Two Pretty Purses

If you are here for the Sew Mama, Sew competition, you need to go to this post.

If you've already commented on my last post to win the booty I have put up for grabs, stay a while!

For the last 10 days, when I've not been worrying about the giveaway, I've been obsessing about what to wear for my boyfriend's sister's wedding, in a few weeks.  The wedding is split over two days.  The first day involves the wedding followed by a meal in a pub.  The next evening is when the night-time party is held.  This means I definitely need two outfits.  This realisation panicked me somewhat, as I am currently (very slowly) trying to lose the weight that I gained after changing tablets a couple of years ago.  I really didn't want to splash out on two smart outfits that I may never wear again - as I don't get out much.  I have lots of lovely dresses in the next size down from where I am at now and it seemed wasteful to buy two new dresses for one event.

My wonderful friend Rachael stepped in to help.  Rach is the same size as I am and she goes out to posh functions quite often as part of her job.  She also loves frocks, so she opened her wardrobe to me and I had a trying on session.   I found the perfect day-time dress in black and white, but the other dress I fell in love with was sadly far too smart for the second night.  It was more like a ball gown, but I adored it.  Rach said I should hold it in reserve, just in case I couldn't find anything else, but at least I had a lovely dress for part of the weekend.

Now that I had the first dress to think about, I started to think about accessories.  I have some wonderful red wedge sandals that would go perfectly with the borrowed dress and I decided to match my shoes with a new clutch purse.  I knew I had the perfect fabric in my stash.  I had bought it on a whim last year and it matched absolutely nothing in my fabric stash, even though I loved it.  This wedding had given me the perfect occasion to use it.

Using my Easy Peasy Purse Pattern from Lisa Lam of U-Handbag, and a purse frame I had already bought from her shop I made this little beauty.

Isn't the fabric great?  The other side of the purse shows a different aspect of the fabric.

I was really surprised to find that the fabric I used for the Amish Puzzle Ball last week, actually matched the yellow on this fabric perfectly, so I used that for the lining.

It was when I was showing this purse to my friends at knitting group that I remembered an old red dress I had.  It was from the last time I was my current size. I loved so much I could not bear to give it away and it hung at the back of a wardrobe in the spare room.  I had forgotten I still had it, but I dug it out and tried it on, and it was as lovely as I remembered!  The problem of the second dress was solved!  And the new purse would match this dress too!

I also remembered while putting this post together that I had made another one of these purses in March and hadn't shared it with you!  In fact, it was made for Rachael's birthday! (My memory really is appalling these days.  Drugs really take their toll you know!)

As I don't have the same materials, that came with the original kit that I bought, I now use different materials.  I apply a medium weight fusible interfacing on the exterior fabric and then add a layer of medium weight fusible fleece interfacing, also from U-Handbag.  It makes the exterior more sturdy.

Having a more structured exterior means that the purse can stand upright, even without being stuffed with contents.  It also means that it will be more robust when being used, so it will hopefully last longer.

I love the spotty interior of this purse.  I chose these fabrics as Rachael had always loved them, but never got round to buying them and making them into something.  I thought giving her the purse would at least let her accessorise with them!  (Just in case you're interested, I got the little personal labels to sew in the purses from Cash's.  I can recommend the service and the quality.)

I am so happy that I now have my outfits planned for this wedding.  It means I can relax and think about other (crafty) things.  I'm also pleased that I saved all the money that a new dress would have cost, and I can now spend it on other (crafty) things!

Quick Treat

As I have spent the bulk of today breaking myself on a baby blanket, I decided to cheer myself up and share a quick little sewing project, that was a treat to myself.

A couple of weeks ago I happened to be looking at the Cotton & Cloud shop and spotted one of their purse kits in the sale.  I felt this was a sign and promptly bought it.  (I also bought some yummy Japanese fabric but don't tell anyone, especially not my bank manager)

This purse kit contained all I needed to make a pretty little cosmetics case.  With the exception of glue and thread.  I just so happened to have both of those things already in my great craft cupboard of joy.

The pattern for the kit is downloaded from the website, which means you can print it time and time again, if you want to remake the pattern using your own fabric.  I may well do this, as I happen to have this yummy Japanese fabric lying around (ahem).

