Beautiful Babe Backpack...

It's official now, and sew I begin in earnest to create our Yule gifts for family and friends. I've been racking my brain for ages and still haven't decided on a complete list, so I've begun with one that I knew I had to make... a gorgeous little backpack for  my best friend's soon-to-be-3 daughter. Being a cutie little girl it had to be a cutie backpack so this one is made from a very tactile brushed denim in pink, with fuschia lining and accents/pockets. It's a similar design to the rucksack I've created the tutorial for in the textile how-to section... a change in size, fabric and accessories and ta-da, a unique bag for another unique person!

I do hope she likes it- well, of course she will, it's pink! I've also listed it on Etsy and Creative Stores as a basis for personalised backpacks. Great birthday presents as well as for Crimbo.

I'm also thinking about making bags and rucksacks using my own fabrics, so I've begun an experiment on Spoonflower- if you'd like to see what I mean, why not visit the collection?

Zodiac quilt is coming along nicely...

It's only 3 months to go and we will have completed our 12 blocks on the 2012 Bead Journal Project. WOW! It's gone so fast... I've now actually finished beading my blocks, but I still have to embellish them with the appropriate crystals and coloured beads.

Each zodiac has so many associations and I thought I'd make a flat reference guide that would look great on the wall, and be totally useful too.

I've started working round a few of them- I've done 6 now... but I've got 3 months now to finish them all and then start embroidering the texts around the piece.

Here's how it's looking now...

Once this panel is done I'll be adding coloured panels around the outside with the seasons and symbols.

Rucksack heaven!!

Oh, I finished it today, so it's had a bit of a road-test and performed brilliantly!! It's so comfy and fun... I might just put a bit of velcro in the inside pockets though, just to stop stuff falling out if I threw the bag around- well- it will happen at some point!

Here it is finished...

I've really enjoyed making this but I'm not sure if I would be able to justify charging £70/80 for it, even though it's taken 3 whole days to make because of the work involved... we shall see, I might list one on Etsy as a "special order" and see how it goes...

The tutorial is completed over in the how-to's textiles section. Have a go... post me a pic... any questions just email me- I'll go through it with you if you're stuck! 

Rucksack in progress...

Well, today's been fairly productive... I almost got it finished- only the straps, eyelets and hoops to add. Here's how it looks so far...

I'm just typing up the tutorial so far, that will be added to the how-to's textiles page very soon, and tomorrow I'll have my bag completely finished.

As you'll see by the tutorial I tend to make things up as I go along- you really don't need a pattern if you understand the construction rules. If you want to follow the tutorial I began with 1m of 45cm fabric and quilted 60 5" squares for the main piece. I cut the bag the whole length of the piece at 16 1/2" deep. That should give you a gauge for the other pieces. The straps are the whole length and 4 1/2" wide. Pockets, flap and all the loops can be whatever size you like depending on how much fabric you have left to play with. 

Although I've reiterated this in the tutorial here is a basic list of pieces you will need from 2 1m pieces;

2x 36 x 16 1/2" main body

2x  14 x 5" base

2x 36 x 4 1/2" straps

2x 5 x 9" pockets or to size

2x 6 x 2" strap loops

2x 5 x 5" strap reinforcements

2x 4 x 2 1/2" loops

These should easily fit into 2 m of fabric- the straps, loops and reinforcements can be from one piece or both, whatever you decide.

Check back tomorrow for the completed bag...

More bags in the making....

This week I have been alternating cleaning the mess from the builders with sewing a couple of projects. I can't clean it all in one go- that plaster dust gets everywhere and it doesn't matter how often you wash down, it still reappears the next day.

I have made another rucksack, which has turned out so utterly sweet, but I can't post a pic yet because it is a pressy for someone who will see it if I post- so I'll post the pic in a week or so once I know it's arrived safely. All I will say is that it is beautifully cream, with LOTS of pockets and a piece of my collaged textile as the flap... 

In the meantime- for those colour junkies like me I've also been prepping for my new bag... I wanted funky, colourful, textile this time- my felted satchel has served me well for a few years now, but it's time for a change!

I love batik so I have quilted squares together, with the edges to the right side, then sewn ribbon down the seams to strengthen them...

My wrong side...

The right side before the ribbons...

