U-handblog

Curvy Purse Frame Purse

Saw the new Indy Jones movie on Thursday.  I thought it wasn't the best of the 4 (for me it's the Last Crusade), but it was still enjoyable daft fun. 

We're having a quiet weekend in: spag bol for supper, sewing for me, studying for him, and nice dog naps for Beans the woofer.


Yawwwn! "Yep you haven't seen me in while on this here blog. I'm still here either dozing or constantly on the look out for something, (anything, anything at all - I'm not fussy) to eat".


At the moment I'm on a sewing roll and I'm forcing myself to attend to my overflowing WIP box.  Here's the first piece to enjoy 'completed' status:


I made this purse so folks could see what this Silver Modern Curved Purse Frame and this Silver Hand Chain looks like in action.



Side view.



Inside view with matching lining.  Perfect size for a day out with room for wallet, lip balm, sunnies, and mobile phone.


I'm looking into getting my mitts on my first over locker/serger machine and I have my eye on this one:


It's a Janome 6234XL.  I like the look of it because I like Janome machines and it looks like something I can grow with. 


I'm interested in getting an overlocker because I really want to get back into clothes making again.  There's a whole world of lounge pants, skirts, and jersey cloth out there to discover and seeming as I'm a short arse making more clothes for myself makes a lot of sense. 

This thing is I have never ever used an overlocker before.   What sort of issues are there involved with using these kinds machines, what sort of features should I be on the lookout for?  What do you like or don't like about these machines?  If any of you good folks out there could give me some advice I'd be sooo grateful :)

Have yourself a lovely weekend everyone!

U-Handbag is in 3 craft mags this month & 3 of 'em are up for grabs. Woo!!

Gosh I feel like I should get my hair cut and perhaps get manicure done (yeah right! we all know that keeping painted nails nice during sewing is impossible).  Why the sudden urge to brush my hair?  Well, this month it just so happens that U-Handbag is a bit famous because I am appearing in 3 different craft mags all at once!  Mum & Dad are pretty chuffed :)

The first magazine is my regular slot in Sewing World Magazine where I have made this bag for the monthly tutorial.

The second is in Knit Today Magazine where the talented Nora J Bellows of Noni Designs has designed a knitting pattern for this absolutely adorable Ruby Tulips frame purse using one of my frames - LOVE it! 


This outrageously cute Tulip Bouquet purse was made using a Silver Loop Handle Frame from U- Handbag.  Full pattern and felting instructions for the bag are on pg 28. 

And the third magazine is the bright and breezy Quick & Crafty Magazine:


On the cover: jam packed with all sorts of crafts from knitting to card crafts, and beading; there's really something for everyone. Plus loads of fab photo tutorials, book and equipment reviews and check out the free gift; a mega-pack of rainbow glitters and pretty sequins.  More than enough to keep anyone busy!  I have 3 copies of this fab and funky craft mag to giveaway (the 4th one is for my Mum).



Here is a small selection of the tutorials inside the current issue of Quick & Crafty: yummy and super-quick weekend projects to brighten up your home. Fabric recipe book and peg bag.



Make these quick to whip-up cute projects to celebrate new additions to the family.Treat box, pom pom card, flower tag, and little mouse.

 

Fast to make vintage style accessories. Zippered pouch, fabric covered note book, button pins, and handbag mirror.



Quick & cute knits.  Tea and egg cosies and a darling hottie cover.




And here I am!  I'm soooo delighted with the photography and the lay-out.

Draw Details (please read carefully)

Yep! So I have here 3 copies of the current Quick & Crafty Magazine to give away (complete with fab glitter & sequin packs)  YAY!  I'll draw the 3 lucky winners in a weeks time - 9th June.  Can't wait for the draw? No problem; all of these magazines are on sale now.

To enter all you have to do is comment on THIS PARTICULAR POST by:

1. Telling with us what your fave Craft Magazines or books are.  It'll be fun to learn about different craft magazines/books from around the world. 
   
