Wallets, Quilts and Bias Binding Tutorial

In the past few days, I've been busy making a few wallet and placemats orders. I got a couple of passport wallet orders in the past two months. I think now that travel around the globe is eased, many people started to travel again.

This time, the zip around small passport holder seems quite popular and as usual, whenever I make for an order, I cut one extra to add to my shop. Because I am working solo and nowadays hardly have time to sew, this way I can add a couple of new designs in a month. Also, I will always have projects that are ready to sew. Although sometimes it takes days to finish and sometimes I can finish 2 wallets in a day. Well, as long as I can sew, I am a happy girl! 

Ah, I also recorded the video tutorial for this small passport wallet - which hopefully I can finish editing and put up on YouTube this week. 

I often got questions regarding bias binding. For beginners or someone who never makes or use bias binding, it can be a daunting task. There are a few ways to make a bias binding but this traditional method is my fave because the binding always turns out perfect. 

In this video, I made DIY bias binding using FAT 8 fabric (9" x 22"). The rule of thumb is, you must make sure the fabric grains (warp and weft) are straight. That way you will get nice and crisp bias tape. 

Please check the video below. I hope the video is clear enough. If you have any questions, you can contact me or leave a comment below. 

Here are more fabric wallets recently done and a couple of them are on their way to the new home. I love making this classic bifold wallet.  My first wallet was this bifold wallet and even after washing it several times, it is still in a good shape. The interfacing and padding did make the wallet sturdy and did not lose its shape. 

GET THE PATTERN HERE

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And here's the medium scrappy placemats I recently finish and sent out. I hope they will be received well. As a maker and seller, nothing more rewarding than a happy customer! 

I kind of love these medium-size placemats and I have a couple more to finish hand sewing the binding before I put them up in the shop. 

I also experimented with different quilting lines on my Industrial machine. I tried doing FMQ after watching a couple of  YouTube videos where people do freehand machine embroidery using a similar machine as mine. Well, guess what? I worked! I will try in my next project and hopefully can share a few tips with you all. Stay tuned! 

Scrappy Placemats

FMQ Trial 

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On the 16th, my SIL and I went to a wedding in a village nearby. It was great fun for both of us. And of course, I love watching how the folks are having a great time at the party. In the village, a wedding party can last a couple of days (2-3 days) from morning to midnight. People from all around the village and nearby village will keep streaming in, sitting and chatting. I love to see the young girls dressing up to the latest Bollywood trend. 

And of course, I enjoyed the ride through different small towns and villages. Since the harvest season is just over, most of the fields are dry now. But it was a  lovely day! 

The bride and the bridesmaids 

Henna -  a must in every wedding! 

We also went to the market last week. We went saree shopping for one of our helper's daughter's wedding next month. Of course, I wore a double mask even a lot of people are not wearing masks now since the state government announced that all pandemics restrictions are lifted off. 

I really enjoyed looking at those colorful sarees. Even though I don't wear colorful clothes myself, looking at those bright colors, makes me happy! And no, I did not buy for myself, I only went to my regular fabric shop to get denim material. I suppose to go look for Mekhla (Assamese dress) border for my kawandi project but it was getting late, so maybe next time! 

 

That's all for today. I hope you enjoy reading my blog. Thank you for stopping by and please leave a comment or two.

Until next time,

Elvira

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What's been going on

We're almost in the middle of February. The past 2 weeks, I was pretty busy, and even though I have so many things I want to write somehow I do not get the time to do. 

First, I got back muscle spasm, hence I cannot sit or stand for too long. I am resting as much as possible and also doing a couple exercises and now I am feeling much better. 

I ordered a watercolor painting from Nusrat when I met her a few months ago and she painted it so beautifully! Thank you, Nusrat!  I have this beachfront photo that I took when we visited my mom's hometown, Makian Island, in Ternate a couple of years ago. The picturesque island holds great memories. It was our first visit to the island and also met many of my cousins, nephews, and nieces. Some of them I met for the first time! 

On February 5th afternoon, suddenly we got a hailstorm which was pretty heavy! It was so fascinating to see the yard turning "snowy" white. The last week of January and the first week of February were unusually very cold. And then suddenly this! People in town are pretty excited as this never happened before. The flowers and vegetable garden was ruined but that was a pretty exciting experience. 

 Another news is the mall next to our house is finally open. Not fully open but at least Pizza Hut was open for online ordering. That's really good news as we have one more option to order in. The area where we live is becoming to feel like a satellite city now. New shops and malls are coming up, in one way it's good that we don't have to spend 3 hours just to get a couple of stuff from the town. I hate going out nowadays especially since the flyover construction is going on nearby. It takes even longer to the city. 

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Last week, I took a Chikan Embroidery Online Work Shop with Saba. It was on my list to learn. I was really excited about the class.  Chikan embroidery is a traditional embroidery from Lucknow and is still very popular. I LOVE Chikan embroidery and I have a few sets of kurtas and stoles of Chikankari. 

