Bag Overload

Over the past few weeks, I've been pretty quiet. Studies, kids, and making have all taken up a huge chunk of time. But yesterday, I finally got the camera out, and took pics of everything. ... well, almost everything. But here it is. I'm still very new to the whole idea of taking pics while I work, and totally forgot to take pics while I was working. Sorry. I will try to better next time.
Right, so grab a large cuppa, find a comfy place, and scroll on. ;-)

Flower Hobo Bag
Why this is called a 'Hobo bag' is beyond me. I suppose it's because you'd probably be able to carry most of your worldly possessions around in it! LOL!! But, none the less, that's just the style's name. On this one, there are no pockets, but it is BIIIIIG on the inside. It has a lovely chunky metal zip to keep everything from falling out.  It also has a handmade (by me!) glitter ribbon flower to the side.

Green A-Line Handbag

This is a lovely little handbag, with dark green fabric at the bottom, and a sateen finished fabric at the top. It also has pretty white trim, and a white glitter organza ribbon to the side. It has an internal zipper pocket and an open pocket too.  It's such a cute little bag.

Orange & Denim Handbag
This bag uses an upcycled pair of jeans, and all the leftover fabric from my Mother's Birthday Quilt. It is such a lovely bag, that I'm not rally sure I can part with it! It has 3 large pockets on the inside, as well as a pen pocket inbetween the two larger pocket. PLUS, it has an internal zipper pocket too, and 3 external pocket too! That's LOADS of pockets!! All of this, as well as a bag that can carry almost your whole life in it, without a sweat. A chunky metal zip keep everything from falling out the bag, and the wide straps make carrying the bag, a cinch! White decorative stitching is all over the bag too, and gives it a really special feel.

Well, that's what I've been up to the past few weeks. I know it's not a lot to some, but with everything going on in my life, it's about as much as I can handle at the moment. There's more to follow soon. 

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Green Flower Tote Bag

A few days ago, I was feeling a bit moody, and just knew I had to make something. I rummaged around Pinterest for a few hours and still found nothing at all. So, I decided I'd make a tote - my own 'make it up as you go along' pattern. I cut a piece of freezer paper out and used that as the template for the base - the rest of it really was a case of making the most of what fabric was available in the size available for pockets, trims and straps. It was most enjoyable, and I love the feeling of it. The bottom is upholstery fabric, and the top shiny fabric is cotton with (I think!) a sateen finish. I also hand embroidered around the three flowers on the front of the bag with silver thread. Definitely something I'll do by machine next time. But here's the result. Apologies - there are no progress pic, as it was made up on the spot. But it really is your average tote, in some pretty cute fabric!

The front of the bag

The back of the bag, showing the large outside pocket

The large pocket inside the bag

The roomy zipper pocket inside the bag

Close up of the silver thread embroidery

The three silver thread embroidered flowers on the front of the bag.

I am so looking forward to making the next bag!!

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Orange Hair Clips

A friend of mine always wears a flower in her hair at work, and it always looks so pretty. But the flowers kept dying, so she changed to a fake flower. Still pretty, but I got thinking - I'm sure that I could make something pretty for her. She's such a lovely person, and I really enjoy working with her. Anyways, so I made 2 flowers. The first one below is the one I'll be giving to her. It's made of offcuts from the The Birthday Quilt and a beautiful button that I had in my stash. I'll be making more of these!!  The second flower was an experiment to see how this technique worked, and I really enjoyed it. It worked out really well, and I'm thrilled with the results. The yellow and orange layers remind me of carnivals and music.  I hope you like them too. I'll be making a whole BUNCH of these for the Christmas market at my children's school.

For both flowers, a little hair clip has been attached to the bottom, but I'll be getting some crocodile clips to make them a bit more secure.

 

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Storing your cottons & bobbins

Like many other crafters and sewers, I have a load of cotton reels and matching bobbins. But I used to store them separately - that was how it was always done. But recently, I was looking for a bobbin that matched the thread I was going to use - I knew I had a full bobbin for it, but which one was it? There were at least 5 different bobbins that looked very similar in colour, and of course, it was at night, so the light was not exactly perfect. So, the following day, I sent out on a mission to match all my threads with their bobbins. I put them into plastic bags and sealed them with a small piece of tape. Now, when I pull out a reel of thread, I know that the matching bobbin is right there with it. When I'm done with it, it goes back into the same plastic bag, ready for the next time. It keeps it clean, and easily identifiable. How do you store your cottons and bobbins? I'd love to hear about it.

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Birthday Quilt

In my previous post, I showed you the Kanzashi flower that I'd made for a quilt that I was making. Well, the quilt is complete, and was given to my mother. It is a lovely quilt and she loves it. I hope she gets lots of use from it. But I thought I'd show you all what it looks like.  ..... Picture overload alert!!

I appliquéd a little parasol onto the quilt, and added a butterfly onto it, with invisible thread. I also stitched the flower on, so that it would be secure. It's so warm and snuggly. I also added some black & gold buttons all over it, just to add a little black to the orange.

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Two Tone Kanzashi Fabric Flower

When normal people get a 'How to ...' book, they generally tend to start in the beginning, with the beginner projects .... then progress to the intermediate, and then, in time, progress to the advanced projects. Yup. That's what normal people do. Those of you who know me, will know, I'm anything BUT normal.  I pick up the book, flick through the beginners pages, slow slightly at the intermediates, then look at the advanced and say 'Yup! I want that one.'

A week or so ago, I decided that I'd like a nice flower to go onto a quilt I'm making. Great. I searched Pintrest, and found loads of various tutorials. But they were fairly boring. So, I did my own thing. .... Of course. The tutorials called for a square of fabric. Now, never having made one of these in my life before, I set about making a half square triangle .... also a complete first for me .... and then proceeded to make the flower petals. Well, I can tell you, I was mildly surprised at how well it turned out. It's now been stitched to the quilt, and looks fabulous, if I say so myself. Pics of the quilt will be put on here soon - I'm only half way though the binding.

The quilt is a mixture of a printed fabric with oranges and yellows, and the plain orange in between. The black just helps to break the brightness up a little.

 I used a nice button for the centre, just to finish it off nicely.

More pics to follow soon. 

PS - By the way, the 'How to ...' book I refer to on this occasion is metaphorical. I didn't even bother with an actual book - the internet is all the books, and encyclopaedias one could ever wish for. :-D

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I haz tools!!

URGH!! Finally, I have a new ruler and a rotary cutter (the mat is very old, but barely used). Trying to cut fabric with a scalpel and a square of cardboard (even if it IS sturdy) is anything BUT ideal. But that was what I was doing. But no more!! I now have a lovely luminous (almost!) yellow ruler and a rotary cutter that is very sharp. I know most others prefer a clear ruler, but I like being different. ;-) 

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