Sew Darn Cute, by Jenny Ryan

A few of my friends have asked me to post a review on this book as they are considering buying it. To be honest, I saw a few pictures of this book on blogs around the internet and decided on a whim to purchase it. I was very disappointed at first when I received it and just put it on my bookshelve. A few weeks later I picked it up again and I must admit, I love it now. I have made several projects from the book and plan to do a few more soon!

The book is divided into 5 sections: Pretties; Totables; Nest; Kid Stuff and Crafties. All yummy projects that are easy yet very effective. The first section, Pretties, consist of personal items such as a hairband, a cuff, jewelry and even sewing a few pieces of fabric to your clothing. Really simple, but nice.

Being a bagaholic, this section is one of my favorites! It includes several cute totes with fresh embellishment ideas.

Like this cute pillowcase purse made with denim fabric, a repurposed pillowcase and cute ric-rac. Really a simple project with great results.

A firm favorite, the "Ladylike Laptop Tote". I adore yo-yo's! This is such a cute bag. It is on my list!

The next section is called the "Nest" and this covers simple projects for your home. Projects include coasters, curtains, etc.

This project is on my list. A very cute way to embellish your dishcloths with ric-rac and fabric.

The "Kid Stuff" section is not really very useful to me with bibs, embellishing baby clothes and a doll blanket, but I do like the snake (can be used as a doorstopper) and the teddy!

The Square Bear, also featured on the front of the book, is really cute!

The last section, Crafties, is more my cup of tea! This includes a pincushion, needle book and a few other cute projects.

Like this cute Craft Apron with many pockets. On my LIST!

And a very pretty sewing machine cozy!

Overall I would recommend this book to other crafters. It has some cute little zipper bags in and of course, the travel pillow that I have already made. Quite a few new, fresh projects that I have not seen in other books. The patterns can be found in the back of the book, but some must be copied and enlarged.

It's a bag weekend!

I was adamant that this weekend will be more productive than the last one. So, after finishing my Mystery Bag I started planning my weekend projects. Of course, there were several bags I wanted to make. First on my list was another metal frame purse. I managed to salvage quite a few nice frames last week, but I cannot get the RIGHT design in my head. This continued the whole weekend. In the end I decided to make something else until I get the design sorted out. So I made this delightful bag.

I saw a picture of this bag on one of my favorite blogs http://nicoledesign.blogspot.com/. Nicole is an amazing bag designer! Her metal frame purses are different from the usual you see on the internet. In a few words, I would describe her designs fresh and new. This bag is one of her patterns called the "Flat Bag". I saw a picture of it on her blog and made my own pattern.

I just love everything about this bag. As with Lola's Mystery Bag, it plays on the contrasting fabrics and shows it off so stunningly. I have a variety of bamboo, bead and wooden handles I bought last year and never used. This is actually my first bag using these handles.

I bought this new home dec Amy Butler fabric from an Etsy shop at a great price recently and have been keen to use it. It goes so well with this bright orange moda fabric I bought locally. How clever to put the magnetic snap just below the handles. I did forget to add pockets! At least it has a large outside pocket. I also love the effect of the covered buttons on the outside pocket.

I then decided to make another bag with this pattern. This is a fun, pink bag for a colleague at work, Cindy. I promised her a bag months ago! This delightful brown fabric with the pink butterflies and flowers was a gift during a Swap I participated in last year. Fabulous fabric! It goes so well with the pink polka dot fabric. This time I did remember to add pockets inside. I also added some velcro to the outside pocket.

More views of the pink bag showing some fabric detail and the placement of the magnetic snap. It is well worth paying a visit to Nicole's blog and shop for inspiration.

Lola Mystery Bag complete!

I finished the Mystery Bag on Friday night. Love how it came out! It is a lot bigger than my usual bags but I can already see some great uses for this bag.

Isn't it pretty? Love the fact that the design is so unsual and the use of contrasting fabric that shows off to best advantage. Thank you very much Lola for hosting the sewalong! I will most definitely join in should you host another one! It was such fun!

Lola's Mystery Bag Sewalong continued

I finally managed to catch up with the Mystery Bag from Lola at http://lolaagain.blogspot.com/. Last night I cut and ironed interfacing like a mad person and then, rather late, started sewing. I am delighted that I am now up to date.

