Messenger Bag

I needed a small, over the shoulder bag, which could hold my purse, phone, keys and folded fabric shopping bag. I had some oilcloth, traditional, real, oily, oilcloth and bag hardware, so I made this:

I had also visited a leather heaven in Newcastle, so I had scraps of leather to use. The result is not tidiest and there are several things I will do differently next time.

I will definitely put the zip on the top and not try to hide it. The idea was good, but to look neat it needs a magnetic close and that becomes too fiddly. I installed the plastic snap after I had used the bag for a while, but it doesn't have the gumption to keep it together.  I am talking about the main zip here, not the front pocket one you can see in the picture above.

I will also make sure that I have good quality zips to use. These were bought as a job lot, cheap and cheery ones. I think in hindsight one should never try to economize with zips.

I love the lining I used. I also made a divider for the main pocket in addition to a little pocket. The divider was waste of effort, it would have been better to add a flat outside pocket. The little pocket inside is good though.

Do you have a good purse/phone/keys bag? Which features make it good? I am always eager to refine the functionality of the bags I make and any input is helpful.

Laptop Bag

My sister-in-law asked for a colourful laptop bag for her birthday. I obliged and when Elf husband saw the result he commented that the bag indeed was so colorful and bright that it almost hurt his eyes! This gift did not go without mishap...I slightly underestimated the need of seam allowances, so it was too small for the laptop it was intended for. Oh the shame...

This was to be a bag where she just slipped her laptop into, when not in use, rather than for transporting it.

The pocket is for the charger.

Sorry about vomiting pictures...not awfully lot to say about this project otherwise.

Paper Carrier

 

This bag is a birthday present. I got the measurements for a bag needed to hold the old newspapers between a sofa and a wall in a small home office until they are ferried to the recycling bins. We had talked about the colours; black and white going well with the same colour curtains.

The handles needed to be relatively short to allow for carrying in the hand. I used an old IKEA canvas fabric and lined the bag with black sheet fabric in order it to not to look dirty after the first lot of papers had taken the residence.

Unfortunately I didn't have enough of the lining fabric for the bottom of the bag, so it was made of the outer fabric. Pretty, but no necessarily practical. So I sewed an additional plastic coated bottom, which can easily be wiped down.

The giftee was of opinion that the bag night be too nice for its purpose. What? Of course one should have nice recycling facilities, that makes it easier to recycle!

Baggy gifts

This is a bit of a catch-up post. In my post from December I said that I had not made any gifts and didn't intend to. Well, I didn't until it was almost too late. "I just have to make at least one", I thought and produced these: Make-up bags for our twin nieces.

 A tote bag for their big sister.

 

All well and fine and not too difficult or time consuming...and then the devil took me and I suddenly had an urge to produce a shoulder bag in plastic coated cotton. I don't know where this urge came from, maybe from seeing too many people carrying their Cath Kidston plastic covered satchels.

So my poor sister-in-law was given this thing, which I made a pattern for

and sewed in a day as a prototype!

And as you can see, there is room for improvement. Dear S, you won't be gifted another one, I will make something nicer next time, I promise!

 

Have you had odd urges of making recently?

Washbag and papercutting

...not that they have anything to do with each other. I made a washbag (again) for one of our nieces. She is 18 today and had at some point wished one of these. I decided to take a gamble and make one without asking whether she still needed one. Luckily she liked the bag and I guess at her age with sleepovers and festivals and all sorts of travelling there is always use for one of these.

All the fabrics apart the green one are from IKEA. The lining is waterproof and the outside thick cotton. I had them in my stash, I don't think that the outer fabric is in production any more. I admit that it became either too long or too low, the proportions are not quite as I wanted them to be.  I was working to a tight deadline and had not time to adjust by starting all over again.

Here are some inside details:

 

I have made two papercuts lately. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the first and the better one. I sent this little card to our niece.

 

Again I wish I had started earlier to have had more time to get it right. I am at the moment very fascinated by the possibilities of papercutting, I would like  to try to make some pictures with it. Watch this space!

Camera Bag

 This is my camera bag. I made it because I don't like the camera bags, which look like camera bags.  I prefer them looking like "regular" bags. This one is decidedly a handbag.  I also wanted to have space enough to have my purse, key, phone and bus ticket. Sometimes I use my bigger bag getting around and then I only need the protection for the camera, hence the quick release buckles in both ends of the strap. The bag is small enough to live inside my bigger bag.

I used a black and white IKEA cotton canvas, which I like for its graphic quality and durability. I used the special plastic mesh, normally used for bag bottoms also for the front and back to give my bag stiffness and to protect the camera. There is also an extra interface padding on both sides of the mesh. Inside I have a bigger dividing pocket for my purse and a little one for my phone.

 
Under the flap is a shallow outer pocket, good for tickets and such. The flap closes with two magnetic snaps.

 To get away from the danger of the camera somehow rolling out of my bag, I have little narrowing straps with snaps outside the bag. This allows me to get the camera out easily with enough space to get my hand properly around the camera.

Yes, the camera is a DSLR, but I do not need extra space for extra lenses for my holiday usage. It is the husband who takes the "proper" photos. (The camera in the bag is his, hence the very pregnant looking bag! Mine is smaller).My camera is actually a hand-me-down camera, which I shamelessly use as a point and shoot. I squirm a bit here, because there was a time, many moons ago, when I actually took proper photos as well. I have even developed my films and pictures when the work was still done on film and paper. Today there is a lot less hassle doing the developing on the computer. I do use Photoshop, but mostly I just cut and possibly give a helping hand with the light, which is often in short supply here.

