Claire January 15th, 2013

With the weather turning a lot colder recently I’ve been making full use of the vast range of scarves, wraps and woolly things I’ve  amassed over the years.   Although I have a lot of things like scarves to keep me warm I love making more – it enables me to try out different stitches and use up odd bits of yarn from the stash, and is great when I want to relax and do something that isn’t that complicated and gives quite quick results.

I thought I would share this pattern with you, which is one I adapted from a kit that was sold in a little yarn shop in Ballymoney, and is really easy to work up regardless of what weight of yarn you have to hand.  It’s ideal for this weather as sometimes you don’t want to take all your woolly layers off when you go somewhere, and just want something small to keep you warm.  Worked in Double Knit weight yarn it would also be a nice addition for spring or autumn.

For this neck warmer I used some leftover Cygnet Chunky yarn that I had leftover from another project.  I’ve also made this using a fluffy Double Knit weight yarn too, to match a hat I had made.  I rummaged in my button tin to use up one of the odd buttons I have – this would be perfect if you have only 1 of a beautiful button and want something show it off.

This is a super simple seeded rib stitch pattern, and if you know how to knit and purl, you will be fine with this.

The original pattern asks you to work the button placket (which you can’t see that well under the button) in the same pattern you’ve been knitting in, but I think it is much easier to switch to garter stitch, especially if you aren’t that confident at knitting.

Download the pattern for the  Ribbed Neck warmer to print off.  I’ve also added it to Ravelry too!

Please let me know what you think to the pattern and share any pictures you have if you make it.  It’s the first knitting pattern I have adapted and shared for people to use – I hope that you like it!

Tags: free pattern, Knitting, Neck warmer

• clothing , pinky and boo , Tutorials
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Claire January 3rd, 2013

I’m a sucker for pretty bits of pottery, I really am.  Crockery mainly, but I’ll not rule out other bits and bobs as they pass by.  My excuse is always that it is generally useful and pretty and therefore more justifiable a purchase … although that’s never normally stopped me if there’s something that takes my fancy!  Leading up to Christmas and just after I managed to get yet more bits to add to my collection (and I need them like I need a hole in the head…) – 2 Johnstone Bros platters – a large Grey Dawn one and a smaller Rose Dawn, and some lovely Palissy dinner plates, side plates and 2 covered serving bowls from the 50′s.  So I needed to have a bit of a rearrange.  

When I originally repainted this dresser I wanted to store some of my baking equipment in the cupboards underneath, but that’s now had to move to a separate box next to the dresser to fit it all in!

As you can see I have a fair few bits and bobs in there….

On the shelves of the dresser is a lovely set with bluebirds on it that I bought from an antiques shop in Sheffield when we were visiting our lovely friend Lydia – I didn’t need it at all but couldn’t leave it behind.  I also have the Meakin jug I found on a car boot in a box of things that were all 20p.  It looked like it had just been dug out of someone’s garden and has a hefty chunk out of the rim, but despite all that I love it and its cheeky Parisian scene.

I haven’t taken a picture of what my crockery cupboard in the kitchen looks like as that’s rather embarrassing due to the amount of stuff I have in there…. I do have quite a bit of utility china and we use the Woods Ware Beryl dinner and side plates and soup bowls all the time, but I also have a tea set of the Iris (Blue) and a couple of bits of Jasmine (Yellow) that are in regular use as well as odd bits mainly of Meakin or Colclough.

As well as the dresser I also have a stash in the living room, thanks to last year my friend Hannah giving me a lovely china cabinet that we managed to shoehorn in next to David’s bookcase and the chimney breast, and that’s filled with all sorts of stuff that I have collected or that came from my mam’s china cabinet years ago.

Excuse the rubbish light – dark living room and winter = not conducive to taking pictures!

Finally, although it’s not china per se but I also have a display of my pretty pressed glass cake stands in the porch – I have far too many of these but, like pretty china I cannot resist a bargain and have collected them for years (way back when it used to be really easy and cheap to find bits and bobs before it became fashionable).

At least I use these, as well as the plates – I don’t drink tea or coffee so the tea sets only get cracked out every blue moon, although most people agree that they look too pretty to not have on display!

Writing this has made me realise I also have a whole stash of things on display in the kitchen that I also haven’t photographed – the blue and white Devon ware with place names on that I started collecting years ago and blogged about here, and a collection of milk jugs on a mug rack….  I’m beginning to think I have a problem!

