Author: Annika

Happy New Year!

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I hope you have had a wonderful holiday period however you celebrated and are ready for a new year.
As you know I haven’t been able sew and make new tutorials and patterns as much as usual this past 6 months due to hand surgery in May last year. This will hopefully change during 2023.

As usual there is free tutorials/patterns to download from my tutorials page, one of my favourites are the Foldable Shopping Tote, my latest tutorial from April 2022 among others. I also have 21 patterns for sale in my Etsy shop. The most popular is the laptop/tablet case and the wallet patterns.

It has been a busy few months even if I haven’t done much sewing. My daughter got married last week and right before Christmas she and her husband moved in next door. The wedding was a wonderful event and great to have the whole family together and getting to know my son in law’s family.

I have also worked on my crochet skills the past 6 months. It has been easier on my hands, it’s the shaking/vibrations of the sewing machine thats the biggest problem. Also very exciting to learn new skills, I really enjoy and have learnt a lot from Daisy Farm Crafts.

Happy sewing and take care!

Annika

Winter Break

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Hello 🙂

It has been a while since I last wrote a post. How are you doing? I know it has been very hot for many recently, but here in southern Australia it is a bit chilly at the moment.

I had surgery on my left wrist and thumb in the beginning of May this year. Because of that i have not been able to sew as much as usual. Crochet has been a lot less painful to do, so I have finished my throw that I started last year. I have also made some smaller projects to experiment with new stitches and yarn.

On July 21st I had the opportunity to visit the Craft&Quilt Fair in Melbourne. It was a lovely exhibition with lots of beautiful quilts.

Until next time, take care and happy crafting!

Annika

Foldable Shopping Tote

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Hello Everyone!

Have you had any time for sewing recently. It is soon easter and many will have a few days off, maybe you can make some time and try this project. I have made a few foldable shopping totes that easily fits in a handbag or bigger bag when not in use. My daughters really liked them so I decided to write a tutorial and share it with you. You can find it here and on my tutorials page together with other free printable PDFs.

The project really came about from me cleaning out some dress fabric that I realised was never going to be used. I used mostly printed rayon and polycotton, which is a bit thinner and works very well for this project. The tote bag can of course be made from quilting cotton but it becomes a bit bulky when folded together.

There is a lot of positives with this project. It is a quick project that can be made in a few hours and a gift that works for most people. It is also the obvious sustainable view with not having to use plastic bags. I even used material I already had at home. I used a plastic snap buttons which are easy to find and not expensive. Alternatively a magnetic snap button would work or a button hole or loop and a button could be used too.

Speaking of Easter, I have made a few posts on sewing for easter and my favourite one is this mugrug.

Take care and happy sewing!

Annika

Back to School and Work Sewing

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Summer is coming to an end here in Australia. We still have very warm days and we are taking advantage of that as much as we can. School started last week for primary and high school students, and Uni starts in a couple of weeks. My husband and I are still both working from home, it has become a permanent solution for both of us.

I made time for some sewing the past couple of weeks and made a pencil case as a gift for someone special and laptop case for myself.

The pencil case is a bigger version of “The Tall and Thin Pencil Case” in this pattern. It is really easy to change the size with this pattern, just add to the width and hight to the desired size. Remember that you might need a longer zipper.

I used a variation of this pattern when I made my new laptop case for work. I have included the variation at the end of the pattern. It is a more simple design but it is not easier to make.

We still had time for some beach time this weekend. It was very cloudy at first but as the day went on it got bot sunnier and warmer so I went in to the water before the day was over. My youngest daughter and I also started a new puzzle this weekend. I hope you also had a good weekend with some sewing and time for family and friends.

Don’t forget to check out my other patterns in my Etsy Shop and the free tutorials/patterns on my tutorials page. Until next time, happy sewing and take care.

Annika 🙂

Summer Break

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It’s been nearly three months since I wrote a blogpost last, one of my longest breaks since I started my blog. The last post I wrote in early November was about sewing your own Christmas wrapping. I also had plans to make a Christmas table runner tutorial and write about making other Christmas decorations.

My world stopped in early November when my Dad unexpectedly past away. He lived in Sweden and I live in Australia, luckily our international borders opened the very same week he past away and I am very grateful that I got go. It was a very stressful trip in many ways; saying good bye to my dad and the funeral, starting to take my parents home of 20 years apart, totally unprepared for an early Swedish winter that we hadn’t experienced in 30 years and also due to changing Covid regulations all over the world. But it was also positive experiences, I got to see my mum who is in a nursing home now and my sister for the first time since 2019, I met relatives and family friends I hadn’t seen for many years.

I haven’t done much sewing over the past three months but I did make time for some fabric retail therapy. There is some very nice fabric shops around here and I managed to buy several pieces during January. Not that I haven’t got enough fabric, but pretty fabric is a weekness of mine and when there is pretty fat quarter bundles of fabric that goes very well together is just too much.

My next project will be something for me, maybe a new laptop case or a new beach bag. I also have a couple of back to school gifts to make. My WIP crochet project is a throw that I hope to finish before winter. I plan on writing more tutorials and patterns during 2022. In the meantime have look at my tutorials page and pattern shop for ideas. It is still summer holidays here and I am very fortunate to live close to the beach. Being close to the water is healing for the soul.

Until next time, happy sewing and take care.

Annika

Christmas Sewing – Gift Wrapping

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Hello 🙂

Christmas will be here again soon, November and December always seem to fly past. Here in Australia Christmas is also start of summer holidays and the end of another school year. So it is certainly a busy time, but I try to make time for sewing anyway. My stash of Christmas fabrics isn’t very big, but I have made a few wall hangings, pillow covers, table runners etc. It is also nice to make a Christmas gift for someone and also special to receive a handmade Christmas gift.

Making gift bags is also a practical and environmental project and a personal touch to your present. I have a three free tutorials/patterns on my tutorials page that can be made with Christmas fabric and would work great instead of traditional gift wrapping. These project are great for fabric scraps.

Here is a cute little gift card wallet with a snap button. This is a very easy project can be made in under an hour.

Get the gift card tutorial here

Here is a small drawstring bag that I made as a Valentine jewellery gift pouch originally, but can of course be made with Christmas fabric. The little heart on the bottom of the pouch is a pocket to keep small items safe.

Get the gift pouch tutorial here

This drawstring bag measures 7″x4″x4″. The size can easily be changed to any size you want. The poinsettia drawstring bag at the beginning of the post measures 5″x3″x3″ and is made using this pattern. There is instructions at the end of the tutorial on how to change the size.

Get the drawstring bag tutorial here

I hope you enjoy this tutorials.
Until next time, happy sewing and take care.

Annika