3 Easy Steps to Make Better Bags

Step one - GET THIS BOOK!
Step two - read it
Step three - make all the things!!


Nicole Mallalieu's latest book is hot off the press and oh boy, is it a good book or what?!! The book comes with the patterns you need to make ten different bags graduating from a basic tote at the start, right through to the fancy-schmancy Toronto backpack as you can see above. I made this backpack about a year ago as a pattern test for the book. It is a really versatile bag, as it converts from a handbag style that you can pop under your arm, to a tote so you can fit in a little more shopping, and then, when you've been at the craft show all day and you're running out of hands to carry all your shopping, it can convert to a backpack!


But ten great bag patterns isn't even the best bit. The part that you will really be loving is the bit right at the start, where Nikki tells all of her best bag-making secrets. Since I started using Nikki's patterns, and learning all her clever tricks, I really feel that my sewing has improved by leaps and bounds. The Better Bag Maker covers quite a lot of the techniques that Nikki uses in her patterns, all in one place. This book tells you how to make professional looking straps, crisp corners and insert zippers like a pro. Nikki shows you how to choose interfacing, as well as how to apply it. You also learn how to install all the yummy metal bits, like magnetic snaps, o-rings and purse feet, that take your bag from homemade to hand made. There are also plenty of different pocket options so that you can make your bespoke bag work the way you want it to. The best part of all this, is that you can use all these great tips on all your other sewing and make everything you do look more professional!


I am so pleased to have this book on my bookshelf, it is a great reference to have and I have already used it to help me install a professional looking zip pocket inside my latest bag, but that's another blogpost!

15. Dortje

I have a little confession. I kind of fell off the Kids Clothes Week Wagon on Saturday. I got a little busy with a different project, but once that was finished, I was back into it. I did my hour (or so) that I owed from Saturday, today instead, so we're all good and caught up.



These pants are the Dortje pants from the book Sewing Clothes Kids Love. I recently had this from the library, and I did not want to give it back. This is actually the second time I have borrowed this book from the library, but now Amélie is almost big enough to fit the smallest size.



The pants have such a lovely shape. They are a little big for now, but I've put some buttonhole elastic in, so they are cinched in a bit, but can be let out later if need be. Once they start getting a little short, I am sure I could let them down and perhaps even add a ruffle to the bottom.



There are a heap of things in the book that I would like to make. I do find the pictures a bit busy, which makes it tricky to be able to make sense of what exactly the models are wearing (though, they do all look very beautiful), and would have preferred it if the patterns were on proper paper, rather than tissue paper. Having said that, I still want this book. I have heard that there is an edition with paper patterns, does anyone know which edition it is, so I can make sure I get that one?

Review: A Field Guide to Fabric Design

Whether you are just someone who likes (and perhaps hoards?) fabric, or if you're a budding artist who dreams of one day being the next Heather Ross, Denyse Schmidt or Amy Butler, A Field Guide to Fabric Design has something for you. The book is an easy read, with lots of interesting topics and plenty of eye-candy for lovers of fabric.



You may already have come across the author, Kim Kight in blogland. Kim is responsible for True Up, a blog that basically is all about the fabric. True up alerts us to fresh, new fabrics, up and coming designers and great sales.

I grabbed myself a copy of this book at the AQC a couple of weeks ago. I have had it on my wishlist since before it was published and can't believe I have waited so long. Once I saw the book in person I just had to have it. As an avid reader, in my pre-child days I would have consumed this book in one sitting. I read the book, from cover to cover in about a week, which is really good going for me these days.



The book explains a little about colour theory, and discusses pattern density and where different styles may be used. There is an awesome section, towards the back that covers different types of fabric and their properties and compatibility to colouring and printing. I can see myself referring to that chapter a lot. Kim also discusses fabic weights and the different ways they can be measured, which is also of interest, praticularly if you buy fabric on-line.

If you are particularly interested in design, there are a number of tutorials that take you through the process of designing a repeating pattern by hand, or by using photoshop or illustrator, as well as how to block print and how to screen print. There is even a tutorial for building a screen printing table.



I would recommend this book to all lovers of fabric, it certainly has me inspired to get out my inks and start designing.

AQC 2012

I was lucky to attend the Australian Quilt Convention on Saturday with my mum. We traveled to the convention by train. As mum is further away from Melbourne than I am, she got on a couple of stops earlier, and when I boarded the train, the train that is supposed to be an hour earlier was running so late, that I got on that one. When I eventually managed to get in touch with mum and confirm that we were indeed on different trains, I got off, and momentarily panicked because not all trains stop at the station that I got off at. But it was okay.... phew! About ten minutes later we were on the same train, traveling to the same place.

