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Echino fabrics are all over online, and generally pretty easy to spot, but this Fabric Store print is new to me.
It doesn't have that familiar Echino look, and I wouldn't have never thought this was Echino without the description to go by. It is adorable though.
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This pretty mixed floral print is a lovely mix of colors and has a striped border on one side.
I haven't used prints with borders before, but it seems like they would be fun to use in a quilt if you cut off the border and used it as separate piece somewhere in the quilt. It would be a quick way to coordinate colors.
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Oh my! Check out this super cute holiday print.
It is from the Holiday Happy line by Monica Solorio-Snow for Lecien. You can find it at superbuzzy in blue or red.
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Lynn sent me this great photo of the messenger bag she made using batik fabric. I love the details like the colorful flap, the padded fabric strap and the decorative leaf stitching. The bag looks so perfectly at home nestled in those beautiful flowers!
To make the fabric strap, she pieced some fabric together and then pieced a strip of batting to go in the center. Piecing is a great idea since you need a really long length of fabric for the adjustable strap. Then you won't need to buy the entire length just to cut a long, narrow strip. Piecing also has lots of patchwork possibilities!
Then she tucked the strip of batting inside before folding the strap closed and sewing down the sides.
Of the bags I have made and kept to use myself, the messenger bag is the one bag I use every single day. Having my hands free is very convenient and while the bag is pretty small, it still holds everything I need. It is perfect for walking the dogs and riding my bike.
The journal pocket and pen slips are also very handy. It is great to have a dedicated spot for my journal, since I often want to make a quick note about pattern ideas, things I need to do, etc. Before I started using the messenger bag, I would put a journal in my bag, and then take it out and leave it somewhere else. Then I would get annoyed with myself when I couldn't find something to write on!
Mine is getting pretty worn out and faded, so it is probably time to make a new one soon.
Thanks for the photos, Lynn! Hope everyone is having fun sewing this week.
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One question I get a lot is whether it is ok to use fleece in place of interfacing or cotton batting. The answer is "yes". I hadn't used fleece before, but knew other people had been using it successfully. The topic kept coming up, so I decided it was something I needed to try myself.
This pouch is my first project using fleece and it turned out really great! It was very easy to sew.
So here is my comparison of fleece and cotton batting. Keep in mind that I used sew-in fleece and not the fusible fleece. I'll try fusible fleece soon.
Cost
The cost difference is so slight, I'd say it probably isn't worth making a decision based on cost alone. I calculated the cost per square inch of each to get a good comparison, and they were all less than a penny per square inch:
Sew-in Fleece: $0.0031
Cotton Batting: $0.0035
Fusible Fleece: $0.0044
Sewing
The fleece is pretty stretchy. As I was sewing, I found it would get stretched past the edges of the fabric, sometimes concealing them. Since the pouch was small it didn't really interfere with being able to keep an eye on my allowance. On larger items, it might get in the way more.
Cotton batting also has quite a bit of stretch, but the fleece seemed to have about twice as much stretch.
The fleece is easier to sew through than the cotton batting, since the fibers are not as dense and tightly packed.
Another nice thing about the fleece is it doesn't shed fibers as much as cotton. Sewing with cotton batting dulls my needle pretty quickly and gunks up my machine with tiny fibers.
The fleece also has a certain puffiness that fills out the space between the fabrics nicely. I'm very pleased with how this pouch turned out. It feels padded, but light.
Ingredients
Fleece is made of polyester, so basically it is made of oil. From what I understand, the polyester fibers are sprayed with acrylic resin that bonds the poly fibers together.
Cotton batting is made of mostly cotton, but even though the package says 100% cotton it might also includes a layer of polymer fibers in the center. The cotton fibers are punched with hundreds of needles, which intertwines the cotton and poly fibers together to create the batt.
Warm & Natural batting (which I love) uses this needle punching method with the polymer layer.
I've also used Dream Cotton from Quilters Dream, which really was great to sew when I made this quilt. The package says it is needle punched, but I don't see any mention of polymer on the packaging pictures I've seen online.
Conclusion
Hmmm...I'm leaning towards sticking mostly with the cotton batting. Fleece is a bit too chemical intensive for me, but the cotton probably isn't much better. Even though it is a natural fiber, cotton is grown using a lot of pesticides and fertilizers made from petrochemicals.
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Here are few pretty prints on sale at fabulous prices:
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Water Lily Blush Michael Miller Fabric
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