I love the frayed edges, it's such a shame to hide them so I'm making a feature of them. I've backed this with a pre-quilted fabric also donated from my mum's super-stash. I haven't decided on the exact pattern yet, but I think I'll make another rucksack... I shall be photoing and writing it up as I go so there will be a tutorial in the how-to's textiles section in a while. Tommorrow I'll cut out and prep all the pockets, etc. so keep popping back to see how it develops...

PYRAMIDS IN MY STUDIO...

Continuing on from mum's pressies, I got out some denim that I'd had kicking around and set about creating a few pincushions for Etsy. I wanted something original but useful, so I tried a cube, but felt it was too ordinary and bulky, and the pockets just didn't seem right... so I played with some other shapes and finally settled on a pyramid.

The pyramid gives me a chance to add a pocket using my collaged textiles which match the needlecases on one side, a ribbon on another to keep scissors, and a 3rd side for pins, needles etc. I get to decorate each side in a different way, but still keeping in style and colour. Each has a loop for carrying- you know how you always end up carrying too much at once when setting up for a project! I finish with one of my cute multi-coloured crocheted flowers.

Here's a few completed, they are so sweet I'm going to have to make one for myself, probably in the purple textile I collaged at the weekend while hiding from my kitchen ceiling! (Long messy story...)

Yellow, I keep set colours of textile in stock, but take orders for special combos

Each side in detail- ribbon strap, pin-side and textile pocket

 I shall be making more with the denim- I usually use coloured hessian, but I like the contrast! I feel some sewing sets coming on for Christmas- perfect gifts for crafty friends and relatives. I'm also going to start taking orders for personalised colours and detailing, adding an embroidered name to the ribbon, so if you're stuck for ideas then shoot over to Etsy and email me with your requirements... 

Needlecase sewing set, mum's birthday pressie...

I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem- what do you give  your mum when they can buy what they want themselves, and spent many years teaching dressmaking so expects perfection?

I'm trying to get her back into sewing now she's retired, so eventually I decided to make a couple of things that might inspire her to get the machine out again- a needlecase and a wrist pincushion. I usually use bright colours and funky patterns- but that's not mum, so I had to raid my stash...

I've added a step by step tutorial over in the how-to textiles section, pop over and have a go- they're really quick and fun to make- honest!!

 

I used a remnant of sea striped canvas, some felt for the pages and a few of my crocheted flowers. Needless to say I made one of my gift bags  to present them in, and huge sighs of relief when mum really liked them, and has agreed to make my daughter a hunting jacket to christen them- hooray!! 

Having seen her old tattered pincushion I spent this morning making a replacement ball pincushion in matching fabrics... hope she likes it too.

ART DOLL FUN...

My word, I can't believe I haven't posted for so long... I should have posted last Saturday but it was a nice day and with Father's Day on the Sunday and my parents being away for my birthday later, we went out for a special meal. A very nice time was had by all and the weather stayed remarkably sunny too- a blessing considering our recent wet trend.

I spent a couple of days last week getting on with one of the Elements dolls I'm creating for a Doll Challenge on Stitchin Fingers . We are only supposed to do one, but if you are doing one element, you should really make the set- I think, anyway! If you have followed my previous posts you will have seen I spent some time cutting fabric and designing/ painting symbols on the body pieces last month.

I've been hung up on finding suitable fabrics for the rest of the bodies in the set, but I found some rather nice pieces eventually so I've had to continue with the "Earth" doll.

Here she is complete... I'm not entirely happy with her face, and I plan on making a clay mask that I can paint up for each doll.

She has little suede pixie boots and bag, her own elder wand, and funky earthy dreads. As I said earlier, I want to create a mask for her and at the same time I still want to make a mold for clay hands, which can be smaller and more detailed. So I'm not too displeased with her, all in all. 

She'll be perfect once I make the adjustments.... and then on to another element, with my new sewing machine that should be arriving within the hour... goodbye to my 20 year old Toyota, and hello to my QE404. I'm so nervous it's killing me- I hope it's a good one, it does everything I want but I don't know the make... but for my budget it looked the best- so we'll see. I shall keep my Toyota as backup, no computer bits to go wrong there- it just doesn't do what I need nowadays. I'll be posting some textile work soon I expect- wish me luck!!!

