The Sweetheart Clutch Bag

I've been downsizing a bit during the last days. Actually, I'm a friend of rather big bags as I always need lots of space for my stuff. Lately I started to make a little more "ladylike" purses. Some weeks ago I needed something rather sensible for a birthday party. I decided to go for a small clutch bag. And as I had a dark blue dress for the party I decided to for the dark blue fabric for the clutch bag as well. For quite some time I also wanted to used some old lace fabric I have in my stash. For this project it was ideal. Antique white lace over dark blue fabric. LOVE! The sewing turned out to be a big challenging. I've never worked with lace before. I carefully stitched the lace to the blue fabric. Only on the edges though. I took some time but it helped a lot during the actual sewing of the clutch bag. I lined it with some really soft pink cotton. Moreover, it was my first time sewing a zipper! I was so surprised how well it went:

A couple of days ago I had went through my stash again. I found a small amount of vintage fabric. I'm not sure what it is. My mum thinks it is polyester. It's definitely not cotton. It is very smooth. Almost like silk but not as delicate as silk. I love the flower pattern so much. It's so cute and I knew it would make a sweet little clutch bag. Again, I was so surprised how well the sewing went I love the outcome. This one I lined with smooth brown fabric.

I named them "Sweetheart Clutch Bag" as I can't think of a name more suitable than this. I might put the flower clutch bag into the shop. The lace one is so dear to me. I have to keep it for myself.

Inspiration + Result

Inspiration:

(Photos taken during our family vacation in Denmark 2010)

Result:

My Italian Escape

Ciao!

Since monday evening I'm in Bologna/Italy. My boyfriend lives here so I come down here every now and then. Actually I wanted to write this post some days ago but I guess the lovely sunshine kept me from writing.

My trip started with a self initiated thrill at the airport. As I had to kill four hours at Frankfurt Airport I wanted to work on some of my crochet flower appliques. The yarn should not be problem to get through security check. I wasn't sure about the crochet hook though. So I didn't pack my favorite hook (in case they wouldn't let me take in on board). Instead I packed a different one, which I could buy again easily (in contrast to my favorite hook, which I found in my grandma's old sewing basket). Last, but not least I had to pack a pair scissors. Here I was very sure I am not allowed to take these through security check. I considered my options. Tearing the yarn was not option as I use cotton twist, which just cannot be torn. I searched my room for a cheap pair of scissors, which could be discarded in the worst case. But how to get them through security check? I could put them in my bag openly and then point out how harmless they are and that I could have done a lot more damage with my door key. My experience told me discussions are daunting and often meant to lose and should be avoided in the first place. So I went though my hand luggage to find a spot to place the scissors to maybe hide them (although I was sure they'd be detected when my stuff was scanned). I decided to place them in the back pocket of Moleskine journal. If they'd be found I could still I forgot to take them out. The journal itself is wrapped in a knitted sleeve I made some time ago to prevent it from looking worn. It's no master piece, but I do like it:

With the scissors packed into back of journal, the journal wrapped into the knitted sleeve and the sleeved stuffed into my overloaded hand luggage I approached the security check and handed over my stuff to be scanned. And of course it happened, what was supposed to happen (anything else would have worried me). The lady, who scanned my stuff detected the scissors. She called her boss, an older guy. He came over to me and told me there are scissors somewhere in my bag. I put on my most innocent face and asked him "oh really? where are they?". So I opened my bag and let me look for them. I looked into the little pouch with my pens, checked my makeup pouch, shuffled everything upside down and did not find the scissors. I suggest to scan the bag again (being cooperative is always a good sign of innocence, isn't it). He scanned my bag again and triumphantly declared he found the scissors. So he opened my bag again I tried to find the spot where he just saw the scissors on the screen.... but he did not find them. He just did not open knitted sleeve (and I felt no urge to suggest that). I'm not even sure whether he realized that this is pocket. I believe, he took it as a weird cushion. So he told me to pack up my stuff and catch my flight. They are small scissors after all. Yay! I may keep my scissors. I do look harmless enough to have scissors with me! Success! I really used the time at Frankfurt Airport to get busy. This is what my little work space looked like: 

When I finally arrived in Bologna I was stunned by the temperature. After weeks (which are feeling like years) of horrible weather I completely forgot about the fact that there might be different conditions in different areas. My first thought was that I did not really pack for temperatures above 20°C. It turned out that I wouldn't really need many summer clothes. No, the weather did change to "german conditions", but I found myself with a couple of t-shirts and a thin trousers well dressed. Most time of my stay I occupied the garden. What a lovely place to work on appliques, read or just surf the internet! 

