Bag for a birthday

Moo has a party in a couple of weeks (oops need to RSVP!).  In the made rush before preparing for the plasterer I sewed this bag.  It's the small tote bag from Nicole M Designs. 

Now here's a tip...it's not good to sew when stressed.  I couldn't figure out why my machine couldn't sew through 4 layers of denim and 2 layers of interfacing when I had a size 100/16 needle in the machine.  That would be because space cadet me had the straight stitch plate on the machine and eventhough I think my machine will sew through ANYTHING, it will not go through the metal stitch plate!

I added this cool adjustable buckle. The hardware is also from Nicole M. I have to say that when I initially looked at the pattern, I thought it was too wordy, but from looking at Nicole's tips on her website, this is intentional as it's for beginners. I am used to brevity from sewing with Ottobre and Farbenmix. I really like the way the bag is constructed. I did leave out the zippered inside pocket mainly because I was limited on time. I can say that I'd happily pick up a more complicated bag pattern from Nicole and feel confident I could make it.

Of course, the bag has to have a touch of Euro detailing if it's coming from my house. The bag has some Farbenmix ribbons and Luzia Pimpinella's fabulous Matruschka Pimpinellskova embroideries.

This will be the last bit of sewing for a while. The floorboards are going to be polished on Friday, so I have to get ready for that. Then we have to move back in and rearrange. I'll post some piccies of the kitchen with the countertop soon. It went in today!