Purse-frame bag

Whilst I have heaps of bags, I felt like I needed something that was a bit more suitable for going out (smaller), that goes with more things. I have always thought that a bag with a purse frame would be cute, but I didn't have a suitable pattern, so I made it using Nicole Mallalieu's 200mm Chunky purse pattern....


I guess you can tell that I had to make a few modifications to actually get the bag to look like it does using that pattern. I had to slash and spread the pattern to make it bigger in all directions, except for the frame part. I started sewing up a trial bag before I worked on the real thing, but that has mostly been abandoned.


The fabric for this bag came from Darn Cheap Fabrics. I think it was about $15 or $16 per metre? It is a fake leather type fabric with a texture that I think is meant to be a bit like snakeskin. The fabric has a bit of stretch in it. I guess it is designed to make skirts or pants out of? I added some iron on wadding to help give the bag some structure and to remove the stretch. There is also boning added behind the straps to give extra support, and help keep the bag standing up straight and tall and not slouching into a puddle.

I love the newsprint lining - I think it adds to the vintage feel of the bag. Mostly, bought bags seem to have a dark lining, which I guess is meant to help hide the grime, but I prefer a light-coloured lining, as it helps me to be able to see inside a bag.


I used the instructions in Nikki's new book "The Better Bag Maker" to help me make the zipped pocket inside. Normally, I would be going through my pattern stash, looking for which patterns have that set of instructions, or check my notes from the zippers for bags class I attended - but now I have the book, so I can save myself heaps of time by just referring to that.

The purse also has a nice hard base and cute little round purse feet on the base. Instead of just using it to go out, it seems to have become my everyday bag.

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

So, about that "Sew Your Stash Thin" thing I am doing...

It's not going that well, since the object of the exercise is to REDUCE the size of my stash, not increase it. But you know what? It's a win-win thing. If the fabric stash is getting bigger because of fabric as lovely as all this, then it can't be that bad, can it?

The fabric above was given to me by Jodie of Ric-Rac for helping her out with some pattern testing earlier in the year. It's a F8 pack which is the equivalent of 21 fat quarters.... I have decided to make a very special quilt using the fabric, and have ordered another 22 FQs which should hopefully arrive this week. Hey, you have to buy fabric to use fabric, right??

A couple of weeks ago, I was at Spotlight and happened to find this lovely drill fabric with the map of the world on it. Ok, I will admit, I heard about it from somewhere and I was at Spotlight during their 40%-off-sale actively seeking this fabric out. I had vouchers for my birthday and one of those scratchy things and I was really good and it was the only fabric I bought unless you want to count the sheer curtain fabric that I shortened and hung the very next day (so if we were to count it as in, we can count it as out as well, but I won't count it, because there wasn't really that much sewing involved). The boys are really into maps and flags and things like that at the moment, and I have a plan, so it's all good. The drill is craft width and I got two 60cm panels, so I would say that is about five FQs.

I had a little extra money after tax time and decided to treat myself to some delicious knit fabrics from Crafty Mamas Fabrics. This is what has come so far, but there is more on it's way soon. I love those Lillestoff Pirates! There is roughly the equivalent of twelve FQs in the image above, and I still have another six on their way to me.

I did some top secret pattern testing recently and received some of this gorgeous Hello Tokyo fabric from The Red Thread and some patterns as a thank you. The total amount of fabric I received was about five FQs. I promise I will tell you about the pattern I tested as soon as I can. You will love, love, LOVE it!

I also had a little spending spree in my cousin's shop Two Blue Birdies, along with some delicious felt*, some Heat'n'bond iron on vinyl and a bunch of brightly coloured zippers, I grabbed half a metre of each of these moustaches and glasses, adding a further 4 FQs to my stash. Yep, that's right, I now have stashes in my stash!

So, in summary, I have added an incredible 75 Fat Quarters to my stash in a very, very short period of time. Luckily, I have a few secret projects up my sleeve that I also haven't talked about - but that is worthy of another blog post (or several).

