My Secret Valentine partner that I was to sew for is Meagan (Blog, Flickr, Instagram). Just like a real life, awkward blind date we get/give little snippets of personal information. I knew Meagan liked bold colours, especially blue and green, did not like leather, worked for an historic theatre and had a lovely family including two (?) dogs!
The "rules" of the exchange are that you should work with what you have such that the cost of postage is the only real expense, and that it should arrive as close as possible to Valentine's day. I received my partner's information about 5 days before a week long holiday and I knew I'd have to post my gift within a few days of returning home.
And so I chose a project that would be mostly hand sewing while on holiday with a bit of quick assembly back at home. The main fabric is a shot weave blue/red furnishing fabric that I think is probably silk. It has a very dense weave and a crisp, almost paper like quality. Apart from it being the only bold, solid blue (or green) fabric I had, I thought the curtain-ish look was sort of reminiscent of a theatre. Then of course I went through the crisis of confidence when making a gift for someone else, and I consoled myself that if she didn't like it at all, and wouldn't carry it to the theatre, she could donate it as it would probably make a good prop for the wardrobe department. Right-o, worries cast aside I started stitching.
The soluble canvas is one of those absurdly fun things (right up there with iron on vinyl, freezer paper stencils and other sewing "highs" :) ) I'm sure there is a proper way to do cross stitch but I was learning from a Japanese embroidery magazine without speaking a word of Japanese and safe in the knowledge that my bag would be lined and no-one would ever see the back. Let's just say it's not as pretty from behind.
After I'd done the first side and then started on the second, I realised I'd mistakenly left a little bit off the bottom of every flower that faces to the right. There's the imperfection that is the badge of handmade, right?!
Back home I was second guessing myself about the lining I'd originally chosen. This multi-coloured stripe was well out of my comfort zone and I was very close to using a beige/olive mini floral instead. I managed to overrule myself and go with the bold and then threw in a lime green pocket just to ramp it up a notch.
The construction was confusing to say the least. I realise now what I was meant to do to have the handles at the edges of the top band, not set in slightly as mine are. I really need to scribble some notes in English in the margins of the magazine. I also wonder if I somehow misread the measurements for the handle width and top band width. In the magazine's photo it appears to have a wider band at the top and the handles on this bag are oddly wide.
Anyway, Meagan wasn't to know any of that. I hoped she'd like it. In case she was lukewarm, I thought I'd win the dogs over by throwing in a sample pack of Vet's Best rewards. I mailed it off....
There's something really lovely about sewing for someone else. It's very satisfying to create something that you can be proud of and then send it off to be received on the other side of the world. While there's lots of opportunity for nerves, I've no doubt that the creative people who join these gift swaps will always be gracious in receiving. There'll be something to admire; The style, the fabrics, the workmanship, or just the generosity of spirit.
Of course, there's also the opportunity to "meet" new people. I found quite a few new blogs to read and sewers to follow through this exchange last year and I'm sure I will again. I'm going to go stalk all those Instagrammers by using Websta to search for the #2015sve Secret Valentine tag. (I can't wait to show you what I'll be receiving when the post finally arrives)
Thanks to Sanae and Ute for organising the exchange and creating this international whirlpool of creative friendship.
It is a lovely gift, I think you did very well based on the information you had!
ReplyDeleteThank you. I really enjoyed making it, which means at least one of us was a winner, right!
DeleteA well thought out gift with the information you had been given.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sharon. It's so hard to think of anything to say about yourself, but of course you would like your recipient to write pages about their hobbies and likes and dislikes... I've always thought a good gift is one that you enjoy giving, I hope I'm right.
DeleteVery pretty, I'm sure the recipient (and her dogs) are delighted. You're brave to try sewing from a Japanese magazine - I find bags daunting at the best of times. The embroidery is beautiful and I can't even work out what bits of the flowers are missing!
ReplyDeleteLike you, my SVE gift hasn't arrived yet. Shall we agree to blame Australia Post? My mother-in-law recently posted us a card from Kensington and it took a week to arrive, so I think we can reasonably say they're rather hopeless...
One of the most time consuming parts was drafting my pattern from the measurements given - it was one of those no pattern pieces type Japanese pattern. Have you seen any of those periodical type embroidery/cross stitch magazines? It's not really my style to have around the house but I love the techniques and the over the top Japanese cuteness of some of the designs. I could make gifts from those mags indefinitely!
Deleteyep, let's blame Aus Post. Expensive and slow. My gift arrived today and contained some tea (amongst some amazingly awesome stuff). I always wonder with things like that if quarantine or customs don't hang onto them for a bit. Hope yours arrives soon.
Pretty pretty. I love the embroidery. And I think its a really well thought gift in which you have put much effort. I love sewing for others too--of course there is a kind of implicit pressure, you don't want to mess up, and hope and pray they like it--but all in all the making is extremely satisfying.
ReplyDeleteThat's it exactly. thanks for the lovely compliments!
DeleteShelley, I can't tell you how much I would love that bag! What a lucky recipient - and I love that you included dog treats, too! So awesome! You rocked it.
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping her dog doesn't have any food allergies, hey!
DeleteI'll have to show you a photo of the original bag in the magazine, it's a kind of aubergine colour in a rough linen and is simply divine. Mine is much more showy in these bright fabrics. I could happily make another one day... If a certain birthday should happen to coincide with some free time and some downtime from the machine, you could be in luck (but I'm sure you know how long the list of things still to be made is, right?! :) )
That's such a beautiful bag! And now you've made me want to try soluble canvas too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Suzy. It really is magic. The only hitch is you have a set size for the stitches, I guess soluble canvas comes in different "gauges" but here in Aus we are very much restricted to what we can find. For the record I had no clue what size my stitches were meant to be anyway due to it all being in Japanese! I suspect they were meant to be a wee bit bigger as I have one more flower in my row than the image in the book. I'll definitely use it again, it's one of those things that makes you feel much more clever than you might be!
DeleteI can't imagine anyone not being thrilled to receive such a beautiful bag! And so thoughtfully crafted. What fun!
ReplyDeleteOh your cross stitching is so pretty! Love the design. Very nice work. :)
ReplyDelete