Two evening projects

In the run up to Christmas I was being incredibly over optimistic about what I could achieve before the holidays, with big plans for a new skirt, dress, and trousers to wear over the festive season... Luckily as it got nearer I realised how over ambitious I was being and that if I tried to do all that I wouldn't actually ENJOY making any of them, so I took a little break from dressmaking to make a couple of super-quick and easy projects that can be knocked up in an evening.

The first was a tiny evening bag from Made By Rae's free 'Buttercup Bag' pattern:


I cannot recommend this pattern highly enough! So easy to follow, I barely needed to read the instructions and it felt like the bag made itself, but the pleated shape gives it a professional looking finish. Also it can be made from just a fat quarter of fabric (plus lining), so is an excellent way to use up leftovers. I used some green and cream striped floral cotton that I bought as part of a fat quarter bundle, and some left over buttercup (ha!) yellow acetate lining from a recent project. Once I'd made the basic shape I got really over-excited by all the possibilities for finishing touches but settled for a little button and ribbon bow trim. All in all a wonderful project that can be made from start to finish in evening.

The one downside is that the bag is rather on the small side, so really just an evening bag. I photocopied the pattern onto A3 to make a larger version for myself, but check out Tilly's version, recreated as very cute make up bags:

I plan to make lots of all three versions for future gifts!

The second project was a simple covered lampshade but there will be a separate post on that to follow. Having been so obsessed with dressmaking lately it was nice to make a couple of simple projects without any obstacles to overcome, I do love a sewing challenge but it was a lovely break to do some fairly mindless relaxation sewing.