SYST13 Running totals: in = 255, out = 95, total = +160

*I am not counting felt in my SYST count as I am not trying to reduce my felt stash - it is under good control and fits in it's designated box.

Do you have a fabric addiction? Anything to confess???

Sew Your Stash Thin

One of my goals for 2013 is to get my fabric stash under control. After some discussion with some other online friends with a common goal, we decided to have a stash-buster-along, hosted by AJ, over at AJ's Antics.

I am not one to join in with "fabric bans", if I need want fabric for something, I will buy it. This is not the idea of the challenge. The idea is to use it. Use what we buy, use what we have in the stash, use MORE fabric than we buy. Fabric OUT is only fabric that is used in completed projects. Fabric IN is any fabric that crosses the threshold in 2013. Hopefully by the end of the year, this will mean there is LESS fabric in the stash.



So anyway, I signed up and would you believe it, the VERY NEXT WORKING DAY, an unexpected parcel arrived from my mother-in-law. It was FULL of fabric! Almost 14 metres of fabric! Yesterday I came home with almost 9 metres of 150cm wide curtain lining fabric from Spotlight for Amélie's curtains. So far this year, all I have completed is 10 pairs of underpants for Amélie. I guess I had better get sewing!!!


    After some measuring, these are my estimates:   

• Fabric from my mother in law (+55FQs)
• Curtain lining (+48FQs)
• Amélies undies (-7FQs)

    Total : +96 Fat Quarters

18. Compromise

I worked out a way I can satisfy my need to use some of the scrummy fabric that I showed you yesterday (earmarked for my placemats) and still go with the original plan I had for my doll quilt swap. The solution was simple - buy some more fabric!

My plan involves some "sky" and I really like the rain in one of the fabrics. You can't see it in the photo, but the fabric beneath it with the garden-y type stuff also has umbrellas, so I think I can get those to work together. I really hope my swap partner likes it. I also hope I can get my vision to work in real life....

14. You Little Beauty

Don't you love it when a plan comes together?



When a project turns out exactly as you imagined...



The perfect fabric for this pattern (watch this space) just so happened to be in my stash, waiting for something like this to come along.



I'll be back another day with more details.

My Creative Space, Spoonflower and Fabric Design

I have been playing around a little with Inkscape lately, with a view to designing some fabric. I have so many ideas I'm not sure where to start, so I've been flitting back and forth, trying out new things. I have found these Inkscape tutorials to be a really good starting point. There are heaps of nifty little tricks you can learn which will help to reduce beginner frustration. I should add that if you are not familiar with Inkscape, it is an open-source, vector drawing program, similar to Illustrator. The best part, Open Source = FREE! It also runs on Linux, Apple and Windows.



Once I get my fabric designs all worked out and I am happy with them, I plan to get them digitally printed by Spoonflower. Spoonflower is an awesome business who custom print fabric. You can get your designs printed on different types and weights of fabric. It is only $1 to get a swatch booklet of the different fabric types, and $1 to get the colour guide, also printed on fabric. There is also a much larger colour guide, with lots more colours, that you can get printed on a yard of fabric for $18.

Have you ever wanted to design yor own fabric? What sort of designs would you do, or like to see someone else do? Have you already designed your own fabric? Do you have any advice for me, or others who are just at the beginning of their fabric designing journey?

Would you like to see what everyone else is up to in their Creative Spaces this week?

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.

Heliographic Art

For Christmas, I received a selection of Sun Dyes from KraftKolour P/L. Sun Dyes are heliographic dyes, meaning that they are sun sensitive, and react to infra-red light. I've been wanting to get some for a while, after seeing a little tutorial for a similar product, over on How About Orange.

The dyes come in a lovely range of colours, I was lucky enough to receive Grevillea, Violet, Citrus, Opal and Fern in the medium sized bottles. I went to Spotlight yesterday, and using my $10 voucher I purchased some plain white broadcloth to use for projects like this.



