Entries Tagged 'Bags' ↓

I think I cut the fabric for this back in May, possibly April. I can’t say exactly why I let it fall behind on the wip pile, since I was very excited by it at the time, and since I decided to sit down and dig my teeth into it this weekend I’ve been very excited by it again. This is a slightly modified version of the mini messenger bag I took to Japan with me last year, a bag that I wore every day for two weeks, stuffed with maps, guide books and my travel journal.

It was perfect for the trip, but as a bag there were a couple of issues that needed to be ironed out. One thing that didn’t need adjusting is the strap length – when it’s as short as it can be, like it is above, then it’s a dinky shoulder bag, but at full stretch you can wear it easily across your body.

In honour of its origins I used the cherry print fabric I bought at Tomato in fabric town in Tokyo for the lining. I completely adore it, but sadly it’s now gone. Luckily Mr J asked me yesterday when I would like to go back to Japan, so that’s ok then.

I kept the back zip pocket since I found it so useful for my travel card and mobile phone. Not that anything helps my poor track record when it comes to hearing my phone and answering it when it rings. I’d get a cheaper tariff but it’s always me calling other people back…

I did simplify the way I make the dividing zip pocket for the interior, though I want to make another tweak.

I do so love compartments. A bag without compartments in my hands soon becomes so unruly that I fear putting my hands in, just in case new life forms have evolved among the receipts, loose change and scattered crumbs lurking at the very bottom. But in this bag purse, book, map, make-up, pens, keys are separated so that they’re much more easily located.

I’m going to crack on and make one from some of the suiting I got from Fabrics Galore way back when for this very purpose, but before I can make a start, I have to eat a hearty portion of Mr J’s apple and blackberry crumble. Isn’t it lovely when you can see Autumn approaching through the medium of puddings?

Of course I should be filing my tax return, but the idea of doing it turns me into a three year old, sticking my fingers in my ears and shouting ‘I don’t wanna!’ Which is absolutely true – I don’t wanna, but I gotta. Know this though – I didn’t get where I am today by doing things when they should be done.

Instead I thought I’d think about the next project I want to do (and no, I haven’t finished the blanket). Last autumn I became a cat sitter, when my own cat sitter went on maternity leave and needed someone to carry on with the business in her absence. I visit the cats at home while their owners are away, which means the cats don’t have to go to a cattery, and the house gets a daily check too. It’s a great job in so many respects – it’s local, doesn’t take up the whole day and gives me access to so many more cats than I could have in my house. But after I spent this morning scrabbling around in the bag I was using for the keys, and then the gloves, and then the rubbish bags, I realised I’d been a fool not to take advantage of the obvious need for a special bag. With compartments. And pouches.

Out with the project notebook, the japanese bag books, and the green and blacks. Isn’t it hard to work without chocolate? I thought that on the whole this would be a good project to tackle some of my own personal sewing demons. I know we all have them – mine seems to be going anywhere near the sewing machine at the moment – and it’s always good to push them out of the way, because for the most part you find out they aren’t so scary.

I need a pouch for the spare scoop I take with me, and a pouch for the keys. I’m thinking oilcloth for the scoop pouch, possibly lined with some shower curtain type material I have lying about. I’ve been buying remnants of oilcloth for ages and have ideas for toiletry bags and all sorts, but never seem to be able to cut into the stuff, so that’s one demon. The key pouch will be a fold over style, with three clip hooks for me to attach keys to, and I’ll attempt to bias bind the edges. Demon number two and the whole reason I’ve never made a quilt. In fact I’ll go one better, and use one of those bias binding makers I’ve got.

Looking at the japanese books reminded me of the handles I picked up in Japan, and have never got around to using. These sew-on handles feature quite prominently in japanese craft books, but for some stupid reason I’ve shied away from using them since I came home. So much for demon three – I will choose a pair and use them. I’ll see how I feel about demon four, which is attempting some reverse applique to decorate the outside of the bag, which I have just decided will be made of linen. It might be one thing too far, but you never know.

