Author Archives: Jan

About Jan

Musician and geek and Juris Doctor; lover of fine art and fine craft; mother and grandmother and significant other and friend. Passionate about sewing.

Promises and Expectations

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Why can’t I find what I want?! It’s like the Perfect Man; Maybe the Perfect Bag doesn’t exist? I have heard sewists in the Sew Sweetness FB group talking about the Tower Crossbody Bag since the day the pattern was introduced in 2020. It’s a free bag from Sew Sweetness, so it’s very popular. Who doesn’t like a free pattern?! I’ve wanted to make it, but it never reached the top of my Next Make list. So I decided to make a test bag out of the pattern and, while I was at it, make it out of a fabric … Continue reading →

What To Do With This Bag?

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My search continues. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’ll know I’m making tester bags trying to find just the right pattern from which to make three bags from vintage fabric that belongs to my cousin, Diane. This pattern is not It. After the Sew Da Kine bag, I thought I would turn to designers whose patterns I had used more frequently than Sallie Tomato and Sew Da Kine. So I looked at byAnnie, the patterns designed by Annie Unrein. I’ve made several of her bags, including my very favorite, the Ultimate Travel Bag. Another of my favorites … Continue reading →

The Search Continues

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In my previous post, “Kissin’ Cousins,” I told you about my search for just the right bag pattern to use for three bags I’m making for my cousin’s wife, Diane, and her sisters. So far I’ve made the Sallie Tomato “Zippy” crossbody bag, followed by its big sister, Sallie Tomato’s “Myrna” crossbody bag. When I finished the Zippy, I felt it was too flat to be able to throw more than a thin wallet and a phone into. The Myrna, with its boxed bottom, was thicker. You could also tuck sunglasses and a few other essentials into that bag. Maybe … Continue reading →

Kissin’ Cousins

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In the “How Time Flies” post a few weeks ago, I mentioned some bags I promised to make for my cousin’s wife and her two sisters. I was auditioning the Sallie Tomato “Zippy” crossbody bag for that purpose. But then I learned there was a similar bag to the Zippy, a little larger and with boxed corners, so it carries a little more. That pattern, also from Sallie Tomato, is “Myrna.” <Sidenote On> If the term “boxed corners” is foreign to you, it’s a method used in sewing bags and home decor to add dimension to a flat rectangle. Where … Continue reading →

A Blanket For a New Babe

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Every so often, I get the desire to do some knitting. I’m not an advanced knitter. I’m self-taught, and good enough to make decent scarves or blankets or washclothes. Sweaters? Anything with shaping? Not my forte. I have a lovely friend named Julie whom I met singing with the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus. Last fall, when I rejoined the chorus, Julie told me she wouldn’t be singing as she was pregnant and her second daughter would be born in January. We’ve talked on and off during the pregnancy, and shortly before Thanksgiving, I asked Julie what I could get as a … Continue reading →

How Time Disappears During A Pandemic

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First I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to, then I’ll show you. You can jump right to the pictures of my sewing projects by clicking this sentence, if you wish to skip all the yadda yadda. I honestly can’t believe it’s been seven months since I posted my work here. I need to try to remember what I’ve done during that time. The bathroom reno was finished on March 5, just four days after we got our second Pfizer shots. During March and April, I made recordings for a few YSU voice students to use in their Zoom voice … Continue reading →

A Couple of Bellevues

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I’m tired of seeing that 100 Pouches in 100 Days post at the top so I’m giving you a new post to enjoy. Let me just say I have not done nearly as much sewing as I would have liked in the first four months of 2021 because of: 1) my bathroom reno; 2) my Red Cross donation gone bad; 3) my arthritic knees; and 4) my right eye. You know how to reach me if you want to know what any of those things are all about. Now let’s talk about what’s important—sewing! I made two Bellevues this year, … Continue reading →