Delaina's birthday vision (part 2)

Last Saturday we celebrated Delaina's birthday. It is therefore finally time to reveal her birthday vision... Tadaaaaa!!! The finished product. I think it is ridiculously cute, even if I do say so myself.
Rear view (teehee...) with fully adjustable straps, which are extra padded for extra comfort.

Little magnetic snap. Little outside pocket. Little bit of my hand visible top left. Le inside. Big enough for bottle of water and paperback, and then a bit extra to wiggle your hands about. This last bit is very important, I feel - what is the point of a bag that is too small to wiggle your hands about in?
(ps The tie is a recycled ribbon from a box of Belgian chocolates...)

I am pleased to report that the birthday girl was so pleased with her gift, she said she didn't have the words to express it!!! Coming from a journalist, I'm going to take that as a massive compliment.

'Pimp my bag'

Oh how I love to recycle!! Not just glass jars and bottles and paper and cans, but curtains and sheets and now even bags. So this one actually didn't have so far to come. It was once a CHEAP bag from a certain very cheap but fashion-savvy high street store (which shall of course remain nameless), and therefore the zip gave up after two uses. Hmph.

The main reason I had bought it though, was because I liked the print. Even after the zip came apart, I kept the bag, thinking maybe I would one day fix the zip, or put a new one in, maybe.



That never happened.



Instead, I decided, in a fit of clearing out cupboards, to 'Pimp my bag' and make it into a more useful bag. I took the bag apart, saved the internal zip, handles, main fabric panels and some of the piping, and designed this bag. (I'm not entirely sure I can officially declare this bag 'pimped', though, due to it's distinct lack of 36" LCD screens or 19" chrome rims. Oh well).Argh, I forgot to take pictures of the darts again. But rest assured this bag has 'em. The sides are slightly rounded, since this bag seemed to want that.



Topside view of very safe zipper top. And piped top edge. And yes, this bag is lined in a very pretty pink floral print fabric. Yaaaaay....(Fabric is not recycled, by the way).

Ooooh, a little tab at the end of the zip!! Once the bag was finished, it turned out it didn't necessarily need that long a zip (but I couldn't be bothered to go back to the store and get a shorter one), nor a tab at the end of it, but it's too late for that now. I might sleep on it and maybe make a little key-purse at the end of the tab, or something. Then again, maybe I won't.


But wait! Does this bag have an internal zip pocket, I hear you wonder? Of COURSE it has one. Made with the salvaged zip from the old bag. And... ...it's got yet ANOTHER internal pocket!! This one is unzippered (make of that what you will), but big enough for your sunglasses. I don't know that a pocket next to a big heavy book is necessarily the best place to keep sunglasses, but I figured they'd look good on the picture. Like a celebrity that doesn't want to get recognised.

Peace out y'all.

Briony's bag

So this is actually the bag that started my passion for bagmaking, and was started waaaaaay before any of the others. I saw this fabric in my favourite local fabric shop and decided I wanted to make it into a Very Useful Bag. The basic dimensions and shape of the bag are the same as those of the Bag that Sparked the Blog, as Briony and I both felt that this particular kind of bag was missing from our lives. {Please excuse the blurryness of the above picture: it was taken late at night after a thrilling night spent at a Cluedo party. The bag wanted to be photographed despite the late hour and many Mrs. Peacockjitos (a twist on mojito: classic mojito with blue ice cubes).}I found this hessian tape for the handles and put in an extra long zip. This wasn't so much a conscious choice, as it was another example of my impatience: the bag had been waiting to be finished for at least a year (my old sewing machine gave up on it) and I couldn't wait another few weeks to get a zip that fit perfectly AND was this exact colour. So I sewed an oilcloth tab on the end of it, which has the accidental bonus of enabling one to open the bag up completely, making it easier to fit those pesky files in. And OF COURSE there is an internal zipper pocket. Briony was very specific about the size of this pocket, as she's found sometimes internal zip pockets are too small for her wallet.

I'm very pleased to be able to report that Briony uses the bag a lot, and that it seems to do what she wanted it to do!

Delaina's birthday vision (part 1)

Delaina had a vision. A vision of a bag that didn't exist. Or had once, but then got discarded, or lost, or stolen by evil kobolds or similar. When I offered to make her a bag, she explained this vision to me, and picked out a lovely oilcloth with red apples for it.

Once I had all the hardware necessary for Delaina's vision, I set about making this bag, which turned out to be easy-peasy, thanks entirely to this tutorial:
http://u-handbag.typepad.com/uhandblog/2008/03/backpack-bag-tu.html

I'm very, very pleased with the results, even if I do say do myself, but since Delaina's birthday isn't until later this month, you'll all have to wait until she gets to see it!!

