Double-Sided Clutch

 This was a fun make.
Detailed in one of my facebook sewing groups, this double-sided clutch was super easy in it's simplicity.

I've made three so far with these Ikea fabrics.

One sold to a special person so I added in some other Canby-made goodies: hand-crocheted face scrubbies and honeysuckle lotion.

The clutch has three pocket compartments so you stay organized. Very ingenious pattern idea.

On my second one, I decided to add a leather strap to the side, riveted on. Purely decorative. The leather strap was scavenged from a vintage leather belt.

My Bloodgood Laceleaf Japanese Maple is in full leaf. It's about 27 years old and huge. I could prune it up to see the twisted trunk but then you would need to do that every year. Too much work. I just trim up from the ground so it's fairly even. My old dog, Rocket, used to love lying underneath with his head peeping out.

I've got to find our original landscape plans. I swear this variety is Bloodgood but all the internet sites say bloodgood is an upright maple.

And here it is from the other direction with my dwarf purple bearded iris's and weigelia in the foreground. with the stinkin' purple violets getting all weedy in there.

I'm also getting my patio pots ready for the summer. The hanging baskets and the 'groupings'. We're getting some nice May weather with not too much rain so things are growing fast.

purple columbine

These rhodies were given to me free. The homeowner changed out her landscape and they've done quite well for me.

Morning dew on those delicate pink blossoms.

Biking To Work

 During the summer, I try to bike to work as often as I can.
Definitely worth the ten years I spent trying to transfer to  the same town in which I live.

There's only about four months where I can do it often enough with my work schedule and the way sunrise and sunset fall.

I live 3 1/2 miles away from work - although it could be 4 miles as my road is 1/2 mile long. In any case it takes me 20 minutes to ride in and 22 minutes to ride out. I have two little hills coming in and two bigger hills going home.

Many people, as in 92%, profess great alarm at me biking. They are 100% afraid to try anything though. So I discount their fears.

It's very safe. I taught my kids to ride safely on the country roads around here. I showed them how to pick the safest routes ahead of time and *plan ahead*.

Last summer was awesome as we stayed below 100' super hot days all summer and this summer is shaping up to be the same. Drivers are as cautious as me - because they know me.

I had a somewhat close call near my home (on the big arterial country road (with the 3-foot ditches)) last year when my neighbor had to pass me - at that particular moment, with oncoming traffic. My neighbor - whose husband bikes miles and miles - I was so surprised.  She called later to apologize. On that side of the road the ditch has mellowed out so if I had to, I have a safe place to steer my bike.

This year, I had to re-route because of a pit bull that is allowed to be off-leash, on the public street. That dog has bitten other neighborhood dogs and I decided to switch my route over one street because I'm pretty sure a girl and her bike will not win against a pit bull.
(And it's my blog, so if any commenters get obnoxious, I will delete you.)
Pit bulls are bred in the Portland area for illegal dog fighting.  I do  not care how nice your pit bull is.

 I don't get to bike past this luscious maple any more. It is my favorite tree in Canby, there are only a few specimens around. It's a bi-color maple that is big and glorious.

Riding my bike to work is a nice work-out. Breathing fresh air into my lungs, huffing and puffing to the top of my two hills, working on different muscle groups than those I use at work.

My ride is short - around 20-22 minutes - just long enough for a work-out  but not so long it becomes a chore.

I leave the house 15 minutes before work if I'm driving, 30 minutes before if I'm biking. There is time to smell the different crops growing on the first part of  my ride. To see and wave to people I know. It does put me in a good mood.

Why are people so afraid of something they haven't tried? Yes, my dad was a physics teacher and cars will always win against a bike. But I have lots of bike lanes. I am not going to bike incautiously. I pick my route with care. It's easier to cross the highway through town at this particular intersection. I don't pick the one where drivers are making too many right hand turns without looking. I also bike on the wide sidewalks if the intersection is dicey.

It was far easier to get around Kyoto on a bike that driving everywhere. I find that to be so (in town) here as well. I didn't have to find parking on parade day - which was a common complaint around me on the 4th of July. I just chained up my bike to a convenient stop sign and stood for our small town parade.

I was talking about biking last summer at the coffee shop and the coffee lady has an 11 year old boy. They lived at one end of town and the school was at the other end. Between them is the old logging trail that is now a bike path. There is no need to even be on a street in order to bike 2 miles to school. Her neighbor, who also has an 11 year old would not allow her boy to bike to school, because of various helicopter parenting concerns. He's 11. He'll be out of the house, hopefully, in just a few years. This is probably the safest biking trail ever and she won't allow her boy to grow up. This boy is driven to school every day. Not even allowed to take the school bus.

Biking is just  one of the adult skills I taught my children.
Although, I think I am the only biker in town that still uses hand & arm turning signals.

 One of my favorite memories of the kids is walking alongside them as they biked through the 4th of July parade in town. Trying not to get caught up in the wild training wheels of the younger crowd.

I did sew last weekend. I was supposed to play with making padded  Doterra oil pouches but I awesomely derailed into making these toiletry bags - specifically, Lipsense bags. The front is a zippered vinyl pocket to show off what you have with a bigger zippered compartment behind. 

Quick and easy.