Today was different though. After breakfast Francesco (my boyfriend) suggest to have a walk in the city center. I found this very odd since he avoids it whenever he can. I'm happy about the suggestion though. I had a lovely day and actually the chance to take one of my handmade purses for a walk. We went to the city center by bus and then walked around a little. I was strong enough not to enter this cute little fabric shop we passed by. Then we walked to my most favorite shop. A shop of which I don't know the name. It is a boutique of dog accessories. Thus it is heaven for me. Don't get me wrong. My dog does not run around fancily dressed. Though I do like to get him fun toys, unique leashes, comfy beds and stylish transport boxes. My dog is still a dog, but a dog with his very own style. This time I didn't buy any toys though. My poor dog had an accident some days ago and his paw got squeezed and bruised and a claw got torn out. So I just bought some fun snacks to comfort him (or rather to comfort me and calm my bad conscience). He is looking pretty pathetic, isn't he: 

After the stop at the dog boutique we walked on to my favorite ice cream place. I believe it is called "Stefino". I love, love, love their ice cream. I apologize for the bad photos. I took them with my phone and its camera isn't helpful at all. 

Finally, we walked to the street market. Actually, we didn't want to go there but somehow we ended up strolling through it. Nice clothes, nice shoes but I didn't lose myself... until I came across a little booth with fabric. I didn't spend a fortune (I had the weight of my luggage in mind). So I just bought one meter of blue/white checkered fabric. I think I'll just for lining small purses. 

Well, I believe that is it. I didn't get anything done today, but had a great day anyways. 

Ciao!

Lovely Sewing Project And Pure Irony

Sewing - one of the crafts I badly want to learn. When I was a child, my mum let me try out stuff on her sewing machine and I actually made little cushions and bedcovers for my dollhouse. Unfortunately, my skills never went beyond dollhouse cushions. I think, my problem is the fact that I like to do things, but I hate to learn how to do them. I'd love to sew, but I hate to learn it step-by-step. Years after my dollhouse cushions' projects I decided it is time to start a new attempt. Also, I felt sorry for my sewing machine, which was covered in a decent layer of dusk. Yes, I actually own a sewing machine! My grandma gave it to me some years ago. She felt, she doesn't need it anymore and the machine was way too good to be thrown away. So, here I am: aspiring seamstress with no experience, but with a proper "Pfaff" sewing machine. 


For my first "bigger" project I came across a pattern of a reversible bag. The shape of the bag reminded me of one of my favorite handbags, which got pretty worn out during the years. Moreover, the pattern and instruction seemed to be doable by a beginner like me. At times I stayed at my parents' house. Perfect. In contrast to my place, my parents' house has a big kitchen with a really big kitchen table, big sunny windows, proper scissors and my mum keeps vintage fabric. 


I arranged everything I need on our big kitchen table and got busy. While cutting the fabrics, I realized the nice shape of the fabric scraps. They seemed to be perfect for little pockets. Personally, I love pockets in my handbags. I'm a rather messy person and littler pockets help me to stay organized. Also, I did not want the bag to be reversible so I chose a rather unspectacular fabric for the inside. The pockets had to be a bit more spectacular though. I wanted the edge of the pockets to be elastic. So I consulted the manual of the sewing machine and actually found a short instruction how to sew in an elastic band. To my great surprise, it was really simple and worked! I attached two small pockets outside the bag and one pocket inside. To finish the bag, I followed the instruction and it worked out great. My bag actually does look like a bag! Okay, there are some tiny things, which a proper seamstress would detect immediately, but hey, I made a bag!!

Encouraged by this first success, I decided to make another one, but bigger. I enlarged the pattern and altered the length of the straps. Last friday I bought some really nice fabric and snap fasteners. On saturday I eagerly started to cut the fabric and began to prepare the pockets. I didn't come really far. After half of the pockets something happened to my sewing machine and it refused to work. Whatever happened, I couldn't fix it on my own. I send my sewing machine to be repaired by a professional. It shouldn't take too long. On thursday I'll be off to London for a couple of days. I hope, it'll be fixed by the time I'm back. Until then i'll be grieving. It's pure irony that the machine breaks at the time I'm motivated to sew.