A pair of Scotties

A few weeks ago now a lovely lady named Gill contacted me through Twitter and asked if I could make a shoulder bag out of some fabric that she loved. The fabric she was talking about was the Scotties fabric from Clarke and Clarke, I love this fabric too. One bag quickly became two, Gill's only stipulation was that she wanted them slightly different from one another.

After a little bit of a think I ordered some gorgeous Klona cottons from Patch Fabrics and got to work. Apart from the little glitch of Bestie blowing a fuse it didn't take me long to get the fabric cut out and start piecing them together. Those of you who follow me on Twitter will have seen a few Work in Progress shots.

And here they are all finished just before I wrapped them up and sent them on their way. I have already had more requests for bags in the same material and some other gorgeous fabric found by a customer.....and the answer is yes I can make any of my designs in almost any fabric. If you would like a custom bag please do get in touch. I will be adding a 'bespoke' page back to my website after all the queries I've had.

I love to make custom orders, I really connect with the task of fulfilling a brief set by a customer.....hope my next one will be as lovely as the last :D

I love my loop turner

already sewn strap (down both the long side seams) & my beloved loop turner

Have you used a loop turner before? I literally couldn't live without mine. Well maybe I could 'live' without it but my fingers would be red raw from trying to turn out handles by my finger nails and there would be a lot more aggression in my studio!! Probably a few swears too ;)

They are cheap as chips, you can pick one up for around £2 and believe me when you have bought one and used it for the first time you will wonder why the hell you didn't buy one before!

Right what are they for? Turning handles or straps, including little fiddly spaghetti straps through the right way once you have sewn them. Go on then go grab your straps and a loop turner and I'll show you....

Push your loop turner in the opening of one end, keep pushing the fabric down until you get this ruched affect, nope its not to look fancy its so that you can hook then end of your loop turner to the opposite end of your fabric. As you can see here (photo above) once the hook is attached tuck the ends of your strap inside, *be gentle* until you can slowly pull the 'ring' end of your loop turner back towards you bringing the fabric back with you inside the strap.

This is what it should look like as you begin to pull the strap back through, once you get just over half way there you can ruche the fabric right up again so that you can grab the end (photo below) and pull the remainder through without the loop turner.

***TOP TIP*** Ease the fabric through gently, don't pull too hard or your loop turner will tear your fabric and you will have to sit and pull the fabric through and start again. Most annoying, please add swears here too ;)

This ugly looking thing, almost like a fabric snake is what you will end up with. Now all it need is a good press with the iron and you will have a perfect strap. Easy peasy!!

Bet you all wanna go buy a loop turner now?

She's ALIVE!!!

*Breathes a sigh of relief* C kindly dropped Betsie off at the Sewing Centre in town and at 4pm this afternoon the technician Neil called me to say she was ready to pick up. Apparently the bulb had gone which had blown the fuse and tripped it out. Well the machine is from the 70's ;) C trundled back into town to pick her up and by the time I came home from work she was waiting for me.

*does a little dance*

So now I'm off into the studio to go and get on with 2 custom bags I have to finish. Thank you to Neil for sorting her out for me free of charge. Next time I will know what to look out for.

Disaster!

My worst fear (in sewing land of course) came to fruition today. I cut the last pieces of interfacing, pined my sections of bag together, threaded the machine and then..........NOTHING!! Absolutely nothing. I checked the plug, the cable, the switch, the socket, the plug in another socket. And then after conferring with my StepDad ran downstairs for a fuse and screw driver.....changed it......still nothing.

Bestie is dead :(

She was only just serviced in January and for the first time in 9 years she isn't working.....starting to think I shouldn't have had her serviced!! No, what am I talking about, of course I should and tomorrow I will be calling the technician who serviced her tomorrow to see what they will do. I cant be without her for a long period of time so if its a long wait I will either have to hire one or loan one.

And on that note I'm off.....to console myself with a glass of wine.

My first ipad cover

As a little thank you to the lovely Michele for the adorable Austin, I got busy with some vinyl and made her this ipad cover. I was very kindly given 2 huge pieces of blue and mustard vinyl from a family friend. So the blue teamed with a few small pieces of leather for a flower motif made for a very stylish combination. 

I had to wait until Michele had received it before I could show you so I've been keeping it under wraps for the past week. 

This week/weekend I've been busy with 2 custom bags and some very important personal stuff. My head has been buzzing with details, details, details!! Will show you some pics of the bags being made soon.   

Kitty Kindles

This week I've been making more kindle covers.....I was asked by my cousin to make a kindle cover for his wife with two cats as the motif. I made 2 in different shades of brown for Kerry to choose from. And fell in love with them as soon as I'd cut out the little kitties.