Do you have any pretty bits of china that you couldn’t resist bringing home with you? I can’t be the only one with a “thing” for this sort of thing….!

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Claire November 7th, 2012

When I was 12, I was certain that one day I would go off to the Amazon to save the rainforest, or stop a whaling ship, or something. Needless to say I clearly was wrong in the predictions I had about my life.  My current job is managing a network of advice centres on behalf of the Citizens Advice Bureau, and is as stressful as it sounds, the amount of eczema on my hands being testament to that.  I don’t teach as much as I used to, either because the classes aren’t running due to lack of numbers, or mainly because I don’t seem to have the time or energy to do 2 or 3 classes per week on top of working full time.  Over time I have realised that I need to simplify my life, slow down a little bit and take care not just of those I love, but myself and my home and my bit of the environment.  I’m de-cluttering (hell, I sooo need to keep doing that!) and organising, trying to regain my love of cooking, enjoying the simple things like crocheting blankets to welcome new additions to the world, and have less stress both in my head and on my body, whilst trading a little more lightly on the planet.

One of the things I realised , and has been a good thing to come out of having itchy, sore,  unsightly (and frequently quite painful) eczema on my hands is the amount of chemicals that we use in our homes that affect us and the environment.  After cleaning the bathroom recently with a spray made by a well known UK manufacturer, I could barely breathe, my sinuses were so sore at the amount of perfume and chemicals that were in it.  The state of my hands was appalling too, even though most of the time when I am cleaning I use gloves. Cleaning the kitchen was the same.   Something had to change; I don’t remember my family using that many products when I was a child, our home was always scrupulously clean  but wasn’t filled with harsh chemicals.  I remember my mother knowing all sorts of things to use to remove stains, washing dishes with soda rather than washing up liquid, cleaning windows with vinegar and newspaper way before it became “fashionable” to do it the old fashioned way.  So I started to think about making my own cleaning products.  I know that out there are a hundred and one ways you can use the most random of things to clean (like banana skins to polish shoes), but in all honesty I don’t have either the time or the head space to be that green.   I do, however want to be able to use products like I have been doing efficiently but know what goes into them, and not suffer any ill effects afterwards.  So I did a bit of research.

The main ingredients that everyone seems to recommend are:

• Bicarbonate of soda (sodium bicarbonate)
• Borax
• Vinegar (distilled white, not malt!)
• Lemons
• Castile soap (which is made from olive oil)
• Essential oils

All of which I can get locally, don’t cost much (apart from the essential oils, but I already have a few of those) and will enable me to make lots and lots of cleaning products really quite cheaply.  I also decided to get myself some new bottles that could be re-used (I ordered mine from here as they were the cheapest I found in the UK with no minimum order) although as bottles become free (I’m not going to throw away what I have, that wouldn’t be very green, although I don’t have much to use up) I will start to clean them and use them too.

I found lots of recipes online from lots of different sites, so I thought I would collect the ones I have been trying here as a printable PDF of Thrifty and green cleaning recipes for you – as I try out new recipes I will add to them and update them.

The ones I really like are the shower spray (I usually use Method cleaners, which is great, environmentally friendly but not cheap) – my washing up liquid was orange scented, so to add to it I added a couple of drops of orange Essential Oil too, and my shower after doing a quick wipe round sparkled and smelled great.  I also love the linen spray – I used it to freshen up the curtains in our dining room and it smells lovely.  I think next time I will try orange flower water (get it at your supermarkets in the baking section) and some orange essential oil to mix it up a bit, or maybe rosewater and patchouli…..? And the Lemon and lime clean everything spray.  I have also tried the Bergamot laundry booster which smells gorgeous and is much, much cheaper than buying the usual oxygen releasing cleaners (and better for your skin too), and have put this in a cleaned up tub of the previous sort.

These don’t take long to make (I spent about half an hour making lotions and potions, and quite enjoyed it) so it’s no excuse to say that you don’t have the time to do it and buying products is quicker and cheaper!  I got my bicarb from the pound shop, the vinegar was super cheap in Wilcos, or local supermarkets/ shops.  We’re lucky in Nottingham to have a stall on the indoor market called Aladdin’s cave that stocks all the dry goods, including Borax, alongside all sorts of hardware, crockery, roasting dishes, and random bits like you find in Lakeland, only much, much cheaper.  The whole stall smells of moth balls and carbolic soap though, so if you don’t like the smell, I wouldn’t visit!  If you want to find Castille soap most health food shops sell it, or you can find it online.  Once you have things bought, you’ll be able to make lots of these cleaning products for a long time, so its much more economical in the long run.

