Simply Crafty

Re in the spirit of sharing

My goodness it seems like ages since i posted. It probably has been. My other life has taken over completeley.

This is a really short post to say that this book passes on to Judy over at Maccabags. Judy I will contact you with postage details

For rules see this post

Sorry for the short post i will be bloging more regularly once my other life settles down

Oge
X

In The Spirit of Sharing

I have been awarded this Brilliant Web Blog Award for content and photos by Anne over at Fabric and bags. This is despite me not updating my Blog as regularly as I'd like to and i am absolutely chuffed to bits. Its also my first award so really treasured.

I feel like I should be going:- and this for my mum for giving birth to me and this is for  my producer for discovering me and this is for all my friends who believed in me....... but truely truely this is for all you crafters out there and for all your support.

So in the spirit of sharing I am going to award it to 6 other fant- happening blogs

Judy over at maccabags this is for creating those lovely purses

Myam for your courage and creations

My craft ways for those beautiful friday uplifters

Maria over at sew love to love  because I love to sew to

Dyan over at flowerchilde i'm digging the logo

Kyoko what can I say have a look at her blog for yourself

Ps if you've already received this award take it as a double confirmation of your lovely- ness

I've been catching up with some reading lately and i couldn't put this one down.

Its a beautifully written and provocative book about 'the reluctant fundamentalist' following the events of 9/11.

I don't tend to read books again once I've finished them and they end up in boxes in my cupboard so in the spirit of sharing if you're interested its yours to read.

Leave a response to this post indicating your interest. If there's more than one person i'll pull a number out of a bag on Sunday 17th August

All I ask is that you sign and date it when you've finished (something like this) and pass it on to another person in Blogdom

This is my idea of a little game to see how far round Blogdom this book will go so please feel free to join in

Ps I will post free to anywhere in the UK but if you are outside the UK I will ask you to make a small contribution towards postage

 

Downtime

Photo By Andreia
 

I am having some crafting downtime(really its a tantrum) just because......

Well am working on a bag tutorial with zips and its doing my head in. All the steps, what comes first etc etc. So I thought I'd give it a miss a rest for a while and focus on my other interests and heres one of them poetry

I stumbled on this one a while ago and it has fast become one of my all time favourites. Hope you enjoy as much as I do

The Invitation  by Oriah Mountain Dreamer

 

It doesn't   interest me what you do for a living.   I want to know what you ache for,   and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.     It doesn't interest me how old you are.   I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool   for love, for your dreams,   for the adventure of being alive.     It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.   I want to know if you have touched   the centre of your own sorrow,   if you have been opened by life's betrayals   or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain.     I want to know if you can sit with pain,   mine or your own, without moving to hide it   or fade it or fix it.     I want to know if you can be with joy mine or your own.   if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy   fill you to the tips of your fingers   and toes without cautioning us   to be careful, be realistic,   remember the limitations of being human.     It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.   I want to know if you can disappoint another   to be true to yourself.   If you can bear the accusation of betrayal   and not betray your own soul.   If you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.     I want to know if you can see Beauty   even when it is not pretty every day,   and if you can source your own life from its presence.     I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine,   and still stand at the edge of the lake   and shout to the silver of the full moon,“Yes.”     It doesn't interest me to know where you live,   or how much money you have.   I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,   weary and bruised to the bone,   and do what needs to be done to feed the children.     It doesn't interest me who you know   or how you came to be here.   I want to know if you will stand   in the centre of the fire with me and not shrink back.     It doesn't interest me where or what   or with whom you have studied.   I want to know what sustains you from the inside   when all else falls away.     I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,   and if you truly like the company   you keep in the empty moments.

 

Zippers Unzipped

I  mentioned in this post that I was working on tutorials for Zippers Poppers and Snappers.I'll be posting a series of tutorials on how I use zippers and how to attach them to bags. Hope you find it useful.

When I was doing some research for these tutorials I discovered some trivia about zippers or zips (a device used to join two edges of fabric)

The main types of Zippers are

Coil
Metallic
Invisible
Plastic
Open ended
Close ended

Here's an interesting  image of an earlier form of the zipper designed by Whitcomb Judson called the 'Clasp Locker' ( Scroll down the page to find the image)

The modern Zipper was designed in 1913 by a scientist called Gideon Sundback and was originally called the 'hookless fastner'. It was coined Zipper in 1923 and was originally used on tobacco pouches and boots.

