U-handblog

FREE bag purse pattern - 'For Pleat's Sake' Tote

Hello!  I hope you all had a wunnerful weekend.  I had an incredible weekend (more about it in my next post) and then I got knocked over sideways by food poisoning.  Hey ho.

Here it finally is, the pleaty bag tute that I promised you just before we moved house (wow did that all really happen?  It seems like an age ago!)  See me modeling this bag here.

 

**NB: the pattern is a simple landscape rectangle - measurements are in the tutorial**

DOWNLOAD THE FREE PDF TUTORIAL HERE.

 

Please pop your U-Handbag tute/kit/pattern bags in here - I love checking 'em out :)

 

Click on the pics to enlarge.

Dya like my birdy hook?  Exterior fabric is this cute robot linen and the handles are these red leather elbow/shoulder length straps.

 

Side view. Jaunty fresh & preppy.  Best of all no one will have one like yours :)

 

The pleats look great and they add heaps of volume to the bag (so you can add heaps o' shoppin').

 

To see pics of another Pleats Sake Tote that I made, look here.

I do hope you enjoy the tute folks!

 

Coming next: Sneaky Peek inside my book (The Bag Making Bible).  I'll post some pics on the blog, but I'll post even more in my Facebook (just because it's soooo much faster than uploading to the blog). So please join my FB if you wanna see more - I thaangg you!

☜ Click to see my U-Handbag Facebook page.

 

The Bag Making Bible book signing pics: what I bought

The Festival of Quilts is one place where you had better not forget your spare bag sack, I saw plenty of hard-core professionals carting around trolleys and cases.  Fortunately (or not so fortunately depending on the way you see it) I was working my book signing table a lot of the time. So my plastic didn't get the airing it could have done - there's always next year my pretty!

So there was so much to see, (check out my other set of Quilt Festival pics), and though I have never been driven to actually make a quilt I've liked the idea of it for some time.  Well if like me you could be quilt-inclined but you need just something to actually make you do it. The Festival will make you do it!

 

So I did a bit o' shoppin'

As I was on signing on The Cotton Patch stand (fine purveyors of all things quilty) I had the benefit of Liz Sewell's (one of the family owners of CP) quilty experience to hand. I explained that I had been utterly ruined by the Festival and I had to make at least one quilt.  I asked her to recommend me the gear I would need (besides mat, rotary and big ruler - cos I have them already). So Liz made a bee-line for the above book.  She flipped through to various inspiring pages that she had already enjoyed herself and I was instantly sold!  I'll be doing a sneak peek of this book soon.

 

The above gadget is a tack basting gun. I knew I had to have one of them.  Dya know why?  Well, laid out on my book table was a very pretty quilt (that wasn't sewn together at all! It was flipping held togther by the above tacks! and only one person noticed).  Now I'm not going to tack my quilt togther in the hope that no one notices how lazy I am. Naw, these tacks look like a more quick and secure solution compared to heaps of pins and kebabbing my fingers!

 

Nom-nom!  V&A limited quilt cotton @ 50% off = enough said! Love these reds, plums and jewel blues.  These are going to be in a quilt.

Nom-nom!  V&A limited quilt cotton @ 50% off = enough said! Love these sweet patterns, dunno what I'm going to do with them yet, but that's never a good enough reason to not take dat stash home!

Nom-nom!  V&A limited quilt cotton @ 50% off = enough said! Blue shades are amongst my fave colours. Cutting into them will be unbearable! These are going to be in a quilt - most likely with the above plums and red if I can think of way to somehow bind them colourwise. Ideas on poscard please.

I was on the Creative Grids stand and I happened to get into chat with a nice lady who had been quilting for aaaggges. So I asked her what are the rulers that she used the most. She said "without doubt" it has to be her 12.5in x 2.2in and her beloved 6.5in square.  So I popped them both in my shopping basket.  I returned the favour by telling her about the mega sale on the V&A stand and she was whhoosh! off like a rocket!

And this cutie (who knew that irons could be adorable!?) is the teeniest iron I have ever seen.  I don't think those tiny irons by Clover are very useful for bag making, this on the other hand is faaab for bag making.  It's even more handy than my own little travel iron for getting into those nooks and it gets hawwtt too!  I'm so going to try and stock this little fella in my shop.

