The grosgrain is really quite nice as it has a thread running down each side. I thought it made a nice touch with the dress.

My peonies are beginning to fade :( Their lifespan is just not long enough.
By the way, the fabric came from Joann's. Here's a link to the fabric if you are interested, http://www.joann.com/style-in-an-instant-spring-53in-dress-ethnic-blue-/zprd_12043246a/. It's 50% off right now! Hey, I love a good sale!