May 5, 2009 at 12:01 am (bags, sewing)
About 7 years ago we were on holiday in Cornwall with my parents, and I saw a lovely hand sewn bag,I think it was in the shop at Eden, made from woven wool, slighty felted, like old blankets. It wasn’t cheap, nor was it “perfectly” made but it was lovely; the textures and shape appealed to me. Later that day my mum presented me with a parcel that contained the bag..awww. It’s been well used, and a little while back I overdyed it from it’s original pinks & blues, to a palette of greens & teals. It’s one of those bags that fits loads in, but never seems too big when it’s empty either. But like all good things, my loved bag is coming to an end 
Last weekend at college the strap began to thin and developed a tear in the wool, there are worn patches and holes in it,developing all of a sudden. Repair work isn’t working, as the now fragile fabric can’t take the strain of stitches & patches.
So, sad as I was, I decided that I needed a replacement. I have more bags than I know what to do with, but that particular one needed replacing. I was in Ikea last week and I decided to look for fabric, I found some, and I also found wool blanketing cushion covers! I picked the orange & red one to line the bag, which I made in a very similar shape, just slightly wider than my old favourite. The lining was a patchwork of the felt, I think I used almost every scrap of the cover somehow. It’s not perfect as the original wasn’t, but I used it today and I feel like Ive caught the spirit of that bag, in different fabric and with a different feel, but still with that useful shape and gorgeous wool texture.
I’ll try & get some better pictures later perhaps, I’m pleased with the details on this; the patchworked top stitched felt lining & the 3d top stitching on the outside of the bag in particular.
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March 27, 2009 at 11:54 pm (bags, friends, sewing)
I found this bag pattern via Jeanette at Lazy Seamstress. It’s from Made by Rae. I loved what Jeanette had done with it and I dug through my fabric to see what I had to have a play with. I found this lovely spring green daisy print , that if memory serves me right I got from Jeanette in the first place – left overs from a custom bag I made for one of her Zidee customers. I also found the small check gingham and thought they paired up quite well, there’s a vintage feel floating somewhere between the 1930s and the 1950s!!
I made a few minor alterations to the basic instructions – making the pocket in contrast fabric, and using the lining fabric for the inside of the strap. I also sewed the strap into the bag, enclosing the ends in the top seam, rather than sewing them onto the outside, I prefer the more streamlined look and it stood a better chance of looking neater that way! I interfaced the lining with fusible fleece as both fabrics were lighweight and it needed a bit of body – it’s a perfect weight.
Following JEanettes comments about it being tricky to get the tab neat (and one attempt per the instructions that would have passed muster just about but I was feeling picky) I sketched out the curved ended shape onto a slightly larger bit of fabric and sewed right round it – that was easier to manoeuvre than small curves on a small item, then I trimmed it, slashed the lining side and turned and topstitched it. It worked well, as a method. I could have made the straight sides a tad longer, to make it look less like an oval.
I do have a button dilemma though – I love the green flower buttons, they would be ideal in red, I may have to go shopping! The round red ones work well from a colour point of view, but are a little small and somehow with the gingham make it say Country & Western which wasn’t the look I was after!
Both the girls have now put in their orders and have been rootling through my stash – I love that it takes so little fabric, I do plan to make some more of these J Thank you Rae & Jeanette.
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February 4, 2009 at 12:39 pm (bags, sewing, weather)
I made this bag on Saturday evening as the fabric for it had arrived on Friday and I was a bit twitchy to do it – it made a nice break!
It’s inspired by Amy Butlers Chelsea bag but the construction and size are all mine – the ones she has are tall & narrow and wide & shallow, neither shape appealed but I wanted something to carry round and be easy access – great for meetings or college, to grab a diary or notebook. It fits my diddy laptop beautifully too!
I enjoyed making it – I hadn’t done anything much for so long. I used Timtex for the outer interfacing, but it was the non fusible type which made life a little more interesting keeping everything together – I deliberatly didn’t seam it in with the fabric to avoid bulk, so I cut it a S/a narrower than the fashion fabric and sewed right upto it – this would have been easier with fusible – the 505 didn’t really hold it well enough or long enough! The lining is lined with fusible fleece, much easier to work with! I don’t know why but I always end up with linings just that little bit too baggy! This is where a nice tight false bottom comes in handy! (stop laughing!) I made one with 3 layers of timtex covered with fabric and it holds everything together perfectly.
As you can see the handles flex a fair bit in use ( pictures were taken after a couple of days) Maybe some firm plastic canvas or similar round the window would be good another time. I don’t know if the original advises this or not.
On Monday we had the first of two snow days, and while it was impossible to study with a houseful of snow-hyped children I did manage to sew again – this little zipped and lined pouch -
it has clear plastic pockets on the outside and credit card sized ones inside. It’s ig enough for keys and lip balm as well. I loved doing this – loads of fiddling about prepping tiny bits before it came together, but it was perfect for a bitty sort of a day. Kate did some sewing too, when she’s finished I’ll post her bag pictures as well.
here are some other pictures -I really must find somewhere decent in the house to take photos – the light is terrible round here!
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January 15, 2009 at 12:53 pm (bags, children, sewing)
I made these storage bags out of some FQs I had sitting around, they hang under the shelf in the hall and contain all the chaos that otherwise sits *on* the shelf; hairbrushes, scrunchies, sunglasses, hairbands etc…
They are ridiculously quick to make, about 10 mins sewing time each; unlined, french seamed. so they kind of counted as study breaks!
I also made Kate this lunch bag – she has a Laptop Lunch box which is great, but doen’t fit things like apples in it, so she wanted a bag that would hold her lunch box and her fruit, they have to put their lunch on a cart that gets taken to the lunch hall, and loose apples don’t go down well!
I made a very similar simple bag, and added a box pleated and elasticated pocket on the side which nicely holds an apple and a juice box 
job done. The great thing is that if it gets messy it will wash & dry in no time. Fabric by Ikea!
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March 22, 2008 at 3:06 pm (bags, sewing)
I’ve been waiting to do something with this gorgeous cord for ages now, and I made this bag on Easter Saturday, unlined and french-seamed, it’s very similar to a Morsbag construction, but has boxed seam corners for more structure, a different shape, and longer straps which can be knotted to shorten. It’s perfect for bunging all the junk in -or shopping – or both!
It also tons and matches my little handbag bag ( just peeping inside) my filofax and my glasses case (the last is coincidental as it’s Glasses Direct’s default!)
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January 5, 2008 at 5:22 pm (bags, sewing)
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June 12, 2007 at 4:16 pm (babywearing, bags, sewing)
my latest bag for me
I made this with the leftovers from my tester Zidee pod (as available at www.tiddlybums.co.uk)
it’s about 12 x10″ on the main panels and the side panels are shaped – wider at the base – 3″ appx.
The front patch is an open pocket and the inside has a zippered pocket,
the bag closes with zipped tabs set into the top seams.
I’ve been refining this basic design in different sizes and this is ( IMO!) the best yet! It helps that I totally * adore* that print of course!!
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January 31, 2007 at 2:01 pm (bags, friends, knitting)
I got this vintage knitting bag from a member of a list I’m on ( thanks Penny!) it’s utterly gorgeous! It belonged to her granny who died the year I was born, ( probably shouldn’t use the word vintage, huh?! ) fab bag!!
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