The simplest Small Coin Purse and Pouch Bag I have come across

 My next Sewing Project

Small Coin Purse and Pouch Bag

So my new love of sewing had me avidly watching videos on YouTube to find more designs to make. Bearing in mind I am not an experienced sewer, and my machine is fairly basic I naturally looked at designs that were as straight forward as possible.Putting zips in is about as difficult as I want it to be. The next makes are from a YouTuber called Ae PooiM. She has some great videos, very well laid out and no talking just music in the background while the measurement are put on the screen. With her videos, I tend to watch all the way through, taking the measurements as I go and then play it again to make the item. 

The small coin purse is very simple to make and can be made in volume quite quickly so if you make jewellery to give as gifts or to sell these can be made quickly enough not to add a lot to the cost of the item. 

https://youtu.be/Kmzb4O2I5pw

Once I got the hang of the design I could make them smaller and larger enabling me to use up various remnant pieces to the best advantage.

Here are the original smaller purses with snap closure

I have even made them large enough to put my phone in. I can make this size with off cuts and bits left from other projects. 

The small pouch I kept to the original pattern and made half a dozen just because I liked the look of them. As I would not use them myself these will probably go in a basket at my next craft fair. 

Small pouches with a zip middle and holding handle

These are so cute and will hold makeup or tissues and money. They can be stitched at the base like the blue bag or left with unstitched sides as the other two. 

So now I am fully into my sewing projects and feeling ready to tackle some bigger bags. Back to  YouTube to see what is available, and what method of bag making suits me best. 

But that is for then next post 

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Happy Crafting

Dee 

Expandable Shoe/Wine bags

Expandable Shoe/Wine bag 

As shown  in my previous post the  first bags I made were these really useful shoe/wine bag. With expanding sides the bags are a great fit for shoes. Easy way of transporting shoes to the gym or packing your dancing shoes for the lovely holiday/cruise.

If you don’t need to transport your shoes, the bags are perfect to present a bottle of wine.

What a lovely way to say Thank You, and long after the wine has been enjoyed the recipient has the bag for re-use.

There are several people on YouTube showing how to make these expandable bags, I followed Christine’s Home Affairs and enjoyed making the first 4 bags from fabric I had gathered over the past couple of years from Charity shops and car boots. I will link her post below.

https://youtu.be/NNu3_Z3du-k

You can see from the picture that the shoes will  fit easily into one of these bags and I would estimate that shoes up to a size 8 will not be a problem after that you may need to increase the pattern size a little. 

I think they are very handy gift bags and  not too difficult to make if you are a beginner, I managed to get hold of a bundle of 15” zips at a good price on ebay and became slightly obsessed with sewing again. I ended up with 8 of these bags and decided to put a few in my Etsy shop

https://youtu.be/Kmzb4O2I5pw

With time on my hands I checked out more bags on YouTube. My next bag was a simple coin purse the video also had a small pouch bag  so I tried a few of each.  I will share them with you in my next post. 

Happy Crafting 

Dee

Sew Useful Bags

 I am back with lots of new crafty ideas

It’s been a while since my last post, and now I am back with lots of new crafty ideas.

Paper crafts as well as a resurgence of sewing bags.

I have always done some sewing since a young child when my mother showed me how to make round drawstring bags and I made them regularly to give to friends with gifts in., ah those wer simple times. When I think about it they were probably made from mums leftover fabrics. After attending a 3 crafts day with my county W.I., where one of the items I made was a bag in just 2 hours my enthusiasm for sewing came racing back. So when I retired a couple of years later I bought a good basic sewing machine that I could use as a work-horse. And that was the start, although not much happened for awhile as card crafting was well established in my craft room. 

Over the first few years of retirement and of course Corona Virus lockdown, the sewing machine came out to take up trousers and a a few mends, and I bought some fat quarters from which I made some pretty origami bags that I still use for my sewing bits and bobs. 

In February I lost my husband of 45 years and Crafting has been a very useful tool on the road to recovery, but more about that in a seperate post. I say this to explain how I came to start sewing my bags. 

Previously paper crafts had been my preferred outlet as projects can be completed in a couple of hours. But as I spent more time around the house, I started to look at crafts that needed more investment and a woman can never have too many bags. 

Another reason for expanding my repertoire was the need to find something that may sell at Craft Fairs. I only do a couple a year but was in need of new inventory to try. I have found cards and paper crafts difficult to sell as so many people make cards nowadays that they are reluctant to buy them, and in the UK, scrapbooking and Journalling are not as popular as in the states. 