Anyway, I took my camera with me, and carried it around in my bag all day, but I didn't bother taking any photos. Not that there wasn't anything worth taking photos of, but according to the exhibitor list, you weren't supposed to, even though people were. I took photos last year and never blogged them. I didn't take any photos at Tessuti either, nor at Cleggs. Perhaps I just wasn't in a photo-taking mood?

Anyway, I managed to grab myself a copy of A Field Guide to Fabric Design, which I have had on my Fishpond wishlist for ages. I see now that it would have been far cheaper to buy it from Fishpondthan from the Can Do stand, but seeing it there, right in front of me, made it difficult to resist. I also grabbed myself a copy of Mollie Makes from the Ballarat Patchwork stand, that everyone is raving about. It's lovely, but I don't think I will be subscribing or anything... although I am a little bit excited to try out the crocheted flower on the cover. I have some crochet learning hurdles to overcome first though.

I also grabbed myself a couple of variagated Pearl (Perle? Is there a difference or are these the same thing?) cotton balls. Hopefully I will have an update as to what I am doing with those within the week. I have big plans, I hope they work!

Is it too much?

I decided in addition to the shirred dress and the frilly bloomers, my smallest gift recipient needs a hat as well. In the same fabric. I hope it's not overkill. The pattern I used was from Nicole Mallalieu's book, You Sew, Girl!. It is very similar to the kids hat pattern, but covers the smaller head of a baby under 12 months.

Today...

I went to the library for story-time and picked up a crafty book that I had reserved. I will come back and do a review later...



I received a little crafty mail.



I went to my local fabric shop and bought some zips... why is it that I have a massive stash of zips, but I hardly ever have what I need and still have to go buy them?



I did a little gardening in the vegie garden...

I cried for my friend who was called in for her lung transplant this morning, only to find the lungs weren't suitable after all.

....and I changed my blog header.



What do you think?

Red Leather Spec Case

If you are looking for a project that provides instant gratification, look no further than Nikki's Spectacle case from the book You Sew, Girl! I made one last night in leather (rather than felt), and I am very happy with the result.



The flex frame is easy to install and provides quick, one-handed access to my sunnies.



There is no lining, so it goes together very quickly.



Most of my time spent at the machine was working out tricky, sewing machine related things like tension and pressure, and how to avoid nasty feed-dog track marks on my leather.

The spec case itself went together in minutes!



I am getting better at this industrial machine thing. I do need to work on my back-stitching though. It's still a bit wonky.



Now that I have that under my belt, it's time to make the City Bag in denim with some Ink & Spindle embellishment. I will do it on the industrial machine - with denim I can unpick if I need without leaving holes in my fabric.

I Love My Local Library

We go on a weekly basis. They have a storytime session twice a week, which the kids love, and we also usually take home a stack of books for them to read.

Sometimes I get something for me too. It's tricky for me to browse with the kids there, so my books are often reserved for me behind the counter. If there is a book I am interested in, I can check the catalogue on-line and see if it is available.



Inspired by Sally's post about this little guy - I reserved a copy of Pip's book. They don't actually have it at my library (which, in my opinion, has a serious lack of craft books) but another library in the network had it, so it somehow made it's way to my library where I can pick it up.



There is heaps of inspiration here - I recently borrowed a copy of Sew Liberated and there was another clock project that I found equally inspiring. So whilst I might not make this exact project, I do see a clock in my future...



I also might not make backgammon as such, but maybe some other board game? Something the kids can play?

Ultra-Quick Spectacles Pouch

If you're looking for a quick project, the Spectacles Pouch from Nicole Mallalieu's You Sew, Girl! is a good one. It would make a lovely gift too, as almost everybody can use a case for their specs or sunnies. This one is actually going to be for one of my boys.



The trickiest bit for me was trimming the edges with the pinking shears. Seriously. The rest was dead easy, but for some reason, both pairs of pinking shears were wanting to chew, rather than cut the edges. I'm thinking that next time I might try one of the other finishing techniques or increase the seam allowance a little.



I may even try a better quality of felt. This stuff is the cheap acrylic kind. I have plans to make some of these in leather too.

I am participating in Blogtoberfest. I am also having a giveaway.

Bus Stop Bag

Sorry it has been a bit quiet on the blog. I've been a bit busy lately with the kids. Anyway, I have been meaning to blog about this Bus Stop Bag for ages, so now is a good time, I guess. When I made this bag it was all hush-hush as it was a secret squirrel pattern testing project for Nicole Mallalieu's book, You Sew, Girl!. Now that the book has been published (um, yeah, a while ago....) it is okay for me to blog this.



