Felted Handbags and...

New cards! Hoorah!

Gosh! I daren't count how many sleeps left to Yarndale but I'm sure there aren't enough. Today I have been doing the extremely frustrating stuff, mainly printing tickets and labels. The frustrating part is the printer part. Why can't manufacturers make a printer that works. One that doesn't spit out sheets of blank paper in the middle of your print run or get jammed every other time, not to mention drinking ink like water! Calm...calm, take a deep breath. I'm fine now honest.

 Well Joey and Gilbert have been stitched up. 

  Lined and zippered.

And will be joining this little chorus line at the weekend.

Did I mention it's Yarndale this weekend?

And for those who've asked, I'll be on stand 127 against a wall towards the workshop theatre.

Goodbye Gilbert, from snow to sunshine.

 Goodbye Gilbert...safe journey my little cheeky chap.

 My little felted gnome has been cut up, stitched up and wrapped up...  

and is now on his way to Australia.

I wonder what he'll see at the other end of his journey? I guess it won't be snow though!

Fi x

Machine Hexed. part 3

Good morning you lovely lot. (Thank you for the Garden Wall appreciation.)

My journey with machine sewing hexagons has continued on a little. At the suggestion of a lovely new friend I've been stitching these together by only using seam allowance as a guide rather than marking with pen lines.

Still fiddly and very time consuming (but nowhere near as time consuming as hand piecing!) and there is a certain amount of guess work when it comes to starting a finishing each little seam but on the whole it's working.

Even though these hexes are quite large, you need more than you think to make a piece of fabric large enough for the front of a cushion cover!
Needless to say the back isn't hexed!
But never the less a rather gorgeous vintage looking squishy cushion.

There's been a little bag making too since I last posted. Inspired by the recent issue of Molly Makes. I made mine differently and to my own pattern though.

Not my usual style of bag but more a messenger shape. I'm particularly loving the old brown leather button that secures the lined front pocket.

Made from seriously scrummy Sanderson fabric and lined with some soft, blue spottiness, a skirt in a previous life. (waste not, want not)

I knotted the extra long strap at one side so that the length can be altered for 'across the body' or 'on the shoulder' wear. Hmmm... I'm not altogether sure about this bag, I think I will have to revisit this style of bag and have another play around with it some time. I feel the need for a little 'tweaking'.

And on the sewing machine today...

More hexagons.

Fiddly? Yes.

But obviously not fiddly enough as I've decided to add some lace too!

When will I learn!!!

Oh well...my mother always said I enjoyed a challenge!

love fi x

Bags of Folksy Goodness

Hiya! Brrrr... its been a bit chilly up here in the Dale and this morning it finally did what it's been threatening to do... yep we awoke to a couple of inches of snow. But we don't want to talk about snow when there are pretties to chat about do we!

Here's my latest offering.

A new MarmaladeRose handbag.

With all the usual bits and bobs, ribbons, buttons, flowery stuff.

Plenty of raw edge free motion applique and
pretty fabrics, some happily recycled.

Scrummy Liberty lining and the practical key ring attached by ribbon so you can always find your keys.

But what's this? Another pretty bag lining and key thingy!

Another MarmaladeRose label!

Lots of gorgeous gross grain ribbon.

And more machine embroidery! Sparkly multicoloured thread this time!

Yes it's another handbag, but something a little different for me I think you'll agree.
Not my usual colour choice but this vintage (is it vintage if its a good 30 years old? Surely it must be!) needle cord was so pretty and really quite a practical choice for a handbag.
But do you know what the most exciting bit is?

No...it's not the snow.

Try again.

I've finally...after being registered for months and months...

opened

my

very own

FOLKSY SHOP!

(dance a little wiggle)

Check out that shiny new badge at the top of my sidebar!

(No, really! Check out that badge. It took me a good 30 minutes to find out how to put that up there! pah!)

Well you know what this means don't you girls?

I'm certainly going to have to 'up' my 20 minutes a day if I'm going to keep it fresh and interesting!

and that also means I'm going to have to get my act together and blog more frequently too!

Well, we crafty girls do like to share our makes don't we?

So hopefully there'll be steam coming from my sewing machine and smoke coming from my keyboard!

.

Let's hope you can keep up, teehee!

.

love Folksy Fi x
.

www.folksy.com/shops/MarmaladeRose

A New Bag for Me, Yipee!

I'm feeling the need to back-track a little today.

I'm really going to have to post much more frequently if I'm going to keep up with all the photos I've taken for you. Take todays post, this project was finished a month ago! That's very bad blog house keeping isn't it? Tut, tut!

This is my new bag!

Yes, MY new bag!

Not for anyone else.

Not to be gifted.

But one for little old me, Yippee!

As you know I'm a kinda pink, flowery sort of girl.

after all, I chose the name MarmaladeRose.
(I like the way it forms in your mouth when you say it.)

Mar-ma-lade-rose

You can't help but end with a pout!

You just tried it didn't you? LOL!

I've made several of this style bag now and I have to say it's my favourite.

Very roomy!

Well a girl needs room for her blog camera and spare batteries, and a ball of wool and a crochet hook is a must at all times!

This little pocket that I've embellished was once a pair of my daughters corduroy jeans. Hence the need to crochet a cover for the metal Tesco's Cherokee button.

Ta-daa!

Big, flowery, pink, girly, soft, squishy and MINE!

.

Love Fi x

Arm Candy!

Hello there.

Not one but two new bags to share with you today!

I had such fun designing and making these two beauties.
And yes, I do feel justified calling them 'beauties' lol.

Lovely fabrics

Pretty vintage buttons

Special stitches

Pretty trims

Lots of machine embroidery (this is the back, isn't it wonderful! It's a secret that only you and I have seen, safely hidden behind the pretty lining fabric now)

Here's the front.

And the front of the second bag.

I do like to hand finish. It makes all the difference, much neater, a way of adding a little bit of love and care to each project.

I nearly forgot to show you the inside! I'm quite a practical girl, I like pockets and a long ribbon tape to secure my keys. (long enough to unlock my door with out removing the keys.)

Here's the back of one of the bags.

And the back detail of the other one.

Hmmm...floral goodness.

A bit of recycling, a bit of vintage, some re-purposing and a lot of pleasure (for me making)

Ta-daa!

One front, one back

Ta-daa! again,

both fronts.

Thank you for letting me share my art.

Love Fi x