As with everything there are some warnings as these ingredients, although common household items, are still chemicals.  Borax (or as is usual to get in the UK, Borax substitute) can irritate your skin, so wear gloves.  Essential oils are strong, and some are not recommended for use if you are pregnant, so be wary when you’re using them. Strong acids like in the lemon and lime cleaner whilst will kill germs and smells will also damage marble, if you have any.  And remember to label your bottles!

On the whole, I now feel that I can clean without burning my sinuses, it will damage the environment less and cost less, so my home and self are going to be much better off for it. So whilst I am not saving the Amazonian rain forest, I do feel that I can do my little bit to minimise my impact on the environment, keeping both my 12 year old and 36 year old selves happy.

Have you tried making your own cleaning products at all?  If you have any recipes or tips drop me a line or add a comment to share!

Tags: cleaning, making things

• home , pinky and boo , stuff I made , Tutorials
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Claire October 19th, 2012

Or in other words, a new shopping trolley bag.  Doesn’t sound that exciting does it?  Well this is something I have been meaning to do for the last few years and been going on about “I’m going to do that next week/ when I have some time/ right now if I could summon the energy”, but finally I put my money where my mouth is.

I got this shopping trolley second hand at a local market for £4 about 6 years ago, and I think in terms of cost per use it paid for itself within a couple of months.

(I love how Stella decided she wanted to be in the picture!)

I know shopping trolleys aren’t cool or sexy, but when you don’t drive and want to do a big shop/ carry heavy things this has been brilliant and at times an absolute life-saver.  Its also proved useful helping me lug things round for my classes; when I used to teach a printing course my trusty HP printer would be lobbed in it along with a ton of chemicals and rolls of paper, and off to work I would go.  But it was looking sad.  It never looked amazing but had progressively gone downhill over the last year or so.  It didn’t help when Stella decided she would have a go at nesting in it for a while.  Then the sides decided to rip…

Finally last weekend I decided I had had enough and set about making a new bag identical to the old one.  I’d actually bought the oilcloth and vinyl almost 2 years ago, but clearly had never got round to doing anything about it.

The bag itself was super simple, and the construction was quite easy to figure out too, even though I decided to line it (I think if I need to wash the bag by hand that would be fine).  It also gives a bit of strength to the vinyl used for the main body of the bag (an eBay bargain) as it was quite soft, and doesn’t have a woven backing, unlike the Mexican oilcloth used for the pocket front and flap (that, as ever is from the amazing Viva La Frida).  I lined it with a remnant of creamy/beige cotton curtain lining that I picked up locally for a couple of pounds.  The only tricky part of all of this was wrestling it on the machine when I attached the lining to the bag sandwiching inside the drawstring, and that was only because of the sheer weight of slippery stuff I was putting through the machine.  I used normal polyester thread (I did debate over using some heavier-weight thread but didn’t have it in the colour I wanted to made do) and a thick sewing needle (leather point) and that was fine to go through it all.

The bag attaches to the frame with straps round the back, and a strip of Velcro holding it in place at the top, and closes with a drawstring and toggle, with more Velcro on the pocket and flap.

David’s opinion on it is that it is far, far too bright, and he wants me to make a more subdued one for him to use when he helps with the shopping, and I have some of the same polka dot vinyl only this time grey with white dots that I can use (I would like some colour in too so I think some mustard yellow trim would look lovely as a highlight….. although that seems to deviate from the “subdued” request somewhat).

Anyhoo, I love it, and am really pleased with it and can’t wait to go shopping with it (any excuse eh?) and even have dreams of making matching  bags for life, although I need more re-usable bags like I need a hole in the head.

If anyone is interested in making one of their own I am happy to share it as a tutorial, just get in touch and I will take pictures whilst I make the David-style one!

Tags: oilcloth, shopping

• Bags , pinky and boo , stuff I made
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Claire August 24th, 2012

Nope, I am not a doughnut, and actually JFK didn’t say he was either.  But I have just returned from a lovely short break in Berlin.  Hubby was over in Poland playing with his “wee men” as he does every year, so as it was near our wedding anniversary (yesterday, 4 years – how time flies!) we thought it would be a good idea to spend a few days together afterwards in Berlin.  We seem to have picked the hottest time of the year, and there was a bit of a heatwave going on when I arrived (35 degrees is far too hot for me!) but it was still lovely.  So in the spirit of a show and tell, here’s some pictures from our trip.