The kit took about 40 mins to make, which shows how much my sewing is improving.  The first time I tried a purse kit it took an afternoon.  I think the deciding factor this time was a handy little tool, that I also bought from Cotton & Cloud, a little while ago.  It's a Hand Held Purse Inserting Tool, which is a fancy name for a bent and flattened piece of metal with a wooden handle.  But I tell you what, this simple tool really makes it easier to do the hardest part of purse making - get the fabric inside the frame.

So here is the result of my little spending spree.  One finished purse.

It is lovely fabric.  My favorite part is on the other side.  Its the big creamy flower.

I was really sad that I couldn't see to get more of the flower on the side of the purse.  This is the danger with kits, you only get a small piece of fabric, which makes fussy cutting a bit tricky.

I've been quite cunning with my photography and you can't really tell, but I inserted the purse into the frame in a manner that could correctly be called "not quite straight".  I lined up the curved edge with the purse frame and obviously didn't judge it correctly.  I think next time I will actually start with lining the seams up with the hinges.  The glue it seems, sets quite quickly.

Because of the slight wonkiness of this purse, I've decided to keep it all to myself (maybe it was a subconscious sabotage???) as I only want to give away presents that I'm happy with.  However, I do like this little purse, and have only to decide what to use it for - maybe it will actually get use as a cosmetics purse, as the pattern suggests.

However, I do think I will be buying a few more purse frames to practice on, as I know I WILL nail this pattern eventually, and besides, I have plenty of fabric to practice on ;-)

Sewing Again

I have been avoiding my sewing machine recently.  It's not because its really awful or anything, but I am planning on getting a brand spanking new one for Christmas.  I'm even going to the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show to check out any possible deals they may have there.  In fact this Christmas present is in reality a Christmas (and two birthdays) present, so I can get a decent one.  I think because I have this impending arrival of a super new machine, I have been avoiding the old one, because I keep thinking, "this will be easier on the new machine".  I also have been feeling quite a lot of pain recently, which never encourages me to sit at the kitchen table for any time.  Plus I have all this Christmas knitting that I will never get done if I play with all my pretty fabrics.

Today, however, I needed to sew.  Hear that - needed, who would have thought I would have uttered those words 2 years ago!  Do you remember my new iPod Touch case that I made earlier in the year.

I  was really proud of this case, but it has become very battered and the stitching is coming away.  I also knew I wanted to tweak the design a little bit, by adding a zippered pocked and a pocket for my phone.  I also wanted a long strap to hang around my neck for when I am out and about and wanting to listen to music.  It also would mean my phone wouldn't be at the bottom of my bag when it rings.

With all these design ideas in mind, I raided my fabric stash and found a fat quarter I got from my trip to The Bramble Patch, a few months ago.  I then added some left over bits of green from my funky bag that I made for my trip to Turkey and another pale green piece left over from something completely random. I gathered my fabrics and tools together and then got cracking.

I am really proud of how this little bag/pouch has turned out.  I particularly love the apple fabric, which is the one I just HAD to buy at The Bramble Patch.  I knew it would come in useful one day.

I am really pleased that I had a go with doing the twist lock on the front.  I never felt the velcro was strong enough on the old pouch, and you don't get much sturdier than metal.  It was a real fiddle to get the fabric cut away to the right size, but I think it was worth it.  It makes the pouch look really professional.

I have placed the iPod Touch in the centre of the pouch, and used elastic to hold it in place.  I have placed the elastic carefully so I can leave the iPod Touch inside the pouch while I'm using it, which I couldn't do with the last case.  I also added a sheet of felt to cover the iPod screen for when the case is closed.  I don't want the metal fittings to scratch up my lovely screen.  I will probably end up using this to clean my screen too.

As you can see, I've added my longed for zipped pocket.  This is to store my headphones, which I don't use half as much as I use my iPod Touch.  After having just an open pocket for my headphones, I really wanted somewhere to put them, where they wouldn't pop out all the time.  This pocket should also take the the bag strap, if I don't want to have it round my neck.

