iFinished!

A place for everything...

... everything in its place

It took FOREVER, but I finally finished my iPad purse.
My iPad has a hard shell leather protective sleeve, but I had nothing suitable to tote around the iPad and all its accessories. I have totes galore, but they are all too large and everything seemed to be swimming around and tangling up. The only workable solution was to create a purse to keep it all together.
I wanted it to be fun and funky, but also sort of cute and sweet. The ideas formed slowly in my mind. They came together even more slowly in real life -- at the cutting table and at the sewing machine.
This happens to me all the time. When I want something to be special, I take ages to get it done. I fear making a mess of things, especially once I have chosen special fabrics and embellishments. I considered doing a mock up in fabrics that are not special in any way, but then I decided I would never take the same time and care if the good stuff wasn't on the line.  That's how I roll, baby ...

Details, details ...

The result of this month-long process is an iPad purse I think Lucy Ricardo would have used if Lucy had the miracle of tablet computing when she and Ethel were cooking up their schemes. Imagine the possibilities of their hijinks if the Internet had been informing their plans. The mind boggles.
I stamped What I Love Today on the label -- which is embellished with a Cath Kidston strawberry cotton duck applique. I chose the sentiment because the iPad has opened up a whole world of new creative thought for me. The ideas can literally change day to day -- as do my favourites.
This technology-fueled fickleness might drive some people to distraction, but I like to think of it all as possibilities, not necessarily a to-do list. I am so happy to have finished this purse. Now I have a place for everything, and everything in its cute little place.

A FNSI flop and a wacky wobble...

iPad tote materials gathered, just not constructed...

 I was determined to make a tote for my iPad for my  FNSI project.
The iPad arrived in my life following a stroke of luck. My son won it, but didn't want it. He wanted money for school. I bought it from him -- the money was going to be handed over anyway, at least I got a cool new device out of it.
It has a leather cover, but I wanted to make a padded tote for it as well, with space for the charger/cord. The main fabric is a dec. weight gingham, the lining is a Riley Blake flannel, the accent fabrics are some stripped linen and an ancient piece of fabric bought to make teachers' presents when my kids were in kindergarten and Grade 3. Yikes! (The technology hadn't even been invented then, and I already had the fabric to make the tote for it. Amazing!) The handles are adorable Japanese ones from Quilt a Bag. I just love them.
See? I was motivated and surrounded by cute inspiration. I got as far as envisioning the design, collecting the materials and doing the measurements. Did I cut? No. Did I sew? No, I did not. Every time I started, I was called away to do something "urgent". I am not even kidding.
Each time I picked up the rotary cutter, the phone rang. I had the ruler lined up, and my mom needed me for something. Eventually, I gave up on the project for the time being. I want to do a good job, but if the planets aren't quite aligned properly, I see no sense in trying to charge onward. Maybe I will get it done on Monday -- Make It Happen Monday. MIHM isn't quite as famous as FNSI, but I have a feeling it might work better for me -- at least for this particular project.

Wobbly, but finished!

I did manage to work on my VERY LARGE Tilda jewellery mannequin. The pattern is from Sew Sunny Homestyle. Just for fun, I enlarged it 400 per cent.
I found a wooden candlestick at Goodwill before Christmas and I had a round wooden plaque. I glued them together for the stand and got to work on the mannequin. I was pretty pleased with myself by the time I had it all put together.
However (you knew this was coming), engineering is not my strong suit. The large size demands some adjustments to the construction. I had mounted it on the stand, glued the wood into the figure and sewed around the opening by the time I realized its centre of gravity is a bit off -- frustratingly -- just a bit. Not surprisingly, at some point this weekend, I am going to do some revisionist construction to eliminate the wobble. (sigh)
Nonetheless, it is something to show for an otherwise wacky FNSI. Here's hoping other people had a more productive evening. I'm off now to check on a few blogs.