We stayed at the DDR design Hotel, Ostel (DDR in case you were wondering stands for the Deutsche Democratic Republic, or the East German side to us) – it’s in a block of buildings and is totally refitted to be in keeping with cold-war era design.  Down to the fact there was no lift, TV or air conditioning.  But we didn’t realise it would be as hot as it was.  Or that we would be given a room on the top (6th) floor….

The room itself, like the rest of the hotel was really cool in its design – lots of mad wallpaper and original lights.

Instead of having a TV we had an original radio, although the only station we could tune into was one that seemed to only play English songs, and cheesy ones at that.  Cue lots of Phil Collins, Abba and Chris De Burgh.

I have to say despite there being no lift and you then being stupidly hot when you got upstairs, I loved it – it had a really friendly atmosphere and was incredibly cheap too.

Berlin was lovely; I had been before, and this time the only thing that spoiled it slightly was the sheer volume of building works that were tearing things up and making a noise and mess.  Saying that, in comparison to the UK, even the building works seem a lot more civilised and efficient.

The Berliner Dom was so pretty, and I love this picture with the Alexanderplatz tower behind it.  There was a cafe downstairs we visited to have a bit of a rest in that had the most gorgeous chocolate and cherry cake I think I’ve every eaten.  No pictures of that.  It didn’t stay on the plate long enough!

Museum island was pretty, although we left it a bit too late to have a proper look round the museums so we just sat outside in the fresh air and took in the scenery.

No matter where you are in Berlin you can’t escape the heavy involvement of the City in world history, although this period fascinates both David and myself, so it was actually something we had a look round rather than trying to ignore.  We walked through the Brandenburg gate and had a look at the Reichstag – look closely enough and you can see the repaired bullet holes.  As it was growing darker we walked round the Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe (above) – an maze  of huge concrete blocks of different sizes and heights, and with the floor undulating you can be waist height at one minute then the next the blocks are towering over your heads.  For me the most clear symbol of the situation was seeing flights of steps leading down to the underground museum at one point completely blocked by a slab of concrete.

We also walked round the Topography of Terrors which is built on land that was one of the main offices of the Third Reich (we know how to party don’t we?!) which still freaks me out – it’s beautifully done and is just quite factual about the atrocities that were committed.  The picture that spoke most to me was SS officers on a day off wearing party hats, whilst you were reading about the individuals and what they had done/ ordered.  Completely surreal.  We had also looked round the museum at Checkpoint Charlie which was fascinating, especially when it gets to more recent times where there are names I recognised from watching the news with my parents.  I wasn’t entirely pleased to see that the first shop you get to when you are on the American side is a McDonalds….we did nickname it McCheckpoint Charlie after that.

It really is a lovely city though, very friendly and relaxed (not like London!) – the trains were on time and efficient and with the help of the map we were easily able to find our way round, despite the fact neither of spoke any German (I only did a year of German at school because it meant I then didn’t have to take part in the bloodbath that was hockey, and I found strangely that didn’t have much call to tell people my name and that I have red hair.  Or find my way to the library).

On our final night there we found a little restaurant near Alexanderplatz that was so sweet, playing lots of very jolly 1920′s and 30′s music, and that served currywurst.  It wasn’t an expensive meal, and the place was tiny but I can’t explain how happy being there made me.

I told David I wanted to open up a European style bakery and cafe and became quite carried away with ideas for it (although we all know it won’t happen!).  I did, however come home with a mahoosive bottle of curry ketchup so I can try to recreate the meal we had….

Next year we don’t know if the wee men competition will take place in Poland again, or whether it will be in Germany, but either way we’ll be having a mini break attached to it again.  I’m hoping it will be in Germany again as I want to visit somewhere with forests and lakes and pretty cabins.  And where I can get a dirndl skirt too.  Though I somehow doubt I would be able to get David into some lederhosen! xoxo

Tags: Berlin, Germany, holidays

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Claire August 1st, 2012

Well, not quite, I just thought that I would share some of my recent holiday snaps with you.  Typical British weather, we went to our usual haunt in North Norfolk, Cromer, and the weather only really picked up once I was getting ready to leave (yes, I left on what is being known as the second week of summer weather…), but it was lovely to just get away from it all, chill out and take in the scenery.  Wish I was there right now…. and as you can tell from the pictures, all we did was pootle onto the beach, sit watching the sea, and generally meander around.  Not the most thrilling, fast paced holiday but just what the doctor ordered.  Have you got any holiday plans this year?  Hope the weather is better soon whatever you’re up to.