Kerry chose the top cover with the golden cat motifs and her husband Gavin came to pick it up tonight. So now I have another kindle cover to add to my Etsy shop. As always please let me know if you're interested as I will be listing it tomorrow.

My Valentine

For Valentine's day this year I bought my other half this gorgeous card from Storeyshop. The very talented Helen hand cuts all the cards she makes and they are fantastic. Its not the first time I've bought cards from Storeyshop, as soon as I saw this one I had to buy it....just perfect.

Me and C aren't a mushy couple but I know he's my soul mate and I love him to bits. Right I'm off for a cuddle on the sofa with a cup of tea.

Hope you all had a lovely Valentine's day xxx

WARNING!!! Too cute

Now you cant tell me that you don't just love this little fury face?????

Isn't he the most gorgeous bundle of fur? Everyone I would like you to meet Austin!

Every since first creating my blog and venturing into the world of crafting online I have met the most amazing people. Friendly, caring, like minded people who are truly the best, even though I've not met many of them in person I feel like I've known them all for years. First of all I receive the most gorgeous mini quilt from Rachel (big hugs) and then this little fella arrives in the post from the very lovely Michele whom I met through Twitter. Michele has a blog here please go visit you will see more adorable bears!!!!

Michele is a very talented lady, I've seen quite a few of her creations. She has made the most gorgeous knitted bag that I've admired for sometime, and the detail on Austin is unbelievable!

His arms and legs are hinged with buttons!!! I know buttons!!! He is very clever, he can sit or stand. He has the cutest eyes and the most precious nose. And would you believe it all this detail and......

...he is small enough to sit in the palm of my hand.

Michele I am truly in love with Austin and I thank you so much for sending him to me. Now hands up, if Michele had an Etsy shop would you go buy one?!?!?

The last.....for now

As promised here are the last 3 kindle covers, I will be listing them in my Etsy shop on Friday, but if you'd like to bag one before then please leave me a comment or pop me an email emma@bagladee.com Each of the covers are £15 (plus £1.50 UK p&p).

Lovely Dragonfly leather kindle cover in hues of pinks.

A beautiful flower motif in a pale lemon.

As always with my Bagladee tag on the reverse.

Cute beach huts in cream with vibrant zesty yellows and oranges.

I wish I had lots of leather left but sadly this is the last.....so until I can get my mitts on some more I leave you with these!

A perfect gift...

I just had to show you what arrived in the post for me last week. Those of you who read the lovely Rachel's blog Contented will have already seen this but here I am with some photos of my own.

  

Rachel very kindly made this star mini quilt for my birthday, its made from the most gorgeous blue cottons and is bound to perfection along the edges.

And the back has a fabric label in the bottom right corner.......

Personalised and hand printed by Rachel, isn't it fabulous. At the moment its sitting proudly on the side of my sewing table....but I have plans for showing it somewhere lovely in the future.

A huge thank you to Rachel for making me another truly gorgeous gift, you're so talented Rachel thank you so much. If you've never visited Rachel's blog before you should definitely pop over and have a look at the lovely things she makes.

Cupcakes and flowers

A post-Christmas order for some more Kindle covers from the very lovely Clare :) my favourite 'the cupcake' and now a new favourite 'the flower'. I didn't have much choice left in the way of colours but Clare was happy to chose from the ones I did have left. I must add at this point that Clare is not addicted to buying Kindle covers but has very kindly sold them onto friends and family.

I could seriously sit and make these all day!

How cute is this little vintage flower button.

Keep your eyes peeled for the last 3 kindle covers, I wished that I had copious amounts of gorgeous colourful leather but unfortunately I don't. I took the last few pieces of leather I had left and made 3, one with a flower, one with beach huts and one with a dragonfly *sigh*. I'll post pictures soon.

Hope the snow hasn't scuppered your weekend plans too much, we went for a walk late last night while it was still snowing and are off for another trek in an hour or so. The sun is shining and its a beautiful white day out there.

Fast Forward

OK who fast forwarded January?? ;) I cant believe how fast last month whizzed by. At last I think Winter has finally arrived its been chilly this week but today its been bitterly cold and with that comes dark days which means less photo opportunities. I have been busy making kindle covers and new mini clutches this week which I cant photograph until we get some decent light. I'm hoping Friday will be brighter and I'll get a few shots taken.

Surprisingly I have taken an order for some gingerbread people (men & ladies) with embroidered names this week.

Prep is already in full swing for BCTF in April, C is busy helping me with my stand and I have started on some new items. If I manage it in time there may also be a new 'range' to add to the Bagladee family, its all planned and I'm currently sourcing fabrics and some special findings.

Has your January passed as quick as mine did?