Perfect Presents

If you want to buy me a present, whether it be for my birthday, Christmas or any other reason for that matter, then I am easily pleased .... my favourite perfume, a little something from Tiffany or failing that, a good book.

Now I have to admit I have been truly blessed with my husband and his family. Whenever a present buying occasion looms, they ask me for a list of gifts I would like. I duly supply them with a list of CDs, books, DVDs, perfume etc that I would like and they buy me something from my list. Fabulous! You may argue that there is no element of surprise in that but at least you end up with gifts you want and need, rather than a pile to sell on eBay at a later date!

This Christmas, I put down a couple of craft books that looked interesting. I am always on the hunt for new crafts to try and different ideas to incorporate into my handbags. My lovely in-laws bought both of the books I had on my list and I have to say, they are well worth buying or borrowing from your local library.

Firstly, is "Freeform Crochet and Beyond" by Renate Kirkpatrick. Whilst I can knit, I have never tried crochet. I bought a needle years ago which is as far as I have ever got. Recently, I saw crochet mentioned on a television programme and it sparked my interest again. However, I knew I didn't just want to make squares for a throw, I needed more than that. I find a good place for book hunting is Amazon, so I did a search on crochet to see what came up. With Amazon's look inside feature you can view the contents and a few pages of books to get a feel for them. In the past I have also borrowed them from the library to see if they are worth buying. I have bought books in the past and ended up disappointed with the contents.

"Freeform Crochet and Beyond" is well worth a look though if you are a novice or a crochet guru. The book begins with the basics and gives very clear illustrations on the different stitches and techniques required. It then progresses to the obligatory squares and then into flowers, scarves, hats, handbags, jewellery, cushions and shawls. It also gives information on incorporating your crochet into felt work, another area that really interests me. The book is packed with brightly coloured photographs which just make me even more enthusiastic to get started.

The second book I received was "The Art of Manipulating Fabric" by Colette Wolff. I have to say, this book left me slightly speechless. I never even imagined in my wildest dreams that fabric could be smocked, quilted, pleated, ruffled, not to mention tucked and stuffed, in so many ways! I may have tried simple smocking years ago whilst as school and I always admired my Aunt's smocked cushions as a child but that was as far as it went. Having stumbled across this book on Amazon, the front cover alone sold the book to me.

Every page offers clear diagrams and photographs alongside the text to guide you through sewing techniques I have never seen or heard of. I think the technique for my Aunt's cushions is shirring. They looked like the top photo on the front cover anyway as far as I can remember. Looking in the book there are so many different patterns you can achieve though. My only slight criticism of the book is that all of the photos are in black and white. Colour would have definitely made it a bit more appealing. Don't let that put you off though, this book is still an absolute gem.

For a quick link to Amazon for more information on either book, please scroll down the left hand side of the blog and use the link in the Amazon box.

Working 5 to 9

For years small business owners have been working hard in their spare time to create, promote and run their fledgling business. Most can't afford to take the risk of quitting their day jobs and so are left with no option but to work evenings and weekends. I'm certainly one of them.

I dreamt up From Rags to Bags four years ago (time certainly flies!) when I was off work following an operation and had nothing better to do. I suddenly realised I could turn a lifetime of collecting fabric and a love of sewing into a small business. Whilst the business has grown year on year, I am still not in a position to give up the day job.

Whilst I do get the odd morning or few hours off in the afternoon, most of my free time is in the evenings and weekends. Having said that, by the time I can cleaned the house, done the laundry, gone food shopping, done the garden (you get the picture) even most of the weekend is taken up with everyday living.

I try to sew for a couple of hours every evening. Often I come home, have a cup of tea and then hit the sewing machine. With a break to cook and eat dinner, I can be sewing through the evening. I do try to have a cut off at 9pm but sometimes it ends up 10pm or later.

There is so much more to running a small business though than just manufacturing the product. It is amazing how long it takes to photograph new stock, list it on the website and other websites such as Etsy and Folksy, as well as promoting the business on Facebook and Twitter. Then there is writing articles for the blog. Even packing orders and going to the post office takes time. I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong. Sometimes though, I spend so much time promoting, I don't actually have any time left to make the stock I am supposed to be promoting!

Running a small business is certainly a tough juggling act.

