Friday, October 12, 2007

Craft Overload

Happy Friday!! See, I told you it would be another quick week.



I've officially reached my crafting limit for the week.

1. My space is a mess.
2. I've been working on Project ChloƩ for the past week, I miss my animals.
3. It took me an entire day to make a navy blue trench coat for Chloe (I'm still not done!)
4. I broke my sewing machine needle while trying to attach the elastic on a headband.
5. I didn't get to cook dinner because of #3.

Someone is very fussy.

Have a very nice weekend.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Tita.
I like all of your craft ideas =)
evertime i read (which i practically do everyday) .
I always feel inspired to do something artsy.

Im trying to learn how to sew with the machine.. (lolas going to teach me)
and I was going to make a tote bag for school. Cause I never can seem to find one that will match what i wear, but still looks good.

and since im not that good at sewing yet, i just wont bother sewing the bag structure but instead buy one with no design and sew on the fabric onto it.. if that would work..

have any advice?

Marichelle said...

Hi Camille - I'm so happy to hear that you're reading my blog!! I'm also glad lola can teach you how to sew, I wish I had a chance to learn from her.

There are plenty of tutorials out there for really really simple tote bags.

But if you want, you can certainly start by buying a plain canvas bag and handstitching fabric on top of it and creating "patch"-like designs. Take a look at Poppy's bags, I love her designs. Take a look at her shoulder bags, handbags, and flouncy bags for inspriation (http://www.poppytreffry.co.uk/shoulderbags.htm). You can either buy fabric scraps or use old clothes that you don't wear anymore - cut shapes from different patterned/colored fabrics and sew them on the bag.

When you're ready, print the following tutorials and show them to lola. She can use them as "lessons" for you.
http://www.purlbee.com/jaipur-tote-bag/
http://ihavetosay.typepad.com/randi/2007/02/little_library_.html

You might also want to get a book to help you get started/excited:
Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing: Patterns and How-To for 24 Fresh and Easy Projects and Amy Butler's In Stitches: More Than 25 Simple and Stylish Sewing Projects are two very very good books.

A few things to keep in mind...
You will get frustrated, but like everything else - it will take some time to learn how to sew. You will definitely make lots and lots of mistakes. But just remember to have fun and if you do make mistakes, it's ok - it's those mistakes that will make you better and better ;-)

Oh one more thing, instead of starting all over again when you make mistakes it's also good practice to sometimes "make it work" instead of scratching from scratch.

Have fun! Send me pictures of everything you make.