 

And Selvedge is a luuush sexy inspirational coffee table stylie sewing journal (it's too posh to be called a magazine) is perhaps what pushed me over the quilting edge.  I had seen all the amazing quilts and I thought wow nice, but I don't think I have the skill or time - then I saw the picture below...

...oh my!  Perhaps just maybe this could be in my reach - even if it isn't it's still sooo beautiful.  It's kinda new and old at the same time.  Yummers!

 

Another dreamy pic from Selvedge. Loads more pics in my Facebook.

 

There are lots more pics of  Selvedge in my Facebook (yeah I am actively plugging my Facebook cos it's a quick and easy way for me to say hi to you aaaand it's so much quicker to upload pics to Facebook. Just as well cos I have an awful load of pics to share with you. Some of which will (very soon) include the internals of me boook!).  So please do join FaceSlap if you've a mind to :)

 

☜ Click to see my U-Handbag Facebook page.

 

Coming next: The Pleaty Bag tute!  Yay!

Coming after that: A sneaky peek of my book, or Jane Brocket's Gentle Art of Quilting.

 

The Bag Making Bible book signing pics: what I saw

Woah mama!  I have had the most in-keer-edib-leee thrilling few days at the Festval of Quilts 2010.  Now, I've sky-dived in Spain and I can tell that book signing at the Festival of Quilts is easily as exciting as throwing yourself out of a plane!  There's was so much to see, literally a bit of something for anyone who likes to sew.  There were men, women, kids, sewing machines, gadgets, habby, fabrics, classes, fashion shows, books, DVDs, guilds, famous craft dudes, sewing furniture, contemporary quilts, trad quilts, art quilts, and ace kid quilts and a shed-load more.

Walking around and around the Festival I felt I was a paid-up member of one the super cool clubs.  It was utterly inspiring, energising and it simply made my heart race.

As you might already know the gorgeous folks at The Cotton Patch hosted my book signing. Their stand was huge and it was constantly busy. No wonder, it was packed to the rafters with lush sewing and quilting gear.  I ended up spending some dough on their stand myself!  The Cotton Patch is a top banana shop, not least because their gear is comprehensive and well-chosen, more that it is run (and staffed) by the Sewell family who are extremely proud of their business and they make a point of looking after their customers.  Check out  their Festival pics here.

Thank you so much to all of my lovely-jubbley customers and blog readers who came over to say hello.  You helped put me at ease in a very surreal (but nice) situation.  It was so cool talking to you and checking out bags that some of you had made.  I said that I might try to mention names of the folks that came to visit, but of course I have forgotten most of them. So if you are one them will you please excuse my ditzy brain and accept this big virtual hug from me instead X

Here are some pics!

Brandon Mably answering questions.  (Kaffe Fassett is actually seated behind the wall of women - there was always a wall of women, hence no pic of Kaffe).

 

A Kaffe quilt (which can be found in his new book; Quilts en Provence). The pic doesn't do justice...

 

Amy Butler, busy with her crowd of fans and signing her new book Style Stitches. I have my signed copy & it's lush-ush!!

 

Hello lovely lady, so sorry I have forgotten your name, but I remember admiring your amazing handmade oilcloth baby bag.

My book signing table.  My book was a sell-out.  Hurrah!!

 

Me doing the book signing thing. Pic from The Cotton Patch.

Hello lovely lady,  I have forgotten your name too, but I remember your amazing version of the Pretty Pinafore Bag in all it's Alexander Henry finery.  Your outfit was flipping cool as well!

 

Which shoes?!?  I went for the green Chie Mihara's in the end. My feet hurt, but they so looked priddy!

 

Looky look!  It's Ali (of Domesticali), it was such treat seeing her.  The fuzzy bowl is a gift she gave me long ago. I love it to bits and I was using it as a business card holder (which she thought was amusing).

The Butlers and I.  They're really nice people don't-cha know.  We did a book swapsies for a cheesy giggle.

 

There are lots more Festival pics to see in my Facebook. Do check em out!

 

☜ Click to see my U-Handbag Facebook page.

Coming next: what I bought at the Festival

Cominig after that: The Pleaty Bag tute!  Yay!

