"Make It Yours" - my very own red velvet matryoshka clutch

Yesterday I stumbled upon this very nice contest from So Sew Easy. I just love competitions. They motivate me to do some extra work and try new things ( I never did a magnetic closing before this one for instance ) and there is also a nice parade of creations that just warm your heart and give you so many new ideas. The task seemed pretty easy to do ( I think even a beginner can try to do this - there was only one tricky part for me following this pattern : how to fold everything together before the side seams) so I let my imagination fly... searching for my own clutch. I think this is one of the things I love most: take some simple item and make it personal, just mine, unique. That's probably why I got my clutch in the same day I decided to enter the contest... The pattern is free and easy and for me it turned out better then I expected from my first try. To be honest I started this project more like a test the pattern sewing with the scraps from my Matryoshka Skirt. But once it was ready I just  fallen in love with it. I took it to work today and it was nice to wear it. Is so light and bright and sticks to me... So easy to take it to park when I go play with my boy and not having to worry about the extra weight or losing it.

Here are the links to the pattern and contest rules:

• Pattern 
• Contest 

My printer is dead and I didn't had the patience to take it somewhere else to print so I opened the pattern pdf, put it to 100% resolution did some measurements and calculations ( math come easy to me ) and put it on one of my son drawing sheets ( did some recycling ).I cut everything out and start sewing. For the final band I did a hand stitch. I will let the pictures tell you more f the story.

Sewing:

 Inside the clutch:

Outside with my son after work :

 

 The outdoor photos got the color better that the indoor ones but I still like them.

Red velvet matryoshka skirt with pom poms

I have seen this spring a nice red velvet skirt with pom poms and embroidered ribbons and I had to have one too... I knew I had a rest of red velvet from another project and a russian doll cotton  fabric I just loved and hopping I will find a project for it soon. I wanted to use more ribbons initially but but after laying all on the table and doing some mixing it seems that less is better... For the waist band I used the same pattern and decoration as for the yellow polka dots skirt from the contest. For the lower hem I used lace and pom poms tape. Is a bit short I think but that's all the fabric I had left. Anyway I just love it. Is full of color and joy.

And now the skirt taken outside to play this weekend. And I must say it feels really good to be in the clothes I make even with all their flows.

I also made a small clutch  to match the skirt here.