I nearly always make my bag straps detachable, because I really like the look of the metal hooks.  I decided to team the hooks up with nice bright and shiny eyelets. I haven't had much luck with eyelets in the past, but I'm really glad I decided to give them another go.  These were a lot smaller than the ones I tried to use before, and I think that made a difference.  Yay me, for sticking with it, because they look fab!

Now the one thing I'm not proud of on this bag, is the pocket for my mobile phone.  It is a mess, and if I didn't need this bag for tomorrow, I would have ripped it out and started again, but I do and now the bag is made and I've run out of thread anyway.  So I'm stuck with it.  My one consolation is that the phone pocket is on the back of the bag, so no one will see it unless the phone rings.

See, its a mess.  I tried to make a darted pocket from my lovely book The Bag Making Bible by Lisa Lam.  But I firstly I got my measurements mixed up, and the pocket part was waaaay to short.  Then I couldn't find out how to determine the size of the darts.  Does anyone have any tips for this technique, or if you have a copy of the book and know the info is in there, please tell me where it is because I am obviously quite a dunce today. Basically the pocket ended up being a cobbled together mess.  But as I now know that a iPod case lasts around 9 months, its no big deal, I'll just tweak the pattern again next year!

In addition to the above changes to design, I also used iron-on fleece for the exterior fabric and iron-on interface for the interior fabric.  This makes the bag soft, yet firm.  In addition to the fleece, I used plastic canvas, cut into three sections.  I placed these sections between the interior and exterior layers and sewed half way between each section to create a fold.  The plastic canvas has added strength to the bag, and enhanced the shape quite significantly.

So apart for the mobile phone pocket disaster, I'm really pleased with my new bag. If you are at the Knitting and Stitching Show and you see my bag round the neck of a gal in a wheelchair, that will be me, so say hello!  I'm going to be away visiting family until next week, so when I get back I'll share with you all my booty from the show - ooo I can't wait to show and tell,  I'm going to have such girly fun!

Pink Purse

If you read my last post carefully, you will have noticed that I didn't use all my pink yarn on the slippers.

I decided to make a little pink purse to use as an additional gift for Rachael's birthday. I thought it would make a nice gift bag.

This is a very simple construction, involving stocking stitch until I ran out of yarn, with the last few rows knit in garter stitch using acrylic yarn. I sewed up the sides using mattress stitch. The acrylic yarn at the top edge prevented the stocking stitch from rolling over and sticking together. This probably wouldn't have been a problem with such a small project, but I didn't want to ruin the purse by taking a short cut.

Once felted, I cut out the acrylic yarn and then sewed a lining with a zip on the top. I then sewed the lining into the purse. I have to say I wouldn't use mattress stitch in a small felted purse again, as it caused a bit of a lump inside the purse.

Once the lining was stitched into the purse, and the zipper tested, it was all set to receive the lovely bracelet I made for Rachael. Now all I have to do is gift wrap it and find that blasted birthday card that seems to have grown legs.

Sewing Notions

Now I am going to my patchwork class once a week, I have tonnes of notions that I need to carry around with me. I noticed over the last couple of weeks that I really did need to find a nice little bag to put my notions in, as the plastic sandwich bag I was using really didn't feel all that glamorous to me. I have a nice bag to take all my gear with me, that I got as a subscription gift from Sew Magazine. It has has zip up pockets in, but the space in those pockets was filling up fast, hence the plastic sandwich bag.

I decided to make myself a purse in which to store my sewing notions. I considered using my Felted Coin or Notions Purse Pattern, but felt that as this was for my sewing notions I really should sew my purse. I went rooting around in my overflowing craft cupboard and dragged out my beloved Heather Bailey fabric. I have adored this fabric since I first saw it, and bought a fat quarter of it to start with, then when I got it in the post I knew I had to have more!

The fabric is Bijoux Tiled Primrose Turquoise.

And the other fabric is Pop Garden Sway Ivory


Both fabrics were bought from Five Valley Designs. They have quite a few harder to get in the UK fabrics, and the service was pretty good. I'm sure you can find the fabric elsewhere but I just found these two together at this store.

With these fabrics I used the pattern I bought from U-Handbag in kit form, which I talked about here. I loved the purse I made with the kit and bought a duplicate purse frame so that I could use it again, this time to keep for myself! So using this great pattern once more I made this little beauty.

