Latest Sewing Projects

I got some new tubs to organise my felt off-cuts and project pieces recently, and while I was sorting them out, I put a few strips to one side to make a new camera bag. I've been using my current one for about 18 months, it was kind of a prototype to see how it would hold up to being used, and happily, it's still in one piece, but some of the felt pieces I used were too soft where the bags rubs against my hip. I used all nuno pieces for this one. This is the front:

If I feel like a change, I can flip the bag around:

While I had the sewing machine out, I thought I'd make a coin pouch with one of my bigger offcuts, I try to be more careful when cutting out these days, to keep pieces as big as possible intact:

Luckily, I never did get around to putting the sewing machine away, so when I finally finished blanket stitching the tops of some coin purse pockets that I cut out a few weeks ago, I could sew those up too. Here are some pink ones:

This is what they look like closed:

The next step is to round off the corners of the front flaps, then stitch all around with blanket stitch. I think choosing the right thread for the blanket stitch can take as long as the stitching sometimes! I had to make a make-shift table out of a cardboard box to put all the things waiting to be stitched, that stack of boxes on the right is about 9 of the thread drawers I have:

At the beginning of last year I made a nuno sample piece with some strips from a viscose scarf and a linen scarf. I thought it would make a nice pencil pouch. I made myself one a few years ago and use it almost every day. The idea is to use an extra long cord to wrap around to close it instead of a zip or other fastener. This is what it looks like closed:

This is the back when it's opened:

And, inside, I lined it with some nice fabric I got a few years ago:

And, while the machine is still out, I may as well ... root through all those offcuts I tidied away. This is a bookcover I've been working on, the front, inside front sleeve, and the back is finished. Here, I'm planning the layout for the inside back sleeve. I thought I'd make enough for a future one while I was at it, so made it extra long:

Book Cover and Purses

I thought I'd get my sewing machine out last week and make a few things with offcuts, samples and test pieces. The first thing I made was a large notebook/diary cover. The main part only took a couple of hours, but then all the little fiddly bits, straps, flaps, attaching them and sleeves etc all seemed to take about another 4 once it was all added up. I got through quite a few cd albums making it anyway! This is the front with the clip closed:

This is the front with the clip opened:

 This is the back:

And this is one of the inside sleeves:

I don't know if you remember this piece I made earlier this year, testing out a piece of viscose scarf:

I thought it would make a perfect coin purse. I measured it, cut out the parts and then chose some embroidery threads:

Another felt piece I cut up for a purse was a flowery sample I made years ago for Beyond Nuno:

Choosing More threads:

It all started getting a bit hectic once I got the buttons out too :)

I haven't finished the pale turquoisey viscose purse yet, I couldn't find the perfect button. I think I need to buy a few more :)

Something Different

I'm still trying to finish projects and WIPs so I can tidy my summer sewing stuff away. I found an unfinished project from years ago when I was putting some felt offcuts away. Hopefully, this link will show some of the pieces I made, if not search my photostream for 'embellished'. It inspired me to finish it off and make some more. So I had a rummage through my offcuts and found lots of nice ones, so many that I started to think that maybe I wanted to do something a bit bigger, like a notebook cover (surprise, surprise!). I found some thin pieces of felt to use as a base and sewed them together. I really wanted to make something the complete opposite of the carefully measured and carefully and neatly sewn notebook covers I usually make. So after spreading all the felt offcuts out, I got some contrasting sewing thread and set to work attaching the pieces to my felt base. I didn't expect it to take as long as it did and I got through quite a few episodes of Foyle's War while I sewed :)

When I'd attached all the pieces, I attached a piece of thin blue cotton fabric to hide all the stitching and thread. Then I folded the flaps in, machine stitched them in place, then hand stitched the top and bottom edges. I think you'll agree, that it's nothing like what I usually make :)  This is the front:

And this is the back:

I tried hard to make sure nothing matched, and that it wasn't too neat or even, including the top and bottom edges, I just followed the edges of the base felt. This is the cover opened out:

I didn't attach felt pieces to the base where the flaps would be, I didn't want it to be too thick. The felt I used for the flaps was originally white merino and cotton which I experimented on with direct dyeing.

I also made a strap closure for it in much the same way as I made the book:

It just fits around the book and clips together with a Delrin clip.

I thought it'd stick out like  a sore thumb in my etsy shop, but surprisingly it doesn't. But maybe that's because it probably has a little offcut from almost every other piece in there with it!

Finishing Projects

I’ve been trying hard with Ruth’s Daily Dose of Fiber challenge, but so far that mostly consists of me rewriting the same list each day :)    I have managed to complete a few projects recently though. The first one was a small shoulder bag I started a while ago when I was using my felt offcuts. I think these kinds of bags are known as ‘passport bags’, it’s big enough to fit a camera and coin purse in. I had some nice fabric that I salvaged from a worn out camera bag, so I used this on the inside flap. It might look familiar because I took photos of the magnetic closures for a post not so long ago.

 

I covered over the tops of the magnetic closures with felt--craft felt on the inside and a nuno felt offcut for the front, before sewing the sides together--that’s usually something I’d forget to do! 

Once it was all sewn up, I finished around the edges with blanket stitch in the same maroon colour I’d used for sewing. Another project I finished recently was a felt placemat. I made the felt sometime last year and used a piece to make a mirror case, and cut out the placemat, but I never got around to blanket stitching the edges, so one day last week when there was about 30 minutes of light, I finished it off.

The last project I managed to complete this week was a set of two coasters for by the kettle. I used a plain piece of felt and cut an 11 x 7 inch rectangle, and a square roughly 6 x 6 inches. I zig-zag stitched around the edges then did random straight stitching, first one way, then the other. This thickened up the felt and because I wasn’t aiming for neatness, I didn’t need to concentrate hard or strain my eyes :)

My next project is to do a wool and fibre inventory. What have you been working on lately? Have you finished any projects you had waiting for a while? Do you have a list of things you want to work on?