This is where I am at the moment. The lining is done, complete with pocket sewn in as well as the flap with the male part of the magnetic snap inserted. My thoughts so far? Lola gives GREAT instructions! Clear and easy to understand. Lola has posted several free tutorials on her blog and I highly recommend all of them.

The cutting took quite a while. Lola has managed to squeeze this large bag into 1 yard of fabric and even gave us the layout of the pattern pieces to ensure 1 yard is enough. What I forgot is that I work in meters, not yards. This made my layout a bit different. I had to convert everything to centimeters, make the pattern pieces and then do the layout on my meter of fabric. The bag also cleaned out my little stash of interfacing! It is quite a large bag, in fact, the largest I have ever made so I am quite excited to see the end result.

Thrifting metal purse frames

I am totally into the metal frame purses right now! I did mention that I have ordered some more metal purse frames from Cottontouch on Etsy, but it will be at least 2 weeks (!) before these arrive in the post from Hong Kong. So I decided last night to search through my clothing cupboard and see if I can thrift some frames from old purses.

This is what I found to my utmost surprize! Some of these bags I do not even remember but one thing is certain - I cannot possibly cut up any of these bags! The gold bag on the left with a chain handle and the pink clutch in the middle were free gifts with the local Glamour magazine. The black bag at the botton is exquisite. It is made from velvet with embroidery and beads on it and has a stunning vintage frame. This was a birthday gift from my husband a few years ago. Love it! The little gold sequins bag on the right I have absolutely no idea where and when I bought it! It still has a price tag on it - R20 (about $2)! So, if I were to do any thrifting I would have to go visit the shops and look for bargains!

My first metal frame purse!

Isn't she pretty? I am in LOVE! This is my first attempt at a metal purse frame and I learnt some valuable lessons along the way. I followed a fab tutorial posted by Lisa of U-Handbag at http://u-handbag.typepad.com/. It's a bit scew on the right and I messed a bit with the glue. Wish I read some other comments BEFORE I did it, but the next one will be better!


I used my current favorite fabric from the Amy Butler Daisy Chain range. I have already cut out a bag from the same fabric mixed with chocolate brown vinyl in a new style.

A better view of the inside. When I took the pictures I have not cleaned the excess glue off yet. I bought the metal frames from Cottontouch on Etsy last year when I wanted my sister to knit and felt me some bags for these frames. I have ordered a few more frames from Cottontouch recently to try some other style bags, like bigger bags with a chain handle and some coin purses.

UPDATED: Lessons learnt:

Use CLEAR drying glue! I used white craft glue and this messed on my fabric big-time! Do not use too much glue! Wow, did I plaster the glue in there. What a mess! NicoleM from Australia suggests you use a matchstick to put the glue in the frame. That's what I plan to do with the next one. I also need to make some adjustments to my pattern as the gap between the hinges and the fabric is too big. Even with interfacing ironed on both the outer fabric and lining, there was still a gap when the fabric was in the frame so I used some of the string I use for piping to fill the gap. Worked like a charm! Patience! Wow, do you need lots of that! Give the glue some time to dry. Overnight. Now I just need to find out Nicole's secret to crimping the frame without a crimping tool and NOT using pliers! I went on Etsy today and ordered plenty more metal frames and even some chain handles. Lots more metal frame purses coming soon!

Lola's Mystery Bag Sewalong

I am a frequent visitor to http://lolaagain.blogspot.com/. Lola has a 6 kids and a wonderful sense of humour I really enjoy. She also makes the most beautiful bags! I have made several based on her patterns. Recently I saw that Lola planned to host a Mystery Bag Sewalong and immediately signed up.

It took me several days to select the fabric I will be using to make this Mystery Bag, but here is my final choice: Amy Butler Daisy Chain and the gree polka dots are from Moda Fabrics, Daydreams by Deb Strain. It makes a lovely combination, don't you think?

I am 2 days behind at this stage on the Sewalong due to internet problems and my current workload, but I will catch up soon! The progress can be followed on the Gracie Lou group on flickr and I will be posting here too!