Other makes update: August 2026

I’ve still not found a better name for my non-quilt sewing plans for the year, but I have found time to make some stuff since my last update in May, so I’m ok with that.

So let’s take a look shall we:

1 Pouches

Strangely only one completed this time round, and that one was using the flying geese blocks that were in the bag of pre-cut and pre-sewn items donated to my sewing group.

Out of the same scraps I’ve also made a patchwork drawstring bag, a bread cover and a small fabric storage box which didn’t go quite to plan!

So I’m claiming progress in the bags, experimental sewing and practical household items headings for these too because that’s where they fit don’t they?

2. A ‘take to’ sewing case

Still nothing to see here, I’m afraid.

3. A bag or two, or more

The drawstring bag for my bread might not have necessarily been the bag I had in mind for this section, but it’s a bag and it’s made so it absolutely fits here.

4 Experimental sewing and sewing for fun

There’s been some of this recently too - and it’s those scraps again. As I said above the fabric storage basket ended up smaller than I planned and I had to improvise on the lining, but not everything can go right all of the time can it? And to be honest I’m glad I messed up on something like this rather than anything else I’ve made these past few months.

There’s also been an update to dad’s birthday bunting, with a two to replace last year’s one.

5 Patchwork design boards

I haven’t yet put my learnings from the last update into practice, but they’re still on the list - and I’m sure once I start I’ll be wondering what took me so long.

6 Some practical household items

I think I’ve covered this above, multiple times!

7 Wearables

Well who knew that this would be where the most action would take place, certainly not me when I set my goals for the year. But since I last updated you I’ve finished my Sari dressing gown and started and finished in record time a dress. Who even am I?

Seriously though finishing these two items has given me loads more confidence to carry on sewing garments, which is good news as I’ve plenty of plans some of which I may actually start to put into production.

But in the meantime here’s two photos to end this post of my two wearables, and I’m really proud of both of them (especially as neither have fallen apart!)

I’m hoping that the heatwaves are mostly behind us, though I hear another could be on the horizon for early next month, and with the cooler days I’ll be able to spend more time sewing. I could definitely do with that as always I’ve got more plans than I know how to implement, but I’m sure I’m not alone in that.

Patchwork 'play' with scraps

Remember that pack of scraps I picked up at my sewing group in June that I thought I could do something with at some point? Well that ‘some point’ turned out to be sooner than I imagined, and I’ve turned the bag of pre-cut and some pre-sewn pieces into quite an array of items.

They’re now a patchwork drawstring bag and a matching piece to wrap the bread in, a pouch (obviously!), an attempt at a fabric storage basket. Plus I’ve some plans for the smaller offcuts from that to become tiny pouches, and the rest has already been cut into the required sizes ready to become future houses in this year’s charity quilts.

And just for the sheer fun of it, I’m calling this my brown bread collection - mainly because these first two items are for just that. I’m still making my sourdough and much prefer to wrap it in a cloth than plastic.

It turned out pretty well I think - and I’ve used some of the ribbon that I picked up in the Gedling scrapstore that same month too.

For the lining of the bag I used an old tea towel, which in case you’re wondering says ‘eat your greens’. It’s been in my craft room for a while, as I knew I’d use it one day even though it was long past its best as an actual tea towel. In fact I had to do some visible mending before I could use it, as I wasn’t keen for the crumbs to fall into the lining - and I like how they’ve turned out too.

The bread cloth uses the same browns as the drawstring bag but with the addition of some of the lighter pre-cut squares, and I realised that the perfect match for the backing was some of the small patterned material left over from my mystery Block of the Month quilt, which still needs to be finished (but we’ll gloss over that!)

So now my brown bread has a smart new look, and even better it’s used things I already had.

But I wasn’t done yet.

I wanted to make use of the already sewn flying geese blocks, and to me they were screaming ‘make me into a pouch’ and so I did.

I was pleased to find the beige cherry fabric in my stash was the perfect tone to complement the outer sections, and I also had a cherry red zip in my stash.

It looks like they were made to be together doesn’t it? I’m not sure what I’ll use this for yet, but I’m sure that at some point it will be obvious what its purpose is, in the meantime I’ll admire my creation and the flying geese put together by a sewer unknown.

I still had a few pieces left though and I knew that unless I made a plan now it’s likely that they would languish in my scrap pile. I’ve been thinking about making some fabric storage boxes, but hadn’t got around to it so decided to do a smaller version with these remnants.

It didn’t quite go to plan, as I misread part of the instructions and so ended up with something half the size I initially intended - and as you can see I mis-measured one of the box corners (top left) so have a pen mark on my finished item, but I’m ok with that. I expect it’ll wash off, but even if it doesn’t that’s ok as this is destined for use in the garage to hold a pile of scrap cloths with MOH uses to clean his bike.

It was a useful learning experience, and I ended up with a useful thing so that’s good too. Which left me with these final pieces.

