Island Batik January Challenge

Its the first Island batik Ambassador challenge of the year and this month is “Lets get scrappy!” the brief is:

• Ambassadors choice
• Any size
• Any technique

Scrappy sewing is one of my favourite kinds of sewing to do, I keep all my scraps, even the tiny pieces! I find it so relaxing and the end result always turns out different to the next/last! I got rummaging through my box of fabric and found lots of scraps from last years shenanigans.

Something I actually need and have been meaning to make is a drawstring bag, big enough to hold my nail varnish collection so that’s what I decided on.

I started by cutting a piece of solid grey fabric and batting a little bigger than I needed (around 13″/14″ square), from there I would keep adding scraps of fabric on top sewing around each piece to secure it until the whole piece was covered. I find that adding the batting underneath gives it a bit more stability and makes it easier to sew, I used Hobbs 100% cotton.

Once all my fabric was sewn on I quilted using my favourite technique, matchstick, this way of quilting is honestly so forgiving, you really don’t need to be precise its still looks great at the end. It also gives your project extra stiffness so is great for bags and things like that. I used Aurifil 2425 50wt from the Sardina colour builder box. I made 5 panels in total and trimmed each one down to 12.5″ square.

I constructed my bag the same way you would a cube and repeated with the lining. For the lining I used Amethyst Petal from the Wildflower collection.

For the drawstring channels I cut a selection of 4 pieces measuring 10″ x 3″ which I put at the centre top of each square and I found some peach coloured rope from my stash that worked beautifully with the colours on the bag.

It turned out a really great size and I even have room for more nail varnish now! 🙂

Thankyou so much for reading guys

Until next time..

Happy Sewing! xx

Jo xx