Books and Bags

If you go down to the library today, you're in for a big surprise! Well, Alton library anyway.

Generally, libraries used to be musty smelling places full of dusty, well read books and librarians telling you to shh! Well, no more. If you go to a library now, you can not only borrow the latest best seller, you can also borrow CDs across the musical spectrum (Alton has got Bryan Adams to Metallica), DVDs of the latest films, computer games and surf the internet.

Alton library also goes a step further than that. They are selling local, handmade crafts. When I was in the library a week or so ago to borrow a book on felting, I noticed a large, glass display cabinet with handmade jewellery and turned wood items for sale. A quick chat with the manager revealed that they are happy to provide selling space free of charge to local craft folk and taking a 25% cut of any sales.

I left my card and got an email a few days ago offering me some space in the display cabinet. From Saturday, a selection of my handbags, handbag charms, door stops, lavender bags and peg bags will be available to the visitors of Alton library.

It is such a great idea. I get some free advertising and shelf space in the town and the library gets some much needed funds when they sell an item. The staff in the library were so friendly and enthusiastic about my products too which made me feel very welcome. Hopefully I will get some sales. They have offered me the space on a 3-4 month trial period and with the run up to Christmas around the corner, hopefully it will be successful.

Funky Fabric

I seem to spend hours trawling the internet in search of fabric and textiles to use in my handbags and home wares. I much prefer to use vintage and secondhand textiles in my creations and particularly enjoy repurposing items.

Of late, I have been trying to buy vintage curtains as you get a lot of fabric for your money. Using clothing can limit what you are able to make as the pieces of fabric can be quite small. Curtains are great as you usually have a large expanse of flat fabric leading to endless possibilities. I have a huge pile of vintage velvet curtains in various colours but I have been trying to find some patterned fabrics to add to the pile.

I have a penchant for the funky fabrics of the 1950's to 1970's. I love the geometric designs, with the bold colours. Curtain fabrics are usually quite thick and with the strong designs, the fabrics are perfect for doorstops. I am constantly watching and bidding on curtains on eBay but they seem to go for more than I am willing to pay.

This morning I trotted off to the local car boot sale with my usual open mind, looking for anything that might be useful, fabric, buttons, beads, vintage handbags. I was quite taken aback to spot a pair of funky green and white curtains on one stall. My first thought was that they were modern from somewhere like Ikea. On closer inspection at the label though, I realised they were in fact genuine, 1970's curtains from Marks & Spencer.

The curtains are both 64 inches wide and 52 inches long, so a really good size. More importantly they are in fabulous condition with no marks or fading. Just think how many doorstops I could make out of them?!

The only problem is, they are so fabulous, I don't think I can bring myself to cut them up. I wouldn't hang them in my house but as a pair of vintage 1970's curtains, I love them. I think I am going to list them on eBay and see what happens. If they sell I can buy other vintage fabric with the proceeds. If nobody else buys them, then maybe they will get the chop after all.

Madness At The Races

Yesterday, I went to a horse racing and concert event being held at Epsom Downs Racecourse, in Surrey. It was the part of the Epsom Live 2010 event which hosted a number of pop acts over the last week or so, playing concerts after an afternoon of horse racing, with Madness playing last night.

So why am I blogging about horse racing and pop concerts on a handbag blog?

Well, I like to have an annual flutter on the Grand National and decided to throw caution to the wind last night and place a bet on the final race of the day, the 8:40pm at Epsom. There were six horses running, so you would think the odds would be pretty good.

Not being a follower of horse racing and form, I always pick a horse based purely on its name. I don't study the form, the ground conditions, the trainer or the jockey. I just pick a name that has relevence to me. Trust me, I never win! Well, having said that, I did actually win on the Grand National this year with Don't Push It sprinting home at 24-1. Shame I only put £2.50 on it but I was more than pleased with my £60.00 win.

Last night, horse number 1 in the 8:40 race was called Pin Cushion. To me, that was a good omen. With my love of sewing, how could I possibly go wrong with a horse called Pin Cushion? Not only that, he was actually the favourite. I can't even remember the other horses names, apart from Starwatch, who I considered for a split second ....