The boxed corners from the fabric storage box (in the centre of the picture) I plan to make into tiny pouches as I’ve found these are good for holding jewellery, and even better to slip into a present, or as a nicer way of giving cash as a present. The other pieces have already been cut into the appropriate sizes for this year’s charity quilts, so you can expect to see them in a ‘house’ at some point in the future.

Now if only I was so efficient at using everything else that comes into my craft room!

Made the dress, wore the dress

I’d had this dress earmarked as my next project for a while, and while I’d cut out the paper pattern the fabric sat on the side almost taunting me. On mum’s recent visit she looked at the pattern and declared I could do it, but pointed it out it had a facing. I think that’s because I’m not really a fan of facings which flap about and get in the way, not because a facing was tricky to sew, well I think so anyway.

But anyway with a family outing planned with a meal on the Bluebell Railway, I thought to myself that it’d be quite nice to have something new to wear the following weekend. That’s when my brain said, well you can make that sundress, can’t you? And when your brain challenges you like that, sometimes you just have to prove it right. Or wrong.

So that’s what I did.

On the Monday I took the fabric and the pattern to my sewing group, and pondered pattern placement. I took my scissors but didn’t really expect to cut it out there as I hadn’t measured myself against the pattern sizes, so after a fair bit of faffing, I folded the pattern pieces up in the fabric and got on with something else.

I don’t think anyone at that Monday night group thought I’d really make it in a week, and at this point I wasn’t sure either, but hey ho!

Overnight my brain percolated more thoughts: the pattern pieces I’d been struggling to fit into one half of the fold was solved when I realised the fold didn’t need to produce equal parts, simple really but I worked it out.

And my brain decided to add a further condition, when it remembered that I’d bought some fab labels at the Festival of Quilts, and that it’d be great to include one on this dress. My awake brain remembered that I’m not a big fan of labels in clothes as often they can be scratchy, and then wondered why on earth I’d bought myself some labels anyway (in my defence they are very cute!).

Then I realised the label could be on the outside of the garment, just because they’re traditionally inside a garment didn’t mean that that’s where I needed to place it. So sorted, it was going on the pocket.

On the Tuesday afternoon I commandeered our oversized kitchen island to check if my overnight revelations were good. They were, and so the dress was cut out completely that afternoon.

It was just as well that the shop had mis-measured the material when I bought it in the sale back in May, as I needed that extra 60cms. Well I needed some of it, as this was my first time using this pattern I decided to cut it to the full length even though I knew it would be too long for me, but I was unsure how much shorter I wanted it but I knew I could sort that out later. If I didn’t have enough then I’d have needed to work it out, but I was about 25 cms away from doing that.

On Wednesday I started to sew, and the pattern started with assembling the pockets, so I got to check to see if my plan for the label would work out. It did, and remarkably well, though if I was doing this again now I’d add interfacing to the pink contrast pocket top as it’s a more lightweight fabric.

And doesn’t it look as if it was made for this dress?

I also discovered the benefits of a well-stocked craft room, as not only did I manage to locate the exact size zip the pattern suggested, I also had one in a toning pink. Then I found some cotton that matched the green background, so I was sorted, and maybe, just maybe making the dress to wear at the weekend was actually a go-er.

Thursday there was more sewing, and the zip went in. It’s in, it zips and hasn’t fallen out yet so that’s all good, but I think it could be neater though I guess with practice that will come. There was a slight mishap to the sewing schedule as while I was putting the zip in the tape I’d used to secure it decided to stick itself to my sewing machine leaving a sticky gluey mark, not the best. So MOH was called in with some rubbing alcohol to resolve the sticky situation successfully.

By the end of Thursday most of the sewing was done, there was just the top of the bodice to finish and the hem, but I sensibly decided to leave that for another day.

So after a very hot day at this year’s Rutland Flower Show I decided I wasn’t going to be beaten by my own rather daft challenge, and so it was time to work out how long I wanted the straps, and what length I wanted the dress to be.

MOH was called into operation again, to check that the straps covered my bra straps and to mark the hem. He was ok with the first task, but unsure on the second - but we got there. In the end I cut about an inch off the straps, and six inches off the bottom of the dress, so that’s an adjustment I can make from the off next time I use this pattern.

And so Friday night it was finished. I didn’t quite get the instructions for finishing the bodice so decided to wing it a bit, and added a row of topstitch around the armholes and neckline, and if I’m honest I like this kind of finish. It did mean that the contrasting rosebud facing was a bit flappy, which I’m not a fan of, so I sat there and hand sewed it into place.

Then after whizzing round the bottom a couple of times for the hem, and a really good press, it was actually finished.

So on Saturday night I wore the dress, and what’s more it looked and felt great - and not one single person asked if I’d made it, which I’m taking as a sign of success rather than everyone thought it was awful!

And while I’ll probably make another one, it probably won’t be in a week!