2. Please include a link to the magazine/book or a link to where it can be purchased and please leave out any brackets on your links or they won't work :)
   

Contest Official-ness :

1. I'll randomly draw the 3 winners in 1 weeks time - 9th June and announce the winner the following day-ish.  Good luck!
2. I'll need to ask the winners to make a donation for the postage.
3. Sorry I can't notify winners, so please keep an eye for the winner announcement.  This is made easier for you if you subscribe to this blog so you don't have to keep checking back, although it's always great to have you pop-in for a read :0)
4. Prizes which are not claimed within 3 weeks of the winner announcement will be carried forward to the next draw.
5. Sorry I can't reply to contest/draw comments, but I do love reading every single one :)

And the winners of the Amy Butler Sewing Pattern Contest (Apr 08) are...

So this is my 292nd post and it's my birthday in around 2 weeks time.  I wonder which will happen first; the 300th post or my 3fthhh, 3fthhhh, 3thth...can't seem to type it....35th! birthday?  I'll be sure to commemorate the occasion/s with a super duper giveaway closer to the time.

Okeydokey so the winners of the May's Monthly Amy Butler Sewing pattern contest are:



I love the bright zingy colours of this Madison Bag and that fabric folded flower pin is something else!  By Priddy Creations.



This very graceful and slightly quirky Velma Bag will make a smashing party purse.  The fabric choice is wonderful as is the brooch pin on the flap.  By MinxyMagic




This luscious Sophia Bag looks even nicer in the flesh (I know because I've seen it).  Made in velvet (which can't have been easy) by Joleo.

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Well done Ladies!  Please get back to me with your choice of Amy Butler pattern and your postal address, and I'll send you your pattern. 


Thanks to everyone else who entered, sorry you didn't get lucky this time.  You could always try your luck in next month's contest!

Tutorial Bag Eye Candy - and Sewing Booty giveaway!!

Thanks for your comments about the angsty woman. I completely agreed with all of your comments especially the 'craft blogs are nicer place to be' comments.  That's because we're nicer people :)

You might have noticed I have a new Bags & Purse made from free U-Handbag Tutorials Flickr pool.  I'm very chuffed with this pool because it's such a nice compliment when folks give your tutorials a whirl.  I get a buzz each time I see one of your pics of my designs.  Here are a few baggy delights from the tutorial pool:


This beauty of a clasp purse by Marmalade Kiss was made using this purse frame tutorial. Like, there's a zipper pocket in the lining and everything.  Even I haven't attempted that yet!



Speaking of zippers, Lesley bought herself this black bag, ripped out the cheap lining that came with the bag, and replaced it with this very pretty blue lining and sewed a zipper in too.  That's brave and talented; I'm not sure I would've made such a neat job of it!



I adore the fabric on this Reusable Groceries Bag made by Sewing Notions.  It's just too cute!



I really love the fabrics on this gorgeous Backpack Bag too. Made by Sewing at Night and she enlarged the pattern to suit, which is impressive.


Righty, onto the Sewing Booty Giveaway.  In two weeks time I will randomly select one item made from one of my tutorials in the Bags & Purses Tutorial Flickr Pool and I will send the lucky winner all of the sewing booty as pictured below:


Clockwise from top left:

1. The current issue of Sewing World Magazine which is chock full of summer clothing ideas, gifts for fathers Day, an easy to whip-up summer jacket (with pattern), and easy to make summer hats.
2. A bunch of fabric bolt ends in various sizes (3 of them large enough for  good sized bags, and the other 2 would make cute smaller purses etc.)
3. 3 yummy turquoise coloured zips 8"
4. A rosette of very pretty and very useful pearl leaf head pins.  These are FAB for bag making as they are looooong and strong (so they don't bend under all of those pesky layers).
5. And finally, Amy Butler's Blue Sky Hats pattern is also up for grabs.  A wide brim hat is the best way to keep keep the glare of the sun at bay and they look pretty.  Here are 2 adorable finished Blue Sky Hats.  

