Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Travelling Bunny: 3-day Bag Masterclass with Nicole Mallalieu

Last week I flew down to Melbourne to attended a 3-day bag making masterclass with Nicole Mallalieu (You Sew Girl). The class was hosted by Kimono House which is a lovely little fabric shop in Melbourne's CBD which specialises in Japanese fabrics, kimonos/ yukatas and crafts.

Kimono House workshop space
Machines were supplied for all of the out of town students which was a great help.
I was lucky enough to score Nikki's Bernina for the 3 days :) 
On Friday afternoon Leanne, the owner of Kimono House, took us for walk around Melbourne CBD with a focus on craft. The walk ended at Spring Street Grocer, with what is reputed to be the best gelati in Melbourne. I tried three flavours (dairy free chocolate, salted caramel and pistachio) and approved of them all :)

A few of the locations we went to on the tour.
Top: Clementine's (all stock is made and crafted in Victoria) and Corky Saint Clair
Middle: Subject To Change, Gewurzhaus Herb and Spice MerchantsThe Cats Meow
Bottom: Morris and Sons, Spring Street Grocer
Nicole demonstrating the finer points of bag making.
Over the 3 days we learnt heaps of tips and tricks from Nikki including techniques for hard bag bases, zipper applications, customising handle straps, and interfacing options. Everyone had a great time and finished sewing up either a Day BagLarge Tote Bag or Beach Bag.

Hurrying to finish off our bags on Saturday afternoon

All of the finished bags
I made up a Cartas Marcadas Large Satchel and a very Nautical Beach Bag (Beach Bag still requires lining)
I'm quite taken with the bright striped interior of the Large Satchel, especially teamed with the hot pink zipper.
I had a great time away and picked up heaps of tips for professional bag making which I look forward to imparting to our customers and students. We are hoping to run a few bag making workshops at Voodoo Rabbit this year so make sure to sign up to our newsletter (top left on the side menu) for notification of upcoming classes.

- Ky

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