Sew Pretty Homestyle, by Tone Finnanger

Tone Finnanger's books are pure eye candy! I absolutely LOVE the photography in her books. It makes you want to start on all the projects immediately and redecorate your house right now! I already own one of her books, the Pretty Christmas Homestyle, which I reviewed on this blog recently.

This book, like the previous book, is divided into projects for different rooms in the house: It starts off with basic techniques and supplies and then moves on to projects for the entrance hall; the kitchen; dining room, kitchen, living room, conservatory, hobby room, bathroom, bedroom and children's room ending with full size patterns.
Aren't these bags lovely? I am so going to make one of these. Her projects are so simple yet so beautiful. I love the Tilda fabrics as well although it seems it is only available in the UK and Europe and horrendously expensive. Nothing on Etsy, hmph!

I am really keen to make these table mats. Can you believe that this is handquilted?! A very simple, but effective little bit of stitching and the overall effect is amazing.

And this easy and adorable chair cushion is also on my list of sewing projects.

A new take on a simple pincushion. Fitted on a wooden ring, this simple round pincushion with exquisite embroidery detail will make a fantastic gift.

Tone's soft toys are delightful and decorative. As always there are her trademark angels for every room and occasion and this book has a dog, cat, horses and teddies, like the one above. I have made some of her soft toys before and they are easy to make. In this book she uses large buttons to tie legs and arms to the body.

This floor mat and slippers makes you think of cozy winter evenings. Wish I could afford some of her lovely wool felt to make these!

These fabric roses are first on my list! They would look amazing on my bags. So simple to make and a beautiful effect. Overall, stunning projects, some just variations of what is in her other books, but with a fresh new angle every time. Well worth buying! Did you know that there is a special blog for Tone Finnanger fans? Just google her name and you will find it! Amazing!

Fabric and Vinyl bag

This is my third fabric and vinyl bag. You see, once I am faced with a challenge I cannot stop!

This time I used another bag design for a smaller bag and only put a strip of vinyl at the top of the bag with vinyl handles. I used a stiff interfacing for the lining but what I believe they call iron-on batting for the outer bag. Really nice!

A glimpse of the pink polka dot lining here. I have actually used this bag to work for two days now and love it. I should however have positioned the magnetic snap a bit higher as it refuses to close with the pockets full and so close to the snap. Watch this space for more fabric and vinyl bags coming soon.

I could only find a few examples of other seamstresses who have made fabric and vinyl or leather bags. Please feel free to share any ideas, advice or links that might be useful. Hope you enjoyed my vinyl adventure so far. I know I did!

More Fabric and Vinyl Handbags

I just had to try another one or two fabric bags with vinyl insets! This Amy Butler Midwest Modern 2 fabric went so well with the tan vinyl.

I was however determined that this bag's handles will be vinyl only and as you can see from this picture above, I found a very slow, and painful, way to sew the handles. I sewed them on the wrong side and turned them inside out with my index finger (as the knitting needle did not work - I tried all the tools I have!) and brute force.

Although I do have matching fabric from the same Amy Butler range, I decided to use the same fabric for the lining. Once again, I used very stiff interfacing to support the vinyl.

A close-up picture of the vinyl handles. The handle on the left all sewn up and the one on the right just turned out. I had to pull a bit to get the handles through the machine. The stitching is very small despite the setting on large stitches, but it did not skip any stitches or bundle up in any places.The second handle being stitched with the teflon foot. I did not have the right colour thread, so I just used the pink thread. Looks OK though.

Yeah! All done and looking very smart. I love this bag!

A view from the top showing the lining. Lovely bag. Cannot wait to take it shopping!

Vinyl and Fabric handbags

During the "softies craze" I also started experimenting with sewing vinyl into my handbags. I went to Fiona's and bought a few pieces of vinyl to start off with. Of course there is a bright pink among the chosen colours. I just love the texture of the black and tan coloured vinyl.

I did a lot of research on the internet on sewing with leather and vinyl, so I thought I was well prepared for this!

