Nifty Things I Thought I Might Make [Pt 1]

Lost opportunities or "never meant to be"s?

When I did a quick review of my subscriber stats in terms of which posts people were opening, it initially surprised me to see that my "Nifty Things I'm Never Going to Make" series had a high readership.

Then I thought, well, maybe that shouldn't be surprising since so many of us are looking for alternate sources of inspiration. Obviously, if what I'm actually tackling on a week to week basis doesn't ring your bell, you'd be happy to look at what else I might bring to the table.

Which leads to this new series of posts, titled rather appropriately, nifty things I thought I might make... as in, these are projects from my computer archives, saved over the past decade for "later". As of this writing, my Other Peoples Projects folder contains 262 items, ranging from folders to PDFs to JPGs.

In truth, the vast majority of these projects likely belong to that "never gonna make" category, but they differ in that — at some point — I definitely thought I might attempt them. Maybe they'll turn into "must makes" for you? To facilitate that, I've confirmed that all of today's projects can still be found online. I will leave the actual finding part up to you, however, by providing sufficient information to locate them in lieu of live links. (To reiterate, I try to use as few external links as possible these days to avoid future 404s. I am constantly finding them in links throughout the blog from years ago, which then requires me — as a conscientious person — to edit the posts to remove them.)

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Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness has released many, many free bag patterns over the past decade (of which I've only made one apparently), with this early one catching my eye, due to its unique look.

Sara Lawson's Convertible Clutch (image courtesy of SewNews.com)...

The image above is from a PDF released by SewNews.com (the site no longer exists under that banner). If you check out the current PDF (available at PellonProjects.com), it has a name added to it — as in, it's now called the "Caliti" Convertible Clutch — and the tutorial features a version done up in red, white and blue fabric.

When I first came across this, my thought was that unless I had some nice fabric to use, I wouldn't be able to do the project justice. At the time that I downloaded it (May 2013), my fabric stash was pretty much non-existent. By the time I started accumulating some conventional fabric, I was already somewhat governed by my sewing dilemmas and realized that I really had no need for a clutch like this.

Therefore, did not make. Still think it looks nifty, however.

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I found this next PDF in October 2015. (The pattern itself dates back to 2007!) It's an Amy Butler project called Sweet Greetings, a set of small and large portfolios.

Believe it or not, this project calls for the use of chipboard. Had I gotten around to it, I would have substituted in some Peltex. (Otherwise, I have made similar folders using cardboard as the foundation.)

image courtesy of Amy Butler, Art of the Midwest...

Given that I went on to make this and this, I think seeing the possibilities offered by this project definitely inspired me. However, the tricky thing about a portfolio is that more than likely, you'll want different types or sizes of pockets (see photo below for what the large one looks like on the inside). That being the case, it's often easier to make your own from the start.

Interior of large portfolio (image courtesy of Amy Butler, Art of the Midwest)...

That said, as is, this would still make a lovely handmade gift set for someone. I would add a full size slip pocket to the large version above, however; not having one seems like a lost opportunity for maximum functionality.

Another Amy Butler design that I have had since May of 2013 is her Blossom Bag pattern. It was made available for free after the release of her book, Style Stitches, where it is one of many (mostly ginormous) bag patterns featured, and from where I found this small project to make.

Truthfully speaking, this horizontal barrel style doesn't appeal to me. I'm pretty sure I saved the pattern for reference and learning purposes more than anything, in that I thought some elements might be worth replicating in other bags I might make down the road. Oftentimes, just reading through a tutorial is instructive.

image courtesy of Amy Butler Style Stitches...

By the way, with the book being published in mid-2010, notice how the bag looks almost naked with its total absence of exterior hardware. Fascinating how things have changed in the bag making world over the past decade.

If you want to get your hands on this PDF, you'll have to jump through a couple of hoops. I recommend that you access the project via AllFreeSewing. The link from their page is a Wayback Machine link that takes you to the archives of SewMamaSew, which — quite surprisingly — has a functional download for the PDF.

[Speaking of SewMamaSew, it appears to have resurfaced after having been gone for a few years. However, it's a mere shell of its former self with only nine categories of (mostly clothing) sewing patterns, the oddest inclusion being rice heating pad patterns and the most egregious omission being purse patterns! A rather sad comeback, IMHO.]

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Finally, here's a project that I thought for sure I'd end up making: the Sewing Date Traveler sewing caddy. I found this in January of 2016 at RobertKaufman.com. (Designer of both the pattern and the fabric line is Cynthia Frenette, a fellow Canadian who is very active on Spoonflower these days.)

The layout of this is not entirely clear from the picture, but there is a divided slip pocket on the inside front, a large slip pocket on the inside back, a zippered pocket in the middle that acts as a divider for the unit, and slip pockets divided into three compartments on the exterior front. Finished size is 12” x 9-1/2” x 6-1/2”.

Image courtesy of RobertKaufman.com...

The reason for not making this just might be because the year prior, I'd made this organizer which was already functioning as a sewing caddy for me. But oddly enough, about two years later, I saw a different sewing caddy and was inspired to replicate it instead. Don't know why I never got back to this one; I think I just forgot about it.

In any case, I still like this; it looks to be both simple and highly functional.

So did I bring anything new to your attention? Might any of these wind up on your "to make" list this year?

'Til next...