New in Store - 27th April 2014

Just a few new pieces of bag hardware were added to the website this week but we will be back with a heap of new fabric next week.

Left to Right

Small Flat Purse Feet 12mm / 1/2inch Silver – 6pk

Slide Adjusters 25mm / 1" Antique Brass – 4pk

Wire O-Ring 50mm / 2" Silver - 4pk

To tide you over until next week we have added a number of remnants to our On Sale page.

The listings for these remnant fabrics have been adjusted so that you can only purchase the amount remaining in stock as per the image below. The price displayed is the price per meter.

Till next week,
- Ky

Pattern Test Drive - Madison Wallet Bag Pattern by Serendipity Studio

At 20.5cm (8”) wide x 15.5 (6”) tall x 5cm (2”) deep the Madison is a smallish bag that can comfortably hold 6 cards, a phone plus a small purse/wallet.

The wallet flap that holds your cards is the feature that initially drew me to this pattern. After sewing up the sample and trying it out I would probably do two rows of stitching down the centre of the card pockets to make them a bit tighter.

There is an optional zipper pocket on the back and lining, the pattern suggests a chunky zipper but I only had regular dress zippers at hand which work just as well. The 132cm (52”) adjustable strap allows easy transition from cross body to over the shoulder.

Hardware

Metal bag hardware always gives a handmade bag a more professional finish. The pattern suggests using o-rings and snap hooks to make the shoulder strap removable. The addition of a slide on the strap makes it adjustable. 

The pattern suggests using 2 magnetic catches, one for the Wallet Flap and one for the Main Outer Flap. Although the pattern calls for 2 different sized magnetic catches I have used 14mm Silver Magnetic Catches  on both flaps on the Skull Spot bag.

The Rose Bag has one 14mm Antique Brass Magnetic Catch on the Wallet Flap but I wanted to try something different on the Main Outer Flap. I have never used a Twist Lock before and thought this bag was the perfect project to give one a go. If, like me, you have never inserted a twist lock before I recommend using Nicole Mallalieu's comprehensive tutorial.

Interfacing

The Madison Bag is designed to have a very rigid structure and the pattern suggest Pellon Deco-Fuse to achieve this. Deco-fuse is not a product that is readily available in Australia and the closest equivalent that we have is Vilene S520 (once again check out Nicole's blog for a comparison between selected Vilene and Pellon interfacings.) I was hesitant to sew a bag using S520 as I know how stiff it is so I decided to make two bags and compare two different interfacing methods.

The Skull Spot Bag uses Vilene S520 Interfacing and as expected the stiffness of the interfacing made this version a bit more difficult to sew. If you are going to attempt using this interfacing option I would recommend making sure that you have a good quality machine that can sew easily through thick layers and good presser foot pressure to stop the bag from sliding around as you guide it through the machine. The finished bag is very stiff and can stand up on its own, support the weight of the metal hardware and keeps it shape well but I think it feels a bit cardboardy.

The Rose Bag uses S320 Interfacing and H630 Wadding, this combination gives the bag structure while remaining malleable. The finished bag can still stand up on its own (with some coaxing) and has enough structure to support the bag hardware. The shape and feel of this bag is a lot softer than the S520 version making this interfacing combination is my personal preference.

If you would like to recreate either of these bags here are the materials that I used:
Rose Bag
Flap - Resting In Roses Black by Alexander Henry
Bag Outer - Premium Solid Black by Northcott
Lining - Premium Solid Poppy by Northcott
Vilene s320 Fusible Interfacing
Vilene H630 Fusible Wadding
2 x Wire O-Ring 20mm / 3/4" Antique Brass – 4pk
2 x Swivel Snap Hook 20mm / 3/4" Antique Brass – 2pk
1 x Slide Adjusters 20mm / 3/4" Antique Brass – 4pk

Skull Spot Bag
Bag Outer - Skull and Bone Spot Black and White by Kokka
Lining - A Ghastlie Web Mist Grey by Alexander Henry
Vilene s520 Heavy Fusible Pelmet Interfacing
2 x Wire O-Ring 20mm / 3/4" Silver – 4pk
1 x Swivel Snap Hook 20mm / 3/4" Silver – 2pk
2 x Slide Adjusters 20mm / 3/4" Silver – 4pk

I hope this has been helpful for anyone thinking of attempting to make the Madison Wallet bag.
- Ky

New In Store - April 20

Happy Easter Bunnies. A few new fabrics this week including premium plains from Northcott, cute Japanese prints from Kokka and Cosmo Textiles, Elephants from Clothworks and a couple of new Riley Blake Pom Pom Trims.