Enough of the boring stuff.... here's the cool stuff

For the tutorials I use the coil zippers ( I only found out what they're called while I was doing the research for this tutorial )

Lengthening and shortening your Zippers

Zippers don't always come the exact length you want for your project. That can be rectified by lengthening or shortening them

Shortening Zippers:

I usually do this by hand although you can use your machine for this.

To shorten by hand

1. Close the Zipper and measure it to the length you want. (Measure from the zipper teeth)



2. Whipstitch across the coil in the same position about 10 to 12 times with a doubled thread



3. Cut the Zipper about 1/2" below the stitches








 

Machine method

Here's instructions on shortening your zipper using your sewing machine. With coil zippers I don't bother with pulling out the teeth I just cut it about 1/2" below the tack stitch

Lengthening Zippers

To lengthen your Zippers you need to add tabs to each end to extend them. Here's how I do it

1. Measure the length of the opening for where you want to insert your zipper for example 12"(add any seam allowances )
2. Measure the length of the zipper teeth. In this case its 8"



3. Cut a piece from your chosen outer fabric to the width of the zipper and however long you want to extend your zipper by( I'm extending mine by 4" to make 12") then add about 1" to the length for the seam allowance.(My fabric is cut to 5". 4" + 1" seam allowance) If you're lining your bag cut the lining fabric to the same measurements
4. Cut the tabs in half ( Two 2 1/2"tabs outer fabric and two 2 1/2" tabs lining fabric)



5. Measure your tab 1/2" in from the short outer edge. Fold and press wrong sides facing. Do this for the other three tabs.
6. Sandwich your Zipper between the fabrics like this and pin in place. Alternately use a bit of fabric glue



 

7. Sew a few mm from tab edges



8. Game Set and Match extended Zipper

 

Fair (oow) deal

My Experience of a fair type thing

It was interesting and a learning curve.   Interesting being an interesting word

It was billed as a Fayre in my local but it was more car booty than Fayre booty so people were looking for cheap bargains.

There was a lot ooohhs and aahs about my bags and loads of people stopped to look and admire then swiftly walked on by when I uttered the price.

One woman was quite miffed with me and said she could get 2 bags at a well known high street bargain shop( Hint: the one featured on Panorama recently) for the price I was selling.I was going to give her a lecture on sweat shops and child exploitation but decided otherwise. It was a lovely day and nothing was spoiling my groove

I had a few things for a tenner and under and they sold really well so I did recoup the price of the table and extra for my Saturday night out.  Anything over a tenner got the oooh and ahh response.

These did well at £7.50 each

A few people asked me for my phone number and web address and two people gave me their contact details and would like me to contact them to arrange for custom made bags. All in all it was a bit of a mixed bag. (forgive the pun)

So what did I learn from this experience

1. Prepare
2. Do your research. Its a bit like location, location, location. Research, research, research
3. Market accordingly:  Don't market a Ferrari to someone who's looking for a Peugeot 205 (Nothing against Peugeot 205 but they are two different personalities)
4. Identify and then focus your energy on your target market: Luckily I did make a lot of purses/pouches for a tenner and they were really quick to make. I did though spend enough energy making my exquisite bags and although people appreciated them they didn't have the budget for them
5. Go prepared with your business card and preferably have a web site up and running: Enough people asked me if I had a web site and as I don't I was somewhat stumped so I gave e mail and phone number instead. People were not that keen to give their email address ( I suppose spamming is a real concern)
6. Go with as much change as you can get your hands on:You can loose a sale just because you don't have change to hand. People will say things like don't worry I'll come back then they'll go down the road and spend the money with someone who does have change.
7. Learn from your experience: Make notes of the plus and minus and tweak it for next time
8. Last but not least I learnt that I have quality products. people generally appreciated what I was selling but just didn't have the budget for it. Back to square one research and market appropriately.

That's it for now folks. I am off to set up my web site. I've heard that etsy is a real great place to start or maybe I'll try DaWanda. decisions decisons.

who send me job... in otherwords why am i doing this

I've lost the will to live sew.