There was an old door laying around in the shed, which makes the perfect portable table for this kind of project. I should warn you, if you are going to use something and don't want to stain it, you should really cover it with plastic before you begin. The dye goes right through the fabric and there is now a lovely (permanent) button design on the old door.

My fabric was about 40cm x 110cm. I taped my fabric to the door, and then we liberally coated it with the dye mixed 50/50 with water. I used about 60ml of dye to 60ml of water. I have since read other recommendations to water it down more, which I will do next time. I guess the manufacturers want you to use more than you need. Also, when I do this again, after taping my fabric, I might wet it before brushing it with the ink, just to draw out the drying time. There was a little ink left over, but not a lot, so I think my estimate of how much to mix up was probably about right. I would rather waste a little dye than run out mid-project.



It was so hot and sunny outside today, I was afraid the ink was going to dry before the buttons went down. So we put down a row along one edge and the rest were rather hastily scattered across the fabric. Some of the edges were a bit blurry, I think that would be partly due to the buttons not being perfectly flat and light getting under them, and partly due to them being moved around a little. I think the blazing sun was probably also a factor and that the dye had started to develop before we got those buttons scattered.

After leaving the wet fabric to dry in the sun, I brought it in and gave it a good pressing with a really hot iron to set the dye. After leaving it to cure for 24 hours it should be good to wash.

Resistance is futile!

I became really excited when I saw that the next Aneela Hoey fabric line for Moda was going to be based around my favourite little fairytale girl, Little Red Riding Hood. I really like her girl on a tree-swing from the Sherbet Pips range, but as yet I don't have any. The new line is called "A Walk In The Woods" and is due for release in February or March.



I became even more excited when Amy Badskirt told me that Quilt-Jane had pre-cuts in her store. The prices are also AWESOME! I couldn't decide between the jelly roll or the layer cake. I put one of each in my basket and they both sat there for a weekend whilst I ummed and ahhed and finally decided I had to have both.



They are destined for a quilt (and probably some other things...?) for Amélie's room.

It's been a long time between posts....

I've been busy enjoying my new baby. Say hello to Amélie!

I haven't done any sewing since she was born, although I have been thinking about things that I can make for her. Does anyone have any ideas of where I can get something that will co-ordinate with the Kokka Trefle fabric with the fawns and apples below?

I have also found myself in a bit of a boy-rut! I have been so focused, for so long on boys fabrics, that I am having a little trouble getting inspired by fabrics for girls. I love Heather Ross, and there are some lovely Kokka fabrics out there, but what else? What girly fabrics do you like?

More Quilting and a Bargain

Since I had no 111 thread for the Don't Look Now cushion cover, and I had no green for the last bit of appliqué for the DQS, I decided to do some quilting on the OTHER don't Look Now cushion, that I hadn't started quilting yet. I did this one using white thread. I am determined that I get as much quilting practice in as I can before I do any on my DQS.

I managed to get myself to Spotlight today, and got some white (800), 111 and some green thread to match my leaves, and whilst I was there, this managed to land in my shopping bag.



Some heavily discounted flannelette - there is enough here to make four pairs of winter pajamas next year for the boys. All up it cost me $17.08 - that's $4.27 a pair (excluding buttons, thread and interfacing, but you get the drift). I spent almost twice as much on thread!

More Lovely Fabric Goodness

This parcel arrived in the mail last Thursday from Hawthorne Threads, only five days after I ordered it.

On top is some lovely voile from Alexander Henry that I am making into a top for myself. Beneath that is some beautiful Laura Gunn Poppies fabric, followed by some Kaufman Playday and some Erin McMorris "Sprout" from her Wildwood collection.

My Creative Space

My creative space today involves turning this fabric into t-shirts for the boys. The stripes are quite thick, about 7cm. I got it from Spotlight. The only thing is that when I pre-washed, the bright colours have slightly tinted the white. Luckily, I did them separately! Any tips on getting my white white again? Or possibly avoiding this (slight) catastrophe in the future?