See, not quite wordless….. x

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Claire July 9th, 2012

Poor pun there.  Really no excuse for it but I couldn’t think of anything more exciting to use as a title!  Our WI had the annual summer fete on Saturday, and it was a great day.  I was quite grumpy at the start of the day after not having more than a few hours sleep and being quite hormonal, but after a cake and a Mariachi style version of “Hotel California” I mellowed out a little bit and got into the swing of things!  Probably the sugar rush from having one of these for breakfast helped too!

There were lots of new stalls this year, which added to the variety on offer for people, and it was really good chatting to some new people, although it did remind me that Nottingham really is a small city when you discover someone you’ve never met before knows half the people you do!  One of the new stalls was my lovely friend Vicky’s first venture into selling plants, which luckily proved to be popular with the people who came along.

Doesn’t the stall look pretty?  That’s my gingham clad backside trying to wangle it’s way in to the shot there, oops!  I had my stall next to Vicky so I was able to gibber at her all day – poor thing, I tend to get a bit hyper and chatty when I am running on adrenaline, so goodness knows if I made any sense at all!

Leanne, another one of my friends and a fellow WI committee member was offering manicures and selling some of her fabulous pre-painted nails; I think what I marvel most about it how she manages to get the whole set to match so perfectly – check out her Etsy shop if you don’t believe me!

And I had managed to get some new stock for the stall (lots of late nights and frantic sewing as per usual….) – this time I decided to take along the things I know are usually popular that I had a few of – I am always conscious that my stall can easily look a bit like a jumble sale with lots of bright colours and “stuff” everywhere, so I wanted to make it a bit nore streamlined this time.  Along with the retro aprons (new colourways and styles this time),peg bags, sewing baskets, pin cushions and needlecases, make up bags and brooches, I took along coat hanger sets (one crochet, one vintage fabric), padded notice boards, lucite jewellery, crochet tea cosies and scrap bags made from some of the de-cluttering I have forced myself to do.  I left at home the bits where I only had one or two of them, like pencil rolls and laundry bags.  My next aim is to get some stuff back in the shop (once the server has been re-built and messed around with – no doubt David has told me the technical term for it, but that’s where my knowledge ends…) and on Etsy, otherwise it will be sitting round til the next summer fete!  But overall I am pleased with the way it looked and it felt less cluttered (although I couldn’t fit much more on the table if I tried!).

And the piece de resistance as ever is the cake stall, which I am sure you will agree looks amazing!   No matter what else the WI are involved in, be it campaigning or education, it always comes with a respected history of baking excellent cakes, and I don’t think we let the side down at all!

I took along a chocolate fudge cake and flapjacks, and I can personally vouch for the fabulousness of the strawberry cupcakes that Kerry our President  made, the strawberry and cream Victoria Sponge, lemon drizzle buns, rice crispie cakes…all in the name of charity you understand!

Well, that’s it over now for another year, we raised money for a fantastic cause, ate cake and had fun, so what more could we ask for? (apart from some sunshine, but that’s a given really!) and that’s not something that anyone, not even the WI can control!

If you would like to know more about joining the WI have a look here to find your local branch, and if you’re in Nottingham come and join us – I’m sure you’d love it xoxo

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Claire June 21st, 2012

Hi, my name is Claire and I am a member of the Women’s Institute.   Very proud member in fact; so much so I volunteer on the committee too.  Our WI is one of the newer generation of WIs where most of our members are in their 20′s/30′s, most work full time or are studying but all have an interest in cooking, crafting, gardening and generally meeting other interesting people.  I think that the perception of the WI is changing, mainly thanks to some of the other, newer WIs springing up all over the place, and popular media is helping too with films, TV shows and documentaries.

