More fabric please….

I went to a friend’s house warming on the weekend and have now realised that my fabric collection is really very small. 

She had an SCA room where one wall was just filled with fabrics. This included folded pieces on shelves as well as entire bolts of cloth just leaning against the wall. 

I have maybe 10% of that. I feel so jealous and completely justified in buying more fabric. Not that I have any money >.<

Coin Purse

I finally bought a purse frame! I bought the 10cm one because I wanted to fit my loyalty cards in there as well. The size is really weird in that it’s just a little too big to be cute and a little too small to look functional >.<

Note: this is a sew on frame. I think the method works the same until the point where the frame is attached.

My method:

Step 1. The Template

One project complete!

I have finished making a zipped box pouch.

The pattern came courtesy of these tutorials:

Perfect Box Pouch Tutorial

http://dragoknit.blogspot.com.au/2007/02/box-bag-tutorial.html

The outer fabric is a quilt cotton print I got from Lincraft. I just couldn’t resist buying something from the sale 😛 I’m also planning on using for the flap of a messenger bag.

For the lining I used a brown cotton from a cheap pillowcase/bedspread set ($4 for the set from Ikea! Great deal, the brown has a very nice understated sheen to it).

I didn’t actually use any interweave, just the two layers of cotton. I found it holds its shape quite nicely still and I immediately stuffed it full anyway ^^

I think in hindsight I prefer the americana pattern as lining, or an accent instead of the whole thing. For something this small it just looks too busy.

Craft project ideas

I am currently overflowing with craft ideas and inspirations. So many ideas and so little time >.< I’m going to make a list here so I can get things straight in my head and so I don’t lose it 😛

Zipped pouch

This is my first attempt at making a zipped pouch. I got the tutorial from here: http://www.skiptomylou.org/2009/01/14/how-to-make-a-lined-zipper-pouch-tutorial/

How to make a basic fabric bow

As a distraction from Lincraft 1/2 price fabric sales, I made some of these small bows. I’m looking to add them to some hair clips later. Or maybe a bag/pouch…whichever I get the motivation to do first 😛

Step 1.  Decide what size you want your bow and cut fabric to width and about twice that length plus about 20 mm for edges.

Blue fighting garb

So my brother has been bugging me to make him some garb to wear over/under his armour. Basically he wants to wear it under his breast protection and over his leg belt and leg protection attachments. I went out with him the other day to go fabric shopping and he spotted this gorgeous blue linen. Unfortunately there was only 195cm of it left. I tried my best to make something simple and economical so I based it off a Japanese kosode. It’s what I’m most familar with.

My method:

Beige male hanfu

This is something I made about three weeks ago, my first attempt at hanfu.

It was pretty much based on this:

Light reading

So, just doing some reading on hanfu while I was bored I have come up with some conclusions:

1) the terms for hanfu clothing are confusing because
a. The meanings changed over time and between different Dynasties
b. the documentation from various periods of Chinese history give conflicting descriptions
c. The current revival of hanfu clothing in China has led to mismarketing, mislabelling and generic confusion on the specifics of various styles/hanfu periods

2) the various details for a more authentic piece of clothing include
a. The collar shape
b. the sleeve shape
c. The construction method of the skirt piece
d. The method of making the wrap piece

Orange hanfu

This is the most recent project that I’ve almost finished:

Oh, and say hello to my happy onigiri ^^. I didn’t make him, I bought him from Supanova last weekend. I thought this might be a good time to introduce him. He makes me happy.