I love it, it is the perfect size for all my notions and it makes me smile when I open it!

Oh, by the way I used a handbag purse insertion tool with this project. I struggled a great deal with inserting the fabric and the cord into the frame the first time round. It was far too physical for me and took far too long. I decided that this tool would be a real help, and it was. If you are going to make more than one or too purses with frames, I would definitely consider this tool, it was invaluable.

It doesn't look much but it really did make the difference of around 40 minutes to my project completion, though you must bear in mind that I am not able bodied. I got this handy tool from Cotton & Cloud, which is well worth a look at if you are considering making bags or purses. There are lots of lovely Japanese fabrics on this site as well.

At some point I plan to make a larger project bag using these two fabrics together again. I even have the fabric all washed and ready in my craft cupboard. I just have to get through my long list of other planned projects first, so don't hold your breath!

iPod Touch Case

You know how I said I got a fancy new Christmas present here.  Well after using it for a little while I became convinced it was missing something.  What it really needed was a case to keep it snug and safe and free from scratches.  I decided that this little beauty is going to be permanently attached to my person as it is so useful, and because it was going to be toted about so much it really did need protecting.

I think most people I know assumed I would knit a little case and then possibly felt it.  In fact I saw a really nice pattern here, without the felting.  But as I have been really focused on knitting recently I could hear my sewing machine call to me.  I scoured the internet looking for a nice tutorial or pattern that showed me how to make a case.  I couldn't find one so I decided to wing it.  As you may know, I am NOT an experienced user of the sewing machine.  Most of my sewing has been done through trial and error, but I am slowly reading more sewing blogs, more sewing magazines and more sewing books.  I am picking things up, and what I haven't read about yet, I just "bodge".

I decided to use some soft furnishing fabric scraps that I bought from ebay.  Most of the scraps were actually quite big chunks of fabric and I put those aside for larger projects.  I then found the perfect combination of fabrics to use.  I used a black and white print for the outside and a devore type fabric in black for the inside of the case.

I wanted to make sure that there was adequate protection for my iPod Touch, so I used a thin wadding between the layers of fabric.  I just eyeballed the size of fabric I would need, which was determined mainly by the size of the black fabric I used.  I then layered up the fabric and wadding and pinned it together around the edges and in the centre to ensure the layers did not shift while sewing.

I cut strips of fabric for the binding around 2 and 1/4 inches wide and then folded them wrong sides together.  I didn't iron a fold.  I pinned the binding with cut edges lined up with the short edge of the "sandwich" and sewed a seam a 1/4 inch from the edge.  I cut the ends of the binding so there was 1/2 inch of the binding fabric overhanging each end. I turned the sandwich over, trimmed the edges of the sandwich and folded the overhanging ends of the binding in towards the centre of the fabric.  Using ladder stitch I folded the binding over the raw edge of the sandwich and stitched it down.

I repeated this procedure for the other short edge of the sandwich.  I then took one of the short ends and folded it so the right sides of the black fabric were facingtogether.  I used the iPod Touch to gauge how far to fold it so that the the iPod Touch could be held inside the case, with the ear buds still plugged in.  I then pinned the folded edge in place.

I cut a strip of the outer fabric that was around 1 and 1/2 inches longer than the short edge of the case.  I folded one of the long edges towards the wrong side of the fabric, approximately 1/2 inch deep and repeated to hide the raw edge of the fabric.  I ironed the edge and then ran a 1/4 inch seam down this edge.  On the opposite edge of the fabric I ironed a 1/2 inch fold and then ran a 1/4 inch seam to hem the bottom.

I lined up this fabric with the short edge of the case, opposite the pinned pocket, around 1/2 inch from the bound edge.  I pinned the short edges along the raw edges of the sandwich so that a loose loop of fabric was formed.  I repeated the binding technique used on the short sides to hold the pocket and the loop of fabric in place.

