July Challenge Day #31

Hooray, it's day 31, and this month-long challenge is DONE! I'm ending it with one more goody for you strawberry lovers: a strawberry pincushion. I found the pattern at Martha Stewart.com. It is made from wool felt and filled with emery, which I had bought on Etsy quite a while ago--I'm glad I finally got around to using it!

July Challenge Day #28

I made another felt badge! Why? Because I like working with wool felt!

Strawberry Pouch

I make a lot of zippererd pouches, and I've decided I need to step up my game a little--you can find a basic fabric pouch at every major retail store, so mine should be something unique, something that you CAN'T find at a big store.  That's what hand-made is all about.

I just got these marvelous fabrics in the mail this week (a gift from my equally marvelous friend, Susan!)  I decided to use the cute strawberry print fabric for my pouch.

I found a red polka-dot fabric to add to the front for constrast, and I wanted to do something else, but what?  A button?  Something embroidered?  Taking my cue from the fabric itself, I settled on a felt strawberry on a square background, sort of like a badge or medallion (or maybe a postage stamp?)  I cut the green square using a ruler and my pinking shears; I cut out the strawberry and stem freehand.  Here it is before any sewing has taken place:

Here it is, hand-sewn onto the fabric that will be the front of the pouch.  Isn't it cute?!

This is a medium-sized pouch, measuring 6.5" x 5".  It's a perfect size for organizing the small things in your purse.

I also used the red polka-dot fabric for the lining.

I finished it off with a leaf charm tied with a red ribbon to the zipper.  (I wish I had a strawberry charm!)

It's so exciting when something comes out just the way you want it to!  No more plain pouches for me!