Miaou

Bar the odd blip, I’m now back into taking commissions (the clothkit skirt being one of them!). This week I had a bag to make, and had a wonderfully vague brief (she wanted a jeans bag, but the lining was to be “funky”, that’s all I had to work on!) - which both thrills me and makes me nervous at the same time! Anyway she is very pleased with the result:

This time I added a magnetic closure and an interior pocket for a purse or phone:

Do please contact me if you would like your own version!

Ok, so - number of projects underway in my last post: four

Number of projects underway not in my last post: a further four

Number of projects completed since last post: none

Number of new projects started since my last post: erm …

But - I did complete one!

Look - I made a messenger bag for Eilish’s best friend for her birthday:

Bag for Erin

I made it really quickly last night, and finished it off this afternoon. I used the first messenger bag tute I came across, which happened to be this one , which was incredibly easy to follow and the bag was a great size when finished. I had just enough purple material for the outside of the bag, and used a light denim fabric to line it and make the straps.

There was a wee bit of the purple left to make a pocket inside too:

Close up of the pocket

Eilish is thrilled with it, hopefully Erin will like it too! She happened to mention that purple was her favourite colour, but I didn’t have any purple fabric. Then the following day I was walking along the promenade when I came across a garage sale at one of the houses on the seafront. Hey presto, vintage purple fabric for a small charity donation. Serendipity, aye!

Not one, but two bags! This first one I made following Lisa’s wonderfully clear tutorial at U-handblog , from some leftover curtaining material that I managed to blag from my local material shop. It’s so pretty I felt it was crying out to be made into this bag! The handles go so well with it, don’t they?

Funnily enough, the fabric looks like I cut it all wonky in this shot, but I really didn’t! I must take better picture of it I think!

Here’s the interior:

Then here is another bag of my own design. I quite like it but if I made it again I would not make it quite as deep I think.

And another interior shot (wonky blurry pics are us!)

A tired old pair of jeans …

And a charity shop dress?

Huh? Huh?

A new handbag of course!

Oooh, we had fun doing this I’ve never done a giveaway before!

First we wrote down all the names:

Then we had the tricky decision of who was going to do the draw. Both Caitlin and Eilish wanted to draw the winner, so a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors decided for them. Here is Eilish striking the winning rock blow to Caitlin’s scissors:

Eilish (the victor) then selected the winner from the pasta bowl:

And the winner is …

Can you read that:

expatinscotland congratulations!!

I will be emailing you shortly to find where to send your prize!

It’s my birthday on 8th July so I thought I would have a birthday giveaway. Caitlin pointed out that you usually receive gifts on your birthday, not give them, but hey, I’m a little unconventional

So - here is the giveaway:

It is a bag, made by my own fair hands, made of some lovely dusky pink jaquard fabric. The lining is 100% cotton and was generously donated to me by I’m a gingermonkey when she heard what I was planning! The handles are lovely tactile wooden beads, courtesy of Bags of Handles . Here is a pic of the inside (sorry about the colour - I had to use the flash so it’s altered it slightly - correct colour is in the pic above!)

So - if you would like to win this bag, just post a comment! Tell your friends too, post a link on your own blog if you like, the more the merrier! Draw will take place on Mon 14th July. If it’s very popular then I might do another one when I get to 100 posts. Thank you!

Well done those of you who suggested bag - here it is!

Apologies for the slightly blurry photo. Just as I clicked the button Euan decided to use my leg as a climbing frame and pull himself up to standing

I decided it was quite ridiculous that I’m always making stuff, yet all my projects reside in tatty carrier bags whilst in progress! So I decided to use my bargain wool to make a project bag. Since it will be used for knitting I thought I would line it too. So this is what my jolly fabric was purchased for!

Very bright and cheerful I think!

I’m now on with my next project, a little something for Driftwood for the Kitchen Swap, organised by Pink Petal Designs . I am woefully behind - we were supposed to deliver by 20th June but given that I was away and had a ball gown to make, it just wasn’t going to happen! However I am about halfway through now so hopefully will have it finished and on its way very soon. Tess at Driftwood is very nice and understanding!

Speaking of the ball gown, I hope to get some pics of it soon. Watch this space!

Another wedding-related project - this is the bag I have made to go with my outfit (which I have finished, but am a bit shy about sharing atm as it means taking a photo of me in it!). So you get to see the bag first.

My local craft shop also makes soft furnishings, and they give away the offcuts once they have finished making curtains and cushions. So, for a small donation to charity, I got several useable pieces of this lovely cream self-patterned fabric, and also some green with spots on for the inside! (I did try to take a pic but it came out so blurry I gave up. Sorry. You’ll just have to take my word for it.) The sash tie is made from the same material my suit is made from; a nice touch I think.

My suit, incidentally, is also made from curtains, hence the title of this post. However unlike Julie Andrews I am not intending to make lederhosen from the rest of it.

My longest project to date - in fact it took me almost ten years to complete! The tapestry panels are Beth Russell’s interpretation of William Morris’ original design. They were originally designed as chair seat covers but I sewed them on petit point canvas with Appleton crewel wool to make two smaller panels. They languished in a cupboard for years following an unsuccessful attempt to block them (having sewn them in tent stitch rather than half cross stitch and I don’t think I used a frame - won’t make that mistake again!). I then found some nice fabric to line the inside and a large offcut of leather, but it took another year or two to pluck up the courage to cut into it (!). Then, after sewing the body of the bag, I couldn’t decide how to do the handles … three years later I had a brainwave and plaited strips of leather! I use the finished bag a lot, but not every day as I worry that the edges might fray over time. It’s a bit wonky as you can see but I love it.

Meridian set us a challenge - to make something both recycled and blue. I had two denim pinafores and a denim skirt in a corner that Eilish had grown out of, and I had been wondering what to do with them for ages … here was the inspiration! I decided to make a patchwork bag, but when I cut out the squares I discovered I actually had enough for two bags (well, I did once Eilish presented me with a pair of jeans she had outgrown too!) I like the frayed look of denim so made the bags with the seams facing outwards. Before making the bag up I sewed round each square to ensure that it didn’t fray right back to the seams.

Note I said “bag”. I’ve only made one so far. Poor Eilish is still waiting for hers as I made Caitlin’s first … oops