Dolly doodles...

Well, not exactly! I've decided to take part in a doll swap over at stitchin fingers, particularly as the theme is Elements... well, the four, at least. Those of you that know me will understand I just couldn't say no - I've been interested and working with the four elements and symbols for years i one form or another, but I've never made Elemental dolls.

True to form, I start from scratch, so having designed the doll look, I went on to creating a set of symbols to use on the fabrics...

This is the first stage, the pen and ink design....

Air

Earth

Fire

Water

                              

I also decided to make a finished panel for each symbol, never one to pass up an excuse to doodle!

 

The others are done in a similar fashion.....

 

The next stages are countless... drop it into Photoshop and play.... colour them in, add a few filters... and come up with a collection of useful symbols...

I hate that my BA lecturer thinks photoshop is not an honest artist tool- so oldschool- it is so versatile, what she doesn't appreciate is that you still need a reasonable depth of knowledge to get what you want, and still have to master the software to create what you want... so what's the difference to using a paintbrush?

So here's the complete set in full colour, but un-enhanced...

I've painted the fabrics for the bodies using fabric paints, here they are, cut and painted, ready to sew together, but I need to find the right leg,arms and face fabrics first...

I've got till the end of June to finish one, but I reckon I'll have the set done as a whole, just too much fun not to!

Felt artpin fun...

Morning!

I'm just catching up taking pics of the last few days projects.... one of my favourites has been the Artpin swap hosted by Joy and Dawna. I've not made these before, but I guess alot of what I do could be converted into badges/brooches as long as I firm up the backs.

There are some gorgeous examples posted in the swap already, but I wanted to make something using different materials so there's always a variety when receiving them.

I started with a base of left-over wet felt, added merino tops by dry felting. I then embroidered shapes and knots in contrasting and complimentary colours. Embellishments added were angelina, brads and buttons.

I made 6, but only 3 are being swapped, so I'll have 3 to use in later projects- book fronts, textiles, collages...

 

I really hope whoever gets them likes them...

Sketchbook fun

I'm still working on my textiled sketchbooks, my current creations are A5, I'm finding that's both a nice size to work, and a reasonable size for sketching.
As well as creating these for sale, several of them will be going to unsuspecting friends for christmas, I can't wait to see their faces when they open them!

This is one of my favourites, spirals and blues. 72 pages of artist quality cartridge paper, yummy, I shall have to make one for myself  after the xmas rush. Here are a few of the others...A5's and A6's

Heart Scent Pouch...

It's coming up to Christmas, and I'm doing my best this year to not actually spend a penny on it!! (Directly, anyway, I may need certain supplies to complete my projects!) Over on Milliande's Palma has begun a swap for an International Goodies Box  What a great idea!!! There's a list of items to choose from to create, and I'm working my way through...the journal, purse/pocket and now scented sachet are all done...

Here's the scent sachet, or my interpretation!! Instructions are over in the how-to's textiles section I've made bags, cushions, wallets, and even my wedding ring pillow in a similar way, it's so versatile and fun, give it a go!! I always show the quick and easy way, minimum pinning, minimum fuss- my mum would go mad if she saw- she was a dressmaker/tailoring teacher, very by the book! Stood me in good stead though- I know the right way, so I know I can work out the shortcuts too!

 

 So here it is, a cute little woven ribbon scented pouch, plumped up with lavender heads from my garden. I do hope my box doesn't have to go to Australia with all their customs restrictions on seeds/wood and flowers, etc. I'd hate to have to empty it....

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Little Pocket Pouches

It's coming up for Christmas and one of my favourite stocking fillers is a little pocket pouch...useful to keep all manner of goodies together; make-up, pens, keys, jewellery, or my fave- certain female products that you have to carry round with you. It's all so much more discreet if they're tucked neatly into a pouch.

I've put a tutorial over in the  how-to textiles page, if you feel like having a go! If you use scraps of material it will only take 15 minutes...no time at all for such a funky, useful little pouch.

Personal Pockets, recycled sheets, school shirt and baby wipes

Don't forget to send a pic of your creation for the gallery!! Have fun- go mad- bead it up after you've turned it the right way!!

There is now a pic of Mary's creation in the Friends' Gallery, take a look, they are super!!!

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