My first tutorial

It's one of my many Sister-in-Law's birthdays tomorrow, and so I decided to make a gift for her. She is a clinical psychologist and probably uses lots of note books. So after trawling the web for most of yesterday evening, looking for inspriation, I came up with this which is my own version of a Moleskine book cover (yes, that spotty dotty again). It's just a simple one but I added a pen holder as you can never find a pen when you need one and it doesn't add much bulk to the whole thing. Now that 've done it, I quite fancy adding pockets and things, but that would make it bigger, and I think nice things come in small packages ... You can download a PDF of this tutorial here as it seems easier than posting the whole thing ...

Sooth Saying

Panic over, there's nothing wrong with my sewing machine ... she does not have to go to hospital HURRAH! I was just being a little over protective when there was too much fuzz in and around her from the frantic sewing i've been doing over the last few months - family Christmas presents were mostly velvet bags .. So now I can get on with my bulk order of tarot card pouches for an event due to take place in March. Eeek. Better get some cutting out done.

I used to use tarot cards alot in my life ... mostly at troubled times when clarity evaded me, or when i needed to say "eenie meenie miney mo" .. Sometimes I would look at friends' cards but not often. I don't see the cards as a method for fortune telling, or divination, but more as a spiritual guide - i mean that without any sense of religious connotation. Like, an old and wise friend who knows me well and who's not afraid to tell you a few home truths! I haven't used them in an age, but I think I will again. The best resource I have found is this book by Rachel Pollack who is generally regarded as one of the foremost experts on Tarot at the moment. The book is full of wisdom even if you don't read Tarot, but i wont say any more than that, because this is one of those things which is an individual journey for everyone.

Do my stitches look wonky in this?

I just can't believe it. Wondering if it's my imagination - i'm sure it's not, despite the wierd and wonderful things that usually reside there. My lovely sewing machine - which isn't yet 2 years old and which is a Janome ("bomb proof" according to the supplier), seems to have developed a fault. It was after those spotty dotty bags. I've done all the right things: cleared it of fluff; changed the needle; fiddled with the tension; phoned the supplier; followed all the advice! but still the stitches look wonky. I wouldn't mind, but this morning ....

I GOT MY FIRST BULK ORDER for my tarot bags !!!!

Argh! why me???

My Precious

Although i've always had a sewing machine, and been fascinated by dressmaking, my passion for sewing clothes, as opposed to soft furnishings, was ignited when I started sewing Victorian steel boned corsets a few years ago ... I love them! I started sewing them because an event I wanted to go to - a Valentine Ball - required me to wear one ... and I couldn't afford to pay the £200-£300 price tag that usually goes with the type of corset I liked ... so I found the most wonderful webite, Vena Cava Design, who sell corset kits .... and I made my first one. From then my passion grew and grew, and so did my fabric habit ... I bought lots and lots of sumptuous fabric wherever and whenever I saw it on sale, and lots of books ... I started making bits to go with the corsets - to cover up my nether regions!! and this led to my fascination with burlesque and my obsession with deliciously decadent platform shoes (I am like Gollum with my shoes).

But what to do with the leftover material? Make bags of course ... but still there was more left over ... just enough for little purses ... and still more - little tiny stuffed things - like hearts and pin cushions ... and when the bits get really too small I used to give them to my son's pet fancy rats, Bolly and Piper (well they were "champagne" colour apparently). Those rats lived in style, with satin bedding in their boudoirs, they would poo poo if I gave them anything less. "Straw???!!" they would exclaim in horror and consternation when their beds needed changing and I didn't have any silk for them. They were the Marie Antoinette's of the rat world with names to match. Sadly though, after living their short little lives as luxuriously and privileged as any rat's could be, and probably with more cake than they could eat, they have shuffled off to the great rat palace in the sky and so now I use my tiny tiny scraps for stuffing pin cushions.

If at First you don't Succeed

Did you know that worldwide, over 1 million plastic bags are consumed every minute? And that in the UK alone, over 10 million bags are consumed in a year. Most are not biodegradable and take years and years to degrade in landfill sites. Worst of all, marine and other wildlife can mistake the plastic bags for food, then suffocate. Just ONE recyclable (home made) shopper will save around 80 plastic bags being used. Imagine what you can do with 3 or 4!

So constantly striving to save the planet and reduce my waste, I salvaged the Rice Krispies box from the recycling, and re-visited my attempt to make it into something more useful. I found much to my releif, that yesterday I was possibly a little too ambitious - my ideas exceeding my capability (or technical aptitude!) and I therefore reverted back to a slow walk (instead of a fast sprint). I used a 750g packet and got 2 patterns from it as you can see from the pics, a large bag and a smaller one (well neither are really what you could call "large"). Straps can be made using the side gusset template - so cut on a fold for long straps or cut 2 for shorter straps. Or you could insert eyelets and cord for the straps ... or even ribbon ...

Anyway, once i'd decided just to make plain bags, with plain seams, no pockets or other fancy bits like flat felled seams, and with a few online conversations along the way, I came up with these three lovelies (snap, crackle and pop?), and a saving of 240 plastic bags in the bargain! ... They are plain and unlined, two of them have gussets, 2 have long straps. I say they are naturally beautiful despite their lack of bling. Suitable for small shopping trips or even wine bottles (they all hold 2 or 3 each), or as gift bags for your friends, I used less than half a metre of fabric between them, which makes them a very cheap date indeed. With more time spent on each - a pretty lining or perhaps a matching coin purse, they would look even more beautiful and a little more posh! ... I got the idea for the cereal box from Morsebags.com who give instructions and patterns on making shopping bags from recycled fabrics such as old curtains or duvet covers, and they will even print and send special labels for you to put on them!

Blue Peter Moments

I spent all day customising an empty Rice Krispies box, so that it closely resembed a template for a new bag ... It didn't work .. so here's one I made earlier ... Back to the drawing board ..

Hello!

Oh help! Dipping my big toe tentatively into the world of craft blogging with trepidation, and fear but a whole load of excitement too .... However, I am very enthused at having made tonight (in the space of 2 hours) these yumtiously delicious needle holding thingies for which I found a tutorial on the very inspirational Marmadaisy ... they are my most favourite things of the day. I sewed around the edges to tidy them up too, and used fabric glue rather than pva. Very easy and very lovely. I would say a special thankyou at this point to Lisa Lam of U-Handbag, and Craftboom, who's enthusiasm for blogging and all things crafty is exceptional and her resources for people like me, outstanding.