Happy Tuesday! Thanks for your support of my new patterns! I'm excited to chat more about the Sew Portable Travel Set pattern today!

Featherweight Travel Bags, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

As I mentioned yesterday, this pattern was designed to help you create the perfect travel set for your Singer Featherweight 221. I have been using my set for over a year, and I can say with confidence that it fits the bill.  I have the original hard travel case for my machine, but I find it too heavy and don't trust it to properly protect my machine. Since I take it to The Sewcial Lounge and retreats relatively often, I wanted something more reliable. Plus, this is prettier! Now, let's dive into the individual pieces!

You can find my tips and tricks for sewing with a vintage Featherweight here.

Featherweight Travel Tote Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

First up is the heavy duty tote bag. Whether you have a vintage machine or not, everyone can use a nice sturdy tote bag.  Before it is assembled, the panels are quilted (with batting and canvas) to give it extra strength along with an interfaced lining. Reinforced webbing handles that extend all the way around the bag mean you can carry heavy loads in this bag without worrying about it! The straps are long enough to go over the shoulder if you'd like.  Tucking at the sides gives it additional structure and shape.

A removable flat bottom makes it easy to carry a machine in it. I used a piece of very stiff compressed cardboard from a package I received, but anything strong will do. Binder's board is the closest thing I can find to what I used. This would do perfectly! Even a thin piece of wood cut to size would work! It just needs to be a material that won't bend with the weight of the machine.

Featherweight Extension Table Sleeve, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Next up is the extension table cover. There is a small screw on the side of the head of the machine, and it can ding and scratch the extension table when it's folded. This cover protects the table. It is quilted just like the tote bag and is a tight fit to ensure it doesn't move around when in transit.

Featherweight Foot Pedal Drawstring Bag, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

Finally, the Everything Size of my Lined Drawstring Bag is included in this pattern to be used as a foot pedal/power cord holder. It fits nicely inside the harp of the machine. It may seem unnecessary to contain it, but not only will your bag be neater, but it will keep the pedal from scratching the bed of the machine. These bags are handy for all kinds of things from notions and tools to sewing projects!

Featherweight Travel Bags, a photo by Jeni Baker on Flickr.

There is some wiggle room in this tote bag, so that there is room for projects, rulers, or whatever you're traveling with. The bag can fit other vintage or small machines up to 11" long. It's the perfect excuse to pick up a Featherweight of your own! ;)

I used my Nordika fabric collection for this set, along with Pure Element solids by Art Gallery Fabrics. The interfacing I used is Pellon SF101. I used natural colored cotton canvas and cotton webbing both form JoAnn. Everything was constructed and quilted with my favorite dark gray Aurifil 50wt thread, which is in my Favorite Things Thread Collection.

You can find the PDF and paper versions in my shop here!

New Patterns

Happy Monday! I'm here today to share three new patterns with you! I've been working on getting these ready pretty much non-stop for the last few weeks, so I'm happy to finally have them done! The PDFs and paper versions are available now in my shop.  I want to simply introduce them to you today, and will spend a post on each one this week to talk about them in detail!


First up is the Sew Portable Travel Set Pattern! I have been trying to find time to work on this pattern for ages! This is the travel set I use for my Singer Featherweight 221. You'll find instructions for the tote bag, extension table cover and drawstring bag in this pattern. Even if you don't have a vintage machine, it's a super sturdy tote bag, and I use it all the time! It's designed to fit the Featherweight but will fit other vintage or small machines up to 11" long.


Next, is the Triplizip Zipper Pouch Pattern! These are the pouches that I teach at The Sewcial Lounge in the Zipper Pouch class and Laminated Zipper Pouch class! If you've never tried zippers before, this is the pattern for you.  There are three pouches in this pattern, a simple lined pouch, a cosmetic pouch with gussets, and a boxy pouch. They are fun and easy to customize!


The last one is the Simply Sampled Pattern. This is a a skill-building sampler I designed for the Block of the Month club I teach at The Sewcial Lounge (we have one spot left in our Sept-Dec session!). It's perfect for a quilter who is ready to tackle basic quilting techniques. From strip piecing to flying geese and quarter square triangles there are lots of different things to learn.

I'll be back tomorrow to chat more about the Sew Portable Travel Set! Have a great day!

Chalet Sewing Weekend

Happy Thursday! Before I sign off from obligations for the holiday weekend, I wanted to pop in and chat about this summer's chalet sewing weekend! Last summer a group of us rented a cabin for a weekend in southern Wisconsin. We had such a great time, we knew we had to do it again! This time we ended up just outside of New Glarus, WI!

For last year's recap, see here.


This was my first time visiting New Glarus and it was SO cool! It's the little Switzerland of Wisconsin. Right up my alley! We just so happened to be there the weekend of their Polka festival, which was really cool to see!


We spent some time in New Glarus and we also revisited Mount Horeb, which is nearby!


The place we rented not only had a barn quilt (win!) but they also had sheep! I really wanted to be their friends and pet them, but they had other ideas! The ran away every time I got near, haha!


We had to make another stop at The Grumpy Troll for their 1.5 lb pretzel! YUM!


We popped into the Cat & Crow yarn shop while we were there.  How pretty are these yarn braids? They choose three coordinating skeins and braided them together, so fun!


I came home with some pretty excellent souvenirs! Some kitschy treats from New Glarus, some yarn from The Sow's Ear, and a few sweet gifts from Deedrie and Jacey! :)


I made everyone a lined drawstring bag, because well! I still am not tired of making them, and they are pretty handy!


I got a little bit of sewing done! I finished this quilt top using Dreamin' Vintage and my Side Braid Pattern! Now to quilt it!


Holly captured an awesome photo of us all together! For lots of beautiful photos from the weekend, check out her post! (Deedee, Amanda, Jacey, Holly, Anna and me)

Can't wait for next year!

Anna's Mini Quilt

Happy Tuesday! I can't believe June is already over, the month absolutely flew by! Itsi time to share one last mini quilt! This one was made for my friend Anna!


When I sat down to decide on colors for this quilt, I knew I wanted to stick to neutrals with a pop of color. Anna has such cool style and I know she is drawn to this type of palette. I was excited to finally make something from Quilting Happiness, a beautiful book by two talented ladies who I'm lucky to call friends, Christina Lane and Diane Gilleland. I went with the Haphazard Pillow Pattern as the basis of this mini quilt!


I love the way this mini quilt turned out! I managed to not follow the directions and cut some pieces wrong, so it looks a bit different from the project in the book, but that's okay! As it turns out, I'm good at writing instructions but not so good at following them.  It had nothing to do with the fact that I was cutting after 10pm! ;)


All the fabrics used in this mini are from Art Gallery Fabrics. The backing is a print from Minimalista and the binding is Honey Pure Element solid.  I used a 50wt Aurifil thread and a triple zig-zag stitch for the quilting!


I had so much fun making these mini quilts! It was a treat to experiment with different techniques and colors. On top of that, it's always a pleasure to give something handmade. I'm sort of itching to make a few more now!

Happy Quilting!