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Project Updates

Project Updates

I showed a piece of green plaid-inspired felt a few weeks ago. I made it to use for a notebook cover with front flap and incorporated cord/tie. I finished that a couple of days ago. This is how it looks on the book with the cord wrapped around:

This is what it looks like on the inside without the book in:

I promised photos of the finished purses, and surprisingly, I have them! This is the bluey/purpley ones, and I also made a small simple case with a green plaid offcut:

And here are the finished pink purses:

I liked the green felt with Bluefaced Leicester locks so much I made a blue one:

I used more embelleishments on this one though: silk carrier rods, silk paper, viscose paper, cotton gauze, unravelled novelty yarns.

The shiny white patch at the top is viscose paper, the blue rectangle in the bottom right is silk paper:

A BFL lock:

I feel like I could sleep for a month now, and if I never have to do blanket stitch again this year, I won’t mind!

Project Updates

Project Updates

I remembered today that I haven’t shown the rest of the money purses or the notebook cover I was working on a few weeks ago. These are the purses opened up:

And this is what they look like closed:

I’ve added blanket stitch around all the purses now, but they still need buttons and button-holes. This is how the book cover looks from the front, with a notebook inside:

This is how it looks from the back:

I took a couple of photos without the notebook in, this is what the inside looks like:

And this is the front and back together:

And while I was looking for those photos, I came across some felt I made for another book cover. I wanted a cover with the tie incorporated in the design.

Once I tried the felt on a notebook, I realised it wasn’t quite wide enough, so I made another piece to cut the back cover panel out of:

I’ve only got as far as cutting the felt to size so far.

Latest Sewing Projects

Latest Sewing Projects

I don’t know about anyone else, but when I get my sewing stuff out, I make a right mess! So I like to get lots of things done at once. I cut out the pieces for some coin purses a few weeks ago, it took a while, but I got the tops of the inside pockets blanket stitched so I could move on to the next stage of joining the pieces together and sewing the seams on the machine. Here are 3 pink ones sewn up:

This is what they look like closed:

The next step is to round off the corners of the front flaps, then stitch all around with blanket stitch. I think choosing the right thread for the blanket stitch can take as long as the stitching sometimes! I had to make a make-shift table out of a cardboard box to put all the things waiting to be stitched, that stack of boxes on the right is about 9 of the thread drawers I have:

At the beginning of last year I made a nuno sample piece with some strips from a viscose scarf and a linen scarf. I thought it would make a nice pencil pouch. I made myself one a few years ago and use it almost every day. The idea is to use an extra long cord to wrap around to close it instead of a zip or other fastener. This is what it looks like closed:

This is the back when it’s opened:

And, inside, I lined it with some nice fabric I got a few years ago:

And, while the machine is out, I may as well … root through all those offcuts I tidied away. This is a bookcover I’ve been working on; the front, inside front sleeve, and the back is finished. Here, I’m planning the layout for the inside back sleeve. I thought I’d make enough for a future one while I was at it, so made it extra long:

Coin Purses and Plaid

Coin Purses and Plaid

I made some of my recent nuno felt pieces into coin purses. If you saw my last blog post, you might recognise this first one from the photo where it was just two cut out pieces:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis is how the back looks:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe other piece/purse which was in the photo sold, so I can’t show you that one. I usually add one extra piece to make two sections in my coin purses, but occasionally add another to make 3 sections like I did with this one:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis is how it looks closed:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI can’t remember if I ever showed this next purse after I sewed it up. You might remember it started out as a nuno ‘sample’ – I usually make them big enough to turn into coin purses if I like the way the fabric felts:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd I showed it cut out too:

blue green nunoI did sew it up at the end of last year, but I didn’t have the right button. I finally added the button to it:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnother purse I made used the plaid border of a scarf:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd sticking with the plaid theme, I made another plaid inspired piece of felt (because I liked a previous one so much) and made it into a small notebook cover. This is the front:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd this is the back:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Handmade purses

Handmade purses

I think I’m just out of date with everything I’ve made! No one uses cameras now because phones have them, so no use for camera cases. Same thing with diaries, who needs a diary or notebook when phones have organisers and memo apps etc. And I think I’m the last person to still use actual money, and even debit cards, but that means you get to see the purses I made last week 🙂 This is the blue flowery nuno one (obviously!). Front:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThis is it opened:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd this is the back:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI don’t think I blogged about the felt piece I made these next two purses from, though I do remember sharing it on the forum. I wove lots of different strips of fabrics for an interesting nuno piece with lots of texture and contrast. You can see the piece here. This is the first purse:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe back:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd the second one is very similar:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe felt was just the right size to cut the purses out and allow me to use both top and bottom  natural edges. This is the back:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd the last one is one of my favourites, made from a sunflower scarf nuno felted onto Merino. This is the front:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThe dazzling inside:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd the texturey back:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANext week I’ll probably show you all the greetings cards I didn’t sell 🙂

Catching Up

Catching Up

I’ve been trying to some of the projects I started before I began working on my polymer clay e-book. I had a few purses and glasses cases cut out or part sewn up. The first one I finished was a ruffle camera case. It hadn’t even been cut out, so I did some measuring and cutting then discovered my electric machine won’t work 🙁 I cleaned out the bobbin case and took the parts off and wiped them and put them back, but the needle won’t pick up the bobbin thread. From what I can tell it is timing or something and I don’t think it’s something I can fix. So, out came my ancient electric Singer without the electrical parts. It’s slow going but it works, for straight stitching anyway 🙂  This is the front of the case:

rufflesAnd this is the back:

ruffles 2This was one of the purses I hadn’t even blanket stitched, it’s made from the same piece of felt as one I made earlier. It’s a slubbed wool which I added some cotton and silk threads to and some strips of rolled edges from silk scarves. Front:

purseInside:

inside purseThe felt this wool makes has a really nice texture. Back:

purse backA piece of coppery bronze felt that I made a while ago was just big enough to make a purse and matching glasses case.

coppery bronzeDo you have piles of WIPs at different stages?

Purses and Designs

Purses and Designs

I’ve done a little bit more work on a couple of the purses I started. I’d already sewn up one of the slubbed white ones, and now I’ve added the button and button-hole. I thought doing large-ish blanket stitch around the button hole would suit the colours and style of this purse.

purseI used some slubbed wool I bought quite a few years ago to make the felt for this. I added some extra threads and bits of silk to the felt. I can’t find a photo of it, but this piece is very similar, and this is a close up of the texture.

backI used a cream vintage button, and kept the natural uneven edges again for the back pocket.

insideThe other purse I worked on was one made from a piece of felt and squares of silk paper. It was one of my favourite pieces, the silk squares are so shiny. I’m still undecided about the button, I’m thinking of using this vintage one:

frontThis is the back:

backAnd the inside, I like these purses with two pockets because you get to see more felt than on the zipper ones:

insideThe other thing I worked on last week were some collage sheets. I’m working on designs for sheets to sell on etsy and maybe even do some designs for fabric through Spoonflower and some printed silk. I hoped I might get some feedback on the designs, so I’ve made some samples and uploaded them here. Feel free to print them and use them, but please don’t sell/redistribute the designs.
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