Pencil cases...

For the last couple of weeks I have been working on a special present of a pencil case.  I wanted it to be a 'wrap' style case with no zip, and to make it from a piece of felted, embroidered and beaded linen, and to use some Japanese fabric for the lining.

When I do projects like these I always start off with a rough sketch of what I hope it will look like, with approximate dimensions - this becomes the 'pattern' that I work from (although I don't actually use pattern pieces, just measurements).  I generally make two of anything so I can iron out any problems with the design in the first attempt.

Here's my rough sketch:

The first pencil case I made was like this:

It has a pouch for storing pencils and pens...

(the black and cream lining fabric that you can just about see is more from my vintage kimono stash that I got from Kyoto)

...and then rolls up like this.  It's held closed with an 8-tama kumihimo braid.

 Here's a closeup of the front felted area:

Fortunately the pattern worked out ok, which meant I could also make up the second pencil case - this time in my favourite autumnal shades:

 the inside has red kimono fabric:
(I used felt for the lining of the pouch to provide some extra protection for the contents)

The Autumnal pencil case has been given as part of a special present, but I am keeping the blue prototype for myself - and I'm looking forward to using it on our next sketching trip!

A crafty Saturday afternoon...

Had a fun afternoon experimenting with solvy, machine embroidery and my embellisher, in between catching up with slightly more hi-tech craftiness happening on Space Shuttle Endeavour/the ISS via Nasa TV (totally obsessed by mission STS-127 right now - can't get enough of astronauts carrying out such complex, hi-tech tasks in their socks!).

So, in my socks too, but with gravity, although without any robotic arms, here's what I came up with! Haven't dissolved the Solvy yet, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that turns out.

Following a suggestion a while back from Lin Moon, (thank you!), I'm going to make a couple of the pieces into paisley-shaped brooch prototypes. Also below are the 'new' necklace prototypes (*ahem* got a bit distracted by other crafty things and still haven't finished these yet) - so these 4 are what I'll work on over the rest of the weekend.

Needlelace

I've been looking for ways to add texture and 3-D-ness to my embellisher work.  I came across the concept of 'stumpwork' during my internet research - I had never heard of it before, and was intrigued by the name, so I bought this book.   Apparently there's a lot of stumpwork in the Bayeux Tapestry, which I remember going to see as a child on a family holiday to France - a totally amazing piece of work.

The book also gives a basic introduction to a technique called needlelace, which is a cross between sewing, embroidery, tatting and lace-making.  I decided to try to learn how to do it, using the book as a guide.  The instructions were really clear, and it all made sense to me, amazingly (usually my spatial awareness is pretty awful - hence the lack of knitting skills!) - so I've been practising this new technique, hoping to add some needlelace pieces into the fibre works I'm making for Christmas presents.

To make a piece of needlelace, you need to have a firm boundary, which you couch down, and you need to work out the final shape first.  I started with an easy rectangle!

You work on a 'pad' of fabric, with waxed paper on the top to form a tough surface to work against.  Once you've finished the lace part, you sew buttonhole stitch all around the border, and then cut off the couching threads to release the piece.

I tried a piece with space-dyed threads too, which seem to work quite well:

And finally, I realised I have been very remiss in not yet posting any pictures of my crafting partners-in-crime.  Well I say partners, more thwarters really.  Particularly if it involves eating, hiding, or sitting on what I am trying to work on!  This one is Rubedo, or Mr McGruber as he is more commonly known.

Making a bag!

I fancied trying something new this weekend, as I've spent a lot of time recently with my embellisher, and I sensed that my sewing machine was feeling a wee bit neglected... .

A while ago I bought some lovely hemp silk herringbone fabric from InfiniteCosmosHemp on Etsy. It has been sitting making friends with the rest of my stash, waiting for the right time to fulfil its potential.

I have also been wanting to try making a bag from scratch (pattern and all) for a while... so everything converged this weekend and I decided to give it a go!

I thought the hemp would make a lovely tote, because it's pretty heavyweight and durable-feeling, but at the same time soft and yummy.

I started sketching out my ideas, thinking about whether I wanted a plain tote shape (i.e. rectangular) or something a bit more interesting. I decided to go for a sort of 'bandeau' look at the top of the bag, with some gathering below to give extra shape. I went for two straps/handles, as I think this is always more comfy when a bag is full, and used other bags I have to give me an idea of how long I wanted to make them - not so long that the bag gives me bruised knees, but definitely long enough so I can comfortably put the bag over my shoulder.

I had made my sketch to scale on the squares in my wee notebook, so then I just scaled it up using graph paper (not too much maths involved thankfully!), and cut out a real-size pattern on bits of stuck-together graph paper.

Next I cut out all the pieces and started sewing them together. Probably should have stopped and thought about it a bit more before starting (!), but it kind of worked out ok in the end!


The hemp fabric was really nice to work with, and cut and sewed pretty smoothly.

Once I had finished the main body of the bag, I decided to embellish her (I think it is a 'she', although I am fighting a strange urge to call her Hamish) with a yo-yo rosette that I made a while ago (planning to make into a brooch which never happened).


I think she looks pretty cute! She feels like a good size when over my shoulder, but I guess the proof will be in the pudding when Hamish gets her maiden voyage fully laden.

I think I might take her with me tomorrow, for my first day of my metalsmithing summer school, and see how she fares :D.