Revamped

At last, we have a new and reliable source of grommets for the Fan Bag, so we can add it to the list of revamped and rebranded YOU SEW GIRL patterns. 

It's been hanging in limbo for months, so I'm very happy to announce that it's NOW available.  If you can't make it into Northcote to see us, you can ask at your favourite YOU SEW GIRL stockist to order it in for you.

The Fan Bag is an instant gratification sort of bag project.  It's super-quick and very easy to make (even for beginners).  It's fully reversible and can be made as a day or evening wristlet (or both... being reversible).   It's also a really lovely gift-wrap for small presents (think: Christmas).

 

Another revamping - this time as a digital download - is the Make-Up Purse.  Like the Coin Purses, it's a great way to use up scraps and offcuts and makes practical, attractive gifts.  Also like the coin purses, the instructions for this one are all about making neat zipper ends (no bunched up corners).

I've revamped the pattern completely, making 2 x sizes for 15cm/6'' zips (one is the original size and one is taller and wider) and then there's an adjustment on the larger size to make purses to fit 18cm/7'' and 20cm/8'' zippers (all the maths and patternmaking is done for you for these sizes, but you can also extend the pattern to make pencil cases or purses of any length).

 

Watch this space for more new patterns for Christmas gifts.  I have a few new designs on the back-burner.

Before another one passes...

I've no idea where time is flying to lately, but it's certainly going fast.  Already, another week is gone and I've failed - once more - to document the goings on.   A quick recap is in order. 

The new dress pattern was sent out to wonderful pattern-testers and the feedback is coming back in. 
I've made more dresses and taken more photos. 
I have plans for tweaking the instructions again. 

I made this dress in gorgeous Saffron Craig fabric, but lacked a child of the right size to try it on.  It's yet to be pressed and has been hanging on the tripod for a few days.  I wish it would fit me.

 The back of the machine-knit jumper was re-worked and I'm happy with it... even if the back seam is a bit wobbly and you can see the line where the yarn got tangled and pulled the tension really tight. 

I gave it a bit of a press and wore it to work.  Nobody asked why I was wearing a toile (muslin).

 Last Saturday after my class, a couple of my oldest and bestest friends dropped around.

 There was wine and pattern-making and good conversation.  Tanya dropped in - since she was in the area - and had a cuppa.  Sensible girl - no wine before her 3 hour drive home. 

What a lovely way to end the week.

 My apologies to the gals in the Purse Frame Class last Saturday.  I promised I'd post this picture so they could show off their purse-making skills.  It's a bit late, but here it is... 6 gorgeous new purses!!

And now we're nearly back to Saturday again.  Tomorrow I'm off to the Australian Sewing Guild group in Essendon to teach a bag-making class.... and then the week is over again.  Who'd a thunk it?

Hope your weekend is a good 'un!

The Roses of Success

One of the things that I love about making purses, is just how little fabric is required. The scrap bag is full of treasures that can be transformed into useful, beautiful objects. I've been a bit obsessed with scraps of machine-knitted experiments and disasters. Waste-not-want-not and all that....

I'm also enjoying the challenge of working with new materials within a familiar form. It's a magical mystery tour of design decisions, based on what the fabric will and will NOT do. I moved on to felted woollen jumpers (and stayed with the purse frames).

The green boucle was particularly thick, so I had to re-think the construction process somewhat. The seams are blanket-stitched (by machine) and exposed. The lining is attached to the outer fabric in the same way. I didn't reduce the seam allowance, so the finished purse is bigger than the usual Shell Purse. I like it.

Cue: The song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Occasionally (...ahem...) I'm still inspired to buy new fabrics, because they speak to me about the potential of future projects.... I dropped into GJ's on Saturday and found lots of inspiration... Stay tuned...

Did someone mention a PARTY...?

Before the quilt show, I had a little stash-busting blitz to refresh my display of purses. I think they look like they're having a purse-party.

Amongst it all, I rediscovered the quick-fix joy of making the Party Purse (pattern HERE). This purse was originally inspired by the memory of (many years ago) when I was bridesmaid for my best friend.

On the morning of the wedding, I realised that I had no purse to carry the essentials for the day. Having made the my own dress (and the flowergirl's) , I was able to whip up a matching wristlet with a few leftover scraps before getting dressed for the wedding. It wasn't this design, but the idea stuck....
A girl need a super-fast go-to pattern when she's caught without a matching purse.

