Orange Crush

New purse. Love the orange fabric! Used a belt for the trim and handle. Once again the plan did not go and I went with it.

Full zipper closure, large zippered pocket.

Good sized.

Awesome fabric.

Recycled belt handle.

When life gives you lemons, or Owls

So sometimes drinking and sewing does not go hand in hand. I had planned a bag, cut out all the pieces and then auto-piloted through several steps neglecting to actually add in a couple of items. You know, whatever. Start making one bag and end up making another.

So I saw a bag online with this type of handle. I totally wanted to use it, but it's really for tall, skinny bags. Well after missing a significant portion of the previously intended bag, I ended up with a tall, skinny. Perhaps it was meant to be. 

I love how the handles connect together to create the closure.

It's got an overachieving inside pocket. Nearly the same size as the lining, but with fabric as cool as this, you kind of have put little bits in where you can. Notice the contrast inside border. The owls are pretty awesome.

And failure number two was this little coin purse. It was supposed to have a zipper. But too much bacardi and fresca meant for some confusion in the execution. Well fortunately I had made it rather tall so cutting off the top was no biggie.

And as it's my favorite, it has the metal tape measure, snap closure. So awesome!

This fabric is soooo adorable! There were a few moments where I thought about scrapping them, but I didn't want to waste the fabric and the process of creating an item is really the enjoyment, so I don't mind changing plans mid stream.

Elephant Wallet

Really the interest is in the shape and fabric. And fuck the shape if the fabric is cool enough.  Here is an experiment with a rounded wallet. I'm not a fan of the rectangle shape without a zipper closure. But rounded it's ok without.

I love the elephants. I used an elastic for the closure. Better than the last one with ribbon, but it's a smidge too tight and pulls on the edge.

 The interior was a smidge to narrow. I can only fit one credit card pocket in, but whatever, it's an experiment.

Hello Adorable Chicken!

I finally got my order of sale fabrics from fabric.com. Holy smokes they have some cute shit!  Promptly made a purse with the green chicken.

Basic pleated, tab magnetic closure, inside zipper pocket.

Green chicken pocket!

With zip.

Tab closure.

Nice size.

I added a zipper at the end. I really can't handle not having a full zipper closure.

Bout Day Wallet

I rest better after I've made something. And I've been wanting to try out making wallets and change purses. So here you go. Prototype one. Nothing fancy, just the basics.

The lining is cuter than the exterior, but I wanted to use up some fabric scraps. It was much easier than I thought it would be. I should have lined the zipper pocket though. Quilting fabric is just so flimsy feeling single layered.

I actually appropriated the zipper from a dress I had planned to cut up. What a great way to recycle materials! And the left credit card pockets are a smidge too small, so they don't actually work for cards. But I don't really carry many so they're fine for other paper items.

I'll be making some more of these. But of course with vinyl. As soon as that order comes in.

Bout Day Clutch

It's bout day and I needed to have a new clutch of course! This is another gathered clutch experiment. I wanted to make it even rufflier but the fabric had a cut in it, so it was smaller than planned. I added a handle on one side that is large enough slide over my shoulder.

I used a tape measure snap closure. Love those. The top stitching is still my nemesis with contrast stitching. Someday I'll have a full array of thread colors and then my top stitching won't matter as much. No pockets, just a nice brown lining. Turned out pretty good!

Gathered and tabs

 New bags. First one is my takeoff of the Ruby bag by Rebeka Lambert. She has a lot of beautiful shapes. I'm not actually using a pattern yet. Once I'm feeling better with my technique I'll probably use an actual pattern. At this point it's just inspiration.

I'm lucky enough to have this wonderful model to work with. Side view. Someday I'll actually iron out my pleats.

I used a tab for the closure! Love it! Super simple and very classy.

Interior pocket is boring. I didn't have a zipper for it. So it's just a pocket. Super happy with the construction and ease of techniques used.

This is a gathered bag. I've seen them all over the place and sadly it didn't really work like I wanted. But I'll get the next one right. In the meantime it's a fine satchel.

Nice space size.

And credits to my model.

New haircut courtesy of mom.

Plain Janes

Here a few Plain Janes. These are more for practicing techniques. They both are a square shape with slight tapering towards the top. Drop in lining, lots of interfacing, and few nice details.

 Kind of a grannie fabric which is appropriate for the style.

I tried putting a zipper pocket. It's not a hidden pocket, I'll try that next time, but still works nicely.

With all the trouble I've had with sewing around the magnetic closure, I finally was smart enough to set the closure down lower. Sadly it's still off center. But you know, whatever.

Basic squared bottom.

I'm finding that with the mono-patterned fabrics it really helps to add some decorative detailing. Hence the ribbon.

 

And of course a bow.

  

Same purse (almost) but smaller and vinyl coated. I really don't like the smaller purses with vinyl. They are a bitch to stitch. The foot always sticks (I should try a walking foot next time) due to the extra traction and then I keep putting the magnetic closure to close to the top.

Cute but tiny.

And as it was so small I went with a single strap.

Sewing Kit

New sewing project bag. This one is pretty big to accommodate my various projects.

Lined and placed a magnetic snap closure in. Love those.

Bigger than I would normally use for other projects, but the strap is nice and wide with cushy interfacing.

I made a couple of smaller bags using iron on vinyl. Seriously cannot get enough of that stuff. Everything is better with iron on vinyl! These hold my thread and bits and bobs.

I used the tape measure closure method a friend showed me. You insert a piece of metal tape measure in the top seam. It works awesome! Contrast pocket always good. I sewed in a couple of snaps, but I still dislike how they look so I didn't picture them here.

Shiny vinyl!

 This is my needle holder. I was trying to make a coin purse. It didn't work out. But I just cut it down and re-purposed it.

Magnetic closure.

And I stitched a simple needle holder insert. Fits inside the little vinyl bag nicely.

Criticisms: Iron on vinyl is awesome but wrinkles horribly when I'm turning the bag right side out.