Category: Bags

Upside Down World

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Today I brought Little Miss Bossy-Boots to pre-school as I do every Monday. Then I decided to ignore the housework and sit down to do some sewing instead. Ok, I admit it, I do that every Monday too. Anyway, I sat down to sew a bag for my mum.

I love making bags but ironing on the interlining is not my favourite job, so instead of doing it I procrastinated by sewing a zippered pouch. I took the lovely Echino bird print and made a pouch. It looks wonderful…

….on one side. The other side is a bit upsetting.

Yep, I’ve got an upside down bird here. Luckily this pouch was always meant for me so I’ll get a good chuckle every time I use it. That must count for something, mustn’t it?

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Finally

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The Fat Quarterly Sewing Retreat in London is very soon, in fact it’s only ten days away. This has made me panic a bit (this happens to me quite a lot) as I still haven’t got all my supplies or my swap gifts. I signed up for almost everything you could sign up for thinking it would be fun and help me meet lots of people. For the swap we have been put into groups of five which means we bring four gifts (all the same) and get four gifts (all different). How cool is that? I’ve seen a few of the things people are bringing in the Flickr group pool and with every new picture popping up I hope that I will be in that person’s group. The stuff people have been making is fabulous!

For ages I couldn’t decide on what to make for the swap but on Monday it finally hit me: The sugar loaf pouch. The pattern is by the lovely Lisa Lam from U-handbag and I bought it ages ago. Then it just sat there and from time to time I looked at it and thought “I have to make one of these pouches, they’re s cute”. Now I can add “and so addictive”. I love them and they are so handy, just big enough for a phone and some other bits and bobs or sewing supplies or medicines and plasters or….

Will I be able to stop after four, the number of gifts I need to bring? Watch this spot!

PS Did you notice I didn’t put any metal hook snaps on my pouch? Well, I only had three at hand so I left them off completely. I just couldn’t wait….

Categories: Bags, Fat Quarterly Sewing Retreat2 Comments

Treasure

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Last Saturday Little Miss Bossy-Boots was “helping” me with my sewing. She was taking things out of my hand sewing pouch and putting them in again, opening and closing the flap. After a while she announced that she wanted a pouch like that. So Mummy dropped what she was doing and dived into her pink stash. The little Miss then chose this lovely Cosmo Cricket ‘Girl Friday’ by Andover Fabrics that has been in the stash for a little while. She then chose a bright pink zip and a little pink heart button. The fabric for the pocket and lining was chosen from a selection of fabrics that I showed her. I love the white polka dots on the bright green background by Stof.

I used Florence’s Tutorial but boxed the corners simply because I think it’s easier to see what is in your pouch.

I just love the lining and the bright pink zip.

Now, would you like to know what was in the pouch when I grabbed it to take these pictures?

I can see sparkly shells, plastic coins, a belt, a clicker, a tape measure, the letter “E” from her name, a hair clip, an eraser or two, a piece of string, a bird and a few more unidentified objects. I think it’s fair to say that she finds it handy.

Have a lovely day!

 

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Another Bag

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Just before Christmas I had a request to make a bag for a little girl as a Christmas present. I delivered the bag on Christmas Eve (oh, yes, it was a bit of a tight squeeze but I managed) but in the rush I completely forgot to take pictures of it. Maybe Charlotte’s mummy will take a picture or two for me if I ask very nicely.

Anyhoo, that bag led to another order and this time I didn’t forget to take pictures!

I used my messenger bag pattern (the Jacqui Bag, as I call it) to sew it. The outside fabric is a really lovely denim while the lining is Gryffith Butterfly by Alexander Henry Fabrics.

There are two pockets for the mobile phone, keys or other things and one for a pen.

As for the name, I went for the slightly rougher looking free motion sewn/embroidered look. I had a lot of fun with the name but also one of the most embarrassing situations ever: I miss-spelled the name! I had been practicing writing “Sarah” without setting my pen down the day before but wasn’t quite sure about it. In the end I decided to go for every letter individually. I sat down at the machine did a few practice letters to see how I liked it and to get in the flow. Then I wrote the name with an air erasable pen and started sewing. I was happy with the look of the name and proceeded finishing the bag. I didn’t have time to sew on the butterflies but thought that was a quick job which I could do the following day. Luckily, I showed Master the bag before calling Alison to tell her the bag was finished as he commented on the funky spelling: S a h r a.

Mortified, I took the bag apart again and redid the name. Catastrophe averted, phew.

 

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Fabric!

