I Love, LOVE Making Handbags

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I really do. I guess I just love to craft and make stuff.

This is my latest creation. A quilted handbag. With a coordinated little zippered clutch. I have been working on and off on this set for a couple weeks.

I showed you my fabric pull three weeks ago. Remember? I used all of these except the scripted fabric on the left and the avocado polka dots.

From That to This…

The handbag is quilted, lined, has one small inside pocket, has a swivel hook on the inside to hang keys from. Handles are dark brown wood. With magnetic closure. You can see the hardware and buttons I used here in this photo.

Photos of the inside.

Bottom and side views.

Zippered bag was made from the same fabric pull plus leftover strips from the handbag. I am so drawn to these little bags. I plan to make lots more.

How cute is this orange kitty cat zipper pull!!

It came from MiMi’s Etsy shop. She has them in lots of colors.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MiMisBeads

I didn’t have a pattern for either. Just worked from the vision in my head. Colors are green, rust and peach.

Handbag measures 15″ across the top, 10 1/2″ along the bottom, 11 1/4″ height, 4″ width. From handle to bottom: 17 3/4″. Zippered bag measures 10″ by 7″.

I am 67, and Lord willing, I hope to be around long enough to make thousands more items.

Have a great Memorial Day!!

Another Zip Bag… With Scissors

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I bought so much fabric last year that I can’t even remember what I have. My eyes light up when I see a piece I had forgotten all about. Like this burgundy “scissors” fabric. I knew I had the Moda scissors in white, black and bright orange.

So, when I saw the burgundy (Cranston Print Works) under layers of other fabric, you should have seen me jumping for joy. They would be my next zip bag.

This one is a little different than the first two. I added some embellishments.

• Black polka dot grosgrain ribbon

• Huge black/white/burgundy buttons

• Ball and chains

I know, I know. I have said it many times. But I am loving this one too.

Here are more photos I took.

Can’t you just see a larger version of this. Maybe one with snaps instead of a zipper.

Do you like working with zippers? They are kind of pricey, aren’t they? Where do you get yours?

I am going to make two more little zip bags and then I will spend some time with my umbrella blocks. Need to decide on mini quilt, lap quilt or bed sized.

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Go here for tutorial to make your own little zippy bag.

http://www.modabakeshop.com/2011/04/strippy-charm-pouch.html

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Linking up to..

http://bowdabrablog.com/2012/05/12/saturday-showcase-craft-projects/

http://sewhappygeek.co.uk/index.php/2012/05/06/manic-monday-linky-party-36/

http://www.confessionsofafabricaddict.blogspot.com/2012/05/can-i-get-whoop-whoop-heartstrings.html

Meet My New Birds: The Flappers

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It’s the middle of February… so that means Spring is only a few miles away, right?

Am I rushing things a bit? Yep, I am.

Snow season is winding down and I am so ready for the warmth of the sun. And the sounds of spring. In my head, I have skipped ahead and hear chirping. I guess you could say I have birds on the brain.

I recently saw this fabric bird pattern on the net and decided to try it.

http://www.spoolsewing.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/birdpattern1-1.pdf

This is the first one I made.

It came out smaller than I wanted so I played around with the sizing and enlarged it on my computer. Then made a practice one to make sure the pieces still lined up. Made several enlarged ones until I got the size I wanted.

Then I decided to do something different with the tail. I tried sticking a piece of cross-stitch plastic inside the tail to give it more weight. I wanted the nose raised a bit higher. Nope, would melt when pressed.

Next I tested adding buttons to the tail. One on top and one on the underside. That seemed to work. The nose lifted more. The flap idea was so the button didn’t stand out like a sore thumb.

I didn’t put any stuffing inside the tail. Just ironed in a piece of lightweight Pellon, pinked the tail edges and sewed on the flap and buttons.

I really like how these turned out and have other ideas for them. And I am going to work on a different design I have in my head.

Are YOU ready for Spring?