Draw Details (please read carefully)

I'll send the Sewing Booty to one lucky draw winner in 2 weeks time (6th June). 

To enter all you have to do is comment on THIS PARTICULAR POST by:

1. Make anything from my tutorials from my blog (find them on the right hand side menu).
2. Pop the pic of the finished item into The Bag & Purse Tutorial Flickr.
   
3. Leave a comment on this post to let us know what you made so I can put your entry into the Random Number thingy.
4. If you've already made something and it's already in the Flickr pool (thanks!) all you have to do is just leave a comment on this post saying what you made.
   

Contest Official-ness :

1. I'll randomly draw the winner in 2 weeks time - 6th June and announce the winner the following day-ish.  Good luck!
2. I'll need to ask the winner to make a donation for the postage.
3. Sorry I can't notify winners, so please keep an eye for the winner announcement.  This is made easier for you if you subscribe to this blog so you don't have to keep checking back, although it's always great to have you pop-in for a read :0)
4. Prizes which are not claimed within 3 weeks of the winner announcement will be carried forward to the next draw.
5. Sorry I can't reply to contest/draw comments, but I do love reading every single one :)

What's up with some people?

I hope you all had a lovely weekend everyone.  It was really sunny for us in London and I planned to spend most of the weekend with the widows wide open doing some sewing, but unfortunately Al had other ideas and he insisted I help him in the garden doing some much needed (and boring) maintenance.  Ah well, it's good that it's been done, the garden was getting kinda hairy.

We also went to our local Chinese supermarket too.  As I went to enter the shop I saw 2 people standing outside collecting charity funds for the recent earthquake in China.  I gave some money and walked into the store, and blow me down if I didn't hear a woman entering the store behind me say rather loudly 'Move away! I don't give to no charity. It's your problem; it's not for me!" (she wasn't of Chinese origin - and her English wasn't too hot either).  That's what she said, word for word!  I was so absolutely flabbergasted that my mouth flopped open, as she barged past, she saw me looking liked a shocked fish and gave me a not very nice look. I did retort, but I won't write down what was said...

Of course she could have been in the middle of having a crappy day, but I think it would be fair to say not as crappy as most any individual who needs the support and goodwill of any bona-fide charity. 

I dunno, what's up with some people? 

Simple origami Lily Flower tutorial

Because I enjoyed my visit to Kew Gardens so much I thought it would be nice to post a origami flower tutorial.  One of my first craft loves was origami.  I find it a really pleasant way to unwind it's also very useful; the amount of times I've used a spot of origami to keep little ones amused when it was raining outside, or given my mum a bunch of paper folded flowers as a pressie (when I was broke), and in a moment of madness I even asked Al if he would like to be engaged to me by writing the proposal inside a paper folded rose (which he now stores in his keepsake box.)

Here is a tutorial for one of my favourite flowers.  It's not hard to do even if you haven't done any paper folding before.  There's just a fair few steps because you have to repeat some of the steps 8 times, but I think it's worth it and you'll have this flower folded in under 15 minutes flat :)

NB: For my easy peasy origami lidded box tutorial click here.

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Here are two Lilies I folded earlier.  The paper is coloured on one side and white on the other which gives a nice stripe effect down the centre of the petals.
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1. Start with a square of  paper - I suggest NO smaller than 20cm or it will be too fiddly for first timers. Fold the paper in half both ways diagonally and horizontally and vertically to make a star as in the pic below.  Ensure all of your creases are sharp and precises as possible by running finger nail along each crease for every step of this model.

Fold a star shape in the paper.  Note how precise the lines are.  It's important to take your time in being precise and fussy when folding origami.

2.   Now fold the paper (right side out) into a triangle and using the creaselines as a guide begin to push one of the sides in as shown below...

Push one of the sides into the centre of the triangle and repeat with the other side. The result is shown below. 

View from top.  Push both sides into the centre, this will be the result.

