U-handblog

Sunday Bag Eye Candy

Some of your gorgeous baggy goodness to sneak a peek at whilst chilling out on a Sunday with a nice mug of hot choccy (it is chilly here!) and cookies for dunking...

From the U-Handbag Tutorials pool...

1. pleated purse with frame, 2. Blue and White with Rivets, 3. snap purse, 4. basket-style handbag with bamboo handles, 5. blue hex, 6. No.3_3

And from the U-Handbag All Bags Pool...

1. Swipe it Bag-Max & Mini, 2. Clothesline Trialet, 3. Vintage Birdcage, 4. Lolita ballerina bag - by kara smith, 5. Laranjinha, 6. Camera/Mini Bag, 7. Happy Map Back Pack, 8. Belle Chrysanthemum Orange Wallet, 9. Phone iPhone case

They're all nothing less than wonderful aren't they?  It really is hard choosing these few! Thank you for putting your lovely bags into the pools everyone. You bag ladies are very very talented!   I've gone back to doing Bag Eye Candy every week so please keep your baggy pics coming.  Ta!

Powder pink purse (frame) purse

I haven't made a purse frame purse in aaages.  I had forgotten how quick they are to make.  I took a bit of jiggling around to get the pattern right (yeah, I screwed up it up about 6 times...), but once the pattern was sorted I whipped this up in under 1 hour...

**UPDATE** if you want to see the pattern that I used to make the purse below click here.

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Powder pink purse with this silver frame.  I have used a couple of layers of fleece to give the purse support and a puffy finish.  At the mo we are starved of sunny daylight here in the UK.  What you can't tell from the picture is that I am trying to get the most light by lying on my belly on the table (and I am more or less hanging out of the window!)

Pink rosebud lining.

Side view.  I had to follow my tutorial on how to make the purse because it's been a while.  I  am definitely going to whip up some more of these; I have some linen and a bag of lace and ribbon that needs using (instead of being looked at lovingly).


Whilst I'm on the subject of my tutorials  I was having a browse around in the new flickr group (U-Handbag Tutorials) and I was over the moon to see that Panaddanui had made herself a Backpack bag.

Love it!  It's the first one I've seen.  Mint choc chip delightfulness.  The frill and the flower are so cute. We could do with some sunny days like that!

This yummy powder blue pleated pouch also caught my eye...

By Claire Very lady-like.  Lovely for a wedding or a ball.


Oh this is completely unrelated, but I wanted to share a tip with you:  In our supermarket I saw they were selling bottles olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette spray for £5.00 ($10).  It's basically a bottle with a spray and one part olive oil to one part balsamic vinegar.  So rather than pay a silly price I got a plain plastic spray bottle and made up the dressing myself.  So much cheaper and your food gets a nice even coating (instead of flooding the plate and wasting it).  Handy eh?

Wednesday (bag) eye candy.

Quick!  While the boss isn't looking (or the kids are at school/asleep/busy playing), here are some delicious bag pics for you to sneak a peek at.  They have all been sent to me by my lovely readers and customers.  Thanks guy (yep, we got a sewing dude amongst this lot), and girls.  I've put them in the U-Handbag Eye Candy Flickr.  Click on any of the pics to see my comments.  Enjoy!

I sooo want this Carpet Bag by Anne in UK.

Mega Monday bag & purse eye candy.

I'm really delighted with this blog's handbag galleries on Flickr, here and here.  Thank you so much for adding your amazing bags to it, I love visiting the two galleries and getting soo inspired by your gorgeous handiwork.  I'm really glad that you are enjoying the galleries as much as I am (that's the whole idea :)).

Some of you bag makers haven't had the chance to play with Flickr yet (for those that haven't, please do because it's easy peasy to use, you just need an email address, and some pics), you have emailed me your pics, and they are way too nice to keep to myself...  Big thanks to Jennifer, Denise, Alison, Jane, Joanna, and Christine for sharing your lovely bag pics with us!

First up we have a deee-lightful clasp purse

Isn't this purse by Jennifer in USA, just darling.  I adore the colours and that chrysanthemum is hand embroidered!  She followed this tutorial, and she's made a beautiful job of it too!

Next we have set of amazing hand felted purses...

Denise in UK loves felting, and these mouth watering purses are her first attempts at using felt in a frame, aren't the results just stunning! Front View.

Back view.  Denise has even glued some Swarovski Crystals into the purse clasp...drool!

Unbelievably CUTE...

...see above!

Next up we have a happy shopper...

