No yesterdays are ever wasted for those who give themselves to today. -Brendan Francis

Thank you so much for all the congratulations' on finishing my Masters and for entering my little giveaway (the giveaway is open until next Thursday and you can find it here)! Also, I forgot to mention in my last post but also thank you to everyone who has purchased my little pattern "Itching to be Stitching" from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery - I really appreciate all the support and hope that you'll show me your stitching when it's completed! Hmmm, what do you guys think about me starting a Flickr group where you could show off the things you've made using my tutorials and patterns? Let me know if that's something you'd like!

A big congratulations goes out to my lovely friend and "twin" Kate on the birth of her little girl Grace! I am so proud of you Kate and I wish you all the joy in the world with your new little beauty.

I've been busy sewing up a few things, but unfortunately (and geez, I hate having to keep saying this) I can't share much of it with you guys! Buuuuttttt, I can share a little giftie that I made for a friend's birthday last week.

I made this little clutch using Amy Butler's pattern "Clutch Purse with Antique Pin Closure" which can be found for free on the Better Homes and Gardens website. I used a print from Denyse Schmidt's County Fair line for the outside and a pale yellow solid (very close to the yellow medallions on the outer print) for the interior. As You can see I did not use an antique pin on the closure (which actually fastens with velcro) but rather sewed a large button to the flap.

One of the really neat things about this clutch pattern is that the front closure band actually comes around all the way to the back to form a handle (it is stitched down near the top of the clutch so that the front closure stays snug but the back forms the strap). I think this is a really great design feature because part of the reason that I rarely use clutches is the whole "clutching-all-the-time" aspect; if you have smaller hands and wrists like me you could actually slip this clutch right onto your wrist if you were dancing or doing something where you were worried you'd drop your bag.

The top corners of the clutch also fold in giving it a nice shape and a little room to expand. One of the things that I did differently from the pattern was to omit the interfacing because I was using a home dec weight fabric and the pattern called for quilting weight cotton. I did however still include the canvas between the outer and lining layers; the bag is not quite as stiff as I would have liked, but I think it would have been too stiff with the weight of interfacing called for. If I were to make this using home dec weight fabric again I would include the interfacing but maybe go down to a heavy-weight or medium-weight for a rigid but flexible clutch.

I have some seriously awesome yarn to share with you guys and my haul from Spring Creativ Festival (which my mum and I just went to yesterday), but I think I'll save those for the next post! Hope you're all having a lovely weekend so far - I'm off to work pretty soon!