This is what the inside of my head lounge looks like at the moment as i grapple with sewing for this d****d festival on saturday.

At this stage am wandering why I committed to this. The table is paid for bla bla bla. At the time, it seemed such a good idea :-)

I spoke to Lisa a while ago about fairs and stuff and she recommended I have at least 20 bags.  20 bags where am I going to get the time to do that. I have managed 12 and a half

Anyway people!!!  What do you do when motivation has done a runna. Wimbledon is on so that doesn't help cos I love my tennis.

don't get me wrong I do want to do this festival thing but at the moment am bagged out.

Seriously how do you keep yourself motivated and focused cos am struggling and stressing.

What ticks my blogging boxes

I popped over to Alis blog today and she had an interesting post on what ticks our blogging boxes. so I dropped by Tree Fall to get the low down Lots of food for thought.

Its been on my mind all evening and it wont go away so heres my response to those questions

What makes you enjoy a particular blog (not just this one, any one that you read)?

It depends on what am looking for. If I go to a craft blog then I want to see more stuff on craft and less on family for example. For me a blog has to do what it says on the can and I don't like waffle. I like simplicity so if a blog is cluttered I'll simply skip.

Great pictures trip me as well. You know those blogs where the picture says everything.(I aspire to take great pictures still working on it)

I like to see the passion and the person shine through the blog and I like quirky- ness

Here are some blogs that do it for me. They do exactly what they say on the can in simple ways and straight to the point

• A blog about blogging

• A fun blog on making handbags

• I always get the sense there's a real human being behind this blog with real human experiences
  

• I like the clean uncluttered format of this blog

• This one is like popping out every Sunday for a magazine its so diverse and interesting to read. The pictures are cool too

• No pictures on this one but her no nonsense writing style and the content is captivating ( to me anyway)

What type of post is your favourite?

inspiring posts that get me thinking whether its about my next craft project or how to deal with life challenges. it doesn't have to be serious sometimes my inspiration come from moments of humour

How important are the photographs?

I like good photographs but they're not too important. If the content is good and there's quality in the information that's good enough for me.

Does the design of the blog attract you or even stop you from reading it?

If its cluttered I am less likely to read it

Do you like blogs to be colloquial/regional or fairly generic?

I am more interested in seeing a persons personality shine through so if colloquial does it that's cool with me

An equal amount of craft and family, or does too much of talking about the kids put you off?

It depends on what am looking for from the blog. If am learning a new craft and I visit a blog for information, harping on about little johnny can be off putting. Am interested in the technique thank you. I do have blogs that I visit that is more about family and I visit them specifically for that

What else? What are the best words of advice you can give a blogger?

I am fairly new to this. What I would say from my own experience to other new bloggers is

• chill and enjoy the process it takes time
  

• Look at blogs you like and learn from them

• Experiment with style and content until you find a format that works for you ( don't just copy other people if its not your natural style)

• connect with people. don't be afraid to make the first move

• A kind word goes a long way

Really good questions I'd say .........

How to make labels for your craft-y handbags part 2

Iron- on Adhesive method

You will need

• Word Processor/Graphic editor to design your logo
• fabric measuring 8 1/4" x 11 3/4" ( Size of A4 paper) I am using plain old cotton for mine
• Iron- on Adhesive( I've used Therm o Web, Heat n Bond purchased from John Lewis Uk)
• Iron
• Inkjet Printer
• Your creative head 

Design your Logo

1. Follow step 1 and 2 in this post to design your label but don't flip your finished image. Group your images together so you have one completed image

Prepare Fabric for printing

1. Cut the iron- on adhesive thingy (Therm o web, Heat n Bond) to the same size as the fabric (A4 paper) and then follow the manufacturers instructions for bonding it to your fabric. ( Don't peel of the backing paper yet)       

The one on the right is the iron adhesive cut to size ( It comes in the pack as one strip 17" x1.25 yards) Ps it doesn't usually arrive this ruffled I've ruffled it to show the difference as its the same colour as my fabric.

and this is it ironed on and bonded.

