Summer fling bag tutorial

 There are two versions of this bag. One with wooden handles. Decorative, but a little inconvenient to carry around, since the handles tend to lean over to the smallest point. The other one has canvas straps. I bought these lovely canvas straps at the Purl Bee, when I was in New York (lucky bastard).

What do you need?

• patternpaper 53x38 for  (a newspaper will do)
• 2x outer bag  A
• 2x lining  B
• 2x fabric for the strip  C in the middle 54x18cm (the inner width of the wooden handle plus seam allowance). Or a 106 cm on one piece...
• 1x outer pocket  D 55x18 cm and a nice fabric F to line it with (same size), and maybe   some vlieseline E
• 1x inner pocket  G (as big as you like it)
• wooden handles or canvas straps
• a magnet

Draw your pattern. This is no rocket science. You take a piece of newspaper from 55x 38 cm. Fold in half and draw.You can make perfect round edges by using a plate in the corners. When you use canvas straps (which I recommend) you use the pattern up to the dotted line, the total length will be 48 cm. Unfold your pattern and then cut out the little darts by folding both sides together (a diagonal fold) and cut of a little triangle on both edges. Now place your pattern on your fabric (which you folded, so you can cut front and back at the same time) and cut it out, both bag and lining,  but don't cut out the little triangles on the corner, instead you mark them on your fabric.

Sew and press to one side.

Now sew partly together both parts of your outer bag,  along the dotted line ( right sides facing eachother). Sew both parts of  your middle strip (C) and press the seam open (unless you have a strip that's already 106 cm long). On the long side fold and press a seam and sew it on your bag. It's now just as wide as the flaps that hold your handles or straps. (See drawing below)

Sew your front pocket. If your fabric is really thin, use some vlieseline (E). Place right sides of the outer and inner fabric(D and F) together and sew along the edges. Leave a small gap on one of the long sides and turn. Be sure your pocket and your middle strip are just as wide. There's no need to close the gap. That will follow in the next step. You might want to top stitch your pocket.

Now sew your pocket on to your middle strip. Be sure to define the middle and place that on the seam of your bag. 

Let's work on the lining of the bag (don't you love the Bob Ross sound of that?). You might want to add a pocket G  inside. Here's a wonderful tutorial for a slip pocket. This is also the moment to place your magnet. Define the middle line and place it. 

Now you can sew the rest of the bag from * to *. Place the little triangles opposite from each other, like this:

Now place both bags inside each other. The right sides of the fabrics must face each other. In case of fabric handles, your must include them now and leave a gap on the side to turn the bag.

Start sewing like you see in this picture and stop sewing 5 cm before you reach this point again. Turn the bag through this gap and close it by topstitching close to the edge.

Et voila, you're done. (Well, after some serious pressing. Really, you should use that iron every little step of the way. It pays off.) If you want to look intelligent, add a newspaper. (I did it to show you it's a pocket. I don't need a newspaper to look intelligent. I have glasses since a couple of weeks. And although they might give me a slighter intelligent look, they're also screaming "over forty" very hard.)

If you use the wooden handles, it's even easier. You just leave one flap open, turn the bag, close it by top stitching close to the edge (fold in the seam) and place them over your wooden handles.

Enjoy your summer fling!

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Magic Book Tutorial

• 0.4 m ribbon
• 4x cardboard 10x15 cm (you can choose your own measures)
• 2x fabric A 13x18 cm (just make sure you have an 1.5 cm allowance)
• 2x fabric B 13x18 cm
• glue. I used spray glue, but this isn't necessary. You might even consider using doublesided tape...

1. Add glue to all four sides of your cardboard

2. Place the cardboard with the glued side up on the wrong side of the fabric.

3. Fold the fabric over and stick it to the glue

4. Fold the edges in a little triangle, like you are wrapping a present, before you fold the next side over.

Cover two pieces of cardboard with fabric A and the other two with fabric B.

5.Put some glue on the end of the ribbon and stick it to the cardboard, 2 cm from the top and bottom (you     can  choose 3 cm as well,  as long as it is the same on both top and bottom) If you turn the cardboard you flip the ribbon over to the right side...
6.Do the same for the crossed side. Be sure the cross is on the right side of the cardboard. I placed the cross 4 cm from both top and bottom. If you turn it over, you'll see the cross on the right side.

7. Make sure the cross is on the right side, and then glue the ribbon ends on the wrong side of your fabric B piece of cardboard. Again on 4 cm from both top and bottom.

8. Put some glue to the cardboard of your fabric B and place the other side with straight ribbons on top. Pull the ribbon thight and glue it to the backside of you crossed piece, again on 2 cm from the top and the bottom. Turn the whole thing over and glue the left piece of cardboard, covered with fabric B on top, with the right side up. Now you're done. I forgot take a picture of this step, but this shouldn't be hard to figure out. 

Now you're ready to impress your (grand)children. Isn't that what we want to do all the time?

Fabric covered notebook Tutorial

Start with your fabric A, fold it double and iron your H630 in between. It sticks on both sides.

Sew close to the fold on both pieces of fabric

Just like that.

 Sew both pieces B on the sides of piece C. If you want to enclose your label, do it now. Iron your seam open.

Sew along both sides of the seam.

Iron the normal vlieseline on the back of joined pieces B and C.

Place piece B/C with the right side up. Sew your ribbon on the side that will be on the back of your notebook. Be sure to stay within in reach of the seam allowance.  Then place both pieces A with the seam on the inside on top op piece B/C.

Place piece I, your lining fabric, with the wrong side up on the rest of your fabric. Sew 0.5 cm from the edge and leave a small opening on one side. (Be sure to do it way more neat than the line I draw with my mouse) Pull the inside out and ladder stitch the opening. (This is another piece of fabric than I used in the end. I forgot to take a picture of that one...)

That's what it looks like when you've turned it inside out.

Sew your button on et voila!

Origami Valentine Garland Tutorial

                                                                                                                            

Various origami sheets. I cut mine in pieces of 7,5x7,5 cm. The average origami sheets measures 15x15 cm.

Fold the over the diagonal on both sides and unfold again. (Diagram below step 1)

Then you fold along the diagonal you did before. If you do it on both sides, you get a ´kite´ shape. Unfold again.(Diagram step 2)

Do the same on the other side. Keep unfolding. You ony see the lines the folds have made. (Diagram step 2)

Fold over to the `crossroad of folds´ you did before. (Diagram step 3)

This is the tricky part. You fold alongside both ´kite´ lines. Meanwhile you fold the litte triangle you made in the step before in half and lift it. It sounds harder than it is. Because of the fold you make, it will kind of go that way automatically. (Diagram step 4 and 5)

Turn the sheet around! Now fold the pointy edges to the middle. (Diagram step 6)

And fold the edges as you can see on the right side of my finger on the picture above to the middle. Do the same on the left side. (Diagram step 7)

Flipover and your origami Valentine´s heart is done!

Now grab some yarn, a needle with an eye big enough for your thread, and small enough for the beads you might want to use.

And that's how you put the needle through. If you use beads, tie them by backstitching every time you put one.