A gothic bag

I was asked to make a bag for a tween goth as a birthday present. I wasn’t really sure where to start apart from the fact I would use black fabric and accent it with red. I decided to use a rip technique. So began by backing black fabric (an old skirt that I don't wear anymore) onto red cotton using diagonal lines across the fabric. I made a simple messenger style bag, lined with red, fastened with a silver popper, and silver hoops on the sides for the handle to attach to. I then ripped the fabric between the diagonal lines. Although this did make quite a mess to start, as the black fabric was cord, with time the little bits of fluff will stop coming off and I loved the effect the ripping made. When it came to the handle I wasn’t sure what to do but finally decided to use a black chain (bought from B&Q) that I then wove some red, fraying, cotton through. Hopefully the bag met all the desired criteria. Sept 2010

Another birthday bag

It's been a while since I last posted as I've been working on making more things. Since I still have quite a back log of pieces to put on here the posts will probably be quite short so I can catch up with myself.

Making birthday present’s for my family has kept me pretty busy so far this year. For the 3rd birthday present of the month (June) I went back to my old faithful, a bag. I used material from a jacket I had previously pulled apart. I decided to do a simple bag without a lining and so I used French seams to keep it neat inside. I used ribbon around the top of the bag, sewn at intervals to draw the opening in. I then made a yoyo flower and matching handle in an accent material and added some buttons for decoration. June 2010

Another bag

My sister-in-law loves green, so when it came time to make her present I knew I would use some green linen I had. Again I made a bag (very handy one-size-fits-all). I had a fat quarter of some quilting fabric that I had picked up just because I liked it and I thought it would make a good lining and detailing. A drew out a few designs and finally narrowed it down. It took me a while to make this one, as I had to keep trying to figure out the angles I needed to use. I put a front pocket on with the lining coming up over the edge to accentuate the edge. I then made the flap with the same edging. The bag turned out to be quite long in the end, but I was pleased with it over all. May 2010

Denim bag

When it came round to my nieces 12th birthday I decided to make her a bag. I used my old grey jeans that I had already used parts of on another bag, but this time I used the detail of a back pocket for the front of the bag. I used a flowery material (which I have used a couple of times before) to line it and also for the handle. I also had some brace clips I had bought previously, just because I liked them. I used these to attach the handle to the bag and also some matching poppers for the handle as well as the fastening on the front flap. May 2010

Bags of flowers

For my next project I decided to make a bag. I had some beige linen that I wanted to use and then I got some deep purple cotton to line the bag and do a flower to accessorize. I made this bag in a similar style to the first one I made (the red/grey/black one). I did a different sort of fastening for this, with a little flap that went over the top with a little loop that goes through a hole in the flap. I think it may have been better if the hole was a bit smaller, but it seemed to do the trick.
I wasn’t sure how to make a flower; I had an idea in mind but had a little look online anyway to see what was out there. In the end I just folded a length of purple cotton in half along the length and then sewed the open edges together with a wide stitch, then pulled the stitching to gather the edge. I then wound it into a circle and when I was happy that it looked like a flower I hand sewed it into place. Then sewed a button on to hide the mess in the middle, plus a safety pin on the back so that it can be detached from the bag if wanted. Apr 2010

A little something

Once I had made the bag for my friend I decided to make a mini version for her young daughter who loves bags as much as her mummy. I used the same materials and did a similar, but simplified design. The handles are made out of the inner seam of the grey jeans. Dec 2009

The picture on the right shows mother and daughter matching bags.

And sew it starts

When I was young whenever my nan knitted me and my siblings cardies and jumpers there would always be a label in it saying ‘hand knitted by nan’. As I decided to sew a few presents for Christmas my first thought was to get some ‘handmade by Hev’ labels made. It took me a whole evening to choose the design I wanted, I don’t really know why, it’s not like there was that much choice. But a few days later the labels arrived and I was ready to start making.

My first present I decided to make was a bag for a friend. I had an idea in my head of what the bag would look like. It was going to be a big bag made out of a few different fabrics. I had a long, black cord, skirt that was in good condition but that I hadn’t worn in ages so I decided to cut it up to use. As well as this I had a pair of grey jeans I had out grown so I cut those up too. I did buy some red/black flecky material to accent these two fabrics. I also got some black cotton for the lining, plus some d-loops for the handles and a few large buttons for decoration.
I didn’t have a pattern, or any thing to follow so I just sort of made it up as I went along, knowing how I wanted it to look in the end. It took me a while as I had to figure out how to do each detail I wanted to add. The most annoying thing was when I sewed the lining on, I turned it all in the right way and realised I had sewn the lining on inside out. It took forever to unpick, but I’ve never made the same mistake again.
I think this is where it started, my tendency for making bags. This was my first bag I made but it was not going to be my last. When I’m trying to think of something to make I most commonly make bags. I guess it’s because bags are one-size-fits-all and there are so many things you can do to them to make them different. This was also the start of me re-using materials from old clothing (I call the things made from old clothing items rejuve in my blog labels). Dec 2009