Black – Hopefully Creative

Duck to Go

Quacking and carrying away.

Waffle Patterns, the designer of the Penguin Bag and the Whale Bag, released two new bag patterns recently. A piggy (biggetje) and a rubber duck (eendje). I loved them, and they went on sale upon release and I couldn’t help myself. Does one need four animal bags? Probably not. Do I have them now and do they come out to play? Absolutely.

Beak view of black bag shaped like a rubber duck.

Side view of black bag shaped like a rubber duck.

I grabbed some of the same black fabric and gray lining that I used for the Penguin and got to work. As usual with waffle pattern bags, the internal bag was a little bit too small for my liking, but I only figured that out after already cutting it out and adding a zipper to the bottom. So I performed some minor surgery and added a strip all the way around the edges so that the bag innards are now a lot bigger. The wings double as extra pockets. They are not very big, but I did put the optional snap in them for some extra closure.

Apart from that, the instructions were very good again. If I remember correctly, I followed them pretty closely. There is no nap indicated on the pattern, but my fabric has some. So I tried to think about it while cutting out the duck. That was quite helpful, and he’s very pettable now. I think only one section is upside down, but I wasn’t going to take it back out again. The beak was already quite hard to sew.

Bottom view of black bag shaped like a rubber duck.

The duck has one hand strap, and it’s supposed to have a shoulder strap. I stole that one from the penguin temporarily, until I have the materials to make it its own strap. The one problem it still has is that the zipped opening is very small. Only 12-ish centimeters and my hand is not big, but it’s fairly hard to get into it. It can hold my wallet and pens, but not much else. But it wasn’t intended for a giant trek. Still, I think he’s very cute and I look forward to taking him on the go!

Blue Bird Dress

Two versions, one winner!

As usual around this time of year, there was a large event looming and I wanted a new outfit. My recent Simplicity sewing magazines had asymmetrical dress patterns and they spoke to me. They were Simplicity Naaimode 72, model 24-26, which is the equivalent of Simplicity 9886 (and the plus size version: Simplicity Naaimode 74, model 28-30, aka Simplicity 9887). They also spoke to my stash of 10 lengths of 1 meter of Scuba Crepe Jersey Fabrics that came in a Surprise Box in 2022. Since I hoped I could combine three of those fabrics to make a nice dress.

Asymmetric dress with dark gray, medium gray and light blue sections

I started by copying the pattern and cutting it out in a dark grey, lighter grey and light blue fabric. I made two alterations to the original version. 1) I didn’t put in a zipper, since this is all stretch fabric. 2) I cut the light grey back pieces in one since I didn’t have to accommodate the zipper. As you can see, this one was just too big, especially in the back. I pinched out around four centimeters on the side and that was a lot better, but the pockets were also way too low, the colours seemed a bit muted for a fun occasion and I was just unhappy with it.

Asymmetric dress with black, blue with birds and light blue sections

Then came the most complex alteration I’ve ever done in my life. Trying to make this thing smaller along strategic points instead of just the side seams. In the end: I took out 2 cm along center front and center back, tapered the side seams in from 1-ish cm to nothing in the waist, removed the pointy bit around the center back because there was still no zipper, took in the darts and princess seams by a cm, raised the pockets by about 5 cm and made them bigger, shortened the sleeves and scooped out the neckline. I made adjustments to every paper pattern piece there was, and some are a little bit fudged, but it fits so much better!

These pockets are at a much more comfortable height and the back fits so much smoother than the original version. I just turned the neckline under once and stitched it down, and same with the hem. The hem was with coordinating thread colours and I’m quite proud of it. It looks very neat. I also added some belt loops to the sides that almost disappear into the fabric, which is nice.

While working on the pockets, they gaped a little bit more than I would have liked, so the inside of the fully blue pocket was visible on that side. This bugged me so much that I ripped part of it out, added a patch of the light blue, and sewed it all back together again. So much better! The pockets also really wanted to just float around anywhere, so I anchored them with little straps to the approximate center front of the dress. Now they never end up on the back of my hips and I can put stuff in there, it’s supported and basically invisible.

I like this dress, it’s appropriately swooshy and has pockets and this colour combination is so much better for me than the original. I felt I learnt a lot with the alteration and now I’ve at least used some of that mystery box fabric!

EDC v2

A nice new pouch for all the stuff I lug around on the daily.

Every Day Carry – the amount of stuff you just bring with you daily ‘just in case’. Mine used to be in a pouch I made in 2018, but recently I wanted to downsize. I had managed to remove some items from the original pouch and it just looked sad and floppy. I went on the internet and looked around for nice pouch patterns that I could make and stumbled upon the ‘Pencil case with layer‘, which is also a YouTube video.

So I wandered back upstairs for the bin with pouch materials and came down with exactly the same fabrics as the originals were made of. I liked the idea of the pocket on the top even if I didn’t want the extra layer for pen(cil)s. I also wanted a carrier strap. I made an estimated guess of how big the thing needed to be and made myself a ‘pattern’ in Microsoft Word-shapes based on the original.