This purse needs to be small enough to be elegant but large enough for all the essentials ...and it needs to be a wristlet, to free hands up for glasses of champagne, canape's and conversational gesticulations.
It needed to be infinitely variable, to suit a wide range of fabric types, occasions and personal styles. And it needed to be EASY AND QUICK TO MAKE. .
That's what the Party Purse pattern is all about.

So chock-full of instant-gratification was I, in my little Party-Purse-making frenzy, I found myself whipping these up and not wanting to stop. But stop, I did (other fish to fry). I took photos and then forgot all about blogging them.... so here they are, at last.

*****

PS. Many thanks to those of you who contacted me after receiving my latest newsletter. For some of you, it was the first ever (despite some of you being on the mailing list for years). It appears that we now have an email manager that actually SENDS the newsletters, so I'll be more inclined to use it as a medium of communication. If you'd like to subscribe to semi-regular (ok... it's actually quite sporadic) news about classes, products and sales, you can do so right HERE.

One thing at a time.... (pffft!)

Thing have been a bit quiet on the bloggy front here. My week was a tad full with things other than time to blog. While organising my AQC stand (and associated display, staff and stock), there were negotiations about a big secret-surprisey-thing..... shhhh....

There was preparation during the week, for a workshop on the weekend (with a great bunch of Essendon Quilters). Thanks for the fun day, girls!

I was also working away at the new purse pattern, aiming to get it to some pattern-testers by the weekend (...done, by the skin of my teeth and without the purse frames being sent out).

This purse is for basic-intermediate skills, so the instructions have to be perfectly clear and achievable.

I agonised over things like straps.

Really.

I also wanted to get the purses finished and photographed so I could let you know that THIS is my idea for a fund-raiser for the Red Cross.

Rather than do my usual New Pattern Giveaway, I'd blatantly steal Jodie's idea again, for a raffle. Leave your receipt number for your donation of $5 (and a way to contact you if you don't have an email address enabled on your google/blog profile) in the comment box below (or email me with it).

There are so many areas in need right now, I'm not fussed if your donation is for Japan, Christchurch or the Victorian floods. The Red Cross are doing a amazing job, trying to keep up. They need all the support they can get.

I'd planned to make a draped purse in quilting fabric, to balance out the more "serious" satin, georgette and wool versions (and give me more options for a cover photo for the packaging). I haven't managed that one.

I had plans for an applique/felted/patchworky version, too. That didn't happen, either. Meanwhile, there was simultaneous ordering, photographing and uploading new products to the website, and negotiations with fab arty-crafty tutors (and scheduling/uploading exciting new classes to the website). There are more workshops to come, including garment fitting with the marvellous Sooz.

I was also working on a printable form of the worshop schedule. Again.... not completely finished, but a good way to being done. Check out the new classes online here.

And there was a late-night rendezvous with my new love, the knitting machine.

I made a really long wrap-around-and-tie, Tess of the D'Urbevilles-inspired garment. My first ever non-neck-scarf knitty Thing For Me. I've worn it constantly since (and have learned a valuable lesson about pennanular cloak pins and delicate knitwear...).

And this morning I started knitting the food-coloured-machine-knitted wool yarn into something for a very small girl... while I wrote this blog post.

SO.... how was YOUR week??

*****

Don't forget to pop your Red Cross receipt below for a chance to win the new pattern!!!

A tutorial (at last!): Corded rouleaux straps

Rouleaux is a bias-cut tube, used to make things like shoestring/spaghetti straps or button loops on lingerie or evening wear. If you fill the tube with cord (that's piping cord), you get a strong, rounded strap that can turn a hand-held purse into an easy-to-carry wristlet.

There are instuctions for making this type of strap in my Teardrop Purse, Evening Bag and Clutch patterns. The new purse pattern will also include instructions.... but I know that some people need a few more visuals on this one, so I've decided to demonstrate it in colour and with the odd moving picture show.....

1. You need to cut a bias strip that is wide enough to wrap around the piping cord and leave 13mm (half inch) seam allowances on either side. You will need a piece of piping cord that is twice the length of the bias strip.

Note: For this particular 6mm piping cord, I've cut a 4cm (I think that's an inch and a half) wide bias strip.

