Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Essential Accessories


There have been quite a few questions/comments on my gala purse, so here are some specifics.  I came across an online tutorial on Pinterest a while back, and thanks to the website, I could find it again when I needed it.  Who thinks of these fabric manipulations? – genius, I tell you!  I would never have figured it out on my own, that is for certain!


First I needed to figure out how many inches would be lost to the folding and stitching.  There is probably a scientific or mathematical way of doing this, but I do not have the patience for that.  Besides, I wanted to see what it was going to look like!


With my leftover yardage, I cut a piece and started the rather tedious task of chalking in a grid, making sure to leave a few inches on the sides so it could be sewn into a purse.


The frame is from Lacis.  Best of all, if I want to use it again, all I have to do is unscrew the end caps, and slide off the fabric without damaging either.


Since the frame had a place for adding a strap, I strung a few beads on some wire.  It lasted all evening, but the next morning when I opened it to pull things out, the wire broke (I guess it had been twisted one too many times).  Next time I will use thread or a better quality wire or perhaps a jump ring would work best.


In a perfect world, I would have had an extra week to spend on the piece, but it certainly served its purpose! 



Purse:  Made by me

10 comments:

  1. Incredibly lovely bag! You really knocked it out of the ballpark with this one (the intricacy of it is just amazing!).

    ♥ Jessica

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  2. Wow, that's really beautiful!
    Monique

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  3. Very nice and actually quite a lot simpler than you would think. I have seen this effect on a vintage night gown, you know the full the length noir type. It has some damage to it so it's lovely to see how it could be restored.

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    1. I know! It looks so much more complicated than it actually is - it just takes time!!

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  4. This is a very nice application of Canadian smocking. Congratulations! Back in the 50s and 60s, my mom used it a lot for throw pillows.

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  5. Very pretty - would love to see if this technique would work in a knit top.

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    1. All those tucks produce a textured fabric without much give, so it would certainly change a knit (added zippers and openings might need to be added). I would love to try it on a napped fabric, like velvet, although transferring all those markings would drive me bonkers!

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  6. I have this book, and thought of it as soon as i saw your purse. If you liked it, i highly recommend the book. I thought it was incredibly well done. However, i haven't actually tried to follow the directions in the book, so i don't know how well those are done, but the ideas that are in the book are well worth the price of it.

    http://www.amazon.com/The-Manipulating-Fabric-Colette-Wolff/dp/0801984963/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384441003&sr=8-1&keywords=manipulating+fabric

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