I started by checking out YouTube to see what was about and was very interested in a shoe bag made by Christine at Christine’s Home Affairs. I loved the simplicity and the fact that the bag expanded so was big enough to take a bottle of wine and other gifts. 

I made a couple and enjoyed the process.

Plus they really are useful.

Imagine giving a favourite bottle of wine as a gift and presenting it in one of these bags that the recipient can use again and again.

If you have someone who runs, does sports or holidays the bags make great shoe bags. 

These bags were made from reclaimed materials. New materials that were left over after a project, some purchased from Charity shops. 

I love the idea of making something useful from material that would otherwise be discarded, and started to look for other sewing projects. 

Check back for the next instalment of my new fabric projects.

Happy Crafting. 

Dee 

New Pocket Photo Book

 My Many Attempts at a Pocket Photo Book

This project started after seeing a lovely little pocket photo book from Sam Calcott, I have placed the YouTube link below.

https://youtu.be/YjxeBa-xQFA

Book No1

I decided I wanted to make a larger version and for some reason thought Iknew a simpler method. The size and book came out lovely except my adjustment meant that in order to see the photographs from both side the book needed to be open at the back. The result was a book that when closed the back end opened out, and I needed to add an elastic closure to overcome this .

Book No2

Next I tried an old mini book method using a 12 x 12 sheet cut to make 3 x 3 pages, and this could be put together with a top or side opening to take a photo..The small size and slightly uneven finish was not the look I was going for, so I did not finish this attempt 

Book No3

My third idea was to use a blizzard book design as this would allow the pages to be added and removed to update the photographs if you want. I made several sizes of binder and settled on the fold that used a piece of paper 6.5 x 8”. 

The first  Blizzard book had 4 x 10” (folded in half) .

Because of the layout in the Blizzard book, these pages do not loan themselves to photo sleeves, so the pages could have cream or black photo mats, and would make a cute little photo book.

Book No4

Another Blizzard book, and this time I made the pages from a sheet of A4 , cut to 4” by the length of the A4 and scored at 4”, and 8” folded over  and the shorter end making the back page. I then folded over 4” and stuck the pocket at the bottom and side and cut the photo slot with a die so that a photo can slide in from the top opening. By putting two photo back to back the book can take 6 photographs and another on the opposite page. 

Nearly there but wanted a more simple ensemble for mass production as the blizzard book with additional cover sections take time.

Book No 5

With this one I used som sheets from an 8 x 8 pad of paper (The Paper Tree) 

Each strip was folded in half, the photo frame cut with a die and then the sides put together with narrow strong tape. Again a top loading photo frame 

The middle seam was sewn together 

A cover was made with a piece of A4 card, cut to 4 1/4” deep and scored at 4 1/8”, 4 1/4”,

4 3/8”, 8.5”. Rounded the edges and placed a Kampress popper in the middle of the end flap about 1” up, with the closing popper on the first section. Mark and puncture your hole for the popper with the wallet folded to get the placement correct. 

I then stitched the phot frames into the outside cover. 

As this was a prototype the finish is not wonderful but I will probably be using this method as it is the quickest and most effective way of using your papers. 

II thought this would be it, but I wanted a smaller version so……..

Book No6 The Final Version

More of the 8 x8 papers this time cut 

1  ~ 6 x 6” 

1 ~ 6 1/8” x 6”

1.~ 6 1/4” x 6

Fold in half and put together as above

The outside has been made using black card covered in matching papers outside and inside and using one of the oval photo frames cut from a previous wallet placed on the end to decorate the flap.

This has been closed with Velcro dot, but I could have used the kampress poppers as before, and finished with an organza rose.

That completes my Pocket Photo Book tries, they seemed to morph into each style as I tried to tweak the previous design for size or finish. 

These prototypes will be given to a friend who sells them for charity and I will have a go at bulk production for 6 or so books for Mothers Day. 

Happy Crafting 

Dee

Pop-Up Pocket Card

 New Design Card

Pop-Up Pocket Card

I had this idea when I went to make a card for my sister’s 70th Birthday card. I had seen a pretty pocket card I wanted to try but what I do not like about envelope cards is that they do not stand so cannot be displayed with the other cards. My favourite card shape is a Pop-up oblong box card and so I decided to amalgamate the two to make a pretty Pop-Up card that displays beautifully with an envelope front to the pop-up that would take the greeting.