First on the list was a grey tweed with black vinyl insets. I have had the vision of this bag in my head for a while now...So off we go with a teflon foot, upholstery strenght thread and a sewing needle for leather among other things.

I used a very simple bag design to make my first bag and I also used a very stiff interfacing on the fabric. So far so good. The needle worked like a charm and my machine seemed to cope well. This vinyl is not very thick and quite flexible.

I wanted the lining to be bright and colourful so I chose some of my brand new small stash of Amy Butler Daisy Chain fabric. This fabric is called Water Garden. Very pretty. Once again I used a very stiff interfacing for the lining.


Next came the handles and the first signs of trouble. I wanted to make the handles just from vinyl but my sewing machine refused to move across the vinyl. This despite the fact that I was using a teflon foot. When I try to sew a single layer of vinyl, it worked like a charm but the moment it was more than one layer, it refused to move. I decided to make the handles vinyl on the one side and use the grey tweed fabric on the other side, sewing just on the fabric. It worked!

The outer bag pieces finished and looking good! Sewing them together was also no problem as I was sewing on the inside of the vinyl.

Yeah! The outer bag done! I really like this bag more and more. It looks so classy.

Lining all done and sewn in. Lots of obvious mistakes, I know, but I am really pleased with the bag. The topstitching I did on the inside of the bag top as once again, the foot would not move on the vinyl.

All done! And a really nice bag for everyday use or shopping as it's quite roomy inside with lots of pockets. The vinyl bottom helps to keep the bag clean and can just be wiped off. LOVE the new Amy Butler fabrics! Watch for my next post on the other vinyl/fabric bags I made! If you have any advice on sewing with leather/vinyl, feel free to leave a comment!

Favourite Sewing Magazines

Subscribing to sewing magazines from overseas are horrendously expensive so I have to be very selective which ones I buy. Our local bookstores do not stock ANY sewing magazines, but many quilting magazines. So I was over the moon to discover a special in December on a subscription for the US magazine Sew News. I have ordered a few single magazines before and loved the projects in Sew News and the special issues of Sew Simple.

So imagine my delight when my first issue arrives and it features a handbag special! Bag ideas galore. From changing patterns to ideas on interesting handbag hardware to patterns to make bags. It also features a lovely heart pincushion...

It also shows you how to make a cushion, scarve, belt and fabric jewelry. Then there are product reviews, book reviews and loads of articles offering sewing advice and tips. A great read!

My best sewing magazine however is the recently launched UK magazine, Sew Hip! I love the projects and the book reviews are great. I have several projects from these magazines on my to-do-list. The subscription is extremely expensive so I am currently buying single magazines from the Publisher every month.

I would love to get my hands on other sewing magazines such as the UK's Sewingworldmagazine and a few others from the US. It is impossible to purchase single copies of these magazines so I will have to do without. Bummer!

New sewing books

I received two new sewing books last week. Pretty Little Patchwork, by Lark Books is my second book of the "Pretty Little" books range. I already own, and recently posted a review on, Pretty Little Pincushions. The second book is Sew Pretty Homestyle, by Tone Finnanger, my second of her books.I already own Pretty Christmas Homestyle which I also reviewed a few weeks ago. Tone's books are eye candy of note! The pictures are stunning and the fabrics amazing. Pity the fabrics are so expensive. I have searched everywhere and you cannot get her Tilda fabric for under R200 ($20) a meter. I will be posting reviews on both books soon!

No-sew fleece project

Whilst at Fiona's, my usual assistant shared a cute idea with me for making a poncho from fleece. I have not made a poncho yet, but I have ideas of making some scarves and a few other small things soon. It did make me think about trying her idea on the poor, lonely, uncovered cushion on the chair in my sewing room. This cushion has been bare for several months now...I just could not decide what fabric to cover it with. So, fleece it is!

This is so easy! I did the cushion in less than 30 minutes! You just cut two pieces of fleece larger than the piece of sponge and cut the fringes about 10 cm (about 4") long on both sides. Then you tie the fringes together all round and you are done!

A closer view of the tied fringes above. Love this fleece! More easy fleece projects coming soon...