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Now, I could bore you with more pictures of Little Miss Bossy-Boots’ room but I won’t because today our lovely postman brought me a package I was waiting for.

Last week I got an email from a lovely lady asking if I could make a bag for her daughter’s birthday. Of course I can. We checked out FabricRehab‘s website to find fabric for the lining and found this:

This is Griffith Butterfly by Alexander Henry and I snapped up the last two units. The bag itself will be made in denim and I think this lining is going to look lovely with it.

However, once Alison had left I couldn’t help but browse a little bit more and found these:

A lovely print by Kokka,

Alphabet Soup Boy by Riley Blake,

a Polka Dot Bundle

and, the piece de resistance,

Heron by Could 9 Fabrics which is 100% certified organic cotton. I am so in love with this fabric. I have no idea what I’m going to make with it but it will definitely be for me. And it won’t be used as lining in a bag, no I want to be able to admire it all day every day. Any suggestions as to what I could make with it?

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A handy pouch

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A little while ago I made myself a handy pouch to keep my hand sewing kit in. I love hand sewing and get a little annoyed when I have to search for the right needle, thread, small scissors and thimble. Always wondering who moved them and always realising that it was me, myself and I….

I pulled out one of my favourite fabrics (Denyse Schmidt’s “Hope Valley”) in a lovely bright chartreuse, a few bits from Nel Whatmore’s “Happy Go Lucky” line and a purple zip and made myself a zippered pouch in which to keep my hand sewing stuff.

The lining is a patchwork of Nel Whatmore’s lovely fabrics.

Did you also notice the little thingybobby for my scissors? I couldn’t leave it rattling about in my pouch now, could I?

The flap at the front is actually for needles. I could, of course, have added some felt as well but didn’t want to hide the lovely flower. At first I only had the one button to keep the flap up but soon realised that the corners kept catching on things, especially when I had the pouch in a bag. I added the two poppers to make sure that I don’t lose any of my needles.

Now, the pictures aren’t the greatest as the weather here is really grey and horrible. It just shows me that I should remember to take pictures when the sun is shining. I hope you have lovely weather wherever you are.

Categories: Bags1 Comment

Here Kitty!

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I’m sorry I missed a blog post for yesterday. My day started at 5.20am when Little Miss Bossy-Boots woke me up and the early start turned me into a brainless zombie. I couldn’t even get myself to go anywhere near the computer. Hopefully it’ll be a one off.

Little Miss Bossy-Boots started pre-school again a few weeks ago and I had promised her a new bag and lunchbox. We went into town and picked out a new lunchbox, Minnie Mouse this time. She insisted on getting a matching plastic Minnie Mouse bottle and I gave in even though she has lots of good quality aluminium bottles which I think are easier to keep clean. It is nice to start the year with all new things, though, so I let her have the bottle too.

The bag, however, was always going to be made by Mummy. Last time I was in Switzerland I picked up some pink twill and light pink “Hello Kitty”cotton fabric. I also picked up a pink ribbon with an Argyle pattern in the same colours as the “Hello Kitty” fabric. I made a messenger bag with flap (the pattern is one that I have made numerous times before; quick and easy) and inside pockets for all the small stuff. I even made one for a pen in the hope that she will keep this bag for a while.

The little outside pocket is for her lunch money.

The embellishments on the flap were all chosen and placed by Little Miss Bossy-Boots. It’s a little busy for me but she loves it. She placed all the buttons on top of the ribbon except one which made me laugh. It seems so random but I’m sure she had a reason for it. When she went through my buttons she took out about 40 pink and purple buttons (oh yes, I have lots and lots and lots of pink buttons. I have no clue as to how they made it into my house. Honest!) In the end, however, she only went for a few and only one glittery one which surprised me no end.

Little Miss Bossy-Boots loves her new bag and I’m sure part of it is the fact that she had total control over the ribbon, appliqué and buttons. I have high hopes that she will one day sit next to me on the sofa crafting.

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My Bag

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I made myself a new bag! I’ve been lugging round a ginormous bag for the last year which was filled with wet wipes, nappies, changes of clothes, snacks and drinks and everything else one needs when looking after a small child. Master called the bag “the bag from hell” and I suppose he was right. Everything ended up somewhere on the bottom of it or ended up in the big black hole never to be seen again. As Little Miss Bossy-Boots is now out of nappies and I don’t really need to bring spare clothes anymore I decided that a smaller bag was called for. Add to this the fact that I was going home to Switzerland for eight days (hence the non-blogging) and didn’t want to carry the monster bag around arouanymore and you get a very strong incentive to make a new, smaller bag. As I didn’t have much time before travelling, I decided to go for a really simple design I have sewn lots of times. The fabric, however, is a little bit special and very, very practical: rucksack fabric. It’s waterproof, very light and, best of all, comes in lots of fun colours. I chose a lovely turquoise for my bag and I love it.