I probably had one of the best introductions to being in a WI as the first meeting I went to was a baking taster evening in Oct 2010 – the range of baked goods that evening was amazing and I met loads of other new people who were also new to the WI.  I’m actually quite reserved (I hesitate to use the word shy) with people that I don’t know, and wondered if this would be somewhere that people would be friendly (I can feel quite panicky in new social situations) but I need not have worried.  I even got chatting to a lady from Ballymoney where David’s family live, really proving that it is a genuinely small world!   One of the nicest things about our WI (and the other couple of WIs I have visited) is that they are really friendly, so you never really feel on your own as there’s usually a bunch of people that introduce themselves to you before you’ve had a chance to get a cuppa!

So, what do we do, apart from eat cake?  Well cake clearly does feature significantly in most of the things we are associated with, but there’s more to us than that.  Each month we have a guest speaker on a topic that is of interest to the group – last month we had a talk on organic gardening from Ecoworks.  We have also had talks on vintage fashion, eating seasonably, and the work of the Lincs and Notts Air Ambulance.  Sometimes we book guest speakers, other times we have really fascinating talks from within the membership, such as our January meeting where one of our members spoke about her experiences of volunteering to help clear up the damage left by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  Next month we are having Robin Hood guide us on a walk around Nottingham.

The WI also have a long history of (and a fearsome reputation for) campaigning on a variety of issues, from environmental campaigns such as helping save the bumblebee, to reducing packaging on foods (I love that some WIs took back all of their excess packaging to the supermarket and dumped it on the manager for them to deal with).  The current resolution (what members vote on and what will be campaigned on in the following year) is to call for more midwives, and for more midwife training.   The resolutions are proposed by members, and voted on so whatever causes are close to people’s hearts they have a chance to submit proposals each year to be (hopefully) selected and voted on – I like the democracy of the process, which seems to make a refreshing change in the current climate!

One of the things we do really well in Nottingham City WI is our fetes – this year will be the third fete we have held, and the second one that I have been involved in.  This is one of the main ways we raise money for charity – this year’s nominated charity is The Friary Drop In, an organisation I work with closely in my day job and who do some pretty phenomenal work with really disadvantaged people, on next to no money.  We raise money for this by selling cakes – have a look at the cake table from last year:

(Excuse the rubbish picture – these were taken on my phone as I had sensibly left the camera at home…!) and by having a raffle, which last year was epic and covered the bar upstairs completely.

Speaking personally it’s the only place pretty much I sell my Pinky and Boo bits and bobs now, and there are lots of other really talented crafters out there who also sell their work too.

This was my stall last year: 

This year our fete is on 7th July at Cape Bar in Hockley, Nottingham from 11-3.  I know I could be accused of being biased, but you really aught to come down and have a look.  Not only is there the amazing cake stall and raffle (which lets face it is actually reason enough) but you can get hold of some lovely crafts, clothing, home grown plants, pottery, even get your nails manicured!  And meet some lovely people in the process of it all too.  Who knows, you may even end up joining us too!

If you don’t live in Nottingham, find out where your nearest WI is – I thoroughly recommend you find out what they’re up to, you may be surprised! xoxo

P.S.  We don’t sing Jerusalem either!

• craft fairs , crafts , nottingham , pinky and boo , stuff I made , Womens Institute
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Claire June 11th, 2012

It’s been a long, long while since I have posted here hasn’t it?  It’s always been my intention to start blogging again, but sometimes life gets in the way.  However, as they say the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, so here’s mine – a super easy (if slightly wordy) tutorial to show you how to make a pillowcase into a shopping bag.  

These are great for when you go charity shopping/ car booting as you can ram a significant amount of stuff into them, yet they fold down to next to nothing.  Enjoy!

You will need:

• A cotton pillowcase, or equivalent amount of fabric.  Try to pick one that isn’t too thin or worn – you don’t want your shopping falling out!  If you want to make a really sturdy bag you may want to line it, in which case you would need 2 pillowcases.

• Small amounts of a co-ordinating fabric for the straps and ties – I have used some gingham here, but if you wanted to make this project even quicker you could use cotton webbing for the straps and ribbon for the ties.

• Braid or lace (optional) – I like to embellish things – just because something is practical doesn’t mean it can’t be pretty too.  I used some vintage cotton lace here as I had a small amount left, but you could use braid, ribbon, ric rack…. Or leave it plain.  You need enough to go all the way round the top of your bag, so around 1.5 metres will be plenty.