The fanciest part of this bag is the seam binding, which is quite tricky, and one of the reasons the pattern has been given the advanced skill level rating. Never fear though, if you think it might be a bit too tricky, you can put the seam binding on the inside until you are confident with the technique. I would also recommend that you try the toiletry bag first as it isn't as stiff as the bus-stop bag, and therefor a little easier to manipulate on the sewing machine.



The finished bag is quite sturdy and has a firm base with shiny purse-feet. It stands up al by itself and there was enough room inside for the toiletry bag and my hairdryer and a number of other assorted personal items when I was in hospital having Amelie back in January. If you've ever had a baby, you will be aware of all the extra toilety items you need in those early days and trust me, there was room inside for all of these!




If you want to make yourself one of these, you need to get your hands on a copy of Nikki's book, You Sew, Girl! For the cost of a couple of patterns, it is chock-a-block full of tips, techniques and patterns to make all sorts of lovely things.

My Crafty Bookshelf Wishlist

There are some fabulous books out there at the moment, it seems like all the amazing bloggers are getting themselves published lately. Here are a few that I would like to see under the tree this Christmas.

Sew La Tea Do 
Pip Lincolne

I would love to have a copy of this book. Pip is the author of the blog Meet Me at Mikes and a Melbourne girl.

Pip has a fabulous video tutorial on her blog that must have taken hours to put together, showing how to crochet a granny square. It was so worth it, I have struggled and struggled with this, but Pip's videos got me there when nothing else did.

I also recently saw that Pip was on The Circle (I admit, I never actually watched it, but I did see the bit with Pip on it, on the internet. I like the novelty of the cushion that was re-fashioned out of a business shirt, and I am sure I will love many other projects that are bound to be in this book.

Whip Up Mini Quilts
Kathreen Ricketson

This book is put together by Kathreen Ricketson of the blog Whip Up and features miniature quilts created by various quilters with different styles.

One of the mini quilts in this book was designed by Kellie Wulfsohn of Don't Look Now, who I recently met at one of her fabulous workshops.

I like the idea of small projects. It is a great way to be able to complete projects quickly and try out new techniques.

The Practical Guide to Patchwork           
Elizabeth Hartman 

I have already benefited from Elizabeth Hartman's expertise, by way of her blog, Oh Fransson! and I am sure there is plenty of fantastic quilty advice in this book as well.

Sometimes when you wish for something hard enough, it (ahem) falls into a shopping cart at the book depository and before you know it, a copy is on it's way to you. Ooops!




Make It Perfect
Toni Coward

This book is still a bit over a week from being released, but I would love to see a copy of this one under the tree this Christmas.

I love Toni's blog, Make It Perfect, she has an impressive range of patterns already (some of which I have) and some of my friends were involved in testing her patterns for this book.
 

Some tips for buying books on-line: 

I love the Book Depository for buying books and saving $$$. Postage is free and the price is given in Australian Dollars. You can pay by Paypal, or by credit card if that is what you prefer. I mostly order from the UK site, rather than the US one, but sometimes it pays to shop around. 

If you go to booko, you can see who has your book the cheapest (it compares lots of places, including Amazon and takes into account postage as well). I paid $AU19.47 for Elizabeth Hartman's book today from the US Book Depository, and the UK site is charging $AU25.67 - that is a saving of $6.20. 

If you plan to order books for Christmas, I would suggest that you do it soon, I recently had a book take just over three weeks to get here from the UK, and Christmas is now less than six weeks away.

Linen Wrap Skirt - .Sew What! Skirts

I recently purchased Sew What! Skirts from the Book Depository, with the plan to make myself a wrap skirt or two. The book guides you through making your own patterns and then putting together sixteen different skirts. Since it only cost me $15.58, it was cheaper than many patterns, so totally worthwhile. There is enough information in the book to get you going with most basic styles of skirts, along with some simple ways to make them look a bit fancy. I would recommend this book even to beginners.

I was quite surprised with how quickly I managed to put this skirt together - maybe 2-3 hours? (In between swimming lessons and cooking roast lunches and entertaining guests and general running around after little people and clothes washing and hanging and folding and other house-worky things) but I think I might make a few adjustments to the pattern before I make another - it was a little more roomy than I anticipated. In a very basic linen, I think this skirt will go with quite a few things, along with the butterfly tie-front blouse I made recently.

BLOGTOBERFEST - DAY TWO

I bought this book a couple of weeks ago...

Do you really think it is possible to make a kid's quilt in a weekend?  I have started many quilts, but I have never completed one. I might show some of my WIPs during blogtoberfest. I think part of it is that my ideas are too big, and maybe I should attempt someof the simpler projects in this book....

Maybe this other book that I bought on the same day might help me...?

To see more Blogtoberfest Blogs, or to sign up, visit TinnieGirl!