bags of bags

I seem to have been on a bag making frenzy lately. A couple of these have been finished for a week or so but I've not got round to blogging them until now.

First up is this one made from Alexander Henry Farmdale Blossom and some rather nice ecru linen/cotton blend. I'm sure you'll know without me saying but it's a 241 Tote from the brilliant pattern by Noodlehead.

It's a great pattern for show casing your favourite fabric. I made the strap a bit longer so that it can be worn across the body. I've been very good and put it away to be added to my shop just as soon as I've sorted out prices. It's pretty hard to work out prices for handmade goods don't you think.

Next up is the Cross-Body Bag from Michelle at Keyka Lou's pattern. I made the medium size and after my ramblings in previous posts I actually really like the plain and simple look of this one now.

I used some lovely Kokka linen fabric with buttons on for the lining and a denim coloured cross-weave for the outer. I also made a brooch that I thought could be attached to the outside to jazz things up a bit. However the brooch is a tad too heavy so it would really need to be sewn on or it could just be an added extra. This one is destined for the shop too.

Now if only I could find the two reusable grocery bags I made that'd be four items for the shop.

The next one is for me, yay! It's from Noddlehead's Go-Anywhere-Bag pattern and I loves it. I've had the Heather Ross fabric for a while waiting for the perfect project and this is definitely it. The gorgeous yellow is the perfect antidote to the grim grey weather we've had up here in not so sunny Scotland. The outer is Kona Essex in Natural and I used calico for the lining, they're just about exactly the same colour which is great because I'm rapidly running out of big pieces of fabric.

Last but not least is a gym bag for my youngest. The other week I realised I'd not been a good mummy and Jamie didn't have gym bag oops! So guilty me rushed home to remedy that. I made this from a pair of my jeans that were sadly no longer any use to me and some Klona cotton and Zoo Menagerie.

I cut the pocket from the jeans and added a lining then attached it to the bag fabric so in fact there are two pockets on the front. I'm not really sure why he needs pockets on a gym bag but it jazzed it up a bit. As a final touch I added his initials and a little star button as he is, well 'a little star' after all.

So finally I feel properly caught up on things, phew! I'm going to link up to Sew Happy Geek's Manic Monday Linky Party - I know it's Tuesday now but submissions are still open so I'm going for it ;)

Bye for now

messenger bag

I made this messenger bag from the Keyka Lou Messenger Bag PDF for my daughter to give as a birthday present a few weeks ago. I had planned on making a trial run first but as usual I left it too late. I just had to go for it with the final version, keeping my fingers crossed (not recommended while sewing of course, can make the machine hard to operate) it came out ok. Apart from an inability to cut out a rectangle the specified size (duh!) it went pretty well.

The front fabric is My Folklore Horses in natural by Lecien from M is for Make, the lining is Kona Cotton in Stone from Simply Solids and the cord I've had in my stash for quite some time. I made my first ever bag from this cord and it's almost all done now. I'll need to scout around and get some more this colour as it's a brilliant background for setting off other fabrics much the same as the Kona Stone. While previewing this post I realised that I do seem to be going through a grey/beige and red thing at the moment.

I'm now frying my brain trying to decide what to make for my shop. I'm not sure I'm cut out for running a business (no matter how small) as I'm the worlds most indecisive person. In fact if indecisiveness and procrastination were sports I would finally have found an area in which I could truely excel. I find that making, just one more cup of tea, seems to be a great avoidance tactic for most things including making any kind of decision at all.

How are your sewing plans going? Are you a list maker or do you just go with the flow? I'm a bit of both which means I write a list and then ignore it. Somehow writing the list seems to make me think the jobs are as good as done - deluded or overly optimistic? Also just how many cups of tea a day is too many do you think?

Well after all those questions I'm now off to see if I can wake up a napping 4 year old as I really do want him to go to sleep tonight at a decent time unlike last night, wish me luck.

bye for now

New Favourite Handbag

I have a new handbag, it combines three of my favourite things, beautiful petrol blue needlecord, Ruby Start Rising fabric and a Keyka Lou pattern.

I did buy this cord for another bag pattern but when I saw it next to the Ruby Star Rising scrap (won from Sarah at Pings and Needles) it just screamed 'Bucket Bag' to me.  I'd seen lots of nice versions on the Keyka Lou Flickr Group but until now hadn't found the fabric combination for my version. I have to say that this bag was the most stress free pattern I've used. I didn't unpick a single line of stitching, which is a complete revelation to me. Usually I rush through a pattern making stupid mistakes but not on this one. Once again Michelle's pattern is so clearly illustrated and written that I would have no problem recommending it to anyone and everyone. 

I added an inside pocket to keep my mobile in and a keyring to save me having to empty my whole bag  to find my keys. This also meant I could use some more Ruby Star Rising fabric, don't you just love this stuff?

I'm still not entirely convinced about the iron on interfacing I used, Vilene White Firm Flexible Iron-on VS320, it does a great job but maybe still a wee bit  bit carboardy but that's my only a minor niggle. I'm loving the shape, colour everything about this bag and I'm retiring my last creation in favour of this one. 

Now you might be forgiven for thinking that I'm only waxing lyrical about this pattern because I now have a Keyka Lou sponsor button on my blog. Not so, I joined her affiliate scheme because I rate her patterns so highly and I fully intend trying many more of them myself as I know they'll come out really well. I've already made her Shopper (not blogged yet)  and Camera Wristlet patterns and next on my list is the Curvy Clutch or maybe the Small Satchel.... I mean you can never have too many bags can you? Although I'm not sure when I'd use an evening bag, since I'm hardly a socialite but you can but hope.

Bye for now

Nikki