Travel Purses; Part One

 My daughter is traveling soon to Sweden & Finland. I think Russia too. Instead of looking through the family photos and finding the Swedish relatives and addresses, I chose to make her a purse set.

This first purse is the 2 Zip Hipster sewing pattern by Erin over at Dog Under My Desk Patterns.
I haven't made one since my trip to Japan over a year ago.

At the time, I wanted the bag to be a bit wider and I thought I took good notes but found I could be more specific about writing down which changes I made. A couple of mistakes in cutting were easily fixed because I sewed this in Cork fabric.

If you haven't worked with cork fabric yet, order some. Very easy to cut and sew. The edges don't fray. It's easy to add a short piece on if you made a cutting error.
Cork fabric is also weather resistant & mold resistant. This cork fabric comes from Portugal and is a sustainable natural  product. It's seriously awesome for bag making.
I bought mine here.

I had to pet it for a year before I could bear to cut into it. I have mostly used up my natural color cork and still have some of this sea foam color. I need to order more but it's pricey.

 I found some Paris map fabric last year with dear daughter (the traveler) in mind. Along with it is some world map fabric that coordinates. I hadn't bought the seafoam cork yet so it all added up to serendipitous sewing

.

This bag has an outside zippered pocket and behind that a slip pocket - perfect for traveling. It also has a zippered pocket inside - the pattern only calls for a slip pocket but I add a zippered one inside because it's more secure.
The top zips shut easily with a big purse zipper and the strap can be worn over the shoulder or cross-body.

In fact, I didn't have enough natural cork for the strap and I didn't want a seafoam color strap, so I robbed the strap off my Japan bag ( which I had robbed from a garage sale bag). Never say I am not into recycling.

Yesterday, I received some small tassels - God bless Daiso - from Janine in Japan. They are too short for my bag. However, Kyle's turquoise tassel is too big. Need to make one. Then this bag will be done.

Except, I'm making two more bags as a set. The coin purse which attaches to the inside dangly strap (airplane ribbon) and a passport wallet.
I have the coin purse done to blog about another day. Need to cut out the passport wallet tomorrow before work.

Does anyone else hide from their trip photos? I probably took 1600 photos when hubs and I went to Sweden and Finland 4 years ago (Summer posts in 2012). I was supposed to put the family ones in a photo album and send to the 2nd cousins in Mariehamn (Åland Islands between Sweden & Finland).
Did I? ..ahem...shhhh...I'm sewing.

If I can get them printed, I could send them with dd and save on postage.

Don't even talk to me about  my Japan photos.

And here's a gratuitous photo of my work apron. Pencil Girl sewed a front panel for me as a birthday gift. How sweet is that?

Of course, it will be ripped to shreds in a few months (unsafe equipment).
Don't look too close - this is the guys restroom - it looks marginally better than the gals bathroom.

Pacific City and Cape Meares

 Pacific City beach by Pelican Brewery.

One of the few beaches where cars are allowed.
Lots of people in the water on paddleboards wearing neoprene. It's cold in the ocean. This is not the beach where you might see bikini's in Oregon (Short Sands).

In the valley it was almost 100 degrees. Here, it edged past 80. Much nicer.

 The big vertical hill. If you make it to the top, you can windmill down.

 My sis and mom & dad.

 Looking south at Cape Meares.

 You can easily see the Cape Meares lighthouse. It's less than a quarter-mile walk from the parking area. Too much for my dad and slightly steep coming back.

 Nephews looking at. . . . .being patient.

 Rocks north of Cape Meares lighthouse.

 South again. Slight mist burning off. Gorgeous day at the beach.

 And look what I found.  Do you recall me finding the watercolor below at a garage sale earlier this summer?  Look at that headland above and tell me it's not the same one.
Just painted from the northside,  instead of south - where I was walking.

Looks like the artist (unknown) threw a lighthouse on top for interest. Not quite the Cape Meares lighthouse though.

  I tried to edit the photo to make it easier for you to see.
Very similar.

We finished off our day with lunch at the Tillamook Cheese factory.

The Cheddar Baby Loaf Van.






