Adventure Bag

I've done more changing of This into That this week.

My eldest daughter is going through an Indiana Jones phase, we re-enact the scene with the descending stone and the hat most mornings at school... with her book bag and the school gate.

Inspired by adventures and a place to collect treasures, I'd been looking for a brown leather messenger bag.

I'd been searching charity shops, of course.  I didn't find one, but I did find this....

Isn't it hideous? The lining is polyester, but the outer is genuine leather. £5. Couldn't wait to take my scissors to it...

I kind of worked by eye, using what pieces I could to make up a simple messenger shape. The shoulders, which were a bizarre snakeskin effect leather, could not not find a place though..

Lots of tea helped the process along. I copied the shape I'd sewn in a beige linen, and attached to the bag using the "right sides together leave a gap and turn it through" method.

A couple of notes:

I have a Teflon foot and I used it when sewing directly on to the leather. But once I forgot, and it didn't make a massive difference. This leather was very soft so that may have helped. I've heard putting tissue paper between the foot and the leather helps if you don't have a Teflon foot.

I used a long stitch length. 3.5 or 4. It's looks nice and the leather seems to be held together strongly.

I bought a meter of pelmet facing and cut three pieces just smaller that the bag pieces and the flap piece. I sort of just fitted them in when sewing the lining and the bag together. I think this bag would be far too floppy without them.

The bag has a phone pocket and pen loops. Perfect for today's modern adventuress. I added them before I sewed the lining into the bag.

Hardware: the buckle on the strap was from my vintage stash. I had trouble finding D hooks big enough for the strap I wanted to use. I needed approx 50mm. Couldn't find them. I got these from a children's belt I bought in Oxfam for 79p. 

What essentials would you pack for an adventure?

Adventures in spray painting

I've recently armed myself with several cans of spray enamel paint, and I am loving it. Loving it I tell you!
Not much is escaping the spray fest: old metal boxes, the heating vents in our house, the letterbox.

This ring:



...which I spray painted, set with a piece of an old star map... And the promptly lost...

My favourite revamp though is this...


A cheap, battery operated carriage clock from a car boot sale. I took everything apart, and coated it liberally in satin black. The face got covered with more of the star map (there's still some left, and I love it, so I anticipate this will not be the last star-related craft..), and the hands were spray painted with chrome.





..to this!
It makes the tiniest click each time the weights change direction.

KCWC Day 2 - Cutting Out

This is as far as I got this evening....



My children decided neither of them wanted to go to bed, and we're up and downstairs like small, cheeky yoyos. I'm surprised I got this done!

The fabric has a repeating flower design, and really I should have given much more thought to matching sides and flower placement on pieces. However, I'd bought the entire remaining length of this roll, and I'm not sure there was enough here to be that creative in my cutting.

Here's what I had left:



Just scraps. Hopefully it'll look ok when sewn up.....

KCWC Spring 2012 - Day 1

I've been mulling over what to do this week. E asked for a summer coat (because V has one!) and I was planning on doing that. I was going to use the leftover fabric from V's coat and was debating whether to use another vintage coat pattern I had in my stash, or really challenge myself and attempt to draft her a coat from scratch...

Then at the last minute - actually on day 1 of the challenge - I changed all that and went out and bought new fabric and a pattern.




Actually, I bought quite a bit of fabric! Well, in for a penny....
The beige linen on the bottom is what I have planned for the coat, possibly with the red spots for a lining (the pattern doesn't include a lining - I'd have to wing it, that would be my challenge for the week).
The three folded pieces above that are potential skirts, E has a definite hole in her wardrobe which needs to filled by summer skirts. Let's see if I get time..
(The screwed up stuff on the right is "remnants". Who doesn't need more remnants, right?)



The pattern is McCalls M5743. A little uninspiring in fleece on the picture, but could be lovely in a linen for summer. I'm making view D: long, ruffle sleeves, with a collar.
I've traced the pattern, and cut it out, and that I think will do for tonight...

Scrap Patch Bag

I made a bag... I should have been packing for my hols, but I did this instead.



Here it is in our holiday house - I did get packed eventually...


The outside is upholstery samples from the Scrap Store. I liked the rough edges...


So, after I cut the patches to size I rewashed and tumble dried them.


I sewed them wrong sides together to keep the fray. I used the final size of the patchwork bit to size the rest of the bag. The top blue fabric is from my stash and the leather handles are made from leather sample squares I picked up for 25p from a charity shop.


The lining is made from an old shirt of S's. I used the cuff for a phone holder. It also has pen loops!


And an interior zip pocket.

Materials Used:
Scraps from ScrapStore: Approx 30p
Top: from stash
Lining: free (S was going to throw it away)
Handles: 25p
Interfacing: Approx £1
Zip: from stash
Total Cost: £1.55

Pattern: improvised

Odhams P570 Childs Dress, Hat and Coat

It's finished!




Materials Used:
Large piece of blue linen-ish fabric, from a jumble sale. Approx 50p
Country Living teatowel, for contrast. Free, came with a hamper I got as a Christmas present.
Thread. Coats Duet. John Lewis. £1.20
Buttons. Red shell flowers. 3@55p each.
The first part of this went relatively easily, managed to get fronts and backs together OK, and sleeves in. I serged all my edges before sewing on the linen as it frayed super-easily. Assembling the fronts was really enjoyable, even though I felt like I was changing bobbins over every 5 mins for the contrast stitching.
The interfacing and the collar completely stumped me. Being a vintage pattern, the instructions implied a level of knowledge I clearly didn't have. I spent the first evening pinning and repinning and head scratching as I tried to figure out the puzzle.




I have no idea how I got to this point. Somewhere in the repinning it just came together, so I sewed!
I'm really pleased with it. V is (a small) 1 and a half and the pattern was sized for 2years, so she's got room to grow into it this during Summer/Autumn.
Modifications:
I had a red teatowel I wanted to use as contrast, so I top stitched the bodice pieces in red.
I added a back half lining from the same blue fabric, as I wanted to put a label in. I edged this piece with homemade "bias" (it was straight) tape from the teatowel.
I did make a pocket for the front, lined with the teatowel and top stitched in red, but it didn't look right so I ditched it.
I didn't understand the pattern and thought the facing (cut from the teatowel) would be on show. It wasn't, it was meant to be hidden under the front. I rolled the edge slightly and topstitched it so it looked a little like piping.
I used the contrast under the collar too.

Vintage Childs Coat pt1

I made it this far relatively easily yesterday. Then I stalled...
Buttonholes! Facings! Collars!



This is going to need a cup of tea and some thinking time....