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 Merchants, The 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 Bag, Large 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

Licorice Allsorts Beach Bag

Here is a bag I made up last night. I have had it cut out since just before last Christmas with the intention of giving it to my little sister. Now that it is finished she may finally receive it. Combining the striped fabric with the black webbing and binding makes it look a bit like a licorice allsort, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The fabric is from a fabric swap game at a sewing guild Christmas Party, not something I would have picked on my own. All of the lining, webbing, binding and zippers came from my stash.
The pattern is from the book "Making Handbags: Retro, Chic, Luxurious" by Ellen Goldstein-Lynch, Sarah Mullins and Nicole Malone.

I have also added in a zippered pocket to the lining which isn't included in the original pattern, there is a great tutorial on how to do this at u-handbag.com.