Christmas sewing - linen messenger bag or 'Africa Adventure Bag'!

I can't tell you how delighted I was when mum asked me to make her a bag for Christmas.  Mum does not do ostentation and she only has a small handful of bags, each of which has been with her for many years - every one has it's own purpose and she wouldn't just buy a bag on the spur of the moment, only ever if she actually needed it.

So, to be trusted with making one to replace her 'Africa Adventure Bag' was quite an honour (and also a little scary)!  Once I'd said yes to the challenge, mum sent me the dimensions and layout of her current, but falling apart, bag and some specifics about what she was looking for (this was all done in a very scientific and methodical way......that's my mum, she reminds me so much of my grandad, her dad, who was an engineer - and very engineer-like when it came to details).

The specifics included mention of 'room for binoculars, passport, tissues, suncream, sunhat and lipsalve'.  And the following fabric request 'tough material and dirt resistant colours! Present bag tough cotton lined in black'.  Travelling in rural parts of Africa is a grubby business!

All went ahead pretty much as mum requested.  I tried to persuade her to have an adjustable strap or inner zip pocket but they weren't needed.  But I did manage to get an internal key fob and zip for the main compartment added to the spec - yay!

I used linen for the main and lining fabric (full details below) - suitably tough and dirt resistant I hope.  I based the bag on this tutorial but made a lot of adjustments.  I added a zip for the main compartment (to keep those binoculars safe), under the flap there's a patch pocket and a big lined zip pocket (for passport and other documents).  The pattern suggests attaching the flap part way down the back of the bag but I thought it would be neater, and stronger, if attached at the top between the main and lining fabric.  The flap is closed with a loop of black elastic and a vintage horn button which I have been saving for something special.

And there you have it - mum's new 'Africa Adventure Bag'.  She seems very pleased with it and, as we speak, it is off on it's first African adventure.  Having been home (from South Africa) for three weeks over Christmas, mum and dad set off yesterday for Uganda.  After a couple of weeks there - including trekking to see mountain gorillas and chimpanzees - they will be back in South Africa until early April.  That's the life, eh?!

I'd love to know if you and your mum are bag people, or essentials only like mine........I have to confess to having a little bit of a thing for bags (and I battle with my conscience if I see something that I like but don't need - if we ever have more spare money I think I could build up a little collection)

Details:
Pattern - the basis of this bag was mmmcrafts basic messenger bag, I changed the dimensions slightly and attached the flap differently.  I referred to Lisa Lam's The Bag Making Bible for the concealed top edge zip and lined zip pocket.  I also added a patch pocket, key fob and piping
Fabric - Essex Yarn Dyed Linen in Black and Ellen Luckett Baker Triangles in Grey
Notions - black hair band for elastic and large vintage horn button for closure
Comments - I loved sewing this bag - and feel pretty proud of it.  In some ways having quite specific requirements made it harder, but at the same time it was much more satisfying to make something just right.

Christmas sewing - Eblieh and Eee Eee

Katie's most favourite animal is Ebliehs (a.k.a. Elephants!).  I decided that Santa ought to give her one for Christmas and had a wee hunt around on pinterest to find a toy elephant pattern.  This is the one I decided to try - but I machine stitched it - for speed really, rather than aesthetics.  Since the pattern wasn't intended for machine sewing there was a couple of places where a number of seams met and they were a little tricky.....but a bit of wrangling and manipulation soon sorted them out.

I also made a couple of wee mice, complete with little beds, for Santa to give the girls.  I saw the pattern mentioned on Flossie Teacakes (Florence has some wonderful adaptations including a pig and crocodile).  The tutorial is here.  The Eee Eees are very satisfying to make - quick, simple and effective.

The photos below show Katie sporting her first ever ponytail (polylail). She was very proud of it, although it lasted all of 5 minutes before being pulled out, and blissfully unaware that she is still completely lacking in proper hair at the front!  Her attempts at a 'camera smile' result in this wrinkled nose grimace - which I find incredibly cute but I am, of course, awfully biased.