I didn't use a pattern - just eyeballed the size I wanted it to turn out and I was definitely inspired by an Instagram post.

My family crisis's have settled down a little, so I am hoping to sew more.
My overtime continues.

Finally, some beautiful pics from my son on his recent trip to Canada (Yay! 150 years!) near Banff.

Travel Purses; Part Three

The Passport Wallet.

This is just a teaser post as I'm running amuck with house guests arriving Saturday and my awesome work schedule getting in the way.

The bathroom is cleaned and it will just have to stay that way until Saturday.

Here's the first post in my Travel Purse trio.

And my second with the coin purse.

This wallet has been placed under my mattress to flatten it out and set the folds.

Twisted Tuck Wristlet Clutch

Day two in the Bag It series by Elm Street Quilts.


I deviated. Of course I did. I had this Twisted Tuck Wristlet tutorial by Mahlica Designs vying for sewing time and it somehow squeezed into the Bag It month.

This wristlet/clutch is about 9" wide by 5 1/2" tall. Perfect for hanging onto.
I love the tuck detailing on the front.
 
Lazy me has been using this tan Sulky thread for all that serious matchstick quilting I've been doing. It has a bit of sheen to it. Anyway - it appears to look good on the suede as well. I'll keep it on the machine until I am forced to switch.
{I think the *mean* Bag it organizer wants us to do more matchstick quilting...on a bag that's coming up in the series.}

I used some faux suede fabric that's been in my stash forever - either from a child's Indian costume or a garage sale find. It sort of behaves like suede but doesn't have a recognizable nap one way or the other. It also doesn't fray! Which made for awesome fringe on that costume.


A blue plaid leaped into the inside lining, thus the blue zipper.

Back side.

Blue Plaid lining

Other side of lining with the slip pocket that extends all the way across.

Great tutorial from Mahlica Deisgns.


I am trying to do this bag a day thing but I will be posting some on my Instagram feed instead of trying to write a blog post every day. You can find me there by looking for RocketGirl50.

Review of Della Wallet Clutch

This is the Della Wallet Clutch from Swoon Patterns.
What sparked my interest was a youtube video posted on how to construct this wallet.

It's an easy-sew wallet utilizing two squarish rectangles which you sew separately and then put them right-sides-together (RST) and sew and turn. They are then folded in half to create the clutch.

You add your card slots, side flaps and handle fob before you sew RST together.

I was also smitten with these two zipper pockets. In the video, they are the same color which would never ever work for me so I used an orange and a blue zipper to differentiate the zip pockets.
These pockets are big enough to put your phone in.

Backside

I sewed the wrist strap as directed. Well --- actually,  I never bought this pattern.
I watched the video and approximated the size of the rectangles and card slots measurements.
I noted what I wanted to do differently and sewed it my way.

The card slots went towards the middle. This clutch's strap hangs from the bottom - or is that the top? The zip pockets look like the top to me so I changed the card slots placement to be reachable from the top instead of down towards the middle. Possibly a little OCD here.
 
I thought about making each card slot section a different color as well (like the zippers)  but then I cut the fabric and sewed it up, split it in the middle and added a middle section and I was fine with that.

I thought a pen holder case would be nice to put into the middle and that turned out to be a very nice addition.

There are four card slots on each half with the top pocket the full width of the wallet. For cash money or your check register.

The side tabs latch on with magnetic snaps to this strip of blue bubble fabric. Opportunity to 'decorate' is there before you sew it all together. I fussy cut a 'label' from my outer fabric to break up the strip.

I cut the outer fabric in half and re-sewed it together as I had a directional print. You want this wallet to fold easily in half so this seam was top-stitched down.

So now I have my card pockets all hanging down towards the open bottom and no way to keep items securely inside the purse. Which is why the actual directions have you put your cards slots towards the middle - for security.
Me - I always gotta go my own way. I added a snap to help with security. If clutch is dangled, then this should help keep things inside.

My gingham pockets inside the zippered areas are loose by the zipper teeth area. I sewed one side down by hand and tried to decide if a good pressing would be enough on the other side or if I needed to handsew that down too.

Looks like the top to me even though wrist straps turns this downwards. Those card/cash pockets are now easy to reach into, although not very secure.

That whole two halves open on one end is a deal breaker for me. Even if sewn as directed with pockets to the middle, the card pockets are loose and not secure enough for me.
I felt challenged to see if I could sew this without shelling out for a pattern and it is an easy sew even with my additions.

Things I changed:
1. allowed for directional fabric
2. zippers - two colors.
3. Card pocket directional (180') change.
4. Pen holder
5. Snap on open end.

Things I would do differently next time:
1. Make card pockets tighter - too much room side to side. Maybe place them horizontally instead of vertically so strap helps hold cards securely.
2. Add two magnetic snaps on open end (more secure).
3. Handsew pocket linings down so they don't bunch at zipper teeth.

The majority of materials used came from Japan. I love this Airport fabric and the blue bubbles was also bought in Japan. One of the zippers was as well. The snap, magnetic closure and swivel clip came from stash. The D-ring came from Japan. Gingham pocket linings from stash. Zipper pulls from stash.

This clutch might work for traveling with one pocket for change and one for phone. With the right security work done.
It's small and compact - about 8" long by 4.5" high.