Cooper Christmas

For the first time ever - my sewing was mistaken for store-boughten. I made my sister a Colette Cooper for Christmas and I had to tell my family that I made it - they didn't just guess  :) Don't get me wrong, I obviously think handmade items are "where it's at," but I was just tickled. I'm very proud of this bag!

I decorated the inside pocket with girl scout and boy scout badges!

My sister loves camping, so I made her a camping themed bag compete with a compass, girl scout badges, and some water-proof matches inside. This backpack is made out of a recycled felted wool blanket, denim, and ripstop. I love the texture of the felted wool - it is gorgeous, however it was sooo thick it was difficult to fit through my machine! Next time I will probably use regular wool.

I found some sporty looking webbing - perfect for camping!

The pattern has a lot of pieces and many steps, so it took me a while to finish this one. It was totally worth all the work though. It was fun learning how to make straps and learning to install the hardware. I bought one of the hardware sets from Colette Pattern's store Gifts for Crafters. The matching hardware gives the bag a really finished look.

Sisters!

Despite the cold, my sister agreed to do a photoshoot with me the day after Christmas. We went for a walk in the woods behind our parent's house. I love how the bright red bag looks against the snowy background. 

Found some cool ice.

Striking a pose!

We had fun taking photos. Amanda did a great job as the model! I really want to make another Cooper bag for myself, but first I need to finish my wedding dress. I started cutting lace for my final practice version last night  :)

Nuptials Dress ~ Take 1

I've finally finished my first practice dress for my wedding! So my dream dress is a knee length dress with a scoop neck top and three-quartered length sleeves. Despite the simple idea, I couldn't find a pattern that was exactly what I wanted. What I decided to do was take the Colette Hawthorn pattern and alter it to fit my ideal dress.

Altering my Hawthorn pattern

I had already done a small bust adjustment to the pattern before I made my Wilderness Blouse. Some other changes I made to the pattern were swapping the button-up front for an invisible zipper in the back, changing the neckline, opening up the back, and tightening-up the arms. I think it turned out really well - if fits great!

I love how you can see my green hem tape on this photo!

I made this dress out of a pretty woven cotton plaid. I used hem tape for the first time on this dress, it was so fun! I don't think it's any faster than doing a regular hem - but the pop of color is great. This was iron-on hem tape, so I just ironed it over the unfinished edge and then sewed it on.

My actually wedding dress will be in a very pretty lace with light blue silk lining. I want to try and do the lining with a sweetheart top - if I can figure out how to do it. I'm going to do one more practice version before I move on to the real deal.

I did some tree climbing  :)

As you can probably see from the photos - it is cold here in Iowa! Brrrrr - these were some chilly photos. I want to thank my sister Amanda for trekking out into the cold with me to take these photos. She did a great job!

All bundled up!

I recently bought the Cooper pattern from Colette patterns. I'm so excited to try it! Is anyone else doing the sew-along?