3.  Ensure that the open edges of the shape are facing away from you and then take one of the sides and fold into the centre crease line as shown below...

Fold one of the side edges into the center creaseline and repeat with the other side edge and you will get the result shown below...

Now flip the model over, repeat with the other 2 side edges and unfold all of the edges again and you will get the result shown below...

As you can see we have just been making creaselines that will serve as guide for the next step.

4.  Take one of the folded side edges and slip your index finger into it as shown in the pic below...

That scar is the result of a small argument (that I lost) with my olfa cutter - we suffer for our art!  Slip your finger into the side edge/flap (or whatever you want to call it) and using the creaselines as guide press the flap down so that you get what looks like a kite with a white tip as shown below...

Now repeat the previous step with the other 3 flaps and you will get the result as shown below...

Result.  Notice how there are 8 'pages/sides' to the model; some of the 'pages' look like the picture above (with white tip) and other pages look like the pic below...

and others look like this (plain with no white tip) I'm just mentioning the difference in the way the pages look because it's important for the following steps.

5.  Ensure the a 'white tip' page is facing up and fold the shape in half by bringing the bottom tip and the top tip together as shown below...

Fold shape in half and make a sharp crease and unfold.  We have just made a crease line for later on.

6.  Ensuring you have the kite shape with the white tip facing upwards, take one of the top half side edges and (precisely) fold it into the centre crease line as shown below...

Fold the side edge into the centre crease as shown, repeat with the other side, and open out again and you will get the result as shown below...

Result. As you can see we have made creaselines for a triangle.  We are going to use these lines for the next step.

7. Follow the steps CLOCKWISE from top left in the pic below...

Clockwise from top left:  slip your finger into the top edge of the pocket (pic 1) and using the side creaslines as a guide pull the lip of it all the way down (pic 2),  ensure everything is aligned on the centre creasline (pic 3),  push the small resulting triangle upward on the creasline as shown (pic 4).

Repeat the whole of step 7 for the other 3 sides (with white tips).

8. Nearly there! Ensure you have a plain side (with no folds or flaps etc. on it) facing up and the open  tip open edges are facing away from you. Follow the steps CLOCKWISE from top left in the pic below...

    
Clockwise from top left:  plain side is facing up and the open tip ends are facing away from you (pic 1), precisely fold one of the side edges into the centre creaseline and repeat with the other side (pic 2),  repeat with step with the other 3 PLAIN sides (pic 3),  this should be the result (pic 4).

9.  Pick up the model with the side facing you (as in pic 4 of the previous step) and pull one of the petals downwards as shown in the pic below...

As you pull the petal down you'll notice it will only go so far downwards, at the point where it will go no further make a crease at the base of the petal.  Flip the model over and repeat on the other side.  Open out and repeat for the remaining 2 petals.

10. Grab a pencil or ruler and curl the edge of the petals to make things even more pretty as shown below.

Curl the petals under with a pencil or ruler and you're done!

Woo pretty! 

If you give this flower a try I'd love if you could pop photos of your finished lilies into the Tutorial Flickr :)

And the winner of the purse frame is....

Thanks to everyone who listened to Al's song and commented on it (and thank you for your lovely emails about it too)  They really made him so happy.  As soon as he gets a little break from his studies he going to bash the song out again.  I'll be sure to post a link to it as soon as :) 

If you want to have a look see there is a pic of Al (minus shirt...you've been warned!) playing his guitar and having a sing, in my Flickr photostream.
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Up for grabs was the frame needed to make the purse above.
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Anyways, without further ado, there were 48 entries for this draw and the random number picker (so you can't blame me) stopped on the number 41.

So will Saysie who wrote:

"I really liked the song, it was really catchy upbeat song, perfect for this time of year.
The only thing I found was the intro was too long, and did think it was just a instrumental. Apart from that a great tune : ) "


Please step forward and drop me an email to claim your prize?

