Bag Challenge - finished!

I finished my bag last night -took me all day and I thought I'd get it done in a couple of hours!

Actually I decided not to use the leaves you saw in my last post , I felt this bag needed bigger leaves and I was so glad I made new ones.  It was really tough sewing everything onto the bag because the hessian had a coating on the back - I had to use a thimble on both hands.

I started by hand stitching the leaves and flowers down. 

Last to go on was the gecko.....

I'm pretty pleased with how he turned out.

Looks more or less like the picture I had in my head although I think it needs just one more flower in the center.  Thats becasue I moved the position of the gecko and now there is a green space in the middle of the bag.   Should I put another flower on ?  I can't decide.

Enjoy your day !
Rhianon.

Just had a nano -second of sunshine there so managed to get a well lit photo.

Last one:

Work in Progress - Little Gecko

Hello everyone.

Hope you have had a good week.  I've not had much time for my own sewing but I did manage to start a challenge we were given at quilt group on monday.

We were handed these bags.....

........ and our challenge is to decorate them in any way we wish.
Using some of the 3D techniques I've been playing about with, I decided to do a 3D gecko.
I took my inspiration from these little clay ones that my brother brought back from Cancun, Mexico.

After I had a drawing I was happy with, I made a template of the gecko and transfered it onto fabric.

I used one layer of wadding and a piece of backing fabric, then machine quilted patterns on the gecko's body.

When that was complete, I added another layer of wadding and a piece of fabric in gecko colour to the back. 

Going slowly, I then sewed a small close together zig zag stitch all around the edge.  It was quite tricky going round his feet. Once done, I very carefully cut him out, going as close to the stitching as possible.

At this point I decided he was a little flat so I slit open his belly and stuffed with some spare wadding.

That's better....

He's a bit plumper now.
I am going to sit him on a bed of leaves which are made in exactly the same way.

That is as far as I've got at the moment but I have a clear day ahead of me so hope to have him finished later.

Next time you see him, he will be on the bag........
Going to get sewing now ...........

Rhianon.