 

Curvy Coin Purse for Cloth Magazine

Hi all.  I hope you all had a wunnerful weekend.  We spent ours cycling around our locale, just bopping around on our bikes getting our bearings.  On our little jaunt I spotted no less than 4 fabby fabric shops within a 2 mile radius.  It makes me happy to know that these fabric shops are still thriving.  This must mean that is a good number of sewing fiends here in Brighton :)

Just in case you're in Brighton the fabric shops were:

• Fabricland
• Ditto Fabrics
• New Fabric Fair
• Michelle LeMaitre

This week I'm finishing up the new freebie bag tutorial (yep, the Pleated Bag).  I've finished sewing it, just gotta put the pics and info into a nice-looking tutorial format.  Then I have to get me a haircut and run a iron over my book signing outfits in readiness for Festival of Quilts this week - woo!

Whilst I get on with the freebie tute I just wanted to show you pics of the dinky coin purse that is going to appear in the September issue of Cloth Magazine. The feature will be the coin purse pattern, instructions and an interview with yours truly.

Cute a dinky-doo button!  Stuff I used: fabric = Happy Matryoshka; purse frame = Small Silver Curved; interfacing = Fusible Fleece Med loft.

 

Inside view. Your perennial fave (and mine), a cheerful red and white polka dot print.

Other side; a pretty lilac and grey Matryoshka - just because I can :)

 

 

Ohh whilst I remeber I wanted to show you my temporary business card that arrived this morn.  It's temporary because I am having a prettier one designed for me, but I needed some right now to hand out at the Festival.

I know that it isn't much to look at, but this temporary business card still makes me think "Coo - how adult am I?"  Heh!

The Bag Making Bible book signing schedule @ Festival of Quilts 2010

Wahoo!  My book signing times at Festival of Quilts have been confirmed by the lovely folks at The Cotton Patch.  Now, I wonder if it's the done thing to have other authors sign books for other authors?  Done thing or not, I'll be at the head of the queue to get my signed copies of tasty new books by some of my craft dude heroes.

Take a look at the book signing line up below, it's like a line up you would have in a crafter's lucid dream (only to wake up in the morning in your own house - realising there's no milk left in the fridge for your morning coffee).

Click on the table to enlarge.

As you can see, cos I'm a starry-eyed Newbie I'll be there for all four days to ensure I soak up the atmosphere, get to natter to as many folks as poss and umm...perhaps puuuurchase a s*%t load of craft gear.  Hehe!

 

Hopefully some of you can visit. Yep, not only will you be able to get your mitts on the first available copies of my book (before general release in Sep), I'll be happy try to answer any bag making conundrums you may have, or give you my opinion on the best way to cook a steak, or tell you my fave film star crush, or tell you the colour of my front door, or tell you my shoe size, or, or, or....hahahha!

 

For more info about Book signings & nice author pics pop over to The Cotton Patch.

Dicount code for Voodoo Rabbit Fabrics - woo!

Hello all!

I hope you're enjoying the summer (where did it go BTW?)  I took the hound the beach yesterday and nearly got blown all the way to France!  I'm pretty much up to date with shop stuff so that leaves me free to start work on the Pleats Sake Bag tutorial (before some of you come over and break my door down looking for it - hehe!)

Kylie from the cool fabric and notion shop: Voodoo Rabbit (and who happens to be one of my fab sponsors) wants to let you know that there is a tasty discount availabe in her shop until 31st August.

In her own words:

Voodoo Rabbit is a quirky online fabric store based in Australia and one of U-Handblog's fab sponsors. Ky & Cloud are the two people behind Voodoo Rabbit. They love skulls, cherries, black, red, white, space invaders, cotton textiles and all things heart shaped. Ky is a bit goth and inspired by the rock-a-billy / tattoo cultures. Cloud forgot to grow up and loves all things kawaii, 1950's housewife & riot-grrl. Their favourite fabrics are from Japan - especially the ranges from Kokka.

Come and get it - with a discount!

Japanese fabrics are totally delicious and you can't help but fall in love with them. Cloud didn't own a sewing machine, didn't know how to sew and bought a suitcase full of fabrics the first time she went to Japan because it was too beautiful to resist. If you haven't seen or used Japanese fabric before, you really should. It is a dream to sew with and is unmatched for quality.
Kokka fabrics from Japan – especially the designs by Etsuko Furuya for the Echino range - are absolutely stunning. Her Cobweb design would have to be one of Voodoo Rabbit's all time favourites. The quality of the cotton is superb – you cannot fault it. The heavier weight cotton / linen blends are fantastic for sewing bags - they hold a fabulous crease, are strong but still soft and create beautiful structure. The patterns are also great for making a bag for any occasion. Fun, quirky, cute, suitable for kids - there are options galore.