Top Row

Premium Solid Burgundy Red by Northcott 

Kitty Floral Navy by Cosmo Textiles

Top Middle

Hullabaloo Tricycling Elephants Vintage Blue by Clothworks

Riley Blake Designs Sew Together Accessories Pom Pom Trim Regular Butter Yellow

Hullabaloo Tricycling Elephants Vintage Red by Clothworks

Bottom Middle

Riley Blake Designs Sew Together Accessories Pom Pom Trim Regular Chocolate Brown

Dobby Tanuki Racoon Beige by Cosmo Textiles

Riley Blake Designs Sew Together Accessories Pom Pom Trim Regular Hot Pink

Bottom

Sun Bear and Friends Navy by Kokka

Premium Solid Smoke Grey by Northcott

- Ky

Easter Opening Hours

We have a couple of public holidays coming up over the next two weeks. Here are the showroom closures and hour changes during this time. Regular opening hours will apply to all other days.

For everyone on holiday have a great time and we hope that the Easter Bunny is generous :0)

- Ky and Cloud

New in Store - 13th April

So much new fabric has been added to the website this week including new Riley Blake Knits, Coloured Denim, Quilting Treasures, Benartex and Kokka.

Left
Small Chevron Jersey Knit Gray on Gray by Riley Blake Design
Half inch Stripe Jersey Knit Hot Pink by Riley Blake Design
Camo Skulls Pink by Benartex
Heath Ceylon Yellow by Alexander Henry
Crossroads Coloured Denim Fire Red by Amy Barickman

Middle Left

Small Chevron Jersey Knit Red on Red by Riley Blake Design
Small Chevron Jersey Knit Rainbow by Riley Blake Design
Vintage Scrapbook Paris Fashion Black by Benartex
Crossroads Coloured Denim Eggplant Purple by Amy Barickman

Middle

Skull and Flower Patch Purple by Kokka

Skull and Flower Patch Black by Kokka

Echino Dyed Linen Lime Green by Kokka

Skull and Bone Spot Black and Red by Kokka

Skull and Bone Spot Black and White by Kokka

Middle Right
She Who Sews Buttons Black by Quilting Treasures
She Who Sews Tape Measures Green by Quilting Treasures
She Who Sews Medium Picture Patches Panel by Quilting Treasures
Crossroads Coloured Denim Downtown Teal by Amy Barickman

Right
Echino Hide (Deer, Owl and Lemur) Green by Kokka
She Who Sews Tomato Pin Cushions Red by Quilting Treasures
She Who Sews Vintage Canvas Text Black by Quilting Treasures
Rousseau Flamingo Aqua by Benartex
Crossroads Coloured Denim Sweet Potato by Amy Barickman

Because we love it so much here is another shot of the Crossroads coloured denim fabric, aren't the colours devine!

Till next week,
- Ky

Fabric Friday - 50's Atomic Fabric Design

50s Atomica is a style that Cloud is particularly fond of so we always try to have a few prints in stock. Here are some of the ones that we have currently.

Top

AH Atomic Pink by Alexander Henry

Vinyl Vacation Natural/Pink by Alexander Henry

Middle

Summer Glass Yellow by Kokka

Abstract Atomic Ochre by Kei Fabrics

Summer Glass Coral by Kokka

Bottom

AH Atomic Lt Tea by Alexander Henry

Vinyl Vacation Light Tea by Alexander Henry

New In Store - 7th April

First up we just want to let everyone know that we will be attending a trade event with the Queensland Quilters Group on Tuesday 8th April so our showroom will be closed on this day. We will be open again as usual on Wednesday 9th.

We are still working our way through all of the new stock that has arrived in our Showroom. This week we have added 15 new fabrics to our website including the Wizard of OZ, Simply Gorjuss and Alexander Henry Nicole's Prints. 

Left

Unicorns and Rainbows Main Aqua Blue by Riley Blake

Unicorns and Rainbows Glitter Orange by Riley Blake

Unicorns and Rainbows Main Yellow by Riley Blake

Unicorns and Rainbows Rainbow Orange by Riley Blake

Middle Left

ABC With Me Natural by Alexander Henry

The Magic of Oz Patch Panel Blue Gingham by Wilmington

Magic of Oz Ruby Slippers Black by Wilmington

Magic of Oz Tossed Characters Blue by Wilmington

Middle Right

Geekly Chic Mustache Small Black by Riley Blake Design

Santoro Simply Gorjuss Tossed Character Buttons Grey by Quilting Treasures

Fired Up Multi Brite by Alexander Henry

Mindblowers Black by Alexander Henry

Right

Santoro Simply Gorjuss Character Patch Panel Grey by Quilting Treasures

Santoro Simply Gorjuss Tossed Character Buttons Tan by Quilting Treasures

Santoro Simply Gorjuss Character Panel Tan by Quilting Treasures

We have Heat n Bond Lite Quilters Edge Tape back in stock. If you attended one of Steph's talks at the Stitches and Craft Show you will recognise this as the product that she recommends for stabilising knit seams and hems before sewing.

Heat n Bond Lite Quilter's Edge 1/4" Iron on Adhesive Tape - 18m

Till next week,

- Ky