Today’s Boston Globe has a very amusing story about the Birkin, a handbag whose legendary exclusiveness is firmly quashed in the story.
And if you like Posh’s Roland Mouret dress Burda WOF did a pretty good knock-off.
Erica’s version is really hot!
Hats.
Georgene’s post made me think of them, because I adore that cute little trilby on the right. When I was younger, I loved nothing more than playing with my grandmother’s collection of hats on a rainy afternoon, and every time I see a vintage pattern I long for the chance to wear one.
What happened to our relationship with hats?
My theory as to why woman no longer wear them boils down to this: we no longer wear hairstyles that accommodate a hat, that is, a style smooth at the back of the head with curls around the face. Bangs do not work with hats (ask me how I know this.) These days our hairstyle is our “head ornament” and I think our increasingly casual lives jsut don’t give us that many opportunities to wear them, and so we don’t know how to wear them anymore. These days when I see a woman in a hat she is just SO selfconscious and aware of what’s on her head. It reminds of me seeing my Episcopal dad in a Yarmulke at my cousin’s Bar Mitzvah.
So where can we wear hats these days? Well…
Church. Our African-American sisters in particular really know how to rock this and I salute them for keeping the flame burning, but for the most part hats at church are a thing of the past where I live.
The Kentucky Derby. Not an event I’m likely to attend in the near future.
Weddings. Well, many of them are evening events now, and hats are kind of a daytime thing if you ask me.
Meeting Queen Elizabeth or the Pope. Same as the Kentucky Derby.
Not a long list. Plus, a hat is meant to seen, and since most of us drive everywhere, where would we wear hats on a daily basis? The mall? Costco? I can’t envision it.
BUT
Great hats do exist….. like here….and here…and here. First Lady of France Carla Bruni needs to work on her hat wardrobe a bit; it’s hard to believe she looks more matronly than the Queen, who is twice her age and still wore a better hat. Carla should be channeling Jackie Kennedy.
Maybe when my daughters get married I’ll have a chance to wear one. Hopefully they will have day weddings.
Sigh
For the past new years I’ve been building a collection of costume jewelry and I want to spread the news that (1) costume doesn’t mean ugly, and (2) costume doesn’t need to mean cheaply made.
I’m not a huge fan of fine jewelry; mostly because the pieces I do like are way out of my price range, and the pieces that are in my price range are kind of twee and bland for my taste. Give me costume any day!
The necklace above is a foray into faux tortoise; it’s a Liz Claiborne piece from Macy’s. I do wish it were a bit longer, but that’s easy to change because I can go to A.C. Moore and just buy chain to make an extender. The resin and Swarovski crystal bangles are Kenneth Jay Lane and are brand new on QVC.com - aren’t they fabulous? I really want them and they also come in clear and black in addition to faux tortoise and black. I may also look for a nice silver chain necklace with big links to wear with this; I like to double up necklaces.
I wear my faux Chanel jacket all the time with these pieces; the pearls came from the Store Who Shall Not Be Named, the Voldemort of Retail. This strand is 48 inches long, perfect for doubling up. The glass pearls are nice and heavy, and each is individually knotted. The black & silver necklace was made by RivkasMom on Etsy, and it’s made from a gunmetal chain, lava rock beads, and the beads are embellished with Swarovski crystals.
Somestimes I wear just the pearls along with this brooch; it’s Monet from about 2-3 years ago. 
The necklace on the jacket below I found about 2 years ago in Filene’s Basement; I love the bold colors, and the way it nicely fills in a neckline. The brooch is 20 years old at least, I think it’s Catherine Stein but it’s unmarked and I forgot who made it long ago.
I’m always on the look out for cool costume pieces, and good sources include Etsy.com, QVC.com, as well as discounters like TJ Maxx and Marshall’s. Costume jewelry gets marked down pretty fast, and you can get some great deals. The most expensive piece here was $60.
