Corduroy & Brocade Handbag

The latest handbag is done, purple wide rib corduroy for the outside panels with green brocade as the accent, bead trim on the flap, there are front and back pockets with magnetic snaps on the outside and I put 4 pockets of various sizes on the interior.

 I happen to like corduroy, my husband refuses to wear it, apparently there was some childhood fashion trauma that lingers to this day. I love the feel of the fabric, and its very durable. Philomena the Pfaff (yeah, I named by sewing machine) went through several layers of the corduroy, a layer of interfacing and a layer of thermolam like a dream.

Spent the morning disassembling 4 men's 100% wool suit jackets I found at a thrift store, wool is spendy in the fabric store and I only need enough for handbags so I spent about $15.00 and got decent size pieces of 4 different patterns, including a yummy ivory.

Fabric Collage

Another project from the STITCHED workshops, this one was Branches, Buds and Blossoms with Deborah Boschert. I have always done paper collage for journals, handmade books and other paper projects so it was very fun to do the same with my ever growing fabric stash. Deborah's videos were concise and she did a great job in showing how to work out your design.

Collage is about 12" x 15", got to use some of the decorative stitches on my new Pfaff, it handles specialty thread like a dream. The original idea in my head was much simpler but as always once I get going and there are SHINY THINGS involved it gets busier. You can't just have a couple of sequins you know, they need to be in the company of many friends.

Things I learned on the project were...

1. Freezer paper stenciling, no more messy flow of paint under the stenciling.

2. French knots are cool.

3. Beading needles will spontaneously go into hiding the second you avert your eyes after placing them on your craft table.

4. The spousal question of  "Why are there sequins all over the floor?" does not dignify an answer.



Next project in the queue, another handbag....hint: Purple wide rib corduroy, green satin brocade and SHINY THINGS. Stay tuned.



Spring Handbag collection!

The sewing continues....my little fashionista self loves handbags so guess what I've been working on....handbags!

My wonderful husband saw the writing on the wall with this whole sewing thing and bought me a Pfaff Ambition 1.5 machine, 196 stitches, computerized, automatic tie-off, and so much more, I am totally in love with it. My faithful Kenmore with its 9 stitches will now be the official mixed media sewer for paper, painted canvas and other stuff I really don't want to sew with my new baby.

Signed up for the STITCHED workshops, several awesome online workshops all together on one site. First one I did was the Fylerion Bag with Sara Lawson, I found this awesome plaid Ultrasuede at Joann's that was perfect for this project.

The decoration for the flap was a pin I also found at Joann's, it completed the whole Scottish vibe.

Next up was a bag of my own design with a mixture of home decor fabric and red brocade, the flap is another Ultrasuede.

Latest project is a clutch inspired by a tutorial on the THREADS magazine site. My stash includes a lot of yarn/fiber so that along with a couching foot for my machine and some fabric applique produces this fun little number.

Here is the back showing more couching and applique....

That concludes the craft portion of this blog, now on to the (much anticipated) Crazy Cat Lady portion.

Apollo is the Studio Cat, Dana could care less, that 10 feet from the house to the studio is just a tad bit too far from the cat food and her cushy binkie.

WHAT APOLLO DOES WHILE I AM SEWING

WHAT APOLLO DOES WHILE I AM WORKING WITH PAPER

WHAT APOLLO DOES WHILE I AM RETURNING EMAIL...PAYING BILLS...AND TRYING TO LOAD MUSIC INTO iTUNES

Needless to say my studio comes equipped with a lint roller to get the hair off the fabric, paper, bills and CD's.

Moving onto the GARDEN portion....

Kind of a crappy spring so far here in Bellingham, lots of rain, SNOW (boo...hiss), more rain and wind. However things are coming up, the snowdrops are always the first.

Rhubarb is making a good showing.....foreshadowing of pies and crisps.