Chikan embroidery is traditionally done on white or pastel colors thin fabrics, like muslin, and with white thread. I did not have the thread that is traditionally used, so I used regular embroidery yarn here. 

Although some of the stitches are the same or similar to regular embroidery, I am so excited to learn the stitches' names in the traditional Chikankari terms. Listening to Saba tell us the story of how they came up with the name and some historical background of the design while we were embroidering away was fascinating. 3 hours went by in a flash! 

I still have to practice a lot and Saba gave us a couple of designs for us to start. But first, I must get a white muslin or maybe Kota cotton. 

Katey Stitch 

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I went to the Guwahati University Post Office last week to send an order to Australia. This is the second time I came to this PO. Since the rate for FedEx and DHL to Australia is too expensive, I started sending packages to Asia and Oceania by Post. It took about 30 days from here to Australia by Speed Post (EMS). The package is trackable but I suppose due to the flight restriction, most packages, even via FedEx experiencing some delay. The PO is not too crowded, so it was nice to go there instead of going all the way to the main PO in town.  The officer in here is also more efficient so the process was pretty quick. I hope they keep it up, now that India Post started international services again. And of course, I always like the drive to the University. 

A couple of handmade goodies I sent out recently

Extra Spacious Face Mask

Family Passport Wallets

Small Passport Wallet

Gauhati University 

And today was the son's farewell party in School. The program was set in the morning and I love to see the boys and girls dressing up. The girls mostly wear Saree and they look really gracious and the boys look dashing in their suits. My son spent 13 years in Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti Guwahati. I remembered how he used to be very shy and hesitant to start a conversation. Thanks to the teachers and staff in SBGJ now he grew up to be a confident young man, with a clear goal in mind for his future. Insha Allah he will start going to college next fall and we have been going through a lot of discussions choosing subjects, etc.  And yes, I do feel anxious and excited for him at the same time. He is going for a big leap this year, will start a new journey et al. My younger one, who is more sensitive, often asks me how I feel about his elder brother going away for college. And when I said, sometimes I feel sad, he said " can you imagine how Nenek (my mom) must have felt when you decided to come here". Ha! I did not see that coming! 

Anyway, the party is over now and the boys have to start studying for the Term 2 exam next April. And we still have a lot of things to do. Wish us luck!! 

Until next time,

have a nice weekend! 

Elvira

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NEW Trapeze Zipper Pouch with Video Tutorial

 

Trapeze Zipper Pouch

Hello, I'm so excited to introduce you to my newest pattern Trapeze zipper pouch.  I always love stackable pouches, but I want something different. Well, I love making zipper pouches for myself or for gifts and this Trapeze pouch is just perfect for that. The 4 pouches are simply great for organizing your stuff whether to use them while traveling, for school or office stationaries or going for sewing /quilting gatherings. And when you don’t use them, you can simply nest them together and store them! 

I made it in 2 different versions, faux leather and quilted version. The original idea was just for 3 pouches, but one of our testers, Daryl from Patchouli Moon Studio suggested adding XL size and I thought why not! Thank you, Daryl!!

Faux Leather Pouches

The pattern has 15 pages written in English with detailed photos, diagrams, instructions, and also several templates. 

While I wrote the pattern using the quilted version for the pictures, I also included a video for sewing with faux leather and a couple tips about interfacing.  Yes, I finally get to use the faux leather/leatherette! I've been experimenting for quite some time now and I will write about it in my next post! 

Nest them when not in use

Quilted Zipper Pouch

 

Here are some trapeze features:

1. 4 sizes to store your stuff. The pattern pieces are designed in a way that you can scale them up or down easily (more of that in my next post!)

2.       Learn to sew in a curve (the easy way)

3.       You only need half a yard of each material to make 4 pouches.

4.       Video tutorials for both quilted and faux leather versions.

5.       Make a great gift for basically everyone!

    I made a couple of trapeze pouches in fabrics and faux leather too. I will share them in my next post when I'm done with the editing parts. 

 

If you just started learning sewing bag or pouch and want to up your game by sewing on a curve, this Trapeze Zipper Pouch is totally doable for you. 

Get the pattern HERE for SPECIAL PRICE through Wednesday!

I also would like to thank my fantastic tester team, for their feedback and suggestions. Check the photos below and click through the link under each photo to check their other works! 

 

Not Enough Needles	Not Enough Needles	Sherbet Handmade	Kannamma
Mia Creates	Mia Creates	Sew Fab Stories	Sew Fab Stories
Studio Roda Surih	Studio Roda Surih	Hole in My Needle	The Green Slate
Kalakari House	Truly Yours by Rhona	Truly Yours by Rhona	Sheela DMello
Patchouli Moon Studio | Instagram	Katie Hansen	Rochana Jalan	Rochana Jalan

Last but not least, thank you so much for your support! I can't wait to see your Trapeze Pouches. Please tag me on Instagram or Facebook if you make one. 

Until next time,

Elvira

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