Not only do Voodoo Rabbit stock the regular brands like Kokka, Alexander Henry and Michael Miller, they also design their own fabrics featuring space invaders, skulls, and spiderwebs.

To thank my readers, Ky & Cloud are offering 10% off their entire shop (excluding shipping) with this special code until the end of August. Enter the code UHB10PC when you checkout to receive your discount.

Deeelish New Japanese Linen Fabrics

Phew and wipe my brow!  We finally caught up with all the orders in the shop yesterday (bar a few orders that we can't send cos some stock is out), we are finally up-to-date.  Yay!

Still very busy though because I have to write a clutch tutorial and an interview for Cloth Magazine and I have to get ready for my book signing bonanza at the Festival of Quilts on The Cotton Patch stand.  Please come along and say Hi!  I'd love to have a crafty gossip with anyone who will stand still long enough and hey if you tire of me you can always have chat with Amy Butler and Kaffe Fassett instead!!

I just wanted to show you some aaa-dorable Japanese linen fabrics that have just arrived.  Almost all of them are extra wide: 57in (144cm).  They are heavier and more hard wearing then quilt weight cotton making them brilliant for bag making.

Annnd I managed to get a good deal on the fabrics so their price is very reasonable when compared to quilt weight cotton which is narrower and not as heavyweight.

 

This way to the Japanese linen fabrics.

 

Unmistakeably Japanese style charm + I don't think I will ever grow up properly.  These fabrics will make wonderful bags, totes, lap-top cases, pencil cases etc. for young and old.

 

I fancy making myself a Brighton styley Groceries Tote out of this super cheerful Matryoshka fabric or maybe...

 

I'll choose this bold and beautiful Orla Keily style bloomin' lovely fabric.  I might even add some shocking pink piping to the seams  :)

 

Right I gotta unpack my sewing machine and get a tutorial (for the sewing mag) sorted.  And later my Mum & Dad are coming over to see the house for the first time - woo!   Have yourself a wonderful weekend everyone!  XX

 

Where's the flipping kettle?

Woo!  Been here in Hove a week and 3 days and living here feels just like I'm constantly on holiday  (even when I'm working). Loving it lots!  Folks around here are very friendly and the smell of the sea is dreamy.  Unpacking is going OK and nothing seems to be broken.  Al & I have been working packing up the orders in the shop. So sorry to all customers about the week long delays.  It took a whole week for the broadband to be connected - the internet cold turkey wasn't pretty...  We are getting back on track though and we should have caught up fully by Thurs at the latest.  Then it'll be time to look for some nice folks to work with me in the shop.  Just as well because amongst other things I have the most adorable Japanese Kawaii Linen fabric waiting for your drool-age.

Beans (the woofer) was pretty fidgetty and confused for the first few days, but we've got him into a nice little routine and he's now settled in nicely - see below:

I swear this piccy is not at all staged - I just happened to have me camera handy.  Here's Beans getting snuggly in some nice foam wrap (in my messy home office - I'll show pics of my office when it's a bit more...erm... presentable).

 

Here's Al in our old house trying his best to shift our mattress down the stairs.  I think he got 'tired of moving', "tired", geddit?  See how he's pretending to sleep on the...oh never mind.

Here's me in our new kitchen helping to unpack (heh!)  It's the morning after we've moved into the new house and what should plop onto our new doormat but my new bloody book! New house + new book = very mind blowing!!

 

Hey Mum & Dad (and evahh-ree-bodeee!!)  Look looky look!  The publisher has done an utterly amazing job and I'm amazed that I had anything to do with it - no really I am  :)

I will of course do the Sneaky Peek thing after we've caught up with the backlog of orders in the shop.

PS: I never had time to send out the mags from the final draw that I did in London so sorry about that.  Please bear with me - I took them to Brighton with us and I will post them out as soon as things settle down a bit.

Woo!  Its so good to be here and say Hi! to you all.  OX!