[Sewing] A pencil case for the roomie

After a summer of watching me make doll dresses and a couple of card wallets in between, my roomie requested that I make a pencil case for her. She had it all drawn out to how she wanted it to look like, and then I had her pick a fabric and lace of her choice from my collection. 

I used this awesome and super easy tutorial by London Mummy. The only problem with this method was that while I could sew the zipper and lace perfectly fine on one side, it wasn't easy to do it on the other side. Because the fabric formed a cylinder while attaching the zipper, I couldn't get it to fit through the arm of the sewing machine to sew all the way to the end. I ended up having to hand-sew the rest of the zipper, but that was no problem :-)

So the result? Tada-

I ironed on lightweight interface for the inner lining (which is, BTW, the same fabric as the outer body). While it doesn't give a lot of body, it definitely gives a slight crispness.

I embroidered my roomie's name like so and used a navy satin ribbon and some leftover lace to decorate the zipper handle and also so that it's easier to pull on the zipper to open the pencil case.

What a roommate I am ;-)

[Sewing] A bridal gift

My good friend from college held her bridal shower last Saturday on September 25. However, being a poor graduate student, I couldn't afford to buy her a nice gift, so I decided to make her a hand-made, wedding-themed card wallet instead. 

I used a crisp white fabric with silver polka dots for the body and a very light pink fabric with white floral patterns for the lining inside. Then using an assortment of laces, pearl beads, and ribbons, I decorated the wallet. 

I used two different hues of pearl beads - yellow and pink - although it doesn't show too well on the pictures. 

A close-up of the details. I've seen people do this type of ribbon embroidery and had really wanted to try it. I like how it turned out :-) 

The pockets lined with lace. 

I used a stem stitch to embroider her name - I think this part took the longest time! 

April and me posing for pictures :-)

This was definitely a very different gift among the household goods and lingerie she was receiving, and I was happy to see her like it! I hope she uses it well for special occasions - perhaps slipping it in a clutch or something ;-)