Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Bats in the Belfry (Plus: Announcements and a Giveaway)

Firstly, on the which dress pattern to make for my younger brother's wedding, I think I'm going to go with McCall's 5269.  I had originally planned to go with view B, but view A is starting to grow on me. Hmm...

Secondly, Cuz I Said Sew turns one today.  Happy birthday, blog!  It's been a weird year for me; most are filled with ups and downs, but this year has seen higher highs and lower lows than usual.  But whatever doesn't kill me can only make me stronger, right?  I hope the coming year is more stable.

Moving on, as part of my resolution to work my way through the stash is to use up the scraps from other projects.  I still had some glittery bat fabric left from the overnight bag and the clutch, and I enjoy making stuff for other people, and the blog's birthday was coming up.  When such factors converge, it seems like fate, or close enough for me.

Best picture EVAR!  It's not this twisted IRL; this is just
a really bad photograph
Simplicity 9949 has a nice assortment of bags.  I made views H & K.  Let's start with K, the tissue holder.  This really is super simple.  Like easier than curtains simple.  It's all straight lines.  This would be an excellent first project.

View H is a cylindrical bag.  Once again, this fabric is not bidirectional, so I split the outer part of the bag on the bottom seam line again.  The lining is the same green I used for the clutch.  The ends were supposed to be piping (a cord encased in bias tape), but I used the bias tape to just cover the ends.  If you go that route, you'll probably want the tape a little wider.  This one is a little harder, but still easy enough for a beginner.

I'm giving away both of these, as well as some other assorted spooky goodies, as a thanks to my readers for sticking with me over the tumultuous year.  To enter, just leave a comment to this post.  You don't have to be a follower of this blog, or even have a blog of your own.  One entry per person, please.  The contest will run until 2/27, when I will pick someone at random as the winner.

6 comments:

  1. Just wanted to wish you a happy one year blogoversary, or whatever the proper term is! And not that I wouldn't love to win your giveaway, but for obvious reasons I should pass on entering ... ;o)

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    1. I figured you would since you have your own decluttering going on. I didn't enter your giveaway for the same reason. The only reason I bought an e-reader (a Nook color, which I LURVE) is because I am completely out of space for paper books. And this is after giving away quite a few at a book swap.

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    2. You love your e-reader? 'Cause I'm seriously thinking that's the way to go, just so I don't accumulate more books. I just wasn't sure if I'd be able to get used to reading on one or not, or if it would be hard on the eyes...

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    3. My eyes are pretty bad, but I don't have a problem reading on it, but then again, I stare at a computer screen all day at work. Some people have complained that it's hard to read outside, but if I'm outside, I'm sitting in the shade anyway. I will say that reading one for a long time can make your hands hurt - books have more of a give while you're holding them, but the e-readers are hard. While I still prefer to read paper books, the e-reader is a necessity now.

      I will say that if you buy one, be careful of using the automatic checkout on B & N (or whichever place you shop), because it's *really* easy to buy too much and then have a surprise when you receive your credit card bill.

      Also, Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/) has free e-books for stuff in the public domain. Prepare to spend the rest of your personal life reading.

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    4. 42,000 free e-books! How can I ever thank you, Pixel Pixie!! :D

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    5. Well, if you come across any vintage memorabilia from The Damned while you're decluttering, I would be happy to take it off your hands. :D

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