I cannot believe it has been a whole month since I blogged! Things have been really hectic at work and a trip to London also took up a lot of time. I am back and had a very productive crafty weekend with lots to share! First up, some lovely felted bags I have made. Introducing the Pinktulip Puff Purse, my very own design!
Just LOVE this purse! It is a super-easy, super-fast, crocheted and felted bag. I am still experimenting with it as i was not happy with the size of the opening at the top, but it is just gorgeous! I have drafted a free tutorial, which I will post on Ravelry sometime soon.
My second attempt following the Puff Purse pattern did not puff at all! I made the top opening far too big and no puff. I'll just have to try again. I do love this purse as well. I used a handle technique from a pattern I purchased on Ravelry and just love it. I still need to add a magnetic snap.
I also made this bag. There is a free pattern on Ravelry for this bag, I think it is called the Square bag, not sure. You are supposed to knit 22 squares, but my Italian yarn was too thick so I adapted it to another pattern called the Tapestry Crochet bag, It took two tries in the washing machine to felt it, and I am still not 100% happy. I will however use it as is now.I will share more details on each bag on Ravelry if you are interested. I have lots more to share, but will save it for the next few blogs. I am happy to be back and will slowly do the rounds and visit all of you! Hope your week is great!
I also bought a another set of my favorite acrylic crochet hooks (left), another rare pair of 60cm circular knitting needles and my very first bamboo crochet hook. I have already tried the bamboo crochet hook and it hurts my fingers a bit. Maybe my hands were already sore from lots of crafting, not sure. I will try again.
And in my postbox last Friday, I received my copy of Simply Knitting and the free yarn tidy from the lovely Elizabeth from Scotland! I tried for weeks to get this back copy, with no success, then placed an advert in the latest Simply Knitting magazine. Elizabeth was so kind to send me her copy! Thanks, Elizabeth!
This weekend I made another crochet hook case for my favorite acrylic hooks. Love this cotton fabric from Arthur Bales! And how sweet is this candy stripe bias binding? I have had it for ages and this is the first time I am using it.
Fabulous new stretch fabric. The brown is for a long panelled skirt I want to make and the black & white for a dress. Both items have been on my list for ages!
Is there anything nicer than a stack of new fabric?
Isn't it fabulous? I have been practising my pom-pom making in preparation...
They look good enough to eat! I am busy making a bag with the brown and turqoise combination on the left, so might add some pom-poms!
I adore these gorgeous charms! They will look great on my bags, both crochet and fabric.
I love these little charm balls. I could not believe how simple they are to crochet. The book also includes a little basket, scarve, shawl, crochet hook case, lovely flower accessories, brooches, hair accessories and a few more bags. Can't wait to get started on some of these projects!
Isn't this basket too cute? There are many more small projects. Lots of embellishments such as flowers and more of those cute balls I mentioned above, kitchen stuff, etc. More stuff I have not made before. Wish I had more time! My sincere thanks again to Kate for the gift voucher! I love my books and will share the projects I make from it!
The first item I ticked off my LIST this weekend. Another cute Japanese crochet bag pattern. I love this green yarn. I am ashamed to admit that I had to undo the edge and handles several times because I just kept on misreading the pattern! Despite that, I finished the bag in one night!
This is the second item. I have had this idea in my head for quite a while. It is a plain black dress with a round neck and a zip in the back. I wanted to crochet a pretty collar for the neck. I ended up spending more than an hour doing a blanket stitch around the neck and arms and then just did a single crochet into it with a lovely creme yarn.
It came out really nice. I cannot decide if I should add the full crochet collar or just leave it plain and simple like it is right now. What do you think? I still need to sew in a little hook and eye above the zipper, and I need to change the bust darts. This pattern is obviously made for someone with a much bigger bust than I have! At the moment it sits below my chest!
I thought I will also share a few of my WIP's with you. Actually, this is a new project I started on Saturday. I bought this lovely polka dot felted bag pattern on the Vogue Knitting website Friday night and decided it is perfect to match my lovely purple dress I am making, see below. This will be my first attempt at attaching a felted bag to steel purse frames. The pattern is a bit disappointing in the sense that it does not give any help in this area! Isn't this purple felting yarn just fabulous? The bright green is for the dots on the bag.
This is the Purple Dress! Ever since I saw this pattern on BurdaStyle's website, I was in love. I am making a slightly different, but it will be a smart dress with some bling. Once I have made it, I just need to get myself invited to a fancy cocktail party so I can wear it!
This is my first project from Linda's book, Crochet Adorned. I finished the crochet yoke 2 weekends ago, but sadly I made it too big, so I will have to see if I can fix it. If not, I need to make another one. Urgh! 
I have been intrigued by this bag pattern since the first time I saw it! I had to try it and I loved the colours. So in between cooking and e-mails, I have been working on it every night this week.
Last night I was determined to finish it. What I love most about the Japanese patterns is the simplicity of it and the amazing shapes! Of course, mine came out a lot bigger than the one in the pattern so I spent quite a bit of time trying to correct it. I had such difficulties reading the pattern as it refused to print larger.
Ta-da! I am really pleased with the final result though! I had a hard time deciding on handles. The original pattern has thin leather handles, but it just did not look right on mine. I even considered bamboo handles, but in the end opted for crocheted handles. I like it. I love using a slip stitch method to attached bag parts rather than needle and yarn. Looks so much better and is easier to do.
As part of the Build Your Wardrobe challenge of Kate , earlier this week I also made this pink gingham peasant blouse. This fabric has lovely embroidery on it. I bought it at Hobby Lobby in Chicago this year. I am a bit miffed because my DH commented that it looks like a "picnic tablecloth"!
A close-up picture of this lovely fabric. I must make a bag as well! I also finally finished sewing the black dress I have had in my mind for ages. I plan to add a white crocheted collar to the dress, so I will post next week when I have done this. My crocheted fabric top from Crochet Adorned is also on the table for this weekend. Hope you all have a great crafty weekend!