Can you believe that this Betty Shopper this is the first thing Alison in UK has ever made on a sewing machine??!!   Isn't it  lovely, and cheerful?

Next up we have another delectable clasp purse...

Jane in UK has lovingly recycled a jumper and one of her husband's shirt to make this really delicious purse using this frame and this tutorial.  Incredibly charming!

Next up, we have sweet & bright drawstring bag...

Joanna in UK has been busy supplying half the school with her lovely drawstring bags, I can hear it in the school playground; 'Mummy I want a bag like hers!!!!'

Lastly we have a colourful patchwork bag...

Christine in UK has made this gorgeous patchwork bag using a Lazy Girl pattern and these bag handles.  Isn't it really eye-catching?

Just as colourful on the inside!

Doin' the Reusable Grocery Bag rounds.

One of the nice parts of my day is having a nice cup of tea (milk & one Splenda) whilst having a look at the new arrivals in our Amy Butler Bag Flickr group and the U-Handbag All Flickr group.  I feel COMPELLED (dammit!) to promote these groups until they are full to bursting, (and a bit more...) because they are a wonderful source of baggy inspiration for loads of other bag makers.  Thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to fill these groups with their baggy loveliness!

Anyhoo!  On the U-Handbag All group, I noticed that two bag makers had posted pic of their own fabbo examples of the Reusable Groceries Bag.  Woo Hoo! that's really exciting for me, and they both look wonderful!!

• Check out Susanne's Groceries Bag - I love the colour combo.  Read her funny blog post on how she put the bag together.   
• Montessori's Groceries Bag is made from delicious Amy B. fabric - don't you just love the veggie trim on her bag cozy?
• Laura's Groceries Bag was spotted on her lovely patchwork blog - I love the red flower fabric.

Give 'em a round of applause, don't they look great!!

...and just because it's nice to have a photo in a blog post...

I found this on my brother's windowsill - looks like he enjoys a 'cheeky' little drink every now and then...

Tuesday (bag) eye candy

Ahh, I love a little holiday as much as everyone else but I really love my job too, so it's great to be back in the swing of things. 

I got through truckfuls of your lovely emails last night (thanks for sending them in, still a few more but I'll get there in the end) with a big mug of French hot choc. by my side.  Thank you everyone for your kind holiday well wishes, I had such a lovely time :)

Here are some of your lovely bag creations.  Thanks to Anne, Ryan, Lisa, & Joanna for sharing these beauties with us!

Firstly we have an incredibly charming clasp frame purse...

I love bag pics and emails from Anne S. in UK because up until recently she had never made bags or purses before and now she's an avid bag maker (and as you can see she's become very very good at too!).  Anne has used this yummy purse frame (and some cute fabric that I used to sell but is all gone) and followed (but slightly modfified) this tutorial to make this really sweet purse as a prize in a draw for her favourite charity Breast Cancer Care. 

She took some of her bags and purses to show off in her local hair dressers and she caused a  right commotion with her bag creations, everyone, staff and clients got so excited at seeing her lovely work that she ended up leaving the hairdressers having agreed to take part in a charity extravaganza to be held in the hairdressers for her fave charity.  Now, that's a really lovely story!  Good work Anne! You can't help but be chuffed for her  :)


Next we have some pretty hot seamstress work created by the fair hand of a bloke...

Ryan in Belfast is an artist/photographer by trade, but recently he decided to whip up some bags which ended doing really well at an exhibition.  He bought various bag making bits and he says that he's having fun with them on his sewing machine as we speak!  This lovely bag was made for his Mum for Easter.  It's his own design using silk tweed, and 100% wool for lining (fab quality ingredients).  He's gathered the sides using eyelets and tied the fabric handle on which makes a nice feature of the knots.  I'm sure Ryan's Mum is going to very pleased with her posh handbag!


Next we have some very clever fabric play...

How gorgeous is this bag?  This is just one of the very pretty bags that Lisa has sent in for us to feast our eyes on.  Gosh they're yummy, and she's very talented!


Lastly, we have a pleated pouch purse...

 
Joanna in UK made this Pleated pouch purse as her first bag!  That's brave, but she's made a brilliant job of it.  In fact this pic is one of several bags that she has made in the last month.  It looks like someone else has gotten the bag making bug!

Midweek (bag) eye-candy

Here's a midweek baggy treat comprising of some delicious bag pics sent in by you.   Thanks heaps Brittany, Isla, Grainne, & Lisa for sending these beauties in and sharing them with us.