I just hope it lives up to her vision...stay tuned!!!

Mama's airplane bag

My mother was getting inspired by all the bag-making, and requested a bag that didn't exist. It needed to be fully zippered; made out of the purple fabric I used for the Bag That Sparked The Blog; and be just a shade smaller than her leather 'mama-bag', whilst simultaneously being big enough for all the essentials one wants when travelling short haul on a plane (wallet, keys, passport, toiletries, post-security check water bottle, paperback, etc, etc.). The bag handles also needed to be long enough to comfortably sling over her shoulder.
Tadaaaa!!! One mama-airplane-bag!!! By this time, I had gotten so excited about being able to make zippered pockets that fade magically (well...) into the fabric, that I decided to put an external zippered pocket on this bag. This time in a different colour than the big bag zip. Whoohoo! This pocket is still big enough for, say, a wallet, keys, and phone.
Top side view. Top zip was a bit bigger than the width of the bag, so I put a tab on the end which can easily be tucked into the bag.See? The side pocket fits a whole big fat wallet!! And then the all-important interior shot. Big enough for paperback (I can really recommend Ted Hughes' Tales from Ovid, by the way) and proper sized water bottle, and extra-large (ie. extra 2.5 cm) inside pocket. Zippered, naturellement.

Result: one happy mother. Toch?

Polka-dotted purse

I really wanted (to make) a purse with one of those really satisfying snap closures. Just because of the sound they make when you close them. Snap. *Sigh*.
Being the eminently practical person I am, however, the purse needed to be big enough for all my essentials. Which means big wallet, keys, phone, and even a (note)book. Really I like to extend that list to include an umbrella, bottle of water, lip balm, etc. etc., but occasionally one can sacrifice those essentials for the sake of a *sigh* snappy closure. I made some extra room by putting some darts in the bottom. I'm so proud of those darts, I forgot to make pictures. Anyway...
I had the purse frame before I had picked out the fabric, but once I saw the polka dots with the bobble closure... See? It's juuuuuust about big enough for a paperback (something absurdist, preferably). The purse can just about still snap shut, but that wouldn't work on a bigger paperback. Unless...

...you wiggle the book in on it's side which means you can easily snap the bag shut. I initally wanted to wait until I could find a funky, patterned fabric for the inside, but I was too impatient and decided that a polka-dotted pocket would funk up the inside just as well. AND it's practical! Two birds, one stone.

{Note: the phone in the pocket? Clearly far too new to be mine.}

The bag that sparked the blog

Meet the bag that sparked the blog. Basically, I had been looking for a bag big enough to hold an A4 folder plus a stack of books; a bag that was waterproof; a bag that zipped shut; a bag that had an internal zip pocket; a bag that I could sling over my shoulder or hold in my hand without it dragging on the ground while I walked. In short, a bag that didn't exist. So I decided to make one myself!

I feel the fabric is very appropriate, as I had a lovely case of vasculitis at the time of crafting this bag (which is how the bag making got started, but that's another story altogether...).
Notice the funky purple zip. So sturdy. So safe. So zippy.

Outer pocket for...gee...I dunno. What could one pop in that pocket? It snaps shut with a magnetic snap, as well. A magnetic snap with the strength of an iron man... The all-important interior. Big enough for all the things I need to be able to schlep around with me, and with the essential internal zip pocket. Have I mentioned the internal zip pocket yet? Because this bag has one. Internal. Zip. Pocket.

Wash upon a curtain...

Once upon a time, there was an old, unwanted washbag; some mouse-nibbled curtains; and an unused zipper (as well as some other bits and bobs but they don't further the plot, so we'll leave them be).

Along came the Bernina 1008....and the lost ingredients were magically transformed into a very handy tote with large side pocket, big enough for a paperback, umbrella (of the minature fold-up variety) etc; roomy interior with sturdy bottom and internal zippered pocket to keep all your personals personal; and lovely padded straps long enough to easily sling over your shoulder.
Don't it look good hanging off the door handle...(I think it's trying to get out...)
Interior zips shut to keep your copy of Jamie's Italy safe (it was the first big book I had to hand, apart from the deceptively titled Shorter Oxford English Dictionary Volumes I and II), and look! There's even a pocket for your mobile phone. I'm sure yours is a newer model.

Ah, topside view. Should be safe enough from silly people who want to stick their hands in your bag, without prior invitation.