Using the the ear buds and cable as a guide I  placed a pin in the loop of  fabric to measure out two pockets.  Following the line of where the pin was, I stitched the loop onto the black fabric by hand using back stitch, ensuring the stitches did not show through to the outside fabric.  After removing the pin I held the fabric on either side of the line of back stitch taut and then folded the edge nearest the binding to make that edge lay flat and straight.  I pinned the edge in place and then back stitched by hand over the seam that had been machine stitched.  This made two pockets that opened up towards the centre of the case.  The pockets hold the ear buds and cable and also the strap for the case that detaches.

The strap was made by taking a strip of fabric and folding it in half longways with the wrong sides of the fabric together.  I unfolded the fabric and then folded the edges of the fabric to the centre marked by the iron.  The fabric was ironed again and folded down the centre mark and ironed again so that the raw edges of the fabric were folded inside the "tube".  I then ran a seam 1/4 inch from the open edge of the "tube", stopping and starting 1/2 inch from the ends.  I inserted one end of the  "tube" through the clip ring and then opened the ends of the "tube".  I inserted one end inside the other and then laying the fabric flat sewed across the join several times.   I pulled the loop of fabric made flat over the clip ring and stitched several times again 3/4 inch from the join to hold the clip ring in place.  Using perle cotton I sewed a jump ring onto the inside of the case, up next to the binding where the case folds.  This jump ring is big enough to hold the clip, but it is small enough to be un-noticed if the strap is not clipped to the case.

I decided to use velcro to close the case.  I took a strip slightly narrower than the case and cut a width that would fit between the ear bud pocket edge and the binding strip.  I stitched the velcro in place on both edges of the case and it holds it closed very well.

I love my case, it is neat and pretty and it does it's job very well. It protects my lovely new toy and makes it easy to carry around when I have my hands full of other things (like knitting).  As a lucky side of effect of it's design I can even plug in the charger and have the iPod Touch still in the closed case.  I can hang it from the drawer handle next to the PC so it is out of the way and safe from harm while it syncs and charges.  It wasn't intentional, but it is VERY convenient.

I am sure there were easier ways of making this case that would be more "correct" but over all I am content with my methods and I love the result!

Craft Day

I had a lovely craft day yesterday. My friend Rachael has a few days holiday and suggested I pop round for a day round a crafting table. As I haven't had access to my sewing machine for some time I leaped at the opportunity, especially as Rachael has a large dining table on which to play with pretties on. Not to mention the world's soppiest labrador to cuddle.

Rachael is very very slightly behind me on the learning to sew curve. She is a hand stitcher and has only recently bought a sewing machine. She hasn't really done much beyond doing the test stitching. She wanted me there to metaphorically hold her hand whilst making a completed cross stitch into a cushion.

After a couple of hours of maths, machine repairs and a little bit of cutting and sewing, a cushion was completed. It was simply beautiful and never has a project unleashed such joy in it's creator. I think this is mainly because the cross stitch has been wasting away in a cupboard for nearly 15 years waiting for it's owner to learn to sew cushions. It was a long wait, but I am sure Rachael thinks it was worth it. It is gorgeous and I am really sorry I didn't get a photo of it.

My crafting involved making my very first fully sewn purse. I bought a kit from U-Handbags. It included everything I needed, except for fabric glue, which I tacked on my order. The instructions that came with the kit were fantastically clear with many photos. I had no trouble at all following every step. In fact the hardest part of the whole kit was stuffing cord into the purse frame at the end of the project to hold it all snug and tight together.

This kit taught me how to use; a purse frame, fabric glue, fleece to firm and interface to crisp up the fabric. It was the first time I had made a flat bottomed bag from two flat pieces of fabric and Lisa's pattern directions really helped with that.

I love the purse and it took around 1-2 hours to make. I now think I would have no problem at all in having a go at making up my own pattern using a bag frame. The Amy Butler fabric of this purse really made the bag for me, and that is why I bought the kit. I couldn't resist the colour and the shape.

I daren't look at the site again because I may succumb to another kit. I know I have some nice fabric in my cupboard, I don't need to look on U-Handbag for some more..... I will be strong, at least until after Christmas!

My only problem now is trying to decide whether to keep it, or give it away as a Christmas present. I think if I run out of time and gifts to fulfill my quota, it will be donated to a lucky recipient. That should give me lots of incentive to get some other gifts together in time, cos this purse will look fab with my shrug next summer.