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Fabrics used:

• Michael Miller’s Clown Stripes and Citron Gray (Bird Swing and Quarter Dot)

• 3 different Henry Glass’ Party In Pink

• Gray polka dot, black polka dot and yellow print fabrics came from JoAnn’s

New Striped Pillow Covers With Buttons

You saw a peek at my new pillow cover in my last post. Actually there are two of them.

A large one and a smaller one.

And guess what?? Surprise!! Surprise!! No quilting. You know I thought about it. But knowing quilting would shrink the fabric a bit and I had already decided on the pillow forms, I didn’t want to take a chance everything wouldn’t all fit together. So… no quilting. (I am as shocked as you!! 😀 )

I made the smaller one first by scraping together several plum fabrics left over from my little girl purses days a few years ago. Then I added lime and burgundy prints.

The lining is an avocado solid cotton I bought YEARS ago. I don’t use solids much so decided it would be the perfect way to use some of it.

My original plan was to sew different sizes of rectangles. But after seeing the strips lined up, I decided to go with long strips instead. I made the fabric piece wide enough for the ends to overlap and completely cover the pillow form.

After deciding how much to overlap the folds, I got to sewing.

The FRONT. Envelope completed.

Here’s what the inside fold looks like.

Ready for the buttons. I rarely use buttons. But since I have about 1,000, it was time to use some of them. Used floss to sew them on.

They are just decoration. They don’t connect anything. Just sit and look pretty!!

Going for a finished look, I sewed buttons on the backside of the larger buttons. I thought seeing just thread there would look tacky.

Well, there you have it…. HOW I MADE A STRIPED PILLOW COVER.

The Front.

The Back.

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The larger pillow cover was made with the same steps as the smaller one. With one exception. The buttons for this one actually DO do something. They close up the envelope flap.

I made loops out of one of the plum prints and filled it with cord as I sewed the sides together. To give them a fuller, rounded look.

FRONT

BACK

Hope you have enjoyed seeing my new pillow covers. I have others in the works.

Recycle # 3: Thread Spool Fabric Necklace

The moment I decided to switch to all cotton thread and fondled the spools in the craft store, I knew immediately what I would do with the empty yellow spools. I couldn’t wait for one to get emptied.

Before long, I had 3 of them, then 4, then 7. I guess I was sewing faster than I realized. I started to collect them up in a plastic bag for when I had a couple hours to play around with a design.

I wanted to use all scraps. Since I had a HUGE pile of them in all different colors, shapes and sizes that I bought off of eBay.

BUT I miscalculated the width and the strip did not completely cover the spool. So, I will use my “mistake” for something else.

Starting over, I decided to use one of my pretty batik squares I recently bought.

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Here’s what you need to make this necklace.

• empty thread spool

• 5″ by 5″ fabric square

• batting (a small piece)

• tiny elastic cord

• button (I ended up using a larger one)

• hanging cord

• needle and thread

• scissors/rotary cutter

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Here’s the process in photos.

I didn’t take a photo of me sewing on the button. 😀

I love how this turned out and already have the fabric squares lined up to make more in the future. I have lots of the satiny hanging cords. They came in a package of 10. All different colors.

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This is a This Year’s Dozen original design. If you make this necklace, please link back to my blog post. Thanks!!

Seeing Red… And Pink

Every February around Valentine’s Day, I like to make something in red or with hearts.

Last year, if you remember, I was up to my eyeballs in purple, lime, pink and white. Hearts were everywhere. Piles stacked, strung as a garland, even in a Shadowbox. I had gone heart crazy!!

 

This year, I dialed it back a bit and just did a couple of things. Actually just one NEW item. A little girl’s red and pink purse.

A Little Missy Purse.

The other two were already made. I just added pink hearts and pink ribbon to the mauve one.

And undid the bottom on this red one to shorten it by about 6 inches.

Then added a red and white hearts bow.

My original plan was to add heart buttons…. But went with the bow instead. I will probably, later on, add a red lining.

Cute as Mother and Daughter, huh!!

Hope you have a special Hearts Day!! Happy Valentine’s Day.

Off To Metalsmithing Class I Go

Today is the day I learn to pound on stuff (dapping) and drill holes in stuff.

Can’t wait!!