For this shoulder bag I used 2 brick-red leather hides, both were about 7 ½ foot large. This bag is a rectangle shape, zippered pocket on the front partly hidden under the flap and one zippered pocket at the backside for easy access.
Plus an inside pocket at the backside of the lining bag and a key lash stitched at the side seam of the lining bag.
I drafted a rectangle shape on paper with a fold over flap and measured my leather to see if I had enough leather, copied the rectangle paper pattern and add the several pieces for the pockets front and back and added a small piece to attach the shoulder straps, added seam allowances (3/8 inch (1 cm) for the side seams and 5/8 inch (1,5 cm) for all the other seams).
After cutting out the pattern parts from the interfacing I taped the paper pattern still with the interfacing pinned ontoo the leather with some medical paper tape.
The small pictures are all ThumbNail , just click and you see a larger image.
I made a long shoulder strap so I could wear this bag also crossed over. The strap is sewn with 3 pieces to get that extra long length.
The size of this bag is 17 inch (43 cm) wide, 12 inch (30 cm) high.
The total height is 17.7 inch (45 cm). Bottom depth is 2.4 inch (6 cm).
Shoulder strap is 59 inch (150 cm) long and 1 ¼ inch (3 cm) wide, so I also can choose to wear it crossed over. Outside pockets are 13 inch (33 cm) long and 6 1/8 inch (16 cm) deep.
I started with fusing leather interfacing to all the parts except the shoulder straps.
This non-woven interfacing is special made for leather because it can be fused with a low heat iron.
The bottom part and the part where the shoulder straps are sewn between are fused with a heavy hair canvas interfacing for some added strength.
All the seams are stitched and glued and flattened down before any stitching from the right side.
The zippers are sewn at the pocket openings, between the already closed seams.
I marked the seam allowance wide with a pencil (by folding the allowance back to the inside with the zipper teeth just inside the fold line) and glued the fold line of the zipper/pocket opening. The marked pencil is a guidance line only.
Then I used craft double-sided adhesive tape cut in half (because I only needed a narrow piece) to attach the pocket lining over the zipper-tape. Raw sides of the pocket lining and seam allowance match.
From the right side I sewed the zipper and the lining pocket (sandwiched stitched)
Now the other side of the pocket lining and zipper are stitched. The next step is sewing the pocket lining pieces together to form a pocket.
The lining for the bag is interfaced with a woven interfacing for adding some strength.
The leather is sewn with my new purchased “used” Singer 20U machine, Güterman strong polyester thread size 100 and sewing machine needle size 14/90.
I used several sewing machine feet for sewing this bag.
The Teflon and roller feet are great for sewing leather. I also used the Right Hinged Narrow Cording foot and glued some Teflon tape under the foot for top-stitching the shoulder strap at the center.
The Right Compensating Top-stitch Foot was great to edge stitch the shoulder strap.
Lining leather for reinforcing the magnetic snaps and to cover them so the metal parts will not weaken the lining.
The inside lining pocket 7 x 7 inch (18 x 18 cm) is from a double layer of lining with the opening at the fold line which I glued down with a strip of double side fusible hem tape. The pocket is stitched around right sides together but I left a small part open at the bottom to turn the pocket inside out. Pressed and edge stitched at the lining bag.
There was some leather left but it was damaged, but I could use this part and cut around the damaged spot and add some color to the inside pocket. I made a template 3/8 inch (1 cm) wide and 3/8 inch ( 1 cm) wider than the length and wide of the pocket so the edges of the pocket is covered by nearly 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) and stitched the leather around the pocket edges.
I used a Pritt glue stick for temporarily securing the leather around the pocket edges and used the zipper foot to stitch it close to the edges.
For the bag opening I used a different zipper a non-separate one which can be used for garment sewing like in a a dress. This zipper has a smaller and narrower zipper coil, which does not add weight and is more flexible for the purpose of this bag.
The zippers I used for the pockets are separate ones which are sturdier.