Decisions about materials made, and it’s back to the notebook for me. Sometimes I think the planning is most of the fun…

How nice it is to be upright. You might remember that Tina asked me to make doorstops for her mum for Christmas, as requested by her mum, who is not shy in the slightest. You might also remember that Tina’s mum grades her christmas presents in order of best to worst. Well, no, I didn’t come top: that honour went to some old issues of Red magazine. She did like one of the doorstops enough to request a bag in the same fabric for her birthday…

This is the first real bit of sewing I’ve done since before Christmas, and lawks, it was fun. I think I’d lost some of the fun part to the effort of remaking the same things for the fair and for presents, and  not having made anything for ages made this old favourite feel quite fresh. A rest is as good as a change, which they don’t say, but sometimes I could do with being reminded.

I had company the entire time I was doing it too – it had clearly been a long time since I’d done anything remotely interesting…

I grabbed hold of my carry on bag today, thinking that it must be about time to empty the poor thing, and I realised I didn’t get around to showing you it. That would be because I was handstitching the lining to the exterior at 11pm the night before my flight out…

It’s based on the sophia, I suppose, but when I made the last sophia I realised that it just wasn’t big enough for everything I wanted to put in it on my travels. I drafted a new pattern from scratch but constructed it in much the same way, partly because I’d done it twice before and couldn’t be bothered thinking of a new way to do it. I’m possibly most pleased by the addition of that slip pocket on the front there, where I stashed my passport for easy access while running around the airport. (And I do run around airports – I love ‘em.)

Inside I lined the walls with slip pockets of different sizes, and put in a clippy line to have somewhere to keep my house keys safe for our return. I managed to squeeze in books, pens, big socks, a cardigan and a pair of jogging bottoms for my in-flight comfort, so this bag more than did the job I wanted it for. The only problem I have now is wondering where to put it – I’m rapidly running out of bag storing space.

This is the bag that has been buzzing around my head for a good few months now. It exists in the world (and you have no idea how many swearings that took) and I can take it on holiday. The construction of it taxed my little brain, and I did make a mistake in the maths of the lining but I think I can be forgiven, given what I was attempting…

I’ve made a dividing zipped pocket across the middle, and the two sections are different sizes. The back section is narrow and fits a paperback (think guidebook!) and my notebook (think moleskine!), while the front is fat enough for my purse. In the past I’ve been obsessed by trying to fit A4 into everything I make which is limiting in the kinds of bags you can make, and it uses acres of fabric. I decided to abandon that, but I had to be able to fit in my moleskine – I’ve been carrying one around for years and it just wouldn’t be right to have to leave it at home. It’s a perfect size, frankly.

The fabrics, by the way, are an Amy Butler print and some charcoal cashmere that was left to me by an Italian friend when she went back to Italy. There is now just one tiny scrap left, but I think I’ve made the best use of it. The silverware looks brilliant too, but it got too dark to take even a crappo picture so I’ll do that tomorrow. It’s not just decorative though – the sliding handle moves far enough up to turn this messenger into a shoulder bag. Oh yes. And there’s a zip pocket on the back panel for easy access to one’s travel card. Oh yes. But it is dark now, so I’ll flickr photos another day.

Goodness I completely love it.

So I haven’t posted in a while, and regular readers might wonder what this means. Any number of things can stop a person from keeping up with the internet; things like kidnapping, hotdog eating competitions, putting ships in bottles, learning to jive in 40s costumes. None of these are the reason for my absence dear readers, but I’ll share with you the rather more mundane things that have kept me occupied of late…

There’s been a lot of binge watching of Grey’s Anatomy. I got into this very late, about two thirds of the way through season 2 (and UK TV is currently showing season 3 so all of you who know more, I have my fingers in my ears and I’m not listening.) While I enjoyed it I wasn’t entirely sure what was going on and Amazon had the dvd of season 1 for only £12… And so I am hooked. There is something very comforting about watching pretty people wandering across the screen being witty and clever in a way that no one is in real life, and US shows always make sure everyone is very pretty to look at. Sometimes I like to zone out. Mr Joleo knows this and is very understanding – this is why he bought me season 2 for my birthday.

