More matryoshka russian dolls fabric

I recently discovered Shamash and sons fabrics, and managed to get hold of their multi colour matryoshka dolls fabric on a black background (and their fabulous mermaids fabric). The company has decided not to manufacture their range anymore so all their fabrics are discountinued and this russian dolls one is highly sought after. There are so many things I want to make with this, but I decided to use it for a new project: a little bag for a mobile phone/ipod/pda etc.

I was inspired by those cute little bags (matching the bigger handbags) in some of my japanese books, and wanted to make one that is roomy enough to hold several items (like an ipod and a mobile phone for example). I didn’t follow a pattern but just made an adapted mini version of a messenger bag. I wanted the strap to be detachable so that it can be used hanging from the strap/handle of a handbag or hanging from a jean’s belt loop. The strap is attached to the little bag with snaps, and I embellished the area where the snaps are on the bag with a flower shaped wool felt.

I also made another one with an Amy Butler peacock bird fabric.

If you want to make a small bag like this, these are the points to be aware of:

* it can be tricky to sew the lining to the outside fabric at the top part of the bag as it’s to small to fit around the sewing machine’s free arm, so go slowly if you want a perfect straight stitch

* you need snaps with long prongs if you want to attach the strap with snaps (the ones from snapsource are good for this) as normal snaps will struggle with several layers of fabric/interfacing/padding, otherwise a better option may be a button with a buttonhole or a sew in velcro

Stay tuned for my next project: a porfolio organizer.

Fabulous jewellery from Januarydesigns on etsy

I just have to share these lovely jewellery from Cathie, she has an etsy shop Januarydesigns where she sells her gorgeous designs (and some of her gemstones and beads). Cathie is a very warm and friendly seller with a talent for creating pretty and unique designs using gemstones, one of a kind lampwork beads, swarovski crystals and precious metals. Just look at these bracelets, they are exquisite, if you click on the pictures you will be directed to her etsy shop. These are just a selection of her new collection, she also sells necklaces, earrings etc.

All pictures are courtesy of Januarydesigns

Gratitude

Gratitude is something that I experience quite often, I have noticed that the more I am grateful the more I find things (people/experiences/things) to be grateful about. Last week, life gave me more to be grateful about. I managed to teach a workshop to counsellors without making a fool of myself (first time teaching!), finished the end of year charity accounts that was way overdue, met some lovely new people, had a custom order and had my first sale on etsy (another custom order by a lovely lady). And one of my friends met a special person in her life which makes me super happy for her.

I think it is easy for me to feel so grateful after what happened to me several years ago. I don’t talk much about personal stuff in this blog because of the ethics of my counselling job but I would like to share something, I had a normal life like everyone before, then I was in a road accident and broke my hip and both my femurs (oh dear, learning to walk again was funny!), my life changed dramatically and I learned to make the most of it. You see, there are things I am not physically able to do anymore, like having a full time job with all its rewards, so when I got those 2 custom orders, I was so happy and grateful, I get to stay at home doing something I enjoy and get paid for it.

So to celebrate, I got more lovely fabrics and a Clover bag template from Japan. I first saw this bag template on etsy and wanted to know if it is better than a bag pattern. I haven’t used it yet, but will give it a try later on. It is just a plastic template allowing you to make 8 different bags (they are similar though) and comes with instructions for each bag, the japanese Clover website also has some free pdf tutorials of bags using this template. I reckon it can be useful for a beginner or an intermediate sewer but an advanced sewer may not be impressed by it.

This is another bag that I finished more than a week ago, I love the matryoshka dolls on this but I used a navy thread for the top stitching which is great for the outer fabric but the lining is multi colour stripes and I just don’t like the look of of that blue thread on the lining, I wish I had one of those japanese fabric tape that I could just iron over the stitching, or maybe hand sew a pretty ribbon over the stitching? Next time, I’ll make a note to remember to use the same outside fabric on the top edge of the lining fabric.

Update: I finally got the courage to unstitch the top of the tote bag and re-stitched it with navy thread for the outside and light blue for the lining. So it looks very nice and up to my standard now.