The only hand sewing I did was finishing the last inch ( 2,5 cm) from the pocket lining seams towards the top side,
prick stitched the lining bag at the zipper tape at the bag opening so it will stay put,
secured the lining side seams about halfway down with a couple of stitches towards the leather side seams and sewed a few stitches at the bottom of the bag to attach the leather and lining bottom together.
I closed the opening in the lining bag side seam, (which was needed to turn the bag inside out) with a ladder stitch.
Since the inside of the shoulder strap was not as nice butted together as it should be, although I tried to do it right by marking a line at the center where the edges would meet eachother.
I noticed that after stitching a hairline away from the center edges with the zipper foot and topstitch from the right side along the outer edges there was a small gap which showed the natural leather color.
I bought some leather colored polish to fill in the gap. I was lucky that the color brick red is the same as the bag. Used a narrow tiny brush to “paint” the gap between the folded and stitched edges to cover the natural brown suede leather which on some spots was visible.
Also a bag stop was glued at the center of the inside shoulder strap. This bag stop prevents the strap from gliding of my shoulder.
This last thumbnail picture reflects the true color of my new bag the best.
Above is the pattern for the butterfly needle book. There are no instructions, and you should be able to figure out on your own how to make one of these. It’s pretty simple.
Also, we offer no PC, Mac or computer advice as well since we’re not computer professionals. I clicked on the file and I was able to download it with no problem.
A belated Happy New Year!
My store bought black leather bag was worn out so I made a copy because I still liked the design and the size. This was one of my first leather bags I made.
Sewing is done with a commercial sewing machine and regular sewing machine needles.
The size of this bag is wide 13,5 inch ( 34,5 cm) height 12,5 inch ( 32 cm) bottom depth is 4 inch ( 10 cm) and the shoulder-strap is 45 inch long ( 112 cm)
I used a printed sturdy leather , several interfacings , lining leather to reinforce the bottom, leather glue , leather tape to reinforce the zipper opening, medical paper tape to secure the patterns on the leather while I did cut the leather with a Kai cutter. A hammer for flatten the seams.
Hansel leather interfacing which can be fused on a low temperature.
Front side zippered pocket.
The inside pockets, one welt pocket with a snap, one zippered pocket, pen holder, cell phone holder and key ring holder.
The dark green lining is interfaced to give it some more durability, because this lining is not a sturdy bag lining.
The bag closure is done by 2 bag snaps and a piece of Velcro which acts as a pickpockets alarm.
Back view
Bottom view.
Added a bag stop at the inside center part of the shoulder bag so the strap stays on my shoulder .
When I bought this red Prada hobo last year, I received a great key leash. I only recently started using it and have found it so handy for those of us who like to carry (and fill!) a large bag.
This particular leash is longer than most - about 13″ without the hardware. I really like the length because I can lock up without unhooking the leash. It also allows me to loop it around handles of totes (with the keys dangling inside) or loop it around my wrist if I’m just dashing into the dry cleaners or grocery store. Happily, many bags today already come with an interior ring designed for a key leash (who knows why the Prada ring is on the outside - I would never do it that way!) or you can add one to your home sewn bags.
For this project you will need:
*mid-weight leather scrap the desired length of your leash plus a few scraps
*key ring
*swivel hook
*leather glue or cement
*EdgeKote
*glover’s needle
*heavy thread (I used 69 bonded nylon)
*awl
Making your own leash is easy as I will demonstrate here. First, I selected a scrap of leather in the desired length, cut two strips and glued them together with my favorite Tandy leather cement. This cement is available at Tandy stores or at Michael’s. You can also use contact cement or other glues designed for leather (like Sobo). You’ll also need to reserve a couple of smaller pieces - about 2″ long - for finishing the ends.
Once the cement dries, simply use your rotary cutter to cut a 1/2″ wide strap. This is infinitely easier than trying to evenly glue two 1/2″ wide pieces together. Cut two 2″ long and 1/2″ wide strips from your single layer of leather.