First up we have some droolsome knitted bags:

Knitted gorgeousness by Brittany in UK; jeez if I could knit (and felt) like this I would be a very very happy bunny.  They both look sooo professional.  The first bag with the lovely pink flower has these handles.  The Noni Bobble bag eventually had these handles attached to it...oh yum!

Next we have a very posh (and glam) clasp purse:

Isla in UK has chosen a very beatiful shade of Peacock greeney blue to go with this frame, and she has even added a matching bead to go in between the 2 peacocks.  It looks like she has followed this tutorial and she has wonderful job of it.  Very glamorous!

Next up we have some clever recycling:

Grainne in Ireland has given her beloved 'Replay' jeans a new lease of life (and a very good looking one too).  As items of clothing go jeans are pretty much essential, in fact Grainne says "I actually use this denim bag every day because it's so tough, just the right size and goes with everything I usually wear."  She added these sweet and simple handles to her jeans and et voila! one essential bag!

Finally we have a bag of fruit!

Lisa in UK has made this lovely, roomy tote from cuddly, appley corduroy.   

Tuesday (bag) eye-candy

Pheee-you! been soo busy. I’ve finished the Sewing World bag, taken delivery of some YUM YUM handles and other bits, planning other tutorials, and I managed to have a bit of a life too (had a great weekend), more about all of that in the next few posts…

First up, here is some yummy eye candy for you. Thank you so much everyone for sending in and sharing these lovely bag pics with us!

Claire in UK sent in the beautiful pic of tulip from her garden...

Just gorgeous! Claire has green fingers too, as well as being a rather handy on the sewing machine...

She also sent in this lovely bag pic, which uncannily is a very nice tulip shape (I think that's a fine example of being inspired by nature).  It's so summery and fruity - good en ought to eat!

Buket in Turkey has been going to ribbon work classes...

Aren't they incredibly pretty?  They must've taken a fair amount of time and skill, I would love to be  as good at embellishment work as she is!

Katie in UK made this very smart handbag for her Mother in Law, for Mother's Day...

The bag is very smart, with yummy fabrics inside and out.  She's even added a handy clip inside the bag.  I'd say that earnt her quite a few brownie points!

Kathy in UK has been having a go at some of my tutorials...

She has made a lovely job of the this pleated purse (despite the sewing machine not really enjoying sewing thru the pleats), and a really cute coin purse from my tutorials.

Claire is getting right zippy!

Yep, I'm still in middle of sorting out the tutorial for this pleated bag.  It is coming soon, so watch this space!

Claire has been getting bag making stuff from my shop for a little while now.  She recently sent me some fabulous pics of her bag making handiwork along with this really nice email (thanks heaps Claire, you're very kind!):

Hi, 

I was very taken with your zippered pouch tutorial – here are some pictures of my adapted pouch made with one of my favourite Amy Butler prints. The next pouch will be better I hope, I won’t use such a chunky zip for a start! (I think the chunky zip is a nice design feature! - Lisa)

There are also some photos of my wooly travel bags made with the Amy Butler pattern I bought from you, the blue one has been designated my sewing supplies holdall. 

Keep up the good work, I love the blog and tutorials. Your website is by far the best and most inspiring around. I have added a link to you from my website too – www.handmadebyclaire.co.uk

Here are some of those yummy pics:

I love that fabric (fab colours), nice size too - very handy.

Blimey, the inside of my wallet never looks this organised!!  Nice idea to add card pockets inside the pouch, Claire - I think I might pinch that idea for my next zippered pouch.

How delicious are these!!??  Claire has made an absolutley beautiful job of the Amy Butler Weekender  pattern.  I mean they look designer don't they?   It would also cost ten squillion pounds to buy WOOL  travel  bags...

Claire says that one of these bags has become her sewing essentials hold-all.

Claire has also whipped up this rather nice shoulder carry all from some pretty Amy Butler fabric...

Handy pocket at the back with a smart trim...

Ohh I love this!  The bag is fully featured inside too.  Check out all of those handy pockets!!  Just perfect for keeping everything in order (and being super quick at the check out).

Katie's Pouch from Katie's Tutorial

Have you entered the 'Grab a (free) Bag' draw yet?  Go on; there's still 3 days left before a lucky winner will be drawn and announced!!

I wrote this tutorial and dedicated to it Katie.  She has kindly sent me some pics of a purse using this very tutorial.  She's made a fantastic job of it don't-cha think?  Thanks for the pics Katie!!

Outside view.  Nice chunky,cosy cord.

Inside View.  A Kaufman print.  Will you look at how neat and tidy that Zipper is!!!