Do you follow Makery? Are you aware of Portia’s fabulous refashioning competition she hosts each August/September? This year the theme is refashioning denim trousers. It is all about having fun, trying something new, having a go. I don’t think for a minute I will win but I will have lots fun trying.
Last year the theme was shirts, I made my niece a dress.
The standard was extremely high with some amazing transformations – see the pinterest board. Its truly amazing what can be made from shirts.
I have a hunch that a tailored fitted garment will win this year. But I have to play to my strengths – upcycled bags. For a while I have thinking about creating a sashiko denim bag. I have lots of denim trouser off cuts in my stash left over from making this denim quilt.
(find the tutorial for the quilt here)
The summer holidays are great but they do limit sewing time, not ideal for sewing never mind lots of hand stitching. Normally I pack knitting when away as it is super easy to fit in my bag. This year we went camping, I took my bag of denim scraps, a pile of embroidery floss from a charity shop and off cuts from the Tilda fabric projects.
I enjoyed being creative in our tent – I’m not sure the kids appreciated the camping table being covered in fabric.
The technique sashiko originates from Japan. Centuries ago, Japanese peasants used a running-stitch technique to patch worn clothes. Cloth and thread were scarce and therefore mending highly valuable.
Denim Sashiko Bag Tutorial
Supplies:
Variety of denim
Embroidery Thread
Cotton scraps
Cotton fabric for lining
Annies Soft and Stable, two pieces 42 by 46 cm
Heavy weight Interfacing, two pieces 42 by 46 cm
Leather
Hole punch
Cap rivets
To make:
Lay out pieces of denim and cotton patched in a design pleasing to the eye. Ensure your patchwork design is slightly bigger than 42 by 46 cm.
Hand stitch with running stitch. Be creative. Think about the direction of your stitches. The majority of my stitching runs horizontally however I have emphasised the cotton patches with circular stitching or vertical stitching.
Repeat for the second side of the bag.
Don’t be afraid to change your mind about thread colour choice or direction of stitching. If you follow me on Instagram you will see that I changed the colour of the top right hand section.
Once you have completed your two sides use some craft glue spray to adhere the Annies Soft and Stable to the wrong side of each piece.
Stitch round the sides and the base. Ensure your seam is a centimetre in from the edge of your Soft and Stable to fully secure it in place.
Box the corners. To do this pull the bottom seam to meet the side seam and pin to hold. Using a quilting ruler mark a stitch line at right angles to your base. I created the base of the bag as 18cm wide, 9 cm either side of the bottom seam.
Trim this seam.
This is the main body of the bag finished.
Next you are going to make the lining. Iron the heavy weight interfacing to the back of the lining fabric. Prep two slip pockets, 17 by 16cm. Cut fabric . Turn over twice the top of the pocket and stitch. Fold and press twice the sides and bottom.
Pin centrally on your lining approximately down from the top of the bag, then stitch.
Insert a magnetic snap, centrally from the top.
Follow steps as for main bag – Stitch the side seams and along the bottom. Ensure you leave a gap for turning out along the bottom seam (I forgot and had to unpick!). Box the corners.
Place the lining inside the denim outer bag so the right sides are together. Pin into place and then stitch along the top.
Turn through. Slip stitch the opening in the base seam of the lining.
Top stitch the top of the bag, this will secure the lining and main bag together and strengthen the opening of the bag.
Cut out leather straps measuring 79 cm by 2.5cm.
Place on the bag and hold in place with clover clips. Punch two holes per strap with a hole punch and secure the straps in place with cap rivets.
For a tutorial on using cap rivets visit U-Handbag here.
I LOVE my new bag, far too time intensive to think of a new range for my Etsy shop but perfect for me:)
If you fancy entering Refashioners 2016 (remember the £1,000 worth of prizes up for grabs!) find more information here. If you do I would love to hear what you make.
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Don’t you just love it when you are gifted free fabric? I was lucky to receive this lovely soft cotton. Initially I dilemmered about what to make with it until I spotted a lovely top with free pattern from Collette. Its super quick to whip up. The top just slips over the head with no fastenings to contend with. Its a great pattern for practising sewing skills, perfect for a beginner.
I did try on for fitting – and took in an inch either side, something must have gone array with my measurements!
The only bit to be careful with is ensuring the pleat aligns when hemming.
I love how the edges are bound with bias binding. I picked a complimentary colour but you could easily choose to make your own bias binding with top fabric. The bias binding does not sit quite as neatly as I hoped, but practice makes perfect so they say! It goes beautifully with my trousers which I found at a car boot last summer.
I recommend this pattern, its perfect for beginner sewers with no fiddly fastenings:) With September turning out to be stunning weather it looks like I can wear it for a while yet:)
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The average family could save £700 a year, simply by throwing away less food.
We throw away 7 million tonnes of food and drink every year from home, costing us £12.5bn a year.” Love food hate waste
In our home I feel as though I loose half a loaf in uneaten bread crusts (I may have mentioned before that my children are fussy eaters). I inwardly groan when I open their lunch boxes and see the wasted bread crusts. Back at school this week we have agreed different breads so fingers crossed I will have no crusts! But I appreciate bread crusts are a common issue. So what to do with them?? Personally I cut them off and freeze them (cereal box liners are perfect for freezing them in).
10 plus ideas for using up bread crusts
Cheese pudding…..pour over a mix of eggs, milk, grated cheese….you can add fried onion, cooked chopped leeks, or bacon or ham!…bake in oven 180. until risen and golden. Delicious!
Fat cake for the birds
Crumble up the crusts with teeny bits of cheese – makes a nice topping for cobbler sand pasta dishes
Bread pudding, my husband loves Delia Smiths recipe
Croutons ….. Toss in oil and salt and pepper, add any other herbs etc and spread onto a baking sheet. Cook in low oven until brown and crunchy then put in an sealed jar good for soup and salads
Farmer’s Breakfast, a German dish normally using potatoes but you can use the bread in lieu of taters – recipe here
Apple dessert – Danish dish, recipe here
Panzanella a tomato and bread salad – recipe here
Topping for fish pie when mixed with grated cheese and parsley – instead of mash.
Apple Brown Betty , a traditional American desert – try this recipe
Bread crumbs, can be used in the following:-
To make mince go further,
Thicken soups or casserole sauces
Carrot burgers, recipe on the love food hate waste web site
I would love to hear what you make with left over bread,
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