I skipped all the interfacing steps, since the original held up for 8 years (and still isn’t breaking), I figured it was fine as is. I grabbed a fun length of zipper and got to work. Since I had a tiny bit of the black shrooms leftover, I made two parts out of that. I also opted out of finishing everything super nicely, this stuff doesn’t fray. I ended up with a nice little pouch with a pocket in the top for pens and my spoon, and enough space in the main compartment for anything else. I love that it’s flatter and shorter and so far, it’s been doing well!

Ps. for those who looked back at the original post. I did not, in fact, make a cover for my scooter in a reasonable timeframe…

Black Earflap Hat

Warm but neutral ear coverings to get me through the end of winter.

I’ve been wearing my plaid earflap hat a lot this winter. It’s been cold and my ears seem to want to freeze without earflaps. The coat I’m currently wearing is red, and it all .. doesn’t really go together. So I set out to make a new, slightly more neutral hat. I grabbed the leftovers from a larp cape project and a scarf and got to work.

For this version I used the Whitney Sews pattern for a newsboy hat with some modifications. There were still some brim inserts in the hoard, so I traced that shape and used it as the brim. Then I took the original earflap pattern from the first hat add added those too. I did decide to cut a wedge off the top so they would fit better.

Close up of the point where 6 seams in a black hat intersect.

I’m quite proud of the point matching of the top of the hat and the lining. It turned out very neat, but made the hat also look a bit naked. So after faffing about with my button press, I managed to make a nice covered button for the top, to finish it off. I hope this one becomes a firm favourite even if the amount of poof in the hat is less than I hoped for.

Bubbles

Black makes this pastel bubble really pop.

I wanted some small approachable embroidery projects, so off to Etsy I went. The designer of this one had a few more creatures in bubbles but this one really caught my eye. The little manta ray is so like what you see when you walk through one of those aquarium tunnels in the zoo.

Embroidered pastel Manta ray in a bubble on black fabric.

Framed embroidered pastel Manta ray in a bubble on black fabric.

Since it was so pastel in its colours, it needed a dark base to pop. However, that also meant that I couldn’t really put a 10×10 grid on it, like I normally do. And with so many ‘free floating’ bits, this meant a lot more counting. I liked the outcome, but I didn’t enjoy working on black all that much because it is so much harder without the grid handhold. Still, lovely addition to the embroidery wall!

Project	Bubble Manta Ray
Author	TizaThreadArt
Type	Pattern only
Search words	bubble; manta ray
Location	Drive
#stitches	675
Purchased	09-01-2026
Date started	18-01-2026
Date finished	19-01-2026

Dinosaur Kisses

Black and white with a pop of love.

I haven’t yet found a ‘Ravelry’ for cross stitch. There’s Pattern Keeper, where you can store your patterns and mark which stitches have been completed, but you can’t mark when you started (or finished). That seemed to be the type of information I also found very useful in Ravelry so I started a spreadsheet.

Partially completed embroidery of two cute dinosaurs kissing.

For this project for example, I’ve got:

Project	Dino Kisses
Author	MegC
Type	Pattern only
Search words	t-rex; dinosaur; kissing; heart; skeleton
Location	Drive
#stitches	5175
Purchased	23-10-2025
Date started	26-12-2025
Date finished	07-01-2026

Completed embroidery of two cute dinosaurs kissing.

Framed completed embroidery of two cute dinosaurs kissing.

It took me two months from purchase to start but only two-ish weeks to finish the project. Pretty decent going with only three colours. I did the heart first, then the skeletons and then completed the bodies of the faT-rexes. I made two changes to the original pattern; I didn’t do one stitch on the bottom of the left foot of the right dinosaur, since it didn’t seem to belong there. On the right foot of the left dinosaur, I made the bottom toe-bean black and didn’t make it stick out below. I really like how they turned out, but endless black did become a little bit of a chore.

Ophelia..Pants?

Some denim no-longer-overall-pants.

When I made the original Ochre Ophelia Overalls (Decades of Style 108), I immediately became interested in making some pants out of the pattern too. It took some time, but I finally got around to it. I chose a dark denim-y fabric of which the origins are unclear to me. From the original Ophelia I knew that I didn’t need the button plackets, so I left those off. The only pattern changes to make were to cut down the back pieces so that there was no strap section. I just left off the front bib pieces. There might have been more minor adjustments to the height of the top edge, but I don’t recall.

Front view of dark pants with big pockets and side ties.

Side view of dark pants with big pockets and side ties.

After putting all the pieces on my fabric and cutting them out, I set to work. I followed the instructions apart from installing the plackets, the sides were just sewn shut. For the topstitching, I wanted to have a contrasting thread along the major seams. Although, I didn’t feel like rethreading my machine every time, so I grabbed the hand crank from 1901 and threaded that one. The width of the foot on that on made for a lovely distance for the top stitching.

Detail of side of dark pants with big pockets and side ties.