Support for the 5-9'er is growing though with articles appearing in magazines, books being written offering advice and websites offering support. One website well worth bookmarking is http://www.working5to9.co.uk.

I have a head full of ideas for new stock. I am constantly plotting new handbags as well as new items to stock. The list is truly endless and the fabric stash is ever growing. All I need is a few more hours in the day. But then who doesn't?

Woolie Winter Warmers

I was recently asked if I would be interested in making some hot water bottle covers. It is something that has been knocking around in my head for a while anyway, so I was more than happy to give it a go. In the past I have seen knitted hot water bottle covers and decided that was the route I would like to explore.

As I quite enjoy knitting, I could have found a pattern and knitted some covers. The whole ethos of From Rags To Bags though is recycling, so it made much more sense to use secondhand woolies. I ended up trawling through the jumper racks of six charity shops in my hunt for the perfect garment. It is amazing how many are acrylic or only part wool. I needed pure wool for the idea to work. I finally managed to find two jumpers that were labelled wool, two cashmere and one which was machine washable wool.

The first step was to felt them all, so I popped them all into the washing machine on a hot wash. It was really interesting to see the results when they all came out. The wool ones were perfect, one cashmere was felted but the other wasn't at all - go figure! The machine washable wool jumper did what it said, it machine washed and didn't felt at all. You live and learn.

The jumper I liked the best became my first experiment. It had shrunk really well, almost too well but the body was still just long enough to fit a full sized hot water bottle. I used my own hot water bottle as a pattern and cut the shape I was after. The high neck of the jumper became the perfect access point for filling the hot water bottle, with a ribbon to tie the top closed when in use. I cut the back of the hot water bottle cover in half and bound the edges with a complimentary fabric. This means the cover can be easily removed and washed as required.

I have to say, I am really pleased with the design. I love the pattern and colour of the jumper too. I am really tempted to keep this one! The next two covers with be slightly different, one will be the softest, pale pink cashmere and the other will be a navy with a flower pattern across it. I shall definitely be on the hunt for more woolies to use in the future as well.

Slouchy Corduroy Handbag

Finally, I have managed to scrape together some time to make a new handbag. I have sold quite a few of late and was getting really low on stock - and still am! I have got a couple more new ones planned which will hopefully follow soon. I seem to spend all my sewing time making piles of lavender bags and door stops at the moment, not that I am complaining.

I have wanted to make my latest handbag for a while, ever since I found the corduroy at a car boot sale back in the summer. Before my scissors got the better of it, the corduroy was actually a really gorgeous, long, Italian pencil skirt. I loved the fabric as soon as I saw it and managed to buy the skirt for £1.00. The corduroy is a wonderful soft cotton with alternating thick and thin furrows. It makes the bag really tactile.

As I have put a zip in the top, I decided to give the bag a single strap secured at each side. For added interest, I have added a couple of metal rings into the sides of the strap. The rings are actually curtain rings I found in the local DIY store. They are absolutely perfect as they are very sturdy. The bag will give way before they do!

The fabric flower and the lining came from a man's shirt I picked up at a charity jumble sale recently. The fabric was the perfect colour for the corduroy and I love spotty fabric, so it was a definite winner. The centre of the flower has a wooden button that I think came from a cardigan I had years ago. Again, the colour of the wood was a perfect match.

I have to admit, I am pretty pleased with the bag overall. Hopefully it will find a new home very soon ....

Show and Tell 2010

I can't believe it is a year since I blogged about the last Alton Art Society exhibition, "Show and Tell". Where does time go? This year's exhibition kicked off last night with the private view and runs until Sunday.

Since joining the Art Society about 7 years ago, I have always exhibited ceramic pieces that I have made, usually selling two or three pieces. Last year, I decided to take a break from ceramics after many years, to pursue my love of textiles. Last year's entries into the exhibition were half ceramic and half felt. This year, I have entered four felt pieces, two handbags, a felt bowl and a set of felt oak leaves with acorns.

Despite having a whole year to prepare some pieces to enter, I left it somewhat to the last minute as usual. I sent off my entry form a month ago with only a vague idea on what I was actually going to enter. Well, one bag was made, one bag needed altering and the other two pieces were figments of my imagination!

