Nayu's Feature Post #4 London Embroidery Exhibition 12th-13th July

This post is all about bags, so it seems fitting that I show you my main bag (I don't have many) - it's the lovely Gorjuss Ladybird girl! The other side is a little different, but this is the only picture I could find quickly online.

Note: Anything in black font is my own thoughts, anything in purple is taken from emails/websites, which I give the source where possible.

Company logo

This request came through on my book review blog, but since it's a craft themed event I thought I'd talk about it here! I didn't go, and as you can see from the post's title it is now over - this is the earliest I've been able to put the post together Here's the info from the email I received from Hand & Lock's agent (unsure of correct term to use in this instance. Might be publicist, but not quite sure). Hand & Lock explain themselves best on their website: 

Hand & Lock are London’s premier embroidery house providing embellishment services to the Royal Family, top European design houses, the Royal Armed Forces, Savile Row and members of the public. In our central London atelier we offer a range of services from hand monograms and bridal customisation to goldwork blazer badges and machine embroidered logos. Every commission we undertake receives the highest care and attention from our team of dedicated embroidery designers and expert embroiderers. Whether you are a top Italian designer or a new parent looking to monogram your daughter’s christening outfit the process the process is exactly the same.

This bag is by Aspinal of London Someone in my family loves poppies, which I believe these flowers are (no idea about what type the butterfly is - I can only identify a cabbage white!) The stitching is perfect, and  looks a sophisticated bag

Wow. That's quite an impressive list of clients, as well as being a long established business before the 21st century!  Even before seeing any of the pictures I knew the bags would be exquisite, and they are! I can pretty much guarantee none of them would be under £30 which is the most I've ever spent on a bag (I'm not a bag buying type of girl). 

This beautifully coloured bag is by Jill Haber. I find the eye creepy, but ignoring that (a bit hard...) I love the turquoise and gold flower (except I'm sure it's meant to be a hand), with the stars accenting the corners. Not entirely sold on what looks like a bellpull, but overall it's a pretty creation.

Anyway, from the original email I was told that Hand and Lock is hosting the London Embroidery Exhibition featuring lots of amazing collaborations they’ve worked on over the years including pieces straight from the Vivienne Westwood AW17 runway and Mary Katrantzou.  Among these gems, we also have the ‘Embellished Bags’ – a project where Hand & Lock have teamed up with the following iconic hand bag designers to create an exclusive limited edition collection: Aspinal of London, Jill Harber, Vivienne Westwood, Alfie Douglas, House of Holland, Lost Property of London, BVS Design, Asprey, The Cambridge Satchel Company, Lulu Guiness, Globe-Trotter, Patrick Cox and Agnes B. 

This understated yet elegan Fleur de Lys bag is by Patrick Cox. I love the contrast between the plain white/cream and the heavily patterned symbol.

I've heard of Vivienne Westood, but that's about the only designer I recognise - I'm not really into bags at all, but knowing designers has nothing to do with admiring these works of fine craftmanship! I've saved my favourite until last, a modern design which while I'm not overly fond of red things (I know my bag is red, but it depends what type of red) this is the bag that grabbed my eye the most, and is by Henry Holland. I like the swirly bits and the way the colours both stand out and compliment each other.

A Hentry Holland bag

I hope you've enjoyed this feature post - hopefully there will be more exhibitions like this in the future that I can share with you!

Nayu's Project Progress #23 Portable DVD Player Bag

Pretty!

Morning all! For those of you who keep tabs on me on Twitter or Facebook (although mostly Twitter, as I always post there and posting on Facebook when it's not for a post is hit and miss at the moment) you'll have seen the above image this week. I was using the fabric to make a cute bag from this book. 

What I love about the book is how many photos and illustrations there are because of the younger reader group it's aimed at. It's super easy to follow, and took just 4 hours for me to make a cute bag for my portable dvd player! I've got a new one which didn't come with a bag like it's predecessors, so I needed to make one. It's the first time I've sewn with wadding (aka batting in the USA, which I have a habit of saying and confusing my family with), and the longest part was the measuring and cutting out stage. 