To finish the waistband, I added a wide bias tape and stitched that down with my topstitch. I added the straps with d-rings and an extra one to hang my keys from. These pockets are again large and on the side and I love them. These pants are a lot stiffer than the Overalls, so they wear a little bit differently. I’ve also needed to develop a different technique for quick undoing of the sides, since these straps are stiffer too. All in all, I still like these and plan to wear them when the weather is nicer.

Pockets!

Quick Leftover Poppy

After five years, this leftover has become a thing and the hoard is now organized and slightly more empty.

At the start of September, I bought a whole load of new plastic bins to reorganize my hoard. While checking every single bit of fabric, and deciding whether I wanted to keep them, I found some scraps of the red plaid fabric that I used for these linings. I thought, ‘I need to use these or chuck these. They are not staying here for five more years’. So I made another poppy. I think he’s very cute and it’s always good to have some of those in stash for when I murder my own or have someone to gift one too.

I am still exceedingly happy with the way the hoard looks now. 12 boxes of fabric, two of yarn (in this room), a stack of small boxes with lace and haberdashery items and the remainder of the craft supplies in the top row of boxes.

A wall of plastic bins with fabric and craft supplies

Black & White De-Stinkers

New bags to keep the smell in my roller derby gear to a minimum.

My old set of de-stinkers for my roller skates and gear were starting to get a bit grubby and not work as well anymore. So I got to work and made some new ones. I’m also planning to wash and refill the old ones so there are some in stock.

Ten medium drying bags with a black and white dot pattern.

Four big drying bags with a black and white drop pattern.

I wanted to make three sizes, a small one for in elbow pads and wrist guards, a large one for in knee pads and a long one for in my skates. I chose three different coordinating fabrics in black and white, so I could also see from the pattern which ones belonged together. S is circles, L is drops and Long is diamonds.

Detail of the chain stitch on the back of a drying bag.

I ripped the fabric into different width strips (literally ripped, it was fun!). Those strips were put through the overlocker to create the bags. I filled them with silica cat litter, folded the top edges in and sewed them closed with my little chain stitch sewing machine. They’ve been coming along in my gear for a few weeks now and it still seems to work!

Penguin Bag

Tiny penguin companion for storage.

As mentioned in the Whale Bag post, I also purchased the Penguin – Pinguïn pattern from Waffle Patterns. Since it’s of course imperative to make that penguin bag as soon as possible, I set out to gather my materials. I wanted the bag to look like a real-life penguin, so I bought a white felt-backed curtain fabric for the belly. For the body, I used the same kind of fabric as for the whale, just in black. While the penguin closest in markings might be an Adélie penguin, I didn’t have appropriate orange fabric for the feet, so I chose the whale grey curtain again.

Bag in the shape of a penguin, side front view

Bag in the shape of a penguin, front view

I looked over the instructions and the pattern pieces and decided that I did want to make one major change to the pattern. To increase the size of the inner pocket, I wanted to use all available space to store stuff in. So I measured the body pieces and made an estimation of how big I thought the inside could be. To make the biggest possible pocket, I added circular end sections so that the inside pocket would be shaped like a cylinder. The other addition is to add a zipper to the bottom seam, so I could stuff it after finishing all the sewing.

Bag in the shape of a penguin, back pocket view

Bag in the shape of a penguin, pocket zipper view

As usual, the instructions for a Waffle Patterns pattern are very thorough and clearly laid out. In the end, I did almost all the steps but in a very different order. I added some extra d-rings, one to the belly pocket as an embellishment, similar to the snap in one of the original examples. All the way at the end, I undid a little bit of the tail seam to add the other extra d-ring as an attachment point. I had just recalled this pin and this pin and thought I could combine the animal fanny pack and thigh bag thing together.

Bag in the shape of a penguin, back view

Bag in the shape of a penguin, flipper detail

It all came down to the straps to get those ideas working. So I set out to build the those straps. I wanted two separate ones with side release buckles for easy on-off. A long one that could transform from waist to cross body/over the shoulder strap and a shorter one for thigh or hand strap. I didn’t have enough of the webbing to make the shorter one, so I used the same strap that I used to attach the d-rings for that one.

Bag in the shape of a penguin, handbag option

The long straps comes in two parts, a short part that just has the swivel clip and one side of the side release buckle. The long section has a swivel clip, a slide buckle and the other side release buckle. The length is such that when it’s fully doubled, it fits my waist, but it’s also extendable enough that it fits as cross body. The thigh strap measured to be somewhat too long for my leg, so I could also wear it with wide pants and stuff. I added a snap to the end so that the excess length could be doubled up and snapped away when it was used as a hand strap. I think this will work really well. I can use any of the three top d-rings for whatever configuration of strap I want.

Bag in the shape of a penguin, waist and leg wearing option — Camouflage thigh strap

Bag in the shape of a penguin, waist wearing option — Camouflage thigh strap

I really like this penguin too. I’ve found that I’ve taken the whale bag out a few times the last couple of weeks. It’s really fun and super nice to pet. I hope that will be the same for the penguin. I cut him in such a way that the nap would run down his body, and forward on his beak, so he would be super pettable too.

Tag: Black