Musings About Closures

Making bags involves almost always involves a certain issue: closures. Personally, I really don't like bags which do not have any kind of closure. I might be a little paranoid but to feel secure I need something to close my bag (no matter how big or small the bag is).

I believe the most effective closure against pickpockets is a zipper. Many of the bags and purses I bought to far have zippers. I like them for being secure but I really hate to fiddle around with them. Usually my bags are indecently stuffed and the zipper gets stuck. I still hesitate a little to include zippers into my bags when I make them. Apparently it is not really about the confidence to sew them in, it's rather that I don't like the look of the zipper on my bags.
Therefore I usually use magnetic snaps. They are strong and easy to open and close. They are hardly visible inside of the bag and completely invisible for the outside. Magnetic snaps are easier to use than "normal" snaps. They are especially great if the bag does not need to be pickpocket proof. The magnetism of the snaps can be seen critical though. A couple of weeks I had a custom order of one the Happy Bags and customer had great doubts about the magnetic snaps as she feared it might affect her debit cards. So far I didn't have any issues with any of my debits cards, neither has anyone of my customer reported me any problems. As long as the debit cards are not wiped over the magnetic snap without protection there shouldn't be a problem. It got me thinking though. The solution in this particular case was to add a flap and attach the magnetic snap to the outside of the bag.

During the weekend I experienced with a new kind of closure. It took me three attempts to be kind of happy with it. The overall idea is to use ribbon and "holes" as a closure. What I really like about this idea is that it is not just a closure but also a very decorative element. Instead of inserting a zipper to my Sweetheart Clutch Bags I added three holes and ribbon to the top of it. I tried to sew in the holes with a technique I use for the handle of the happy bag. Huge failure! Seriously, HUGE. The handle is square and difficult to sew. The holes were meant to be circles and impossible to sew. I didn't take a photo of the result as it did not look neat at all. From the beginning on I thought that grommets would be great for the holes. It seemed to be impossible to find large grommets though. Late at night and shortly before I was about to go to sleep I came across a home decor website. Jeez, it was too easy! Grommets for curtains are perfect. No special tools, no metal to corrode. Just cutting a hole and clipping in the grommets! Of course my first trip on the next morning was to a local fabric store. I bought 12 of them (and apparently paid a rip-off price). I prepared a Sweetheart Clutch and in the end cut holes into it and inserted the grommets. 

So far, so good (or not). I like the look of the grommets but I don't like the shape of the bag. It doesn't look neat enough. I figured out that it should have pleats. A different shape overall. So unclipped the grommets to reuse them on another prototype (no need to waste six grommets!). I made another model of the same pattern, but with pleats and a stripe of fabric on top of it. The stripe turned out pretty difficult (at least the way I did it, I'm sure there is an easier way). Because of the pleats the top of the bag is smaller and I only needed two grommets on each side.

Yes, yes it's as neatly and nicely done as I want it to be. I hope I'll find some time again soon to improve it. This is one of the prototypes I'm keeping for myself to test wear it. 

As a new kind of closure this technique will be used my me more often. It would look so cute on Happy Bags, wouldn't it? 

Is there any kind of closures you prefer? Zippers or magnetic snaps? Or something completely different? 

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:

The ever-developing collage

I haven‘t been posting much in the last time as I have been busy with exams, holidays and my mum‘s birthday. But now I‘m back and I would like to show you our ever-developing collage.
It's put on our kitchen wall next to a little table which we already had when we were kids.
Kathrin started the about 3 years ago by taping newspaper clippings on the backside of an old calendar.

I loved the idea and joined in developing it. So every couple of months one of us takes out the scissors and some old magazines and spends an hour or two with our collage.
Yesterday it hit me again. This is what it looked like before I started:
Two hours and later and a messy kitchen floor later ...

... it looked like this:Now after 3 years the poster is almost full. I guess I should start thinking about what to do when it is finally filled.

Tidy Up Entry - Monitor My Progress!

Today I want to try something new. I need to tidy my room. It is WAY too crammed. As I'm a rather lazy little bug, I think I'll need some supervision. I took photos of all the ugly corners that need to be sorted. As soon as I'll be done with one little task I'll log it in this post (at least I hope so). Will I managed to work it out within one day?

Here are my ugly corners:

Behind the door I keep most of my bags. At least half of them I don't need on a regular basis. They need to go somewhere else. 

This is where I usually drop things and never remove them. Time to find a better solution!

Would you believe there are only four hooks to hang stuff? I use this spot at I'm too lazy to put my stuff into the closet. Now I'm blushing. 

I really don't know what to do here! I'd like to keep the boxes (you never know what they might be good for!). But they can't stay there. 

Half of the stash of my magazines. Actually, I'd like to keep them (you never know what they might be good for! I said that before, didn't I?). They take up too much space so they need to go.