Print your Logo

1. Follow steps 1 - 6 under Print your logo in this post ( Ignore the bit about flipping your image)
2. Put the bonded fabric in your printer and print your design. ( if your fabric is thick you may need to give it a bit of a helping hand )

This is what it looks like printed out.

I leave the backing paper on and cut the labels to the size and shape as needed.

Once you cut to the size and shape, peel of the backing paper and iron on to your bag/craft.( Follow manufacturers instructions) You can also sew it on.

...and this is the label on my craft-y bag

and the label belongs to this bag

This is the method I use for my labels. You can sew it, its washable and you can iron it. I suspect there's a lot more creativity to come out of it yet.

A bit about Therm o Web.

I think this is an American product. I did buy mine from John Lewis (UK) a while ago. I went back for more recently and they had sold out.

I've done a search on the web for UK based suppliers and so far have found this web site. Somewhere on the site it does say they are trade suppliers but I haven't checked it out yet.

If you do know of a shop either on line or bricks and mortar selling this product please let me know.

Hope you found this tutorial useful. If you did I'd love to hear from you.

Oge

x

How to make labels for your craft-y handbags part 1-

Transfer method

You will need

• Word Processor/Graphic editor to design your logo
• Strip of fabric ( I'm using ribbons for this tutorial)
• Iron
• 1 Sheet of Iron on transfers ( I've used Rymans)
• Inkjet printer
• Your creative head

Design your Logo

I use Corel Paint Shop Pro to design my logo. For this tutorial I've used Microsoft Word as most people have this word processor.

1. For a step by step guide on creating your logo using Microsoft Word try this
2. This is an important step for this method. Once you are happy with your logo, group your images together then flip your design to create a mirror image. Here's a step by step guide on how to group images
3. To flip the images make a copy of your original image(now grouped). Highlight the copied image.On the drawing toolbar, click on draw, then click on rotate or flip then on flip horizontal. Here's a picture of my logos before and after I flipped it                                                                    

Print your Logo

1. Highlight your flipped image and on the drop down menu click on copy.
2. On the menu bar Click on Tools. On the drop down menu highlight Letters and Mailings. From the sub menu click on Envelopes and Labels. You should get something like this                                                                                                                                                     
3. Click on options and you will get this                                                                                                                       
4. From the label products menu choose a template. I've chosen the Avery Standard and 8460 address. Play around with this until you find a label that works for your design
5. Click ok and it should take you back to the screen in step 2. Now click on New Document and a new screen will open. If there are no grid lines showing on the menu bar click on Table and on the drop down menu click on Show Gridlines
6. Right click your mouse and an image of your logo should appear on the document. Move the image into the boxes. repeat this process until you have filled all the boxes.Play around with the position of the images and adjust the box height and width until you are happy with the positioning.You can make the image smaller or bigger by left clicking on the image and dragging any of the circles.
7. Once you are happy, print your images directly on to the transfer sheet( Follow manufacturers instructions)

Transfer image to Fabric

1. Cut your printed logos into strips like this                                                                                                                                                                      
2. Iron the strips on to your chosen fabric (Follow manufacturers instructions)
3. You should now have something like this                                                                                                           
4. Cut to your required length. I've used a pinking scissors for a decorative edge.

sew your label on to your lovely craft or use fabric glue. I also use studs both to secure and to add an extra bling to my labels                                                                                                                                                               

This is quick and easy once you've got the hang of it and the results can be really pretty. The disadvantage of this method is that it will wear off with time and you cant iron it once the image is transferred.

in part 2 there's a tutorial on how to make labels using another method. Hope you enjoyed this one. if you found it useful or you need me to explain any of the steps drop me a line.

Brrrr its supposed to be summer am freezing.I  am off to get some warmth in me

Oge
x

Update: Part 2 of How to make labels posted here

Casual Sling Bag

I've been busy.....

I thought I'd share some bags I've been making. Just started work again after a month off so fitting in bag making has been a bit of a squeeze but where there's a will there's a way.....

I've been looking at other creations and set myself some projects for the summer like this one over at Maccabags

and this cool tutorial for making the perfect round bottom at Cotton & Cloud. That has been bookmarked.

In the mean time hope you enjoy my creations. Please feel free to comment. I do appreciate them

I am working on a tutorial for Zippers, Snappers and Poppers so stay tuned.