I'm burying my head in the sand at the moment and trying to pretend that school doesn't start back tomorrow.  Still, I know they'll have fun and Katie and I may brave the swimming pool.........I do wish the water was warmer.

Hoping you have a lovely Sunday evening and not too much of a shock tomorrow morning.

Happy New Year 2014

Photo taken by kind fellow walker

Islay's first ever photo - isn't it good? The white 'tube' is a replica whale jawbone

I just wanted to pop in briefly to wish you a wonderful New Year.  I hope it is happy and healthy and all that you could wish for.

We have been enjoying a lovely family holiday, managing to catch up with lots of relatives which has been wonderful, despite a chest infection (Islay), ear infection (Katie) and colds (the rest of us)*.  The various illnesses on top of the happy holiday chaos, plus Islay's birthday just six days before Christmas, has kept me away from here - but I will be back!

In the meantime take care and  I hope you get to enjoy some fresh air and beautiful views like we did this morning.  We had a stunning New Year's day walk up Berwick Law.  And now I can hear the rain pounding against the windows........we'll light the fire shortly, snuggle together for some games followed by a simple family meal.  A very good start to the year.

* Thank goodness for antibiotics.  Poor little girls. Islay is pretty close to fully better but Katie is still feeling the need for a lot of mummy cuddles and I think it may be a few more nights before she remembers how to sleep properly.  I do love my snuggles with her and just need to remember to treasure them and not feel frustrated that they rather hamper getting on with things, not to mention sleep.

Craft Fair number one

 I attended, and survived, my first craft fair last week.  I'm really pleased that I went and I have learnt a lot from it.  It is really interesting to see what people do and don't like although I'm sure that will vary from fair to fair and day to day.....but to get face to face contact with customers was lovely and interesting too.

It was definitely worth attending but I didn't leave the night skipping with joy either.  Unfortunately numbers were down 50% from previous years and the organisers, a local school, only took half of their normal amount (from raffle, their own stalls etc) - and when I take that into account I'm pretty happy.

For some strange and organised reason I had labelled and sorted most things the night before.  A friend had very kindly offered to take Katie for me for a few hours before the fair and I had saved the extra time to do some additional, but not essential sewing, and not, thankfully, the rather vital task of packing up, working out prices and so on.  I say thankfully because early in the day Islay was sent home from school with a recurrent eye infection (she's fine again now)......so that was the end of my child-free time (although to give Islay her due she is a little less demanding than Katie - but that isn't much of a challenge!).

I made a few properly Christmassy smaller items to go alongside my bibs, baby blankets and so on.  My favourite is the clove filled Christmas Hearts.  They smell wonderful and I love the fabric which is wintry rather than overly Christmassy.  I have backed them in a beautiful deep red linen too.  I also made some hanging lavender decorations - they're an elongated diamond shape to mimic the funny long diamond/conical decorations we had when I was little.  And lastly there's some more wee robins.  I really enjoy making them.  

I have a few of each left and have listed them in my folksy shop.....with any luck I may get some more things listed some time before the end of the year!

The final new item is some tea towels. You can see them in the last of the stall photos, but I think I'll post more about them another time as I'm planning a giveaway. 

The school had asked if stall holders could contribute a raffle prize.  I made up two wee bags with a tea towel and robin in each. Hopefully they have found happy new homes.

This week is back to chaos as our refurbished sash windows are being painted but it does look as if things are coming together for our roof work to start soon which makes me very happy - I'll be even more happy when it is all done and dusted!  Grant funds, and shared responsibilities, for old buildings have their benefits but they don't half make things very very complicated and drawn out......especially for the poor person who is trying to make it happen (i.e. me!).

I hope you have some happy things to look forward to this week, even if they are chaotic happy things - and that your house is warmer than ours (open windows on sub zero days makes for pretty cold living!).

