Tutorial: The Day Bag. Assembling

We're continuing making the day bag as seen  here . By now you should have finished making the pattern as shown in the tutorial part 1 (see here)

In this final part we are going to assemble the bag.

Tutorial: The Day Bag. Pattern making

As promised - the tutorial for the day bag you saw here. 

This is Part 1. In the part I'm going to show you, how to make a pattern. I've talked about pattern making here , but I know it might still sound confusing. Don't worry - I'll show you all the steps :)


Step 1. Draw the detailed bag sketch, try to be as accurate as possible: try to keep all the proportions the way you want to see them on the bag, draw the hardware if you are going to use it. Draw the front and the side. If you're making a different back of the bag, draw it too (the back on my bag is simply all-leather, without any details, so I didn't draw the back).

Show and Tell: №7

In today’s Show and Tell – the Day Bag. A medium size (32x24x9 cm) bag to carry all the things I need during the day. 

At the beginning, I decided I don’t want a zipper as a closure for the bag. So I had to think of another solution. And then I remembered my friend’s bag that closes with a flap. I thought I’ll try to make a flap, and you know what? I loved it! 

Though I like the design, I had a huge disappointment with this particular faux leather – it was very easy to sew, but it started cracking while sewing! Now some corners looks “used”, while, in fact, it’s brand new bag. I never had this problem before, and for a moment I was almost giving up on the entire project. But I decided to give it another try, and here it is.

Anyway, I like this bag and I’m definitely going to make something like this in the future (with better leather of course). And I'll try to make photos when I'm using the bag - it looks nicer when carried :)

Tutorial: Fit a sweater or T-shirt

Hello Sweethearts!

Today I’d like to share with you one tip – how to make a sweater that’s too big fit just right.

I’m probably the only person I know who can’t wear oversized clothes, because… they don’t fit me! I don’t know why, actually. Maybe they don’t suite my figure; maybe they just don’t look right; maybe they just don’t feel right. Anyway, with today’s fashion it’s hard to find well-fitting clothing (not to mention that mass production cannot fit everyone), but with basic sewing knowledge it’s quite easy to adjust clothing to your figure.

Today I’ll show you how I fitted a sweater that I found in a thrift store a while ago. It was a bit oversized, but the fabric was lovely, so I bought it. Unfortunately, the more I wore it, the more oversized and ill-fitting it looked. Then one day I decided to make it fit.

About Handbag Making...

Long time no see, right?

I have no bag to show for you today, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about handbag making! If you are interested in handbag making, or even if you're not, I want to share with you something you might find interesting and inspiring.

Here is the video that I first saw at late spring and it was very interesting to see. It's an experiment titled "$35,000 Handbag vs. $35 Handbag", and the main point of it is whether a home-made copy of a Hermes Kelly handbag can stand for the real deal. The answer of course is No, but the video is still very entertaining to see:

$35000 Handbag vs. $35 Handbag

What do you? I don't like the idea of copying a bag and then pretend it's something else, but I liked the idea that you can make a nice handbag at home. Though I had one question during the entire video - $35 (I assume it's for the materials only) for a home-made bag? Isn't it too pricey?

The second thing I wanted to show you is (again) about Hermes Kelly - the article about how it's made:

How Hermes Kelly is made

Amazing, right?  I think it's very nice of Hermes to let people take a glimpse at how an iconic bag is made. 

And for the end, the making of the Miss Dior bag. I'm not a fan of a bag itself, but the whole making process is quite interesting to see:

Tutorial: Braided Shirt

Hello!

Well, I know this blog is called "Bags you can make", but I must admit, I also make other stuff :D  So today I'm showing you the braided shirt I made a couple of years ago. Since it's one of those rare times that I didn't use a pattern, I decided to make a tutorial for you, so that you can make one yourself!

Starting with the photos of the finished garment:

Show and Tell: №6

Hello!

A quick post today :)

In this Show and Tell I’m showing you the bag I made for a friend of mine. That’s why it’s a little bit different than previous bags – the design was her idea, and I just helped to bring it to life. As you can see, the bag is quite big, has two front pockets, two handles and a long strap - just in case you want to carry it on your shoulder

The bag is from grey cotton (I think, but I’m not sure, might be a mix of materials) with leather details. The fabric isn’t as good as I thought it would be – my friend uses this bag quite a lot and unfortunately the bag already has fabric “bubbles” (don’t know if it’s the right name for that). Though this material has one plus – it’s machine washable.  

P.S. Before I forget - are any of you using Pinterest.com? How cool is it?! :)