And the ironing stage. I didn't have to iron the wadding though.

I sewed the handles using a different pattern to the suggested handle version for the bag. I managed to go a bit wrong too...

A lopsided handle isn't a good thing...

Here's the detail of where I sewed it to the inside fabric by accident.

...I sewed the handle to the bag in an extra place! It didn't take long to unpick the stitches, but it gave me a newfound respect for sewers on the 2016 BBC Great British Sewing Bee who have to unpick during one of their challenges - mine was easy to see and I had all the time in the world, they use tricky fabrics and are extremely time limited! 

Tada! This is how the book looks, with the ends not sewn in...

I honestly had meant to sew in the ends today, but ran out of time so you'll have to put up with them. I adore the funky cherries on the outside and the cute purple white gingham on the inside. The ribbons are not appropriate for the bag - they are too flimsy to hold something heavy, but I'd made this as a trial because I had no idea how successful I'd be (I'm not that confident a sewer) so simply used whatever spare ribbon I could find. This bag will hold light items only! Another will be made this month, hopefully. ^o^

I'd love to hear what you think of it! 

Nayu's Craft Time #105 Experiments galore!

A sign Spring is on the way!

  Sorry for disappearing for a few days - cold weather still doesn't agree with me, and on Monday it was time to take my super strong pain medication, so needed a few days before I could get back into blogging. If I blog in the comfort of my room I'm able to do blog work, which is a relief since I've missed it and love sharing with you what I've been up to! 

I made this!

Some of you may remember me mentioning an experiment, which I refused to reveal until it was complete. Well, as you can see from the top of the post it is finished! I'd decided to make a granny square bag. It was entirely my own design, right down to the handles which I did row crochet for the first time! 

Let me tell you row crochet is next to impossible to undo if you go wrong (it's entirely possible I'm going about undoing it in the wrong way), but is simple and grows quickly. I only know that because the first handle I made was initially put in the wrong position (preventing the bag from being opened too wide), so I had to do undo what I could and put it in the correct place. Since this is a prototype I didn't bother redoing it completely. 

Inside the bag with my phone as a size guide.

I didn't make a deeper bag because that's pretty much all I had of that colour yarn. Well, I've got enough to try a much smaller bag, which is taking time because I can't remember how I did the corners when joining it all together. Yes I am finding that as amusing as it as annoying, and hope I figure it out soon! The bag can take lightweight items, obviously nothing too small (so pens and pencils are out of the question, but in thinking ahead for future creations I will look into a denser crochet stitch so that anything can be stored in the bag. 

While being ill I have managed some other crochet. There's the heart which isn't quite a heart: 

I couldn't seem to make the dip of the heart deeper with the pattern used. I temporarily gave up after trying 3 more patterns which I simply couldn't get on with. The search for the ideal crochet heart continues!

Then there's these cotton make up remover pads which took a while to perfect: I'd made a good sample in one type of yarn, but the thinner yarn needed a few goes before I got it just right. 

This isn't the final verison, but it's very close to it.

 I ended up needing to use a smaller hook and more stitches. The hours of undoing and redoing yarn was totally worth it as I've finally got a workable pattern. Unlike my bags I wrote down the final version so I don't have to struggle to remember it. 

What's inside this?

On Monday I had my monthly meet up with a friend where we sit and do craft together. I managed to start and finish a project! Unfortunately I can't show you what it is because it's a present, but I should be able to show it to you by April. 

The extent of my baking.

I'm crafting when I'm up for it, and mixing it up alongside more restful activities such as watching anime and reading. I haven't made anything recently due to being ill, unless boiling eggs counts, but I have a few treats which I hope to make in the following weeks. 

Time for me to go do something ordinary - hang laundry up to dry! Then time for a smoothie while I work through my mandatory anime watching (4 episodes is just enough to help me unwind each day), probably opting for orange and carrot with spinach (way nicer than it sounds). I'll be working with the cute purple yarn this evening if I'm not too tired.