Hopefully I will be back soon to show off the results!

For more creative spaces, visit Kirsty at Kootoyoo.

Swimming Shorts

I recently made these swimming shorts for Liam, using some Kauffman Animal Party that I bought almost a year ago. The pattern was the "Ahoy" baby shorts pattern from Ottobre 3/2009. I did my top stitching in orange, and managed to find some orange trim in the remnant basket at my local fabric shop. I have plans to make Noah a pair using the dog fabric that I purchased at the same time.

Sew It Together - Shopping Trip

Image of Fabric being purchased - Amitie

When I signed up for Sew It Together, I signed up for the whole experience - this included the shopping trip. I caught the train to Melbourne and arrived just over an hour before we were due to meet the bus. After a bit of lunch I went back to wait at Citigate Hotel for the rest of the shoppers.

It was Trash that I first approached. I don't even remember what she was doing (knitting? sewing?) but she looked suitably crafty, so I went and said hi and introduced myself. It wasn't long before we were joined by several others and then off on the bus we went. We were all handed a lovely SIT bag with free gifts from the Oz Material Girls.

Image of Fabric being purchased - Amitie

Our first stop was Amitie, where Corrie joined the group (she was staying nearby) and the shopping began. I managed to grab some lovely fabric (at a special discount, just for us!) and then had some lovely afternoon tea that was put on by the ladies at Amitie before jumping on the bus and comparing purchases.

 Fabric purchased from Amitie

Patchwork on Central Park

Our next stop was Patchwork on Central Park, where more fabric was purchased and I picked up some bargain Echino!

Fabric purchased from Patchwork on Central Park

 There was a fabric quiz on the bus, and I won this lovely prize, kindly donated by the Oz Material Girls. 

After a trek across the city, we finally arrived at our last stop; Ink & Spindle. I brought home some lovely hand printed fabric from there.

Ink & Spindle - Entrance

Hand Printed fabric, purchased from Ink & Spindle

to be continued...

The Stitches & Craft Show

I started writing a list of all the things that I wanted to say about the S&C Show because I didn't want to leave anything out. Let's face it, I am going to leave stuff out.... I wish I had taken more photos. Especially of all the lovely people I met. I will see most of them again at the Sew It Together weekend, so I guess it is okay.

I travelled to the S&C show by train and arrived at around 10am. After a bit of a look around downstairs, I managed to work out how to get upstairs to the incubator section, which is where I spent most of my time at the show.

I managed to catch up with Carolyn at the Show, and also met a new friend Gyspy. 

I met Jodie and purchased one of her gorgeous Pocket-Bot kits. I later went to see Jodie's talk about blogging, which was the highlight of my day.

I said hi to Sandra at the Pepperberry & Co. stand, and purchased some more "Let's Enjoy Britain" fabric, which I have already cut into.

I met the ladies from Ink & Spindle, and purchased some of their beautiful hand-printed fabric.

I said hi to Nikki at the Nicole Mallalieu stand. Nikki introduced me to the other Nikki.

I spent some time at the Sublime Stitching Craft Bar, where I was shown how to backstitch and chain stitch. I also got to take home some thread so that I can finish the little project I started there. I saw the knitting and crocheting craft bar, and if I had more time, I would have loved to make a couple of crocheted flowers - maybe next year?

I also said hi to Nic at Yardage Design. Like everyone else, I cant believe that nobody else thought of making bunting craft panels before - such a clever idea!

I also got to meet the lovely Bec of Beccasaurus!

I enjoyed the show very much, I know I left heaps out, but here are some other blogs about the show.

Nicole Mallalieu 1
Nicole Mallalieu 2
The Craft Gypsy
Ric-Rac
Pepperberry & Co.
Yardage Girl
Curly Pops
Miss Muggins
Beccasaurus