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Tag: D rings

Felt Shoulder Bag

Felt Shoulder Bag

A few weeks ago, when I made my Camouflage type hat, I also made a satchel type bag. I used a more brown shades of wool and slightly less rusty/orangey colours. I used some camo print silk from an old scarf, some cotton gauze and also pieces of dyed muslin that Ruth sent me. On the back of the bag, I used a large piece of silk because I thought it would pill/bobble less where it rubbed against clothes.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis is a slightly different angle:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI also used a piece of cotton scrim to line the insides

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI attached D rings to the side, for the shoulder strap to attach to. I tried to find webbing the right thickness to make my own strap, but couldn’t get the colour and thickness I wanted, so I’m going to use one from a bag I bought.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI did think about using straps and buckles for closing the bag, but decided that would be a bit fiddly

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASo, in the end I used magnetic clasps, and folded the bottom flap up about an inch. I don’t like the way the machine stitching turned out though, the clasp distorted it, so I might unpick it and do it again.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAHere it is with the strap attached

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Clasps, Closures and Fasteners

Clasps, Closures and Fasteners

You might remember my post a few weeks ago about sorting and using felt scraps, and the notebook cover I made with offcuts. Well, as much as I liked the button closure, I wanted something a little more secure. I had a hunt through my craft drawers and found a bag clip I’d salvaged from something I threw away (I recently discovered these are called Delrin Clips) and using some more felt offcuts, attached this instead of the button.

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One of my WIPs at the moment is a small shoulder bag, just big enough for a camera and purse. The closure I’ve used on this is a metal magnetic bag clasp. They’re quite easy to use: each half comes in two parts, you need to make a small cut in the fabric, push the metal ‘prongs’ through, then add the little washer and fold the prongs in. I haven’t decided yet whether to cover the top with more felt or maybe a large fimo button.

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This got me thinking about all the different kinds of claps, closures and fasteners I have. I have the usual buttons, zips, poppers/snap fasteners, hooks and eyes etc, but I also like to salvage and collect any I find cheap. Not so long ago, I saw cheap packs of dog and cat collars and leads in Poundland (like a dollar store) and couldn’t resist buying a pack, which gave me a few Delrin clips and Trigger Hooks.

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These Delrin clips were either bought or salvaged from old bags. The small ones are slightly different, they take a cord type of attachment rather than a flat webbing or ribbon type of fixture.

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Most of the Delrin clips I have do take a flatter attachment though, so I just had to buy some nice braid for attaching them 🙂

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I’ve managed to add to my collection of fasteners while I’ve been doing a lot of clearing out and tidying up lately. I salvaged quite a few lobster style trigger hooks, D-rings, split rings and key rings from old or broken or unwanted items.

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Do you have any interesting clasps, closures or attachments? Do you have any tips for salvaging or buying them cheaply? We’d love to hear your ideas 🙂

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