turkey feathers

Bluework Bag

Mostly I worked on bags over the weekend. Four to be exact, all from the same beach bag pattern I started out with two weeks ago.  Quite a few people have asked me for the pattern.  I don't have one, but started with a rectangle about 15" x 12" and tapered the bottom a couple of inches.  This one's for an old friend I haven't seen in long time.  The little twill tab says, Remember and the bluework embroidery is a flower motif of Forget-Me-Nots, an old pattern from the turn of the century, so it's got built-in sentiment.  I seem to have lots of little wayward embroideries like this that I've kept from projects that never got finished, or from samples I've made, or that were part of a vintage piece. They come in handy when I want to add a flourish without losing my momentum on a project. It seemed like the perfect choice for this bag anyway, and I really like how it all came together. Now to fill it with vintage embroidery patterns, floss, fabric, and a long, newsy letter before I send it on its merry one-thousand mile journey, where I hope it brings a little happy rememberance.

Beach Bag

I was up into the wee hours last night working on site updates and typelists. As you can see, I did finally add some blog links and it took forever and that was only one-third of my list. I don't know if I have the heart to keep going. My poor brain did not explode, but my ears were ringing when I finally flopped into bed, and I woke up, still thinking about it this morning even though I clearly have more important things to do today than to mess around with how this blog looks.  But I'm still compelled to work on it, and as with so many creative urges, I've found it's best to just let it lead the way and see what happens. Otherwise, I could end up spending an insane amount of time just thinking about it and doing nothing. Overall, I'm pretty happy with it. I may tweek it a few times before all is said and done.  So, just as the wizard told Dorothy..."pay no attention to the man woman behind the curtain", you can picture me frantically pulling levers and turning dials behind the scenes as images come and go.  I guess you could say that this bag was responsible for my blog make-over. I just finished it, and I'm really loving these color combinations. The style is exactly like a vintage summer beach tote I used to have. Just looking at it makes me dream of golden sunshine and riding to the beach in my sporty convertible with the top down.  This is the *romantic version* of a past life. Just a passing fantasy on a gloomy day that makes me smile, remembering.   Here's a peek inside. I used buckram instead of a synthetic interlining, and covered a little cardboard piece to fit in the bottom to give it stability. I've been thinking about these woven handles for ages, and finally tried it with some raffia. Ginger held the ends while I braided it together. They came out surprisingly sturdy.  Love the organic element as well. The finishing touch was my favorite vintage button, one I'd been saving for just the right piece and this was it.

Linen Pocket Bag

Much thanks for all the well-wishes, I feel like I've finally turned a corner toward the road to recovery, and just in time to finish this bag last night for Li Li, who lives in Singapore.  It was the least I could do after she sent me so much good stuff, including this amazing little book. I have to say, I'm very pleased with how this bag turned out. Originally, I was thinking of doing a knitted bottom portion, like this one Cassie made, but I don't knit, so when I found this fluffy fleece I just took a chance with it. The striped fabric is actually a (new) woven dishtowel. It's padded and the inside is lined with cotton chenile from a vintage bedspread. A simple applique, mother-of-pearl button, numbers twill-tape, and my "label" add some finishing touches. All the different elements add an interesting textural quality.  I love the over-all effect. I used Velcro strips for the flap closure.   Now off to wrap and ship this package..with a few *surprises* added, since I sort of let the cat out of the bag here.

Shutter-Bug Bag

I got a new bike! Actually, it was a birthday present from the Mister. We live in a bicycle friendly community with miles of trails and paths and have been going out on the weekends exploring new places.  I needed a light-weight, easy-to-access camera bag to wear on our bicycling ventures and made this one from an ordinary dishtowel.  It's lined with pretty fabric and padded with quilt-batting.  The shoulder-strap is long enough to wear across my body so it doesn't slip off when I'm on my bike.  The buttons are sewn on to reinforce the strap. I can just slip it off and drop the whole thing right into my purse.
I'm ready to roll.

From the Heart

I couldn't resist making another pair; this time experimenting with a dishtowel.
And I've been making LOTS of these little bags and other things, but more about that later because right now I am headed out the door. 

Omiyage

Last week I was wandering around the bookstore and picked up this book which inspired a few quick projects.  These make the cutest little button bags and coin pouches.

Lop-sided Loop Bag

The heat index hit a hundred here over the weekend. Didn't get a lot of sewing done, but did manage to finish this bag I started before I got side-tracked with my sewing room re-do (which is still in progress btw). Most of the bags I've been making lately have all been experiments without patterns; just trying different things. I got stuck on this one though and had left it sitting on the shelf unfinished. That is, until I spotted this picture in a Japanese craft book and hit on an idea. Everything else just came together once I figured out I could make loops instead of a casing for the ties. It reminds me of a little lop-sided cake.

Tale of Two Totes

Before I started tearing up my sewing studio, I'd just finished these. Still experimenting with the designs and trying new things. This was a shorter wider version of some similar totes I made a couple of weeks ago.  Still using the quilted-cotton.

When I started making this one I had a completely different idea for it.  I kept changing things as I went along and eventually it turned into a little pail.  I'm not entirely sure how it happened and probably couldn't make it again if I tried.