A multitude of Flapper dresses

Would I make some Flapper dresses?

Well, of course, says I!

But there are going to be about 30 of them...

That's so not a problem!

The addition of fringing was discussed but we decided to add silver sparkle detailing to the dropped-waist, figure skimming dresses instead.

Like most of my costumes, velcro was added at the back for quick changes.

I made half in this style...

And the other half were made in green satin, with a slightly different silver trim and a bow on the hip.

The finished result...

One very happy dance school teacher!

Next...

Slouch bags galore!

I adore slouch bags!

They can be made in any fabric and have just the right amount of slouchiness.  I taught myself how to make these.  Quite straightforward when you know how!

This William Morris slouch bag was made from preloved curtain fabric - I loved the use of blue and green together.

It is lined with a preloved teal coloured sheet.  With an internal pocket, of course!

Then I decided to make one from fur.  It's a very touchy feely bag which is currently residing in Germany :)

The bag was lined with faux cheetah(?) print fur - Growwwwwl!

With an internal pocket.  This is such a cuddly bag!

Damson cord was used for the next bag.  I have a thing about cord.

The bag was lined with preloved curtain fabric which tones beautifully with the cord.  I added a ribbon tie to this one rather than a popper.  Adds a bit of extra oomph.

 

 

And then there's the ever popular Sanderson slouch bag.  Made from preloved curtains making it extra sturdy.  Had to make sure that the pattern was central on this one.

The bag was lined with silk from a preloved throw.  And a Sanderson pocket added, of course!

Which one is your favourite?

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Tie-dye messenger bag - with a twist(y lock)

A seamstress walks into a charity shop - and lo and behold, discovers a beautiful denim tie-dye skirt in a size large (more fabric that way), thinks, hmmm, I already have a top that would go perfectly with that...

And so begins the tale of another creation.  I was right.  The skirt DID match the top.  So I decided to make a small messenger bag from the blue and purple combination.

I'm really happy with the result, too!

I added a side pocket for pens and other bits and bobs.

It's the first time I've used twist locks on a bag - I've now perfected cutting out the hole so that the fabric doesn't show!

This was the original tie-dye skirt and the matching top:



You can see why I paired them now, can't you?

It has a zip fastening and a pocket underneath the flap for all those receipts that tend to accumulate:

If I were to make this one again I would add some padding to the strap as the top I used was very floaty.  I did top-stitch it though to give it some extra strength. 

This was the first time I have added an internal zipped pocket.  I learned something here too - make sure when adding the pocket lining that you sew it onto the back with wrong sides together!

Another view:

The internal seams were bound with fabric from the top.  It was so light and airy that it was really easy to work with when making binding.  Something I'll remember for next time!

So all in all, a very satisfying project!

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Embroidered denim bag - or is it a skirt?

I came across a delicious embroidered denim skirt in a charity shop one day - it was too nice to leave there so I brought it home.  I spotted its potential from a mile off!

Of course I immediately thought - bag - but I wasn't quite sure where to start - what with all those thick seams between the gores and everything.

Those roses are quite something, aren't they?

After much humming and harring I eventually figured out that I could cut the skirt between two gores and keep the design relatively straightforward.  I just had to go with what I'd been given on this one!

What I hadn't banked on was that each of those gores not only had a different hem length but they also were different widths!  That had me scratching my head as to how to do that, but I finally identified two sets of mildly equal gores and began cutting the skirt up.

 

The front of the bag lent itself more to a label so I used the three rose panel for the front and the four rose panel for the back.  Sure I could have made two bags (I have enough roses left over to open a florists!) but I wanted this bag to be special.

 

Initially the bottom corners of the bag were pointy but I curved the edges slightly to give it a better shape while still making sure that the rose embroidery wasn't cut into.

While on a different foray into a charity shop I discovered a teal coloured sheet.  It virtually begged me to be used as the lining for a bag.  I love the denim and teal together - must be my new favourite colour combination!

There's even a pocket in there too!

I chose not to add a magnetic snap fastener as the top of the bag is quite narrow anyway due to the constraints of the gores.

Oh, and I needn't have worried about the thick seams on the gores - my needle was fine with them and they virtually disappeared in the end result.

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