Crafty Loops

My own pattern - Handmade Paddington Bear Handbag Whatabout ye folks, it's Lee here.  Just a warning....this is a large post, filled with my waffling and stream of consciousness.  So, buckle up Buttercup, make yourself a cup of strong coffee and a calorific snack and get ready for a long post.   As I am sure you have seen, I've been a little obsessed with sewing bags and wallets lately.  I was having a look around the interwebs for some inspiration as I have made a small amount of bags now and was wanting to broaden my horizons a bit and maybe consider making my own bag pattern....there we go again with my over inflated sense of competency in bag making, teehee. Anyway, I saw the most beautiful Audrey Hepburn inspired bag, called The Daisy  from The Cambridge Sachel Company.   The workmen-ship/workwomen-ship in this bag is simply stunning.  It's simple in design but oh so stylish and sophisticated.   I had a look around the internet to see if there was something similar fro

 Handmade Wallet - NCW style wallet Whatabout ye folks, it's Lee here.  I have watched so many YouTube videos lately of bag making and wallet making, that I am having dreams in my sleep about them.  I watched a tonne of videos on the NCW or, the Necessary Clutch Wallet that everyone and their Grandmother has made, so I thought that I should give it a go too.  The NCW is Designed by Janelle MacKay from Emmaline bags .  There have been many different iterations of this wallet made by different YouTubers, and I loved the style that Sian from Kittenish Behaviour did with the 2 zipper pockets, rather than just the 1.  She also shows how to make the wallet using directional prints, which thoroughly interested me.  Full credit to Sian for her incredibly detailed tutorials on this wallet.  I couldn't have made it without her videos.  An honourable mention also goes to Kassiah, from SiahSwag on YouTube too.  Her video is terrific as well.  And all her bag tutorials are phenomenal.  S

 Handmade Laptop Bag - Lupin Laptop from Blue Calla Patterns Whatabout ye folks, it's Lee here.  I am back again with another Blue Calla Pattern Bag.  This time I thought I would try my hand at making a laptop bag.  Early last Summer, my brother, Jamie (or Miwadi, as I affectionately call him) asked me could I make him a laptop bag for work. Being pretty new to bag making (and this is still the case today, teehee), I wasn't terribly confident about this request as I just didn't know where to begin or if there was even a pattern available on the world wide web for this type of bag.  However, at that stage, he did say that if I wanted to forget about the laptop bag and make his son, Alfie, a Buzz Lightyear Backpack , he'd go with that instead.  So, of course I made Alfie the backpack  as I had already made a few of those in the past.  But, I felt kinda bad that I didn't make Miwadi the laptop bag all because I wasn't confident enough to try to make one.  Well, fa

 Boronia Bag - Blue Calla Patterns - Handmade Tim Burton handbag/purse Whatabout ye folks, it's Lee here.  I realise that my blog may look like it's turning into a bag making blog, but I promise it isn't.....I'm going through a phase, teehee.  Maybe I should maybe think about making another blog for just my sewing projects.  But, I suppose, this is a crafting blog and I never like to stick to one thing only.  I like to learn tonnes of different crafts, it keeps things interesting. Anyway, I told you that I was making another one of the Blue Calla Patterns Boronia Bags .  I am a big Tim Burton fan and as soon as I saw this Tim Burton characters fabric on Craftyjam on Ebay, I knew I had to make a handbag from it.  Looks like the whole gang is here on this fabric, lol.  And the Boronia pattern is perfect because you actually don't need a massive length of the main body fabric at all. I only bought a 1/2 metre and I got all the pattern pieces needed with some to spar

 Boronia Handbag - Handmade Nightmare Before Christmas Handbag/Purse Whatabout ye folks, it's Lee here.  Oh my good giddy Aunt, when I tell you I am obsessed with the Blue Calla Patterns Boronia Bag pattern...well.....I am....as you'll see from me making another of these bags (and another one on the go, teehee).  I am so chuffed with this bag.  Again, it's not perfect.  But imperfection is swiftly becoming "my thing" lol.  The shape looks a wee bit dodgy at the top but that is only because I stuffed the bag with a cushion for the photos and clearly, I did not stuff it evenly teehee.   As is usual with pretty much everything I make, this bag is not for me, lol.  IT'S MY BIRTHDAY TODAY, YIPPEEE!  But I made this bag for my wee sister, T who has loved the Nightmare Before Christmas movie since she was a wee one.  And to this day it is still one of her most favourite movies.  I'd say that she could recite the entire movie from start to finish. When I found