You can see the pocket card front and the 70 has been added to an oval cut-out that can then act as a pully to remove the greeting section of the card . The giver can either write on the back of the greeting or on the back of the pop-up. There is also room to add a secret note, behind the greeting, so it would make a great Valentine card.

I made this by considering the base part of the  pop-up card. I decided I did not need the top half , just the folding sections and bars that hold the embellishment and then  make an envelope card that fitted the front section. I then took the measurements for the pop-up card base, removed the front panel and added an inch and a half to the overall size scoring a 3/4`’ then the first side panel then the back panel, next the other side panel and finishing with another 3/4” . These panels of 3/4” are then used to attach the envelope card to the front.

 I will link  a tutorial for the long pop-up card below.

https://youtu.be/wJPBgpxaAvw

And my inspiration for the Pocket card came from 

https://youtu.be/NJQFcAbMAw4

My 70th Birthday  card was made with paper and card from the “Where Wild Roses Grow” design by The Paper Tree Co, stamps and dies from Heartfelt Creations, a sheet of acetate, and clear sticky dots. 

The flowers are stamped onto the plainer paper sheets, layered and shaped then added to a strip of acetate, with a clear sticky dot. I also used the same sticky dots to add the acetate strips to the bars across the pop-up card.. 

I am very pleased with the end result, especially as the design is my own, and will definitely make more when I need a special card, The card folds flat and fits in to a 7” square envelope. Maybe another time I will play with the sizes for a smaller version, but for a 70th birthday this one needed to be big and showy to celebrate in style. 

Happy Crafting 

Dee 

Tea Lovers Gift Box

 Cute Gift Box 

This is another great box from Sam Calcott. Sam made it to add to a hamper for her Nan and filled the pockets with Cuppa  Soups as her Nan loves them. It was a way of presenting them and was so pretty I thought it could be used for so many items. Small bars of chocolate, Drinking chocolate sachets or tea bags, or maybe some sachets of beauty treatments. 

I will link her video below:

https://youtu.be/THRUHcGz_24

This first Flip Top Pocket Box was made using Fabrika Decora Papers. 
The box front has velcro fastening, you could use magnets or Kam Snaps 

On the top I have added a paper handle and added it with brads ( I will let you into a secret, had I added the handles before lining the inside of the caddy it would have covered up the brads, instead I had to add another piece of card)

I then added a bow and a tag with a heart charm 

The pockets that you see inside have been filled with Twinnings Tea bags as my sister loves her tea. 

There was one small problem with getting it to stand, as the pockets had been placed with the flap at the back, the caddy has a tendency to tilt back. This led to several other caddies being made to try to overcome this. It helps to have a smaller top than base, and to keep the pockets a little lower than the height of the sides 

You have seen the next 2 I made as I used the project to compare the Paper Cutters, Fiskars V Firbon.

These 2 boxes were made using The Paper Trees coordinating papers, toppers and card.

As described in my post.

The Flip Top Pocket Boxes are a lovely way to gift items and I will be making more for Mothers Day and ‘Thank You” packs.

 Hope you have a go too.

Happy Crafting 

Dee 

Something New - Mixed media & Memory

Something New- Well New to Me

My first dabble at Mixed Media craft, brought on by wanting to make something personal for my sisters 70th birthday.I have seen something similar on Etsy and decided if I made one myself, I could use pieces more personal to me and the receiver.

I bought  a few MDF letters at the Exeter Craft Fayre and they sat in the cupboard for several months. In the meantime i tried my hand at Journals and while making them I recycled jewellery for journal embellishments and clips. I then had a bundles of beads and jewellery parts as well as jewelled embellishments in the craft box used for decorating boxes. 

I was now in a good place to try decorating my initials. 

I took the J first and painted the base board with a coat of blue paint, as I wanted to colour coordinate the jewellery used in the project . I then spread out my beads, jewellery pieces, and embellishments onto a tray and sorted out suitable blue and white and silver pieces. Then sorted these by size. To start I added a couple of the larger pieces across the letter and then checked out shapes and colour to cover the rest of the letter. 

Once I had the items configured in a layout I liked I heated up the glue-gun and added them piece by piece. It was then left to cool while I considered how to present it. 

To show the letter off I presented it on a plain white oval card and then laid this on a background of Laura Ashley wallpaper, as the paper had the blues I wanted to coordinate  with the embellishments. This had to be cut  to the background size of the frame.

Here is the finished project. I was pleased with it and gave to my sister along with her present and a Tea Gift box and card of my own design made especially to celebrate her birthday.

Check back to see the other 2 items.

Dee