A few weeks ago, I felted a dish from Shetland wool. I wanted to make a piece that gave a nod to my ceramics past and so designed a shallow dish in cream wool with some dark brown streaking to echo previous glazing techniques I have used, as well as Japanese raku. I have to say, I was really pleased with the result.

In the past I have also made ceramic leaves in various forms, so decided to felt some oak leaves. Last year, I entered a large felt sycamore leaf which sold, so I thought I would make something similar. Having made three felt oak leaves, I realised that they just didn't work on their own. They needed more to make sense.

The night before I had to drop my exhibition pieces off, I had a mad plan to felt a couple of acorns. Having thought about it, I realised that three loose leaves and a couple of acorns wouldn't really work either, so decided to try to wire the whole lot together into a more naturalistic form. Amazingly, the whole lot came together and worked really well, so well in fact that the piece sold at the private view last night!

Hopefully I will get some interest in the other three pieces before the exhibition ends. I will definitely make some more leaves, I have a couple of cunning plans knocking around in my head. I really must try to get them made in the next year though and not wait until the night before next year's exhibition to finish them.

Treasure Not Trash

Last weekend I had some garden waste and a few other items to take to the local dump, or the Household Waste Recovery Centre as it is now termed!

I have to admit, if you say dump it conjours up images of piles of rotting waste with sea gulls scavenging on it. In reality, our local dump is clean, tidy and very well managed. There are marked recycling skips for metal, wood, cardboard, garden waste (which is composted), household batteries, aluminium foil, mobile phones, car batteries, gas bottles, glass, textiles and even a charity bra bank! There is also a general skip for everything else but even that gets sifted through by the staff for anything worth saving.

To one side is the "shop" which is very popular. You can buy all sorts of salvaged items from books, DVDs and CDs to china, furniture, garden tools and bicycles. I have to admit, I do quite like a poke about when I am there to see what I can find. I've found jewellery which I have broken up for the beads, a brand new lampshade still in its wrapping and various other odds and ends which have found their way onto ebay.

Whenever I go anywhere, I have my fabric radar on full alert and last weekend was no exception. I spotted a corner of some very interesting fabric sticking out of a large bin full of old curtains in the dump shop, so started to pull it out for a quick look. I found that it was a curtain pelmet which, judging by the length, was for patio doors. There was no sign of the curtains to match, so someone had obviously beaten me to them. The pelmet was in really good condition with no fading, so I decided to buy it for the princely sum of £2.50. A bargain!

Once at home, I very quickly ripped off the header tape and lining and broke up the pelmet in fabric widths. Once it was flat, I found I had 5 sections measuring 120cm (46") wide and 40cm (16") long. Best of all, one piece had a name and date stamped on the selvedge. It was a 1989 Laura Ashley print. So even better than I thought. After a quick wash to freshen it up and iron, the fabric has already been put to good use on the latest edition to my door stops. It just goes to show that you can find useful treasure pretty much anywhere if you keep an your mind and eyes open.

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Zip?

To be completely honest, I hate sewing in zips, to the point that they have become my complete nemesis. When designing handbags, I find myself coming up with all sorts of cunning ways to avoid putting a zip in, even though I know most people prefer handbags with zips - even I do!

In the past I have left the tops of bags completely open, I've designed them with flaps held secure with a magnetic clasp, or I've just used a magnetic clasp at the top. Even internal pockets have just been the slip variety or had yet another magnetic clasp.

It's ridiculous really, I am completely happy sewing a zip into the bottom of my door stops so that they can be posted empty and filled by the purchaser, so why not handbags? In my teens when I made lots of my own clothes, I happily made skirts and trousers with zips in. Somehow over the years though, zips have just slipped off my skills list to the point where I can't quite figure out the best way to deal with them.

Last weekend though, I designed a fabulous new clutch bag, my "La Belle Epoque" clutch. It's black velvet with bead tassels and feathering and it was crying out for a zip along the top. There was really no other way to design it, so I had to bite the bullet. I decided to google sewing in zips and see what I could find and came up with two really great tutorials ....

http://u-handbag.typepad.com/uhandblog/2007/02/zippered_inner_.html

http://twelve22.org/2006/07/zipper_tutorial.html

It was actually the second one that I ended up following but I will certainly refer to the first one in the future too. In the end, putting the zip in was so easy, I don't know why I got in such a muddle in the first place! Zips definitely aren't a nightmare anymore.