Sorry to those who didn't get lucky this time, there is (as ever) another prize draw just around the corner...

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PS: Ohh I've just seen this most excellent tutorial on how to sew a neat rounded bottom on a bag.  I'm in the middle of fixing up the tutorial for the paper folded lily right now.

(Dreamy) Kew Botanical Gardens

Last Saturday the weather was beautiful (until the brief thunderstorm).  So I thought it was the perfect opportunity to visit - Kew Botanical Gardens.  I have been meaning to go to for ages; it's that same old thing that you are never a tourist of where you live, but lately I have really been enjoying exploring my 'neighborhood'.  Kew was absolutely amazing and I can't wait to go again, it's huge you could never explore it in one day. 

I am by no means a gardener; a few hardy house plants and a large tub of herbs in the garden are about the only plants that I can't seem to kill, but I do love plants and flowers very much.  So if you have an interest in plants at all I can't recommend a visit to Kew enough.

I have always wanted to visit the big Palm hot house in Kew.  I think it's original Victorian, can't wait to get inside!

And this is the sight that greets you as you go through the door.  It's really humid and the plant life is wild and rampant.

Hiya Wendy! X

There is an incredible spiral staircase that takes you up to the upper gallery.  I fell in love it with it; I think it would look smashing in my garden shed :)

He! He! I know, I know; I'm sooo immature.

I'm thinking yarn lovers might like this pic.

Up the lovely staircase

Phew, it was getting too hot in there.  Time for a yummy picnic under this beautiful and huge oak tree.  Until (of course) the heavens open up and a thunder storm begins - oh joy...

So we run for shelter in the water lily glass house.

Right, I guess you might be 'pictured out' by now :)  I hope you liked them.  I did take close to 200 shots that day, it was just so beautiful and interesting everywhere.

Coming next: an origami tutorial on how to fold a pretty lily flower.

Misc-link-mania

Some groovy crafty goings on:

• Delicious weekender style bag and purse frame purses in African prints.
• Brilliant German quilt blog, talented gal!
• Switch plates by Pink Chalk Studio
• 56 free apron patterns (is that all?)
• Squillions of free embroidery patterns
• Zen Habits easy and simple ways to make life a bit easier
• More free fonts than you can shake your keyboard at
• Easy to use length converter
• Don't like DIY, and I don't like washing up either, but there you go...

Coming next: gorgeous (well, I think so) flower and plant pics from Kew botanical gardens.

Sewing World Bag Aug 08. Reversible Heidi Handbag in Linen.

I hope you are having a really lovely weekend everyone (there's a still a few hours of it left!)  It's lovely and sunny in my neck of the woods.  I'm almost tempted to say that Summer is here, but you know what will happen if I do that...

Al has been away all weekend which has meant that I have managed to do quite a lot of stuff like (another) Ikea visit, putting up some shelving, a long walk with the woofer, finishing On Chesil Beach, an amazing visit to Kew Gardens (more about that next post), and I have finished this months Sewing World Magazine Bag - yay!

The theme for August month is 'the colour yellow and quick makes'. So in keeping with the theme I  designed this reversible handbag in Linen and quilt weight cotton (sorry about posting loads of pics; it's for when I sell the bag at a later stage):
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So this is the first time I've sewn a linen bag (yes, talk about slow to catch on...) and I'm hooked (well I should be seeming as I bought 5m of the stuff from Ikea).   I made a cut out underneath the handles so there is room to slip your arm though should you want to use the bag as a shoulder bag.  The fastening is a ribbon tie.  I have used this fabric for the lining and these bamboo handles.

The bag has darts in the bottom to give it a 3D shape and a flattish bottom. The yummylicious ribbon is from an incredible trimmings market stall in Amsterdam.  It has cute flowers which have been embroidered onto a transparent gauze, so pretty.  In fact the reason I have called the bag Heidi is because the ribbon and linen combo makes me think of The Swiss Heidi.

Inside



and for a different look flip the bag out and reverse it.