I’ve also been noodling about on last.fm, which is a great way of finding new music. You can download software which monitors what you play in iTunes so that it builds a radio station of things you might like, or you can choose a radio station of similar artists to your favourite band, or listen to the things your musical neighbours like. So far my new favouritist song is ‘The world at large’ (listen here) by Modest Mouse. Never heard of them before Monday, but this song sounds a little like Mercury Rev, and the Flaming Lips. I am rubbish in music shops, but this is really because I like to know what I’m getting and looking at a cd case doesn’t help. Thank goodness for the internet and iTunes. (US chums also have Pandora to play with.)

Then there’s Grand Theft Auto IV. I love games, and this one is just stunning. Of course there’s swearing and violence and you can run any number of people over in your big truck, but it is a form of entertainment, and it’s meant for adults. There’s no way I would give this to a kid, in the same way I wouldn’t give them the Godfather trilogy to watch. It’s satirical, it’s funny and the main character is great. Oh and did you know it’s made in Scotland? Over 1000 people worked on this game, and I thank every one of them.

But I do still make things. This exterior went together well – the piping was much easier than last time, and I love the new interfacing. Love it. The bag stands up and keeps its shape so beautifully. I didn’t use it on the zip panels, because that would be horrendous to work with, but it’s on all of the other panels. The only place it was really problematic was attaching the bottom, and then really only on the short sides. My fingers ache from keeping it in the right place! Anyway, now all it needs is a lining, and then we’re done. Much faster than last time eh?

I just couldn’t think of another title for the post. That’s exactly what it’s been – a very hot week. After around eight months of cold and wet the sun miraculously, gloriously appeared this week, all week, and there have been no coats and no socks for this girl. It is purest heaven for me when sockless season commences, even if it does require an emergency leg wax.

Feeling duty bound to enjoy the sunshine, while others have to be in airless offices, struggling with air-conditioning that is always either too fierce or too wimpy, I’ve spent a lot of time lying out on my little roof these last few days, eating breakfast and reading my book. If I angle my mat just right I have a view that is uninterrupted by London – it’s all green trees and blue skies, if you can block out your peripheral vision. If I slide down low enough I end up looking through the little lavender, and I can try to forget the railway line, and the bus route and the windows of my neighbours gazing onto the back of me, and I pretend I am somewhere no one else can find me.

And in among all of that strenuous lying down I have done some sewing. I discovered something else I like about my new machine, which is that it comes with a quilting bar. Having never made a quilt I’ve never realised quite how useful these could be and have therefore never wanted one – isn’t it amazing how you go from being happy with a basic machine to wanting all sorts of accessories and thingamajigs? I just want to sew parallel lines on everything now.

This fabric also arrived for my friend’s Sophia, which I have already cut out. It’s lovely, and I can’t wait to work with this pattern and cotton. Unexpectedly, I discovered that the Sophia also makes the perfect little gym bag – a pair of trainers, t-shirt and sweat pants all fitted in comfortably with my iPod and my purse.  It’s officially the best looking gym bag I’ve ever had.

After taking months to do the Sophia I did this ‘Tina’ in an afternoon. It seems to be what people choose when they realise their mother is having a birthday. The conversation always goes like this:

Friend: You could make her a bag!
Me: Yes. When is her birthday?
Friend: Next week!

This is partly why I’m trying to build up a stack of bags at home so that when this happens they can choose one there and then and go away happy. That was the plan for today, but I’ve just got to an ironing phase and realised that my iron is completely gunked up. Nothing to do with the times I’ve accidentally tried to iron the interfacing the wrong way up (I’m not the only one am I?), and everything to do with the fact that we get terrific limescale here and I never descale anything. It’s because I’m from up north. The water is so soft there that you can use a tiny amount of bubble bath and get veritable mountains of bubbles. I had no idea what limescale was all about until I moved here. You’d think after 12 years of living south that I’d have got into some sort of routine with it, but I haven’t.