I topstitched my long strap but didn’t bother doing so on the short pieces.
Next comes edge finishing: I really love Fiebing’s Edge Kote to give the edges a more finished look. You can purchase Edge Kote at Tandy or online, it is available in black and brown (I sure wish they’d add more colors). Someone suggested to me that acrylic craft paint would also work but I haven’t tried it yet so I don’t know how durable it is. Simply take a small paint brush and carefully coat the edges. Allow to dry.
Then, I simply added the ring and hook to the ends and secured them with machine stitching. This stitching is really important - you don’t want to lose your keys!
Cover the raw edges with your single layer strips, cutting them to length. Secure with handstitching poking small holes with your awl first. To make sure the finishing strips wouldn’t slide off I added a few drops of leather cement. That shiny stuff you see on the leather is just a little oil from my machine - oops!
That’s it, you’re done! A leash to rival the pricey original.
PS: I used an industrial walking foot machine for this project. If your machine will not handle the thickness of the leather you can omit the decorative edgestitching (although most machines can easily handle those two layers) and then securely handstitch the ends with heavy thread (don’t forget to use an awl to make handsewing easier) or secure with a rivet.
I bought a fantasy yarn in Denmark two years ago and received some fun fantasy ribbon yarns from my friend Annika from the US and they were still waiting to be used. Since the yarns were not enough to knit a shawl they were in my stash because I did not know what to do with it.
Some time ago the light bulb went on in my head when I wanted to see a movie on tv but felt the urge to do something with my hands while watching tv.I knitted some necklaces. Easy and fun to do it does not take a long time and the result is a colourful fantasy necklace with little effort to make.
The first one I knitted was just a long narrow piece from the fantasy yarn. I used large knitting needles size 9.I knitted a so-called straight stitch on every row till I used all the yarn, joining the short edges was all what I did since the yarn is curly enough so I can wear it just as that. It matches a kiwi green knit short sleeve top.
The others I made from a USA Ribbon Yarn called “Incredible.
Casting on 8 or 10 stitches wide the first row knit stitches and on the reverse side purl stitches this is called stocking stitches. I did cast off the stitches when the piece was long enough land sewed both short ends together using a large embroidery needle and continue with joining the long edges.
For the next 2, I used knit stitches, which is called garter stitches.
The pink one I also started with 8 stitches and I Increased some stitches so the rectangle piece begins narrow and widen towards halve of the desired length than do the reverse for the other half decrease the stitches, joining the short and long edges.
Enjoy all the novelty yarn that is now available.
I made this bag last year when I could download the pattern for this Nairobi bag from the Hotpatterns newsletter in October 2006,
I used a faux printed green leather to make this bag with some modifications.
The size of the bag I made is 15½ x 11 x 2 inch (39 x 28 x 5 cm)
The pattern came with sewing instructions but I did not follow them because I made some alterations on the pattern so I used the common sense attitude.
I used green faux printed leather, a woven interfacing to support the faux leather, 2 metal teeth zippers, rigilene boning, lining which I interfaced with a fusible stretch interfacing, double sided fusible craft tape, 2 silver metal D-rings with screws, a bag stop and a key ring all from my stash.
I made some minor design changes. First I like my bags with a zipper closure so I redraw the opening for the bag in a more fluent shape so I could attach a zipper to close the bag, see the red lines for the new shape opening.
I also did cut a longer shoulder strap.
To attach the bottom side part I used 3/8 inch (1 cm) seam-allowance instead of the 5/8 inch (1,5cm). This will result in a bit wider/deeper bottom/side part as well as the bag itself.
I wanted to keep the shape of the bag and prevent my bag to collapse , so I used rigilene boning .
I glued the boning all away around the bag between the seam allowances of the bottom/side part start and finish about 5/8 inch ( 1,5cm) from the opening .
