Little leather clutch

About this time last year I bought this little leather remnant from The Fabric Store with the hopes of making a bag to take along to Melbourne Frocktails. If I couldn't make a dress successfully at least the bag would be made by me. Nope...things didn't quite work out.

I had initially wanted to install a closure for the bag that required punching and hammering...but it just didn't work out. I managed to un-pry the bent and dented closure without damaging the leather, but as I didn't know how to next proceed the bag was left in a dark drawer, mainly forgotten about.

Fast forward to our trip in Japan where I found these nifty little leather closures at my beloved Nomura Tailor. The closures screw in and just require a hole punched through both parts of the leather (bag and flap) in order to work. If you are looking for something similar this is the sort of thing and is available via etsy.

Source

After I had the fundamentals of closing the bag sorted the rest was pretty simple. I had traced the shape of the bag I wanted onto some paper and then traced that onto the leather before cutting it out. I stuck each of the side seams down with Wondertape (don't pin leather as it will leave holes) and then stitched with my machine. I used a leather needle and I had bought special thread, but it wouldn't fit through my needle without shredding, so I just used it in the bobbin.  I also increased my stitch length a little bit. Things sewed OK but the machine was a bit clunky. Apparently if you increase the stitch length substantially things will be less clunky!

I'm pretty chuffed with this little bag and I'm going to take it to the upcoming High Tea I'm organising for the Sydney Spoolettes....under the same assumption that I won't be wearing a me-made dress, but at least something will be made by me!

Now that I have a small taste of sewing with letter I'm quite keen to make a simple tote with a pouch for my travel card and phone. Watch this space...

Me Made May Round-up: week 1

Initially I was super keen to participate in Me Made May...and then the 1st May rolled around and it felt more like Me Made Meh.

Sydney weather is bizarrely warm for this time of year making it hard to get dressed each day as I'm never sure how hot I'm going to be. I've also put on a bit of weight so my me-mades from last year don't all fit and I feel like I don't have many options for this weird in between weather.

My challenge this year is to wear two me-mades per week, and despite feeling meh I accomplished that. I ended up wearing a "Our Fave Top", a Megan Longline Cardigan, my Shibori scarf and two me-made necklaces. I'm not sure if the necklaces really count, but I made them so I'm going to count them.

Black Megan Longline Cardigan

My wearable muslin of Tessuti's Megan Longline Cardigan has turned out to be one of my most worn me-mades. The fit is great, it's comfortable, the fabric, whilst super cheap, is a great colour and washes and wears so well. Needless to say I was super keen to make another one. In black.

I'm on a bit of budget at the moment so I was super frugal when shopping for fabric. I found this black merino wool/polypropylene fabric at The Fabric Store in Surry Hills for just $8/pm. Bargain. I think it's meant be for "active wear"...but, whatever! You can see from the photo below that one side is more "merino" looking and one looks like...recycled plastic bags.

I sewed the cardi with the merino looking side facing out...as it has a nicer look than the other side. The fabric isn't as nice draping as my first version of this cardigan and it wasn't as easy to press (ie hot iron = melt your fabric). I was also sewing in a bit of a rush as I wanted to finish this all in one go so I could take my overlocker into to be serviced that same day. So I have a black cardigan, just not a lovely black cardigan.

I'm not sure there's much else to say about this make. It's an easy sew and takes a few hours. I didn't slim the sleeves down as I thought I might in my last post. Not sure why, but it means it fits comfortably over longer sleeve tops and dresses. 

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Pattern: "Megan Longline Cardigan" by Tessuti
Size: XL, sewn with 3/8" seam allowance.
Modifications: 1cm added to the width of the neckband piece.
Fabric: Merino wool/polypropylene blend from The Fabric Store in Surry Hills.
Changes for next time: none