Repurpose Long Sleeve Into A Bag (Part 1)

What to do with unwanted old clothing? Rather than throw them away, why not turn them into something useful. Since I'm a bag lover, I've decided to transform this piece of clothing into a beauuuutiful bag.

I've made some sketches & draw out the pattern. The design is inspired by retro bags with boxy shape & images that has unisex appeal.

You can use a lid cover to draw a curve (one of my not so fancy but useful tool:). The finished size of the bag is as on the sketch paper above.

Here's the cut out parts for making the bag. For the lining, I used an old bed sheet. The gusset is fused with thick interfacing & other cut outs are fused with lightweight interfacing.

I cut out the buttoned front part of the long sleeve to make a pocket for the outer fabric.

A piece of lining is sewn to the back of it. An easy way to make a pocket.

Another piece of the outer fabric is stenciled with a moose silhouette. 

Here's how to stencil on fabric:

1. Draw the outline of an image of your liking on a piece of paper. Stick a brown tape to the back of the paper. Cut out the image using a sharp knife. Make sure you cut along the lines.

The back side of the paper looks like this...

2. Position the paper stencil on top of the fabric. 

3. Now you can start painting inside the stencil area with fabric paint. I lift off the stencil immediately after painting & let the paint dry for  a few minutes. (Drying time varies depending on the size of the painted images)

4. Iron the fabric on the back side to set the colour. You can reuse the stencil a few times, so don't dump it in the bin yet. 

Now that's a cool moose & I'm amused!

Here's a couple of moose :)

I'll be posting part 2 soon.

Felt Card Holder Tutorial

If you're not that organized and misplaced your cards most of the time, maybe you should get a card holder or sew one yourself. Here's an easy way to make one...

Materials:
- Felt (any colour that you like)
- Embellishments

*Well, basically you only need a piece of felt & a sewing machine or you can hand sew everything together :)

How To:

1. Draw a rectangle on your felt measuring 10" in length & 4 1/4" in width and cut it.

2. Using a pencil make a mark on each four corners of the felt. (From the bottom corner to the marked area = 2" ).

3. Fold your felt based on the drawn marks. Now you have a 2" high pocket. Do the same to the other side of the felt.

4. Fold the felt in half and press lightly with your fingers. It should look like this.

5. Before you start sewing, choose your favourite embellishment to beautify your otherwise bland looking felt.

6. I'm going for a funky, fun & simple theme. So I chose a fabric yo-yo & wrote 'organizing junkie' on a piece of fabric. Make sure you use a waterproof, fabric friendly pen.

7. Sew your embellishments in place.

8. Pin the folded part in place. Sew around the edges a little less than 1/4" seam allowance.

9. The sewn felt should look like this.

10. Here's the inside view of the pockets.

11. Fold your card holder in half again & this time press firmly with your fingers. Now you have a new funky card holder to house your cards.

Here's another card holder with a girly theme. Makes a great gift for your best girlfriend or a nice Christmas gift.

One big happy family.

  Let's get organized!

Smocked Clutch for The Purse Week Contest

I entered my clutch in the Purse Week Contest hosted by Lemon Squeezy. This is a larger version of the clutch that I made before. I added the pics on the very last day of the contest as it took me quite some time to sew this clutch. When all is done I had a really big *grin*.

The design & size of the clutch pretty much depends on the smoking. I worked on the smocking first before changing the size & shape of the clutch. Beads are sewn on the smocked flap & strap. I added a strap so it can be swing joyfully :). I bet a hippie chick would love to own this clutch.

The finished size for this clutch is 15"(length), 8"(height), 8"(opening & flap) & 5"(strap).

Christie will be announcing the top 10 Purse Entries on Tuesday morning &  winners announced on Friday afternoon! Good Luck to all that have joined the contest. The prizes are so wonderful....really generous of the sponsors. Thanks Christie for hosting a fun contest :D

Here's more of the hippie smocked clutch...

Just to let you know that this clutch is for sale. If you're interested, drop me an email.( needlefield@yahoo.com )
The smaller version clutch is not for sale cause I'm keeping it :).

*Have a jolly fun day gals.*

Wallets & Purse

If you have a hole in your pocket, it is wise to mend it right away or you'll end up like Jenny losing her bright new twenty pence. That's Jenny from 'A Hole In Her Pocket' story not Jenny from the block! :D

I still keep some of my childhood books for inspiration and  this coin purse suddenly reminded me of this book by Enid Blyton. I really like the simplicity of black and white illustrations. My all time favourite is works by Lewis Carroll. 

This coin purse has three inside pockets and a button & loop closure. The finished size is 4 1/2" (w) X 3" (h). Makes a great card holder too.

This tri-fold wallet is pretty much the same as the wallet that I made before. I added magnetic snap button to the flap. The finished size is 5" X 4 3/4" (when folded).

I made a few changes to the pattern, less card slots and a zippered coin pocket. All cotton fabrics by Ikea.

This bi-fold wallet was made using my own pattern. It measures about 6" (w) X 4" (h). Magnetic snap button for the closure. If I enlarge the size, it would be a nice clutch.

The inside looks like this.....one full width pocket at the back, two card slots, another pocket & a zippered pocket for coins. I use felt for the back pocket & it stretches a bit...need to use a thicker felt next time. Overall I'm satisfied with the finished look.

My favourite part would be the back side of this wallet. Somehow my brain interpret the image into this.....................

Have a MOOO-VELLOUS weekend everyone :D