***just a few more days...SALE continues in my friend's Etsy Shop;
CraftyTokyoMama on etsy. Use Coupon code AUGUST20 throughout the month of August to get 20% off your purchase.

Don't forget about Etsy Love - even if you don't buy anything - just hover over the heart on each listing and tap on it. (thanks!)

Fabric Postcard

Inspired by my lovely friend in Japan (three weeks!!!) and another bloggy friend in the UK,
I made a fabric postcard. One more week of Rural Mail Count so this will make my carrier smile when she picks it up. One guess as to where it's headed?

For the address portion, I dithered about fabric markers, sharpies, or a piece of vellum. In the end, I sewed a scrap piece of vellum on and when fray-checking the corners, added a dab along the vellum seam lines. Hopefully it won't tear off from the perforations.

All other fabrics were fussy-cut from my vast collection and raw-edge sewn to a piece of peltex and batting.
Edging to secure is just a close-spaced zig-zag stitch that wraps around the edges.

The Chicken Pot Holder giveaway is still open through the end of the month {{last week}. All you have to do is send me a postcard or a letter. My address is on the original post. I've already received some really cute postcards, including an embroidered airplane. I posted some of them here.
I have had so much fun with this giveaway. Some of you don't even want the chickie - which cracks me up. I look forward to getting my mail everyday and it baffles me that some folks don't even check their mail but once every week or so (or longer). I usually have something interesting in the box even if it's only mail order vitamins.

I think I wrote almost 40 letters, postcards and parcels more than normal this month and it's true, to receive letters, you have to send letters.



Okay - I'm changing my red thread to something else now. . .

The Best Daughter Ever

photo by way of phone image by way of London.
London Museum of Science

Only fair to throw the daughter into the blog too. She's been traveling through Europe this last month.

She started in New York, crossed the pond to London, then moved to Paris.
 A little pickpocketed phone incident involving those Romanian Girls outside Notre Dame.

Next were Budapest, Prague, Vienna with a  few Philharmonic concerts.
Lots of old friends and new friends made.

She's now back in London. Where she stopped and took this photo for her mommy.
She's such a good daughter and totally gets me.

She's coming home via Dublin next week - just in time for her birthday.
{I do hope she was successful finding a deal on Liberty Tana Lawn Fabric in London}
Cannot wait to see her as she had the very best time with a tiny exception in France.

First Base - Minnesota Twins vs KC Royals

Lunch Sewing

I had today off to sew. There's an overwhelming leaning aspect to the sewing room that keeps me out sometimes. I desperately need a little elf to sort and straighten.
After my doctor's appointment, I did go in and came up with fabrics to sew Ayumi's Lunchbag fairly quickly. Ayumi (aka Pink Penguin) has written other tutorials and she is fantastic at piecing together fabrics if she doesn't have enough. And the fabrics she has are beyond cute in the way she mixes them.

This bag reminds me of the chalk bag I sewed for my son. It also incorporates a drawstring closure to keep the contents in/safe/dry. You should also read the comments for this tutorial post. Several sewists dropped by with their links to the bags they made.

Made December 2010

This is a small bag that can be used in many ways. I plan to sew a couple more as part of my trip gifts (summer trip to Sweden & Finland). Along the way, I will change up some details.

1. The bag bottom was two pieces of fabric sewn together. It can be one piece, embellishments can be sewn prior to construction. The seam on the bottom does make it easier to make a precise box corner.

2. I did sew a touch bigger seam on the lining and this worked perfectly. Sometimes when linings are made the same size as the outer bag, you get a lot of waddage hanging around inside instead of a slim fit within the other.

3. You see the pocket I added? Hidden.  I might add a zip pocket or at least a pocket with a flap. All of my bags have tipped over (overloading - moi?) at one time or another so a flap for the hidden pocket would be good.

4. Some exposed seams on the cover which I would turn under one more time so no fraying threads keep sheering off, bugging me, making me twitchy.

5. The linen I used could be stamped on with a word or two. . . .

I love how easy this was to make. It turned out fabulous with ideas on how to take it to the next level percolating.