frame pouch along

Did you think I'd got lost? It seems to have been very busy here with one thing and another and the blogging has taken a back seat once again. I've not really been keeping up with everyone so apologies for the lack of comments, my google reader is currently sitting at 245 posts yet to be read so you must all have been very busy recently. I shall whizz through the current posts tomorrow and get back up to speed again.

Anyway I joined in with Rebecca Lynne's Frame Pouch Along and had great intentions of posting every day while I made my purse but it kind of didn't happen. The purse did happen however and it's come out way better than I was expecting. I have seen loads of these cute frame purses online and my frame has been in the stash for ages but the gluing bit just scared me off. It turns out it's really not that bad at all, infact it's much easier than I imagined.

The Frame Pouch Along shows you how to design your pattern pieces to fit your frame which is fantastic as there are so many frame shape and sizes it would be a real pain to have to find a pattern for each one. Here's my pattern and cut out fabric pieces, I used some fusible fleece to interface this and it works well. Although next time I would trim the fleece so there was less left at the hinges as it is a wee bit bulky.

I decided to quilt the fabric as something about it just didn't seem right with it. I definitely prefer it with the stitching on it. I made the squared off corners at the base of the purse about 1.5" in from the corner and that gives a nice wide base (was going to say fat bottom, not sure wide base is any better but I tried).

 

There's a flickr group for those that took part in the PAL if you want some inspiration. I am most definitely going to be making more of these and I highly recommend Rebecca Lynne's tutorial. Next in line will be the lovely little frame that Emma at It's All About the Fabric gave me as part of  Very Berry Handmade the fabric swap earlier this year.

Oh dear it's past midnight again, must go to bed see you soon.

  

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