The race began .... Pin Cushion got boxed in on the rail .... I did my Eliza Doolittle from "My Fair Lady" impression, urging Pin Cushion on .... who romped in 4th. Out of 6 runners. Needless to say, Starwatch won at 20-1 odds.

Pin Cushion! What a stupid name for a horse anyway!

Bead Bonanza

Anyone who uses lots of beads in craft projects will know just how expensive they are too buy. Glass beads can be ridiculously expensive and can really push up the cost of making items. Too keep costs down, I try to utilise second hand beads by breaking up jewellery.

This weekend I managed to accumulate quite a good stock of beads. Yesterday I bought two beaded hair ties and three bead necklaces in a wildlife charity shop. The whole lot cost just £3.50. All the beads are plastic but they are useful colours, shapes and sizes and I quite like the turquoise and white striped beads.

Today, I had another good haul at a car boot sale. I bought four bracelets and two necklaces. The bracelets are all glass beads, so I was really pleased with those. The white bead necklace is crystal, so really sparkly in the light and the black necklace is plastic but has a good tassel which I can see being used on an evening bag perhaps. All of the items were being sold to raise funds for a donkey sanctuary. The sellers only wanted £1.00 but that seemed far too cheap, so I gave them £2.00 instead.

All in all, I am really pleased with the beads and a couple of charities got some money. The jewellery will be broken up shortly and the beads will probably be used to make some new handbag charms.

July's Bag of The Month

A new month has arrived, which means I need to select a new "Bag of the Month" to put on promotion. July was a really busy month for sales, with quite a few of the handmade handbags being sold. I am now quite low on stock, so need to make some more as soon as possible.

I have decided to put one of my tie bags on offer for July. I think they are probably the favourite style out of all of the bags I make, with the Chocolate and Red Tie Bag being a real winner as far as I am concerned. I am still really tempted to keep it for myself though, so I don't know why I am putting it up as "Bag of the Month" to be honest!

Anyway, for July only, this handbag is on offer on the website at a reduced price of £18.00, down from £25.00.

From Rag to Bags!

A couple of months ago, a friend of mine gave me a tablecloth that had been hand embroidered by her grandmother. It was in pretty bad shape with torn and frayed corners but lovely floral embroidery in the corners. She knew I used old table linens to make some of my items, so thought it might be of some use to me.

The cloth looked like it had been very well loved over the years, so it did seem a shame to throw it away. Also a lot of time had obviously been spent embroidering the cloth all those years ago, so I putting my thinking cap on and came up with a couple of solutions.

The first idea that sprang to mind was fairly obvious - lavender bags. As the embroidered area was quite large, the two lavender bags I made were larger than usual but that didn't really matter much. My friend was delighted with the lavender bag I gave to her and I kept the other.

Thankfully I didn't rush into making four lavender bags. I got waylaid by other projects and by the time I got back to the remainder of the cloth, I had had another idea. This time I made a peg bag for my friend with the rest of the cloth, which worked equally well. My friend was delighted and the cloth has been successfully repurposed into some useful items once again.

June's Bag of The Month!

I have decided to introduce "Bag of the Month" on my website, putting a different handbag in the spotlight each month, at a reduced price. I realise that whilst people may really like a particular handbag, they don't always have the budget to be able to buy it. Hopefully, with "Bag of the Month", different handbags may become more affordable for a few weeks at a time.

For June, I have decided to put the Black Brocade Evening Bag in the spotlight. It is a fun, over the top, evening bag made from a black brocade dress with an oversized chiffon bow and a vintage, diamonte pendant pinned to middle. A single strap handle runs from side to side and the central pleat front and back makes the handbag very roomy inside.

The interior of the handbag is lined with a multi coloured, sateen, check fabric. A silver magnetic clasp holds the top of the handbag securely closed. The handbag measures approximately 20cm long, 32cm along the bottom edge, 22cm along the top edge and 9cm deep at the base.