Elf Husband noted that there had been a discussion on the photographic forum on this exact topic. Several lady photographers felt that the camera bag market was very male oriented in the design department. He suggested that I should market my handbag camera bags. That is not a bad idea...Any takers?

Ps. When I do not need my camera, I just use the bag as a handbag.

Twin Bags

 

I made these bags a bit over a week ago for our favourite twin nieces, R and L. They had birthday and had wished for tote bags. The bags were well received and I hope they get some use!

The orange one has the thin material outside and is lined with the thicker one for durability. R likes orange and this was the only big enough piece of material I had in that colour. It was actually up-cycled from a thrift shop bought skirt.

 

The little buttons were a detail in the skirt and I left them as a decoration. I added a pocket on the outside, also lined.

On the inside I sewed another pocket, this time from a quilting cotton, which went with the colours.

L likes darker colours, so she got a psychedelic black and white bag.

I added a black and white buttons on the straps on the both sides and a pocket, this time no lining.

 The material of the white and black bag was thick, so lining was just sheeting cotton in black. The pocket was made of the same material as the outer shell, contrasting nicely with the lining.

I 

Now I quite fancy having one of these myself. Which colour should I choose....?

Christmas present review part 2

The picture is not one of the presents, but some home made decorations. I noticed that the blog land was awash with "paper jewels" and everybody seemed to have their own version of them. I downloaded some patterns here and used white card with different coloured and patterned papers clued to it. (The site is total bliss for someone wanting to do paper crafts...)When I started I thought that I would not be able to make them and if I could, I would not really take to it. It just looked too fiddly. Well...the ones in the picture are by no means the only ones I made. I just could not stop making them. It was truly addictive and I had to try all sorts of combinations of red and white. They were hung in our tree and are now carefully packed away for the next Christmas.

I also made mini bunting for our tree. It was really easy. I cut the flags as diamond shapes and just folded them and sewed them on the hemp line with zig-zag. In this way the bunting works from both sides. I cut the fabric with pinking scissors to avoid hemming. It also makes the little flags look rather decorative.

 

Here it is on the wall behind our bed before the tree went up. I almost left it there, because  it looked so festive and cheerful. When the tree came down I was debating whether to keep it for decorating all year round, but decided not to.  There is something very special about things which come up only once a year. I might though produce something similar in other colours...

 

So now to the presents. The bags galore were made. Two more wash bags were made for twin nieces R&L. They have started to have and go to sleep overs and I thought a wash bag might be a nice thing to have. The inside was made out of same polka dot wax cloth as the bigger wash bag's in the previous post.

They were nice to make until I for no reason hit a wall of "cannot do" with the second of them. I think I spent as long getting one seam right in that as all the other seams put together. Few swear words were uttered...I made a zip tag to ease opening and closing of the bags. I thought the button looked cute on it, do not know how nice it is to use though. The girls can always take the buttons away, if they are too much of a hassle.

I made more bags for others. My sister-in-law got this one. It started as a simple shopping tote, but then I lined it and decided that it needed a rigid bottom. So now she can either just use it as a shopping tote or a BIG handbag.

 

For our teenage niece the bag was made from a wilder fabric. Luckily she liked it, as it admittedly was a gamble. I thought she might, but was also prepared for the "what on earth does she think of me" -reaction.

I made it big and strong enough to use as a school bag for the college and this is what she is using it for. I am relieved.....

Did you take a chance making surprise presents? Link in comments, I would love to see!

Christmas present review part one

I started in good time making my presents, yet it felt that I was working awfully hard to the deadline of sending them away. I don't know how that came to be.

One of my sisters wished to have a wash bag and/or make-up bag, so I made both for
her. 

 

I lined the wash bag with red waterproof fabric with polka dots from IKEA. I like their oil cloth as it is matte and slightly thinner than many of its counterparts. This makes it easier to sew.  I have previously made even a little rucksack of it and it worked beautifully. (I don't think I blogged about it...)

It is not that difficult to sew a wash bag, but it does take some time. I have to be extra careful of not making any mistakes as picking the stitches from plastic doesn't work! I was really pleased to find some turquoise ric-rac from my stash to give it a little kick.

I also added a face cloth in the same theme. I don't think I have blogged about these, but they are a great way of using good bits of ripped towels. As a bonus everybody can recognise theirs when they have different colours and appliques. I will show more of them later.

 

My other sister had not wished anything and we don't normally exchange gifts. I wanted to surprise her with just a little practical home made present. I made her a new shopping tote and decorated it with some crocheted "snow flakes". These were again a thrift shop find and one of my trusty go-to when  wanting to doll-up something.

The little bag on the side was my  moment of genius. You see how very handy it is? It fits perfectly in your bag.

 I really detest plastic bags as they are blowing in the wind and ending up in places they should not be. I have been using reusable bags for long and now I have gone one step further; I bring my own vegetable bags as well. So I sewed a set for my sister to take with her. I did make five, but at the point of photographing the fifth one did not have the string - I ran out of it and had to grab the moment, because the sunlight or even just reasonable photographic light have been in a short supply here.

This post became rather baggy, but that was largely the theme of my gift giving this Christmas. More to follow!