Despite having my sewing machine since before Christmas I haven’t made as much use of it as planned. I’ve been saving loads of things to Pinterest that I’d like to try making, but not really made much progress on actually making anything. I’ve also spent a small fortune in Hobbycraft on various sewing related supplies, including a few different packs of fat quarters, scissors, fabric cutter and a cutting mat.

After reading the instructions for various patterns I was a bit daunted – lots of cutting, measuring, ironing, different stitches that should be used, which fabrics are the best, wadding, zips…. the list goes on and I think that stopped me from just trying to make something. This is mainly because I’m a SELRES_f0faf1d4-fd08-443b-988a-0a2dfa5cfe06SELRES_b7dc1f61-8f7d-48e2-9afb-442845de68e7SELRES_06575ff8-9813-4553-87ec-74ca61324918SELRES_60df4543-a0a6-490d-ba5e-30c53276caf0bit SELRES_60df4543-a0a6-490d-ba5e-30c53276caf0SELRES_06575ff8-9813-4553-87ec-74ca61324918SELRES_b7dc1f61-8f7d-48e2-9afb-442845de68e7SELRES_f0faf1d4-fd08-443b-988a-0a2dfa5cfe06(okay, very) impatient, and when it comes to learning new skills I just want to be able to do it  – the actual learning process frustrates me quite a bit. I still remember Hone Economics classes when I just couldn’t figure out how to thread a sewing machine – something I can now do, after watching a few clips on YouTube.

This weekend I decided to take a deep breath, sit down and set up my sewing machine to make something. I picked out a couple of the fat quarters I bought a few weeks ago and matched them as closely as I could with a purple thread. After looking at some of the patterns I’d saved, I decided to try to make this clutch bag,  pattern by Angel Eden. I didn’t have any plain fabric to use as a lining I used the same fabric for both the outside and the lining.

 
The instructions were really clear, so it was a great project for beginner.  When I was sewing the pieces together it was a great learning opportunity as to the importance of pinning everything together (rather than just ‘going for it’ which I was tempted to do), although I did learn a sharp lesson when I realised, after it was all sewn together, that  I’d forgotten to remove one of the pins. Oops.  The final stage was to stitch diagonally across the flap, and my attempts are a bit wonky – I need to practice sewing in straight lines!

The finished product measures around 25cm wide and 16cm long, and is the perfect size for storing an iPad mini, notebook and pens.  I think I’ll definitely try making another one, maybe in a different size as I think it would be really useful for travelling to keep your passport and travel documents in.

Now, what to make next? This project has given me a bit of confidence, so maybe a bag with zips? Or something else a bit more complicated? Watch this space.