Used a double sided fusible tape and fused this tape ( using a Teflon sheet to protect the faux leather) next to the bottom seams, glued the rigilene boning to the tape and top-stitched the seam allowance from the right side . The first stitching line is close to the seam and the next stitching line a bit farther away.
I 
The zipper closure is made of 2 rectangle pieces of fabric and lining the same wide as the upper side opening.
For the closure of the bag I sewed the lining (facing) at the zipper tape next to the teeth, fold the lining away and sewed the zipper at the fabric, pinned the lining bag at the bag opening and sewed the closure/opening part at the bag opening, pivoting at the corners on which I already basted the shoulder strap loops.
Double sided fusible tape is also fused at the seam allowances of both the bag upper part and the part where the zipper was stitched, top-stitched those seams from the outside, fused the tape also at the zipper tape next to the lining and folding the lining over it and hand stitched the facing lining at the bag lining part. This way the top-stitching is only visible from the outside and invisible from the lining part.
The fabric loops for the D-rings are made to measure.
The faux leather fabric is interlined with a woven fusible interfacing , the lining with a stretch fusible interfacing and I did the zipper pocket my way, also placed the pocket lower than the pattern marks. The pattern for the cell phone pocket was too narrow for my cell phone so I adjusted that and skipped the other small pocket. Sewed the cell phone pocket at one side of the bottom side part and added a key ring to the other side which in this picture is not visible.
For both the pockets I used the lining fabric double to add some strength .
For the shoulder strap I did not want to add bulk by using seam allowances on the long sides so I did some testing to get the least bulk at the seams.
I sewed the strap wrong sites together in half with a loose tension large zigzag stitch but only ½ of the zigzag stitch catches the fabric, pulled those two edges from each other and the result was a non bulk shoulder strap.
I wove a piece of cotton twill tape through the shoulder strap with the help of a safety pin and top-stitched the strap along both edges.
The finishing touch was attaching a bag-stop,
Which I glue on every shoulder strap of my bags rtw or self made,to prevent sliding from my shoulder.
I didn’t intend to make a piece of luggage when I started the HotPatterns Mega-Shopper, but in the end, that’s pretty much what I got! This is a Very Large Bag - the finished size is 16 x 7 x 12 inches.
Thank goodness for Diva Ann - I had to finish this up on her industrial machine, because my Bernina 180 just didn’t have the horsepower to sew through all the layers. And we still broke a leather needle! The end result is not even close to perfect, but I like it anyway.
There are 4 layers to this bag: The red wool twill, a canvas fused to the twill, heavy nonwoven double sided interfacing (thankfully there a use for this stuff 0utside of *gag* fabric bowls) and lightweight cotton fused to the second side of the double fusible. All of this structure the enables the bag to stand upright. The bottom of the bag is upholstery grade leather. Inside, between the leather bottom and the lining, is a piece of 1/8 inch thick Masonite with another piece of the heavy fusible glued on top to soften the surface a bit. The Masonite keeps the bag from falling over.
The inside photo shows you just how large this bag really is - I could easily carry a small dog. The original pattern had some interior pockets, and I added a few more. There is a large zipper pocket all across one interior side, two smaller pockets opposite, a gusset for a wine bottle or other tall item, and a swivel hook for my keys. In a bag this large, without the swivel, my keys would drop to the bottom like an anchor.
Aside from the challenge of such heavy materials, this bag really isn’t hard to put together, and using a lighter weight fashion fabric would make sewing much easier. One thing I will do, if I ever make something like this again, will be to sew the sides wrong sides together and just bind the edges. I noticed before I turned the bag out (which was quite a wrestling match) that the corners were nice and square. Now I know why big totes are often finished with binding. That idea, however, will require some nice leather and an industrial grade binding foot to really make it look good - a project for another time.
Ann and I will be in New York next week (stay tuned for some live blogging from the Garment District!), and I wanted a big tote for shopping. That was definitely achieved with the Mega-Shopper!
Phyllis
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