The space behind my sewing machine. I don't necessarily need that space but it looks so messy. I have a clue where to put it though.

Last, but not least: my desk. Constantly packed, constantly untidy. I have a feeling this one is going to be a failure today. Duh!

Updates:

10.02 AM:

Bag corner is tidied. Quicker than I thought. Yay! You don't really see a difference? The stuffy backpacks are gone! Where? Now they are hidden in a big trunk in the corridor. Not sure if that was a good idea. At least they are out of my tiny room.

10.21 AM:

The chest drawer looks tidier. I have a feeling I should be tiding the drawers as well. Hmm well, maybe not (now).

10.43 AM:

Way bigger challenge than I thought it would be. I took two photos of the pile I took of the hangers - and deleted them accidentally. Four hangers can actually hold 5 woolen cardigans, 6 sweaters, one dress, one small ironing board, one camera bag, one tripod, a small purse, two fabric bags, a medium size tote bag and a big plastic tote bag in which are 3 more plastic bags filled with kipple. This is what my door looks like now:

10.59 AM:
That was fast again. Birgit "offered" me some space under her bed for the boxes. Well, she didn't really offer the space. I rather begged her not to throw away the boxes.

11.50 AM:

Tough one! I packed my magazines (about 110 issues) to four heavy piles to throw them out later. This kinda hurts to throw them out but it made room for the stuff and is blocking the space behind my sewing machine. I left one box on the table and the rest went to the empty space below the desk. 

2.04 PM:

DONE!!!!! I even managed to tidy desk. Only a tiny pile is left but that's ok. Later I might move some furniture to find a new place for my giant yarn box. Lalala I'm done!!!!

What Is Wrong With Me?!

Yesterday I drove to parents' place to stay there for a couple of days. Packing was interesting. It took about one hour: 15 minutes to pack my clothes, 20 minutes to pack to stuff my dog needs (food and such) and almost 30 minutes to pack fabric, wool and knitting/crocheting needles! What is wrong with me???

Oh, by the way: two days ago I finished a fabric notebook cover for Birgit's Moleskine notebook. It's not done nicely since I had troubles with the sewing machine to sew the layers of fabric. I like it anyways.

The Easter Post II

To finish my personal Easter roundup, I'd like to say a few words about the gift I made for my sister. In fact, the gift actually has a story.

It started on New Year's Eve 2009. We are not into New Year's Eve parties at all and decided to stay at home. From a I borrowed all ten seasons of Friends on DVD. We started with the first season on New Year's Eve and kept watching (last night we watched the last episode of season eight). In one episode in season seven, Monica bakes christmas candy. For baking she wears a pink apron. Apparently, Birgit fell in love with the pink apron. The scene was included into the intro of season seven so whenever Birgit saw the intro she started moaning about the pretty apron. I took a screen shot of the apron as it is shown in into of season seven:

I did some online research to find out whether someone else already noticed this apron and maybe knows where to get it. Of course, I wasn't successful. It came to my mind that it could not be too hard to sew an apron myself. I looked online for a suitable pattern and got lucky on Etsy. Jona Giammalva offered the almost perfect pattern. I gave it a try. I did everything I could to get Birgit out of the apartment for a weekend to have enough time and space to make the apron. I got some pink vintage fabric from my mum, but with now proper table to cut the fabric and a horrible pair of scissors this turned out to be rather challenging. Making the bias tape turned out to be an even greater challenge. Did I mention that I have no real experience in sewing and tried to do this on my own? The bias tape was meant to be rather slim and the fabric proofed to be pretty stiff. I'm also not too great in ironing. I think my little Ikea ironing board is only meant to be used to iron sleeves. I don't have any larger ironing board. So I set on my cold floor with the tiny board and the stiff fabric and tried to produce a halfway acceptable bias tape. After about three or four hours I gave up. I called my mom, stuffed all the pieces of the apron in a big bag and announced to come over as soon as possible to have her help me. The slim bias tape really freaked me out. Actually I did not even want a slim bias tape. Remember, I said "almost" perfect pattern?
When I came home and showed the pieces and pattern to my mom I decided that the bias tape has to become wider. Actually, I just wanted my mom to give me a little help and show me how to do it. Plans were changed though. We got a phone call and suddenly we expected nine more persons for our Easter brunch. I kinda panicked because I wanted everyone to have one of my knitted egg cozies and so far I had only finished four of them. So my mom took over the sewing of the apron while I sat there to knit some more egg cozies (in the end I only had seven of them).
In the end, Birgit's gift is handmade. Not really by me though. I am a little upset about that, but I'm determined to try it again some other time. Nevertheless, I believe she really likes her new apron. She can actually wear both sides. Ok, it does not really look like Monica's apron, but it is pretty close:

Actually, the reverse side looks more like the original apron, but I can't really find a photo of it. 

I think now I really rounded up my Easter Holidays.