Slow start

I'd like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year - I do hope 2012 is happy and healthy for all. We have had such a lovely long holiday and slow start to the New Year.  It has been so good for us all to just take some time off and enjoy family time.  I did intend to do lots of blogging but somehow that didn't happen.  Tomorrow life goes back to it's more usual pattern with Finn, Angus and Islay at school - and that will be good too...for them and me!  I guess, after a while, a little more structure to the day doesn't do any harm. 

We started 2012 with a New Year's Day beach picnic.  The sun was out, and if you ignored the quite cold and very strong wind, it was perfect for a picnic.  We went to our old haunt Seacliff and were a bit miffed to see that so many other people had the same idea (although I think it probably wasn't all that busy we just felt it was since it's normally pretty well deserted).

We cooked sausages, beans and hot chocolate to keep the cold out 

I have so much I'd like to do this year.  I guess the most important thing is to enjoy my family - which shouldn't be too much of a challenge. In between doing that, and having a fun couple of days each week with my niece and nephew (they are ski-ing this week so I'm enjoying a little break today and tomorrow and will be all refreshed for them next week), I have sewing plans that are probably waaaaaay to ambitious for the amount of time I'm likely to have.

I'm working on a simple website at create.net at the moment and my domain name should be transferring as we speak.  For the next wee while I'm just going to have it set up to take commissions  (I haven't decided yet whether to take folksy off holiday mode and do the same with it or not) - don't know how much interest I'll get but with commissions I can control the workload and say no if I need to.  But I'd like to have it up and running properly with ready made items too at some stage.  And I have so many clothes I'd like to sew for myself and the girls (sorry boys!), especially dresses for me and Katie to wear to a wedding in April.  Islay is going to be a bridesmaid, the most excited one ever, so I don't need to make her anything - phew!  And I'd like to aim to attend at least one craft fair at the end of this year (I have my eye on one which is local and has proper hand-made sellers rather than many fairs which don't really have proper hand-crafted goods) - my, very organised and so rather unlikely, plan is to make things for this throughout the year so that I have stock building up steadily.  And anything that doesn't sell can then go online to my website or folksy.  See - I have it all planned out, only this time next year will tell whether I've got anywhere close to achieving any of it!

Long shadows

And they are just my sewing plans but there's so many other ambitions too - I think I'll just keep them to myself for now as I'm probably planning far above a realistic goal.  But I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing as long as I don't let them get on top of me and just keep all my many ideas as positive things to aim for - after all I'm bound to achieve some of them even if it is only one or two! 

Where have my hands gone?

And finally the world's happiest little girl.  She really is such a cheery little person it's such a delight to have her as part of our family.  I bumped into one of Islay's  old nursery teachers the other day and, having just had her second baby, she was talking about how it is inevitable that subsequent babies cry more - but that really isn't the case with Katie, she enjoys life so much and is usually only unhappy if she's extremely hungry or tired (or if someone pokes her in the eye or sits on her - which is a hazard with three bigger siblings and cousins who spend time here too!).  John and I quite often catch ourselves grinning at each other, especially when we're sitting down at meal times (that's if everyone is eating and not fussing about the vegetables (Angus) or meat (Islay)), as we realise how lucky we are to have our family of six.

Youngest and smallest

Finn and Katie (11 weeks)

The two youngest members of our house may also be the smallest but they command the lion's share of the attention (mind you, Katie is doing her very best to grow out of the 'smallest' category as fast as possible!).

Angus and Lily

We've just had a very busy but most lovely weekend.  Fifth birthday party for Islay.  Grown-up party for me and John.  Mini rugby Christmas party for all three older children.  Brilliant.

I have so many things I want to blog about.  I may be here more than once this week - then again I may not....the tree needs decorating, as does the house, Christmas gifts need making and wrapping, dogs need walking, family needs feeding, homework needs finishing........but I will try!

I hope everyone else had such a lovely weekend too.  Juliexxx