2. Starting at the halfway point on the cord, fold the bias strip around the piping cord, with the right side of fabric facing inward. 3. Stitch the end of the folded bias strip securely to the cord at the halfway point. (Reverse and sew forwards a few times - you don't want this to come undone).

4. Using a zipper-foot (and a small stitch) on your sewing machine, stitch along the side of the cord to join the two raw edges of the bias strip.

NOTE: Don't sew so close that you risk catching the cord in the stitches. 5. Ok.... this is where we need moving pictures. Watch this!

(... ahem.. if you feel like it).

6. Snip off the uncovered cord and the stitched end of the bias strip.

7. Pull the last 1-1.5cm (half inch) of cord out of each end and trim the cord off.

8. Hold onto the cord and give the rouleaux a gentle stretch over the cord. (It's at this point that you'll notice if your stitch length is too long or your tension too tight!)

9. Squash (or unravel) the ends of the cord within the rouleaux tube to flatten them.

10. Sew the cord into the seam of a purse at the point where the cord is squashed. Don't trim the empty ends (they're needed to stop the strap from fraying).

Hey, look! You've made a corded rouleaux strap!

***

PS. I dug out a huge roll of upholstery piping cord from my pouffe-making days. I'll be selling it off at 50c + GST per metre until it runs out. It's PERFECT for corded straps!

***

PPS. The fabric in this photo was designed by the uber-talented Sarah Arnett from the UK. The purse is made from scraps from her 2009 clothing range. EDITED TO ADD: I've been in contact with Sarah, and we may be seeing some yardage here soon!!! Woot!!!

More Xmas gifts = more inkjet fabric.

Zip purses for the kinder teachers and after-carers this time. Ok, so it's not exactly a new idea.... (but if it ain't broke, why go fixin' it, I say!). There's nothing quite as appealing as a kid's happy drawings on a bit of inkjet fabric.... a simple little purse....


...and a bit of cheery Curlypops fabric on the back (which just happens to be on sale for another TWO HOURS, but still gorgeous at any price!). I think it compliments the happy little critters in the kid's drawings ...which were, as it happens, drawn as gifts for Ms Curlypops (I photographed them before she took them home).

Speaking of Ms Curlypops, she has another fantastic suggestion for The Perfect Gift at this time of year. A must read. Indeed, a must-do, if you can.

How to not make an i-Phone pouch.... while learning a few interesting things on the way.

Our 90mm flex frames are really popular, and we started stocking them around the time that iPhones started to become popular.

The frames were a bit too tight to make an iPhone pouch. So we ordered BIGGER frames, and they've finally arrived.

Meet the new 115mm Flex Frames... (5-pack listing will happen soon. Slow connection tonight is making it too painful to contemplate right now).

This morning, I set about designing the much-requested iPhone pouch....

(I don't actually own an iPhone, so this involved roaming the building - with my tape measure - looking for unsuspecting iPhone owners).

I was distracted for some time by the desire to transfer a picture of a robot (that my assistant drew last year) to textile art....

There was much scanning and image-tweaking, followed by freezer paper cutting and inkjet printing....

..followed by the realisation that I'd printed on the SHINY side instead of the matt side of the freezer paper.... which led me back to basics. (Using a 2B pencil and a window, I traced the robot to the matt side of the freezer paper).

...and used it to cut out teeny-tiny pieces of felt.

I learned an important lesson about the rumour I'd heard about using glue sticks to hold applique in place. I'm going to stick to basting spray from now on.

The fancy-schmantzy sewing machine was set to work where my interest in teeny-tiny-hand-applique failed.

The pouch was constructed in the same way as my tutorial for the 90mm pouches. Only by this stage, I've learned that my beaky-nosed pliers are the right tool for closing over the ends of the hinge.

The search for iPhone owners was resumed in earnest for the final fitting....

But it was a little.... ummmm.... roomy.

Cute. But too big (and a little glue-stick stained).

Another re-draft, a bit of inkjet fabric action.....another search for an iPhone in the building....

And it's still too big.

But I learned a very interesting thing..... iPhone 3's don't fit in a 90mm frame....but iPhone 4's do!

So.... the 115mm frames would be great for cameras and other electronic gizmos (guitar tuners, light meters...) or for a little notebook and pen. Not an iPhone.

Tomorrow I'll be looking out for Blackberry owners....