I am taking this wood flower with me. I want to drill four holes in it so I can attach the wine button. And then attach it to this new necklace I am making.

Almost finished. Needs a clasp.

Two More Spiral Necklaces and a Button Bundle

Busy, busy, busy. That’s been me for the last 2 weeks.

First, I had to take a time out for hubby’s family reunion which was two weekends ago. Friday through Sunday. Of course, the Queen Procrastinator that I am, I had lots to still do on the days leading up to it. So, hard as it was to neglect my beads, no crafting got done.

I had been working on the lavender spiral necklace I told you about. And was just about finished when I felt the urge to rip it apart. Something just wasn’t right. I liked it when I started. I hated it when I was near the end. I think it was the color. Too much lavender.

Here’s the old one. The one I took apart.

Here’s the 2nd version. I am happy with this one.

Using the dark plum (almost black) iridescent core beads also as spiral beads balanced the lavender color. And I added a separate strand of black Swarovski crystals. Large rondelles and smaller round crystals. With lavender seed beads as a filler.

Both necklaces measure 54″. Over the head style for the spiral rope and a silver clasp on the crystal strand.

I created this “Button Bundle” to gather all the strands together. Button can be worn anyplace on the necklace. I took photos of the button at the bottom and on the side.

To make the Button Bundle, I strung 8/0 seed beads in the back and through the button holes. And sewed them to a silver magnet.

Easy on, easy off. Move it wherever you want. Cool, huh!! Just one of the many ideas floating around inside my head. It probably works best with huge buttons. To hide the magnet.

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I also made this lime and plum spiral necklace. Using 8/0 seed beads. Core beads are plum. And lucky me!! I had round glass plum beads which matched perfectly with the plum seed beads. So I made a separate strand with the glass beads.

Both strands measure 46″. Over the head style for the spiral necklace and a silver clasp for the strand of plum glass beads.

You would think I’d be tired of the spiral stitch about now. Nope. Not. I am going to make up more. As soon as I decide which color will be the core and which colors will be the spiral.

Teaching Myself Peyote Circles

Squares, tubes… and now I know how to make peyote circles. Thanks to this great book by Carol Huber Cypher. Mastering Beadwork, A Comprehensive Guide to Off-Loom Techniques.

I taught myself how to make these circles by following along with the instructions on pages 64-68.

The first two were laughable. You won’t see them. I took them apart already. 🙂

One thing you should know, if you make these. Do go back through the first 3 seed beads at least once. Or the thread will be really loose in the center and enlarges as you go. At least, that is what happened to me on two of them. One exception: When I wanted to insert a button in the center, I didn’t reinforce the starting beads. As you can see in this photo.

I made two pairs of earrings. One with buttons and one set without. I like them both.

The necklace is still a work in progress. Several more hours of designing. Will show you when finished. See the 2 long black metal buttons. I have had them since the 60’s. Can’t remember what they were on. Probably a coat. I am going to try to incorporate one, maybe both, into my design.

Meet ETERNITY: My 1st Recycled Watch

Eternity. That’s the name on the watchface. Ironic, huh? Eternity, and it no longer works.

Sorry, I didn’t get a Before photo. I had already taken it apart. I pieced this together for you. It had a REALLY well worn lavender watchband.

Isn’t this pretty?

Too pretty to just toss in the trash. I had an idea on what I wanted to make. A necklace using the main colors. Blue and pink.

I took the watchface with me to Munro’s last week and picked out one strand of blue glass beads and one of little pink round glass ones with flowers.

Here’s one of the reasons it takes me so long to create something. Right in the middle of working on a design, I change directions. You can see in this picture, one side already connected to the watchface. I took this all apart so it could connect with a lobster claw clasp instead. Undo, restart.

Moving on…. Another couple hours trying to get the correct size beads inserted into the giant keychain ball the way I wanted. And then deciding on how many strands of seed beads. For balance.

Hubby went out to Ace Hardware to get me these chains. Wasn’t that sweet of him!!

And the final look. It isn’t much Steampunk. More fashionable. I just didn’t see the point of adding gears and other parts. The chains are enough.

So…. what do you think?