My 2nd Attempt at a Zippered, Gathered Clutch

I decided last night to make another attempt at a zippered, gathered clutch. This time however, I decided to follow the instructions just a liiiiittle bit better. If you recall, the last time I tried making one, it turned out pretty alright, it just didn't have a pocket inside, I didn't do the lining right so you could see the seams on the inside and the strap wasn't quite right (it started fraying pretty bad):

Original post here : My First Zippered Pouch/Wristlet

It was however my first attempt at a gather and only my 2nd ever attempt at a zipper!! I believe it may also have been the first time I put a strap on anything too?

Anywho, last night I decided I should try making something that ISN'T perlers and something that I could maybe actually use! I again pulled up the awesome tutorial over at Noodlehead  and decided to follow the instructions for doing not only the lining properly, but also the band across the front.

For the 1st attempt I did, I folded under the edge of the strip and stitched that down, and THEN attached it to the pouch front. If I'd only read the instructions better, I would have seen that you're supposed to fold the strip over length-wise, stitch, turn inside out and then with the seam in the middle of the underside, you stitch the sides down. This process is much cleaner and much nicer!!

I also pulled out my instruction manual for my sewing machine for the first time ever that I can recall in the 10 or so years I've had it!! I had to look up how to change out to my zipper foot (first time using it and I kinda like it!) and also double-check how to change the tension for the gathering stitch. I don't think I ever realized that it should always be at 4 when I do normal stitching on projects and the process goes much smoother and quicker! D'oh!!

I am so excited I was able to stick some card pockets in here though! I aaaalmost didn't do them but decided at the last minute, why not!!

The only thing with this guy is I got so excited to get the fabric stitched down as close as I could to the zipper, that I kinda went too close to the zipper in a couple parts. I fixed what I could with doing a stitch on top of the fabric at the zipper's edge while pulling it as tight as I could and it helps, but it's still a little hard to not get the fabric stuck in a couple small spots.

All in all, I am really happy with this finished product and I can't wait to make some more!! What do you guys think?!

Craft ya laters!!

Sneak Peek At February!!

You guys wanna see a sneak peek at what's to come in February? Of course you do!! Well, I went to Hancock Fabrics this weekend as they were having a big Blowout Sale - up to 50% on select items!! I scored a bunch of fabric that I have plans for already, whaddya think of the colors and designs?:

 

I also got some D-rings so that I can make detachable handles/straps on the purses and clutches I want to work on for February:

Speaking of, here are some ideas of things I might work on/tweak to my liking to get things made to post in my store:

Noodlehead: Gathered Clutch Tutorial

Kitty Cats and Airplanes: Simple Envelope Clutch Tutorial

Modest Maven: Pleated Purse Tutorial

Skip To My Lou: Handmade Tissue Holder

Noodlehead: Lil Cutie Pouches

I hope you guys are excited for February! I know I am!! I can't wait to get started on getting some awesome things made with all that awesome pretty new fabric!!

Craft ya later!

Making Books Into Purses

I'm sure you're all aware of the craze going around right now of making a hardback book into a purse. I hadn't really thought about it's possibilities or potential until my friend Michelle asked if I wanted to go shopping with her to search for some candidates for the process! She sent me a few ideas of purses she'd seen:

From Etsy seller bibliobags

From Cosmo Cricket Blog

I like the idea of having a sturdy purse from the hardback book's frame, but I especially like the idea of having a sturdy type of case I can use as an idea sketchbook (the 2nd one).

After about 10-15 minutes of looking through books though, I realized something; I'm apparently a little picky when it comes to picking out a book to use for the sole intent of ripping out the pages and using the frame alone!! That and I'm kind of cheap and seeing as how the really nice ones were either really old (aka falling apart and/or printed decades ago) and/or really expensive, I couldn't bear the though of taking them apart to make a purse out of!

Therefore, I'm kinda glad I found the below 2 books, one in the kid's section for $5 (left) and one on the clearance shelf for $1 (right). The one on the right is actually written by one of the author's I normally read anyways, Kim Harrison, so I figured I'd go ahead and read it, THEN I'd tear it apart! I might try to see what adding other things to the front would look like and what options are best (between decoupaging, embossing, etc) but would be a good candidate for my idea book?

The reason I like the kid's book though is for the awesome images inside! I'm not sure I'll be able to use the book frame itself since it's a little on the small side, but check out the art inside!!:

I can totally see using these images for resin pendants, decoupaging, maybe even scrapbooking?? The possibilities are actually pretty endless!! I'll definitely have to make copies of the pages though first before I use any just because they're so awesome!!

Once I play around with these guys though, I'll show you guys what I come up with. But what about you guys? Have any of you converted a book into a purse? If not a purse, have you used hardback books for any other type of upcycling or repurposing projects? Let me know in the comments!

Craft ya later!

My First Zippered Pouch/Wristlet

Hi everybody!! I'm pretty excited to show you what I made last night; my first zippered, strapped pouch/purse/wristlet!!

Isn't it cute?! It's my first ever zippered little pouch/wristlet/purse!!! And I did 3 new things I never have before!!

The zipper isn't technically my first, but it may as well be!! I've only done one before on a skirt for a Halloween outfit and as those are only worn once or twice, there wasn't much care on installing it. Here's my purse zipper though:

What do you guys think?? Did I get the fabric close enough to the edge of the zipper?? I tried my hardest to make it a hidden zipper but apparently I might need a zipper foot on my sewing machine to really get that good! 

The next first was putting a gather on anything!! I did have to fiddle with my sewing machine a bit (since I didn't have my instruction manual with me) to get the long stitch tension set right, but I got it!! And then when I put the middle strip on, you can hardly tell that there were 2 different stitch lines, right??:

Then there was the wrist strap I put on here. I've never really done a strap on the other 2 little purses I've done (they were both kisslock, will show y'all later! ;) ) so I think this turned out pretty good!:

The inside is a little unfinished, but I wasn't focusing so much on it as I was on the outside and getting the previously listed new things done right:

After I finished it however, I found the most awesome thing about using this little guy; my cell phone totally fits in here!!! YAY!!!

Things I will definitely need to work on next time will be making the edges on the inside (way way wayyy) more finished, putting a pocket in the inside for cards (the one I tried to put in there, I cut it too small for the seams I did so a card would NOT have fit) and in general just get my stitchlines more smooth and uniform. 

I made this little purse loosely based on the following tutorial:

Noodlehead: Tutorial for making a gathered clutch

I only had a 6" zipper in my stash so that's the size I made, 6"x4", and I really only glanced at her tutorial for making the gather and the zipper installation itself so that means I made my own template pieces and measurements myself and the whole process with me trying to figure it all out in my head took about 2 1/2 hours!! 

The next one I make however I would like to make it more to her actual tutorial and see the difference (with the exception of the amount of extra fabric for the gather as I'd like more than what I have here and what she has on hers lol) between the two. I also definitely want to try a pocket again and see about getting one (or more?) in the inside of the clutch.

Lastly, making it to her tutorial, I'd have to figure out the little pieces she used to cover the ends of the zipper at the top as opposed to mine only going to the end of the purse sides themselves.

Stay tuned!!