As you can see I added a big pocket to the front of the bag with a flap to keep things in there a bit safer and drier. It’s fully lined in the same IKEA fabric I used to line the bag. I love this fabric as it’s so summery.

Now in hind sight I wish I had put a flap on the top of my bag as well. I didn’t because I thought that it is a summer bag which doesn’t end up in the rain too often (how wrong was I?) and therefore simply inserted a zip at the top.

I decided to have pockets galore in this bag in the hope that it would be more organised and less “hellish” for Master if he ever has to find something in it. There’s palace for everything now: wallet, pen, mobile phone, plasters and antiseptic, camera and snacks. The wet wipes go in the bottom with a pair of knickers and leggings for Little Miss Bossy-Boots (just in case). The key is attached to a key fob and can easily be found and used while still attached to the fob which means I’m not hunting for my key anymore as I know it’s in bag.

I’ve used it for a bit over a week now and I can say that I absolutely love it. The size is great as I can still get a few things in there when I go shopping but without them disappearing without a trace. I also don’t have to take everything out to find smaller items that have buried themselves at the bottom of the bag.

However, there are two things I don’t like. First, as mentioned before, I wish I had put a flap over the top opening. Nothing has gotten wet yet but with the miserable weather we have had this summer it would prolong this bag’s season into autumn. Now I will have to make another bag for autumn, winter. Oh, that is terrible… Second, I re-used the black strap from my old bag for this one but I feel it’s just too harsh. I bought some red webbing in Switzerland but have to get the right hardware before I can change the strap. The black strap will simply be re-cycled when I finish my autumn/winter bag later this year.

My sister loved the look of my bag and ordered a similar one. I will, however, put a flap on hers so that she can use it all year round.

Categories: Bags1 Comment

Wet Wipes

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Ever since Little Miss Bossy-Boots was born we have been lugging wet wipes around. First in combination with nappies of course but now just on their own. They are so handy for wiping mouths, hands and noses. Somehow the wipes always end up at the bottom of my bag (“The Bag from Hell” according to Master). As I was reading Kleine Fluchten, one of the German blogs I follow, I saw a really handy bag for wet wipes with a handle so that you can take it with you, hang it off the buggy handle or anywhere else you need it. Yesterday I decided to make one for our wipes. So quick and easy. I love it!

I had to make the bag bigger as our wet wipes are a little bit bigger. Furthermore, you might notice that I put the handle on the wrong side of the zip. That was not done on purpose but simply happened because I did not follow the tutorial but made the bag from memory. It would be easier to open the zip if I had the handle to hold on to but it isn’t a huge problem. Just a little oversight that I will remedy when I’m making the next one. Because I’m fairly sure that I will be making a few more. One for the car, one for the kitchen, one for…..

 

 

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Swimming!

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Yes! It’s the last swimming bag. I’ve finally managed to finish it.

The colours didn’t come out right in the photos. The purple fabric is a Kona solid, which is a little darker than in the picture. The red fabric is a deep red cotton/linen mix which was a dream to work with. I just completely loved the texture and feel of it and am so happy that I have some left over.

The appliqué fish was a silvery fabric I had in my stash. I believe it was used for a costume I made for our theatre group at uni. However, I cannot for love or money remember which play it was for. A sure sign of the passing time, isn’t it? Anyway, ramblings aside, the fabric has a lovely sheen to it and reminded me of sardines. Hence the longish body of this fish. There isn’t a lot of detail on the fish, which honestly was because I didn’t have the time. Looking at it now, I actually really like the simplicity of it. I feel a new trend coming on…

The eye of the fish are two buttons, a small blue one on top of a dark grey one. The brief for the bag was purple and red with a glittery fish and the letter “C”. As the fish is more shimmering than glittery, I thought I’d add a sequin “C” for the bling effect.

As with the two other swimming bags I added an inside pocket for goggles, hair ties and other bits and bobs.

In this picture you can also see the bright red zip that closes the bag. I used to be quite scared of zips before I got the “Bag Making Bible” by the lovely Lisa Lam. Her book is just so fantastic I cannot praise it enough. It is packed with tips and tricks for making fabulous bags and although I haven’t made one of the bags in the book yet, I cannot wait to find some time to make a bag for myself. I even have some fabric for the lining ready.

 

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