This weekend I made a bag for my niece for her 5th birthday. I used a pattern for a small shopping bag which I had from a 'learn to sew' course at my local knitting/sewing shop. Some new Ikea fabric formed the bottom half and the handles, and the denim was left over from some old jeans I recently cropped. My niece loves all things pink so I used some dark pink thread for the top stitching.
I had decided to add an applique butterfly using some fabric from a japanese-style satin-like top I bought at a car boot sale. I ironed some bondaweb onto the reverse of the top, drew a butterfly shape onto the paper backing and cut the shape out. I then ironed it onto the bag fabric and zig zag stitched around the edge. I'm really pleased with the result - I love the look of applique but when I tried some out before (on some scrap fabric) it went all stretched and the shape was warped - possibly because I didn't use any bondaweb, or possibly because the fabric was t-shirt jersey so had some stretch in it. Anyway, this worked really well - two non-stretch fabrics probably made it easier - so I'm feeling enthusiastic about trying some more applique in future!
