Handmade Monday 140

Hi and welcome to Handmade Monday!

I've been looking forward to this month's Craftseller magazine, not just because some of my projects made it onto the pages, but because one of those projects is very close to my heart.

This vintage-styled handbag (purse for those of you across the pond) has a very special face on the front - my lovely Grandma as a young girl.  I'm told this picture was taken sometime after the first world war - in any case it was well before my dad was born in 1928!

You may remember I blogged about making this bag a few weeks back.  It uses a nifty little fabric that you can print directly onto using your ordinary inkjet printer and the resulting printed fabric is even washable (I've not tested its washability, but the printed fabric is excellent).  I bought mine from Crafty Computer Paper - and I've since been back for more as this project has given me a bucketload of ideas!

My Grandma would have been so proud - not just because her own face was in a magazine, but because she was always very proud of all her grandchildren's achievements (no matter how small).

Also in this issue are a couple of my cards which use Craftseller's free papers.

a sleepy owl...

...and a Russian doll

If cards are your thing, you may be interested in my new Christmas digital stamps, which I've uploaded this week.  I think this robin might be my favourite...

...but I do want to get some more Christmas digis drawn and uploaded very soon.

It's over to you now for Handmade Monday.  Are you making for Christmas, or still making for Halloween?
Or maybe your mind is on something else altogether?  Tell us about it...

The Campervan Bag

This campervan bag has been a long time in the planning!  Most of that time it was simply in my head, bouncing around (as ideas do).

I've been taking part in the monthly challenge set by Abakhan where I make something for under £15 (they very kindly supply the fabrics) and this bag is part of that.  I say "monthly challenge" but it would seem my months are quite a bit further apart than anyone else's!  

This bag is a pretty good size for a handbag/tote bag and fits all the basics in.  I made sure my Kindle would fit (for me, that's probably more essential than anything!)

It has lots of pockets...

which are always useful, of course.

It 's always difficult to photograph the inside of a bag!  The magnetic closure you can just see in the photo below was recycled from a tired old bag destined for the scrap heap (that could describe me as well as the bag - stop laughing! - it's really not that funny!).  Magnetic closures are easy to rescue as the metal prongs holding them in place just fold out ready to be re-used.

My version has a fixed length shoulder strap, but it could be adapted to have an adjustable strap.

The fabrics I used from Abakhan were this gorgeous starry pale blue cotton (they have it in other colours too - the red looks lovely)

and the stripey ticking-style lightweight cotton for the lining

Abakhan also supplied me with a large bag of orange buttons - ideal to rummage through to find the perfect size for indicator lights.  The grey buttons I used for headlights came from an old cardigan!

I also used a few scraps from my stash.  The retro style floral (on the bumper, on the centre of the front wheel, and on the pockets inside) was left over from a previous Abakhan challenge - it's one of those fabrics I've used in so many projects now.  It's been much more versatile than I ever imagined and seems to go with pretty much everything!

Being fabric, it's completely machine washable and I think it would make a fabulous holiday bag.  Let's hope for some sunshine this summer!  If you are thinking of flying to the sun instead of waiting for it to come to you (could be a wise move if you are UK-based) it's a lightweight and packable bag - or good as a cross-body bag for passports and stuff.

I'll be creating a pattern for this bag as soon as I can.  It always seems to take me forever to get a pattern together, even when the bag has already been made and pattern pieces drafted, so don't hold your breath (but do please check back at some point in the semi-distant future!).

Updated to add: sorry it's taking so long to get round to making this pattern, but I'm getting started on it now (May 2014).  It's all gone a bit mad recently on Pinterest and getting a lot of interest!  I'm hoping the pattern will be ready in a couple of weeks - mid-June, maybe.

Thanks so much everyone for all your interest!