In spite of distractions, I got another padfolio made yesterday - this one for a sister-in-law's upcoming birthday. I continue to be in love with this fairly quick to make and usable gift that I truly can get done in a few hours. I'm still experimenting with closures - in this case the length of crewel yarn gets wrapped around the two buttons in a figure eight like the closures of some manila envelops. This works really great.
I also love it when the bits and pieces of experimentation find a home. That's a stripset I made over a year ago (you can see it and others in this post), just sewing together random pieces from my "string" drawer. The navy on either side was just about the last of its kind - a strip plenty long but not wide enough. I sewed two lengths together, knowing that the center seam would be covered by the strip set which miraculously was exactly the right length. I really like this version and it has me eyeing my other piles of leftover strips and triangles that I've not figured out how to use yet.
The pockets are made from a fabric that appears in the strip set - lucky to find I still had quite a bit of it. The lining is from what was left of a regularly cut quarter yard of fabric that I think came from a mystery scrap bag purchase. It isn't really the sort of thing I would pick myself, but I am often surprised at how these "so not me" fabrics become usable and desirable. This carries on the flower theme in some of the stripset fabrics. And I could not resist inking the recipient's name onto the pocket. Done & in the mail!
I also love it when the bits and pieces of experimentation find a home. That's a stripset I made over a year ago (you can see it and others in this post), just sewing together random pieces from my "string" drawer. The navy on either side was just about the last of its kind - a strip plenty long but not wide enough. I sewed two lengths together, knowing that the center seam would be covered by the strip set which miraculously was exactly the right length. I really like this version and it has me eyeing my other piles of leftover strips and triangles that I've not figured out how to use yet.
The pockets are made from a fabric that appears in the strip set - lucky to find I still had quite a bit of it. The lining is from what was left of a regularly cut quarter yard of fabric that I think came from a mystery scrap bag purchase. It isn't really the sort of thing I would pick myself, but I am often surprised at how these "so not me" fabrics become usable and desirable. This carries on the flower theme in some of the stripset fabrics. And I could not resist inking the recipient's name onto the pocket. Done & in the mail!
6 comments:
Isn't it FABULOUS that pieces work out to be exactly the size we need?
GREAT JOB - this is a LOVELY gift!!!
Did you post dimensions for this project earlier on and I missed it? It looks like a good giftie. I made aprons as an incentive for some of my Breast Cancer 3-Day donations last year. This looks like it would be another good one for the purpose.
Katney, if you go back into the December archive, you'll see 3 posts about the padfolios I made and links to Beth Wheeler's variations & the pattern which is her baby. This link will take you directly to the pattern download: http://www.ctpubblog.com/2009/10/16/photo-padfolio-project-download-from-beth-wheeler/
This is sized for the small "junior" legal pads that are 5 x 8 inches. It wouldn't take much figuring to up-size or down-size to the pad size of your choice.
And thanks Dale Anne - I haven't heard from either of you in a long time and it's good to know you're still out there reading!
Great padfolio. Love the colours and the closing. This is a really nice way to use up your fabric scraps.
this is so nice a great idea for those ideas that come to you while driving
would be great to leave in the car!
Kathie
Thanks Francoise. Although the original pattern encouraged featuring "original" fabric like rust-dyed or printed with photo-manipulations, dipping into the scraps like this expands who might enjoy receiving on - a padfalio for every taste!
Kathy - what a great idea to keep on in the car! I always spray these with a water-repellent like Scotchguard so one doesn't have to worry about really using it.
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