Teacher Gifts

Please excuse me, I'm running a little behind on the blog!

I made these purses for the boys' kindergarten teachers. Actually, these were just the ones I made for Liam's kindergarten teachers. I actually made seven purses, for six teachers and a kris kringle gift for a friend in my mum's group, but this is the only photo I took.

The purse on the left is made from Ink & Spindle Wrens in inky blue, lined with the same fabric. I chose that fabric for that teacher as she said nice things about my Wren City Bag on several occassions.

The purse on the far right is made from red leather from my leather city bag for the same reasons. I was unable to find my scraps from the panel from that bag, but whilst I was hunting, I found this American Jane print that I purchased from Badskirt many years ago. The lining in that purse is the flower print from the American Jane fabric. Obviously, that kindergarten teacher's name begins with S.

The purse at the centre back is Birch, by Ink & Spindle and the one at the centre front was a remnant from Retromummy (when she had her shop), it's a cheater quilt pattern - I think a Kokka Modern Kimono? I made three more using pieces from the same fabric.

The pattern I used was Nicole Mallalieu's 90mm purse frame pattern. I have made (at least) nineteen of these now, so the pattern was well worth the investment. They make great little gifts.

Antique Leather Hobo

The other day, I set myself a twenty-four hour challenge to make Nicole Malllalieu's Hobo bag, using some beautiful antiqued, lambskin leather I had from NSW Leather Co. I had been thinking about making this bag for a while, and with a Christmas "do" to attend with a new dress that all my current bags clash with, it was at the front of my mind. Someone had said on Facebook, that they managed to put one together in about three hours, and although they hadn't used leather, I thought I should at least have a go. I mean, I had 24 hours and who needs to sleep? (Me! I do!)



Well, it wasn't to be. I managed to get most of the outer bag constructed and then ran into some trouble inserting the zip. Trouble included some problems with leather that is a little stretchy, and some thread-matching and tension issues. In hind-sight, if I was making this particular bag again, I would make the zip gusset entirely from leather.

Something that I have learned about my machine is that it really does like the upholstery thread. I can't seem to be able to adjust bobbin tension enough to cope with other thread thicknesses, and even so, it is difficult to balance the tension so that there is no top thread showing on the bottom or bottom thread showing on the top. So I headed to a nearby store to get some upholstery thread in a lighter colour so it wasn't too dominant on the underside of the fabric.



I also found that the leather liked to stretch out a bit, so, combined with a non-stretchy lining fabric, it was a bit of work to get a nice, non-twisty zipper gusset going on. I found that going really slowly and carefully and using my new Clover clips, I was able to construct something that was acceptable. Switching from the zipper foot to the proper teflon foot, just for the stay stitching along the hidden edge of the gusset really helped. Actually, looking at the finished product, I am more than happy with it.



I used both of the pocket options for the lining. There is a zippered pocket and also another pocket with a pleated mobile phone slot. I did this pocket back to front to Nikki's pattern so that the phone pocket was easily accessible. (I had the zipper pocket closest to my body and the phone pocket further away). If I was only doing this pocket, then I would do it exactly as per the pattern. I am really fussy about the direction of zips too. I like my zipper head at the front when the bag is closed, both for internal and external pockets.

Another little grievance I have with my industrial machine is the feed dogs are a little harsh on soft, lambskin leather and can leave nasty track marks. I learned this when practicing making straps when I made my Red Leather City Bag. When making the City Bag, I used tear-away stabiliser to protect the leather from the feed-dogs. I think it works fairly well, though I don't like the way the thread gets pulled when tearing away the tear-away. I thought this time I would use paper towel. I don't think I will do this again, as it is really tricky to remove paper towel fibres from under stitches. I have another idea that I might try next time.



I love the wide strap on the bag. I made it exactly to the pattern piece, although I only did minimal top-stitching, just along each edge as I think it worked really well with the leather I was using and the over-all slouchiness of the bag. I didn't use any o-rings for this bag. If I did, I would have preferred brass ones and I didn't have any in my stash. I think this was a good decision for this particular bag, there would have been a lot of extra bulk where the straps are attached, which I don't think would have suited the relaxed style of this bag.

Over-all, I am pretty happy with this bag. Could I have made the bag in twenty-four hours? Possibly. I'm not really sure? I am guessing that I actually spent about twelve hours making this bag. Maybe more? I have little kids though, so finding twelve hours out of a twenty-four hour period of time is nearly impossible. Realistically, I would give myself a week, or at a bare minimum, a weekend to make this bag again out of leather. I could make it a lot quicker in quilter's cotton, but I cannot see myself making the entire bag in three hours.

