Losing The Thread

I learnt a valuable lesson today - don't use cheap cotton! I was making lavender bags, as already blogged about and sewing a scallop stitch around the edges. The machine uses a double needle for this stitch and you therefore have to use two seperate cotton reels.

One reel was a Gutterman thread and the other was a cheap cotton I picked up in the craft shop. There was a more expensive one available but I was feeling like a cheapskate, so bought the reel that was about 30p less. Big mistake! I lost count of how many times the cheap thread snapped. The faster I sewed, the less the cheap cotton could withstand the strain.

It was really frustrating and completely my fault for buying the thread in the first place. It was interesting using the two threads side by side though as it highlighted the quality difference which I might not have appreciated otherwise.

From Table to Drawer

I picked up a very pretty vintage tablecloth recently in a mixed lot of linens from an auction that was hand embroidered with posies of flowers. The cloth dated from around the 1940's and whilst very pretty, it wasn't something that I would really use. If I had resold it, the cloth would have only made a few pounds, if that.

Having looked at it for a while, pondering what to do, I suddenly realised that I could cut out squares of fabric with the embroidered flowers and turn them into lavender bags. I cut out matching plain squares for the backs of the bags and used a scallop stitch on the edges, trimming the fabric to accent the stitching afterwards.

I have to admit, that I really enjoy making lavender bags. They are really simple to make, so don't require a great deal of thought and you get to enjoy the wonderful aroma of French lavender at the same time. The only problem was that I was so relaxed I completely forgot to put the lavender in one of them!

The finished bags are perfect for placing in drawers and airing cupboards to make your clothing smell lovely. You can also pop one into your pillowcase to help you drift off to sleep.

Magical Mystery Blog Tour

With literally thousands of new blogs being created every day, there are millions of them out there waiting to be read. When I am viewing my blog page, or anyone else's for that matter, I can't resist having a sneaky peak at what is around the next corner by pressing the "Next Blog" button.

If you keep pressing it, the variety is amazing and the journey you embark upon is never the same twice. If you press the back button and press for the next one again, it won't even be the same as the result you got before. It is so much fun!

From my own blog, I've just visited a Spanish (might have been Portuguese) music blog, a US fire department's blog with some scary house fire photos, a wedding flowers blog with some lovely photos, a French chef's blog, in French naturally, a couple's personal blog with cute baby photo, a violin blog, again in Spanish and finally a blog about shabby chic furniture, which was very interesting.

You could keep going endlessly from blog to blog. Personally I just like a short burst, with only the briefest pause on each one. Having said that, some do catch your eye and you end up quite engrossed reading them. It is definitely worth a try anyway, if you have a spare five minutes!

Kitsch Peacock Shopper

I went to a local auction yesterday and picked up a couple of vintage bags that caught my eye. One of them is the most kitsch, 1970's shopping bag.

Now I realise it is not to everyone's taste but it just took me straight back to my childhood. I used to have a small purse with plastic beads glued onto the fabric and this bag is made in just the same way but on a much bigger scale. The peacock pattern is repeated on both sides to create a pretty striking bag.

Update: Someone else loved this bag too, as it has now been sold!

The Jumble Sale Find

As I have said before, I have over 30 bags. Needless to say, I love bags. Whilst I have some that are mass produced High Street finds, some of the ones I really love are a bit more individual. One of my favourite summer handbags I found at a jumble sale a few years ago and it cost me just 10 pence!

As you can see from the photos the bag is made from butter soft tooled leather and threaded through with strips of dyed leather. As the leather is so soft, it is a joy to hold in your hands. The design is very simple with the body folding over at the top to hold the contents secure. The back of the bag has a deep slip pocket which is useful for stowing away non valuables like a packet of tissues.

Whilst the bag is fairly modern, it has some age and wear to it which just add to its character. It was no doubt a holiday purchase by someone, possibly from Greece, Turkey or even Morocco. When I purchased it one of the handles had come away from the body of the bag but was easily fixed. Otherwise it was in good, useable order. I have certainly used it plenty of times and will continue to do so for a long time to come.

Thinking Outside of The Box

I am a huge fan of mixed media and try to utilise different items in many of the pieces I create, whether in my textiles or ceramics. I can't help looking at objects and wondering if they might be useful in some future piece or other. Often some strange item can inspire a whole creative train of thought.

Obviously, I look at clothing for fabric and am often found with my scissors in hand chopping a shirt apart. Skirts are great as you usually have quite a large area of useable fabric without too many seams. Old curtains are even better, with velvet ones being a particular favourite of mine. Wool jumpers are also very useful for machine felting. Obviously old buttons can be easily salvaged and put to good use, together with oddments of ribbon and lace. Recently I was given a whole bundle full of men's ties, some of which have already found themselves appliqued onto a bag, with another in the making.

Thinking outside of the box is really important when using mixed media. The principle doesn't just apply the textiles and ceramics I enjoy. All manner of items can be incorporated into jewellery, sculpture, paper crafts and paintings too. You really just have to keep an open mind at all times.

An excellent hunting ground is the local hardware store. I just can't help myself when it comes to metal and wooden curtain rings, different types of wire, copper tubing and metal nuts. Whilst in the hardware store the other day, I discovered they sold various thicknesses and colours of cording. I had been searching craft stores for it to no avail, so you can imagine my delight! Alongside that, I found different types of chain being sold by the metre, presumably for sink plugs and the like. I did get a few odd looks as I was muttering aloud about the fantastic chains that were available and imagining the uses.

A few months back, I was in my local kitchenware shop looking for a spatula. Amongst the cleaning items I came across the run of the mill silver metal scouring pads. However, they also stocked copper ones too. For some reason the copper ones had a beauty and almost organic quality all of their own. I had to buy one! I haven't quite found a use for it yet, but I will.

All manner of natutal items can be useful, shells, pine cones, stones, wood. I have used leaves as templates before for ceramic projects and have just discovered skeleton leaves. They look so fragile but are actually remarkably robust. Obviously they are great for card making projects but I thought I would try and utilise them in a felt piece. I think the resulting vessel was quite successful.

I am not alone in using every day materials, with more and more emphasis being placed on recycling, people are finding new ways to reuse products all the time. Plastic bottles are becoming fleece clothing, tyre rubber becomes shoes, clothing is shredded and used to insulate cars. All around us artisans are using glass found on the beach, broken china and even plastic bags to create new and beautiful pieces.

Hopefully, you will be inspired to experiment a little too.

Blogging

I have to admit this blogging lark has really got my brain working. There are so many new skills to learn with HTML, layouts, adding tools etc. No doubt the look of my blog will change umpteen times over the coming weeks as I fiddle with colours etc. Hope you will bear with me. It is really a work in progress.

If you have any comments or feedback about the look or anything I ramble on about, please drop me an email or leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.