Which is weird because I’ve turned out to be far more domestic than I thought I would be. You know when you imagine your future life when you’re 13? I thought I’d be a magazine editor, living on gin and cigarettes (a friend of my mum’s had recently given me a bunch of back issues of Cosmopolitan), but it turns out I prefer sewing and cooking, and cut flowers and crisp bed linen. I like making my home nicer. That’s why the bag is hanging on what used to be our clothes rail, now tucked into the last remaining corner of my craft room.

And as if I didn’t have enough to keep me occupied, what with cutting out fabric for bags and descaling the iron, the postman delivered some lovely things today:

I seem to be obsessed with buying more patterns for clothes than I am capable of making. I now have two issues of Ottobre for women, as well as an Ottobre diary, which is very nice but I didn’t order it, so I wonder if it’s a freebie, given that we’re a third of the way through the year. The magazine is on the same lines as the WOF, with several patterns in each issue, but a lot of these look simpler than the ones from Burda and the paper quality is much higher. Good for a clothing novice like me. The other thing I like is that the models used vary in size and shape – like real women. I have trouble with the Burda magazine because I can see that a style looks great on a tall skinny model, but what if you have hips and/or bosom?

I also got this issue of Poets and Writers today, which is a timely reminder of the other thing I do. Allegedly. This time last year I was gearing up to write my dissertation. It seems like a lifetime ago. After I’d handed that and the project in I really didn’t feel like writing at all, and I’ve stuck with that through the winter. It’s spring now. Time for change maybe.

So another thing: when it comes to both sewing and writing, the magazines I like best come from abroad. Maybe I should start a magazine after all. But easy on the gin – I don’t drink gin.

She’s finished. Can you believe it? No, neither can I. Shamed by the fact that Stacy managed to throw one of these together and then moments later have a baby (Congratulations!), I sat down on Sunday evening and attached the lining. You know what was stopping me? All that hand stitching…I’m so lazy.

When I first saw this pattern I was smitten by the shape of this bag, and that’s still the case. However, I’m a bit disappointed by the sqooshy nature of it – next time I’ll try using some craft weight interfacing to give it some structure.

It’s possible that I love the inside more than the outside at the moment. I think the decision about the false bottom was well made, and I love the pocket material against the calico.

So did I learn anything? Well, I learned that I’m now incapable of leaving a bag pattern alone. Even though my plan was to follow it to the letter I couldn’t. I did learn a couple of things about attaching zips to bags, and about using piping – or not using piping – and I also learned that I find bag making more fun when I’m making the whole thing up myself. Here’s a little list of things I’d change for the next one.

• Make the handles slightly longer (2-4″) so that it can fit more easily over my shoulder
• Add purse feet, and move the false bottom underneath the lining. Use a couple of securing stitches on all four corners of the lining bottom to stop it moving around.
• Use craft weight interfacing so that the bag keeps its shape by itself – it deserves it.
• Don’t bother with the piping around the bottom – it adds little but headaches.
• Consider splitting one side of pockets into three not two.

I’ve added my pictures to the Sophia Sew Along group on flickr, so if you need more inspiration for your own Sophia, that’s a good place to start. As for me, well, I’ve promised to make one for a friend so I’d better get on with it.

One of the things on my list of ‘wips that still exist only in my head’ was the kitty tunnel from In Stitches. I had the same problem as Amy – cats burrowing under the throws on the sofa, only in my case it was the sofa bed, which made people coming to stay traumatic. For me mostly, but also for them if they happened to be allergic to cats. You can never get rid of all the hair…

I took my fun fur and some ikea material and whipped it together in less than an hour and then presented it proudly to the recipients:

What’s that? It’s rubbish.

I ain’t getting in that. I’m sleeping anyway. Leave me alone.

Ok. You seem upset. We’ll sit near it, but we’re not impressed.

OMG! The brush! Love the brush!

Nothing like cats to remind you where you stand. I console myself with the fact that my friend is significantly more likely to appreciate the bag I made for her. At least I hope so, because I don’t have the option of resorting to grooming her if not.