24 Hour Leather Hobo

I have a new dress to wear to a Christmas function tomorrow night, but it has come to my attention that it doesn't go with any of my bags. So I'm going to have a bash at making a "You Sew, Girl!" Hobo bag from some leather that I have been saving for such an occasion. Can it be done?

Linking up with more Creative Peeps over here.

Finally Made It! Hellooo Leather City!!!

I finally finished my red leather City bag. There were lots of tense moments. Some skipped stitches, knots, a broken needle and I even managed to steam myself with the iron this morning. It was totally worth all the angst though, as I have achieved my goal to make this bag in leather.



I decided that the side seams would look nicer with a bit of top-stitching, rather than just pressing them open. Every extra seam is a risk, especially top-stitching, as any seam that is un-picked will show as a row of tiny holes. I recommend that if you are top-stitching leather, that you ensure there is plenty of bobbin thread. I am glad I took the risk, as the finish is far superior to just pressing the seams open.



Inside the bag I included the zipped pocket from the pattern instructions. This time I matched my zipper with the lining and pocket fabric. I used some of the same Ink & Spindle Bonsai fabric for the pocket as I did for the feature panel.



I forgot to take pictures of the purse feet that I put on the last City bag I made. The purse feet will keep the base of my bag from being scuffed. I didn't follow the instructions in the pattern for the base, because they don't include purse feet, instead using this tutorial instead.

My straps were constructed differently to Nicole's instructions in the pattern as well. Being leather, I wanted to reduce a lot of the bulk at the ends where the rings were attached.



I really didn't think that I was going to be able to sew the loops to the bag, because of all the bulk, but I managed to do it. I actually did this bit with the industrial machine turned off, and just turned the hand-wheel. It is normally quite difficult to turn, but I have found that if I push down on the pedal a little, this reduces most of the resistance, and the wheel turns easily. I also only have two hands, so when turning the hand-wheel with one hand, and holding my work with the other, that left me with no hands for the back-stitch lever. I got Noah to hold it for me. I would never get him to do that with the machine going, but he was quite pleased to be able to help me make a bag! I guess an alternative would have been to put a big book or a brick on the lever, but a brick wouldn't have been so proud to help.



I was quite happy to find that I was able to line the zip up with the centre of the ring tabs much better this time around with the leather, even better than I did with the denim bag.



Here I am holding my newly completed City Bag, just to give an idea of size. There is still one thing missing, I need to put in an order to Nikki for some zipper pulls for both of my City bags.

Can't Stop

I'm too busy to blog tonight.... top-stitching.

My Creative Space - Getting closer to Leather City

I'm working on my red leather City bag today. I've had some interesting stops along the way. I broke a needle. I've had trouble with skipped stitches. I ran out of bobbin thread, half-way along a seam.... but it's coming together, and I am mostly happy with it. I have a strap that I'm pretty pleased with and the Ink & Spindle fabric that I have chosen to compliment the leather seems to be working out to be a nice match.

I have discovered that leather and double-sided tape really work well together, however, I'm not sure my machine likes it very much. Since the skipped stitches occurred right after the broken needle, I don't think it was blunt or bent (the usual reason for skipped stitches). I noticed the needle was a bit gummy, cleaned it up and it's all good again so I'm guessing that was the cause.

What's happening in your Creative Space?

Leather...

Leather is durable and beautiful. It's appearance is individual and unique. There is no grain that needs to be followed, thus bag pieces can be moved around to fit without worrying too much about which way is up. Some disadvantages are that it can be a bit bulky to sew, and care needs to be taken when cutting out, to avoid marks and holes. Care also needs to be taken to avoid creating new marks or holes when sewing it together.



I am working on my strap for my red leather City bag. I had cut a piece of leather for the bag, and discovered it had some flaws, so have used it to make a test strap. Whilst the photo above looks great from the right side, you can see from the photo below, that it would not be strong and durable enough to be carrying around a largish handbag on a daily basis.



The join would gape and wear and catch on things....



So I will go with an overlap underneath the stitching. Kind of like the image below. Only I will be more careful and neat and hopefully my thread will not break whilst trying to do it on the real thing...





A few things that I have learned whilst sewing leather...

1. Use heavier thread - I'm using Gutermann upholstery thread. It is heavier than regular Gutermann thread. A 100m spool of upholstery thread is about the same size as a 250m reel of regular sew-all thread.

2. Use a longer stitch length than usual. I usually use 3, for leather I use 4 (For stuffed toys I use 2.2, which is the default for my domestic machine)

3. I use my industrial machine for leather, with a teflon foot, some people use a domestic machine and a walking foot. I have heard that the best is an industrial machine with a roller foot. Industrial machines are generally designed to one job well. I don't have the space (or money) for enough industrial machines to suit all my whims and fancies, so what I have will need to do!

4. With leather you need to sew it right the first time. If you make a mistake, and unpick it, you will be left with unsightly holes.

5. You cannot pin leather for the same reason. I would like to thank Amy Karol of "Angry Chicken" for this video "I don't pin, 'cause I don't want to" that encouraged my disdain for pinning as it is really helping me out now. I do use the odd bobby pin for bits where I am less than confident. Other people have suggested hair clips and bull-dog clips, but my bull dog clips have gone walk-about?

6. I discovered that the feed-dogs on my machine chew the leather a bit. It's not pretty. Reducing the foot pressure helps a little. Placing something between the leather and those nasty teeth also helps. I have been using the odd bit of tear-away. If anyone has any better ideas I would love to hear them. Most of the time, except for straps, the feed-dogs don't need to go near the top side of the leather anyway.

My Creative Space - Leather City, Here I Come!

In case you have come here from Our Creative Spaces and haven't been here since last week, you might not have seen that I finished my red leather spec case,



and I also finished my bag.



My plan now, is to make the same bag in LEATHER! My original plan was just to do the whole thing in leather, but seeing my denim one with the Ink & Spindle fabric, I want to achieve a similar look with the leather one...



I have some more plans, down the line to mix these two up as well....



If anyone was wondering, I get my leather from NSW Leather Co in Collingwood, and I get my bag patterns and shiny-bits from Nicole Mallalieu Design.



You can see more Creative Spaces, over here, and you can join in with the Blogtoberfestivities over here.

Red Leather Spec Case

If you are looking for a project that provides instant gratification, look no further than Nikki's Spectacle case from the book You Sew, Girl! I made one last night in leather (rather than felt), and I am very happy with the result.



The flex frame is easy to install and provides quick, one-handed access to my sunnies.



There is no lining, so it goes together very quickly.



Most of my time spent at the machine was working out tricky, sewing machine related things like tension and pressure, and how to avoid nasty feed-dog track marks on my leather.

The spec case itself went together in minutes!



I am getting better at this industrial machine thing. I do need to work on my back-stitching though. It's still a bit wonky.



Now that I have that under my belt, it's time to make the City Bag in denim with some Ink & Spindle embellishment. I will do it on the industrial machine - with denim I can unpick if I need without leaving holes in my fabric.

My Creative Space - On my way to "Leather City"

I'm working myself up to making a leather City Bag. I have a small project from Nikki's book cut out and ready to go. Once I have made that, I plan to make a City Bag in Denim, with a bit of Ink & Spindle to make it more exciting, and then... then I will do the leather bag that I have been planning to do for ages.

What's happening in your Creative Space this week?

Little Red Riding Hood Shoes

Ok, so I said that I was working up to something. I did it! I made Mary-Janes from some pretty red leather. It was so much fun! I used my industrial machine and I managed to not sew any of my fingers to the shoes! It is the first time I have sewed anything with leather.

They are far from perfect. My top-stitching is a bit crooked, but I am pretty happy with them for a first effort. With leather you can't un-pick (it leaves tiny, ugly holes), so you only get one shot. I can't be my usual pedantic self and un-pick and re-stitch until I am happy. Also, leather is kind of slick. It glides under the presser foot like nothing I have sewn before.

I don't think I can stop at just one pair.

My Creative Space - Little Red Riding Hood

I'm working on another Oliver + S Puppet Show outfit (previous outfits), this time in some Kokka Trefle, Little Red Riding Hood, and a lovely red print I picked up at Amitie. I'm hoping to get it completed before the weekend, without over-exerting myself, as I am also fighting a lurgy that I seem to have caught from Liam. Sharing is caring.

Later I hope to gather up enough courage to chop into some lovely red leather from NSW Leather Co.

What's happening in your Creative Space?