• Sewing machine and matching thread

• Stitch ripper/ unpicker (optional but makes life a bit easier)

• Scissors

• Pins

• Tape measure

• Iron and ironing board

1. Make the bag

The first thing you need to do is give your pillowcase a good iron – especially if you have had it stored for a while.  Once you have it ironed , you are going to chop off the end that is open, at the point where the inside “flap” starts.  If you have a particularly long pillowcase, or it doesn’t have a wide folded over flap on the inside feel free to chop it where it looks reasonable.  Measure from the sewn edge towards the open edge and mark with pins where you will cut, making sure you have a nice straight line to follow.  Keep the discarded fabric, you may want to use it for another project.

You now should have a long-ish square that will become your bag.  If you keep your bag with the opening you have just cut on the right hand side as you look at it, you need to either cut or use the stitch ripper  to open up the seam at the top, which will become your bag opening.

Turn your bag inside out, and pin the edge you cut, and sew with a 1.5cm seam allowance, leaving the top edge open.

You may want to sew all the way round the 3 sides to reinforce the stitching that it already there, but this is up to you.  You now have a bag.

To make your bag have a wider bottom, like mine in the picture, you need to make corners on the bottom and sides.  To do this, pinch the bottom seam and the side seam together so they form triangles – try and make sure you line up the seams accurately to get a nice, straight edge.  How far down the line you want to sew is up to you, just remember the further down you sew the wider the bottom of the bag will be, and it will make it become  more triangular in shape.  I sewed mine down 5cm from the point, making sure both corners were the same.

2. Make the straps and ties.

• To make the bag straps, cut 2 strips of fabric 12cm by 70cm (if you want shorter straps then try 12cm by 50cm) from your co-ordinating fabric.
• To make the ties cut a strip 9cm by 70cm (unless you are using ribbon / webbing, in which case you can skip this stage).

Fold each strap in half lengthwise, with right sides facing (so you sew on the wrong side of the fabric), and pin so you make a long tube of fabric.  Sew with a 1cm seam allowance, and turn them both the right way out (you may find this easier if you use a chopstick or something blunt/ that won’t mark your fabric.

For the ties, fold the strip in half with wrong sides facing, and tuck in each raw edge about 1/2cm, pinning as you go.  Once you have it pinned all the way down, fold in the ends at the top and bottom.  Sew across the top, along the long edge and across the bottom.  Give the straps and ties a press with the iron ready to attach to the bag.  Fold the tie in half lengthways and cut, so you now have 2 ties with sewn ends.

3. Finish the bag.

You need to make a hem at the opening of the bag – if you unpicked your pillowcase you will probably find that you have a little fold about 1cm in already made for you – tuck this under, and fold over again about 2.5cm so that the raw edge is enclosed.  Pin in place.

Find the middle of your bag opening either by measuring, or folding in half lengthways.  Tuck your ties (cut edge) under the hem, then fold up so that they stick out of the top rather than hanging into your bag.  Measure 10cm away from your ties, mark and tuck under the edges of the straps, making sure that the straps aren’t twisted!  To help with this I usually put the sewn edge towards the middle.

Sew, using a fairly small stitch close to the folded over edge, being careful when you go over the straps and ties, and overlapping.  Take your time over this as you don’t want to hit the folded fabric at a high speed and damage your sewing machine!

Now, turn your bag the right way out so you can attach the trimming.  Starting at a side seam pin in place – I put mine a few millimetres from the folded edge, pinning all the way round, and tucking in the raw edge when you meet at the beginning again.  Sew in place, handstitching the braid ends if necessary.

If you decide to not put any trim on you will need to still do a line of stitching to make sure your bag is strong enough and that the handles and ties are in the right place.Trim off any excess threads and give the bag a press.

To fold up for your handbag, fold the left side of the bag into the middle, fold in the straps and fold over the right side.  Roll up from the end , cross the ties over at the top, wrap around and tie in a bow.

After all that sewing you’re ready to go shopping!

• Bags , pinky and boo , sewing and crafting , Tutorials
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Claire November 27th, 2010

Here’s the instructions and information for the second of the tutorials for foldaway shopping bags, the strawberry shopper.  I do hope that you liked the previous tutorial - if you make anything from these tutorials please let me know, I’d love to see them!

For the strawberry bag you will need:

• Pillowcase (try and find one that doesn’t crease too badly – maybe one with polyester in it.  Since this gets stuffed into the strawberry you don’t want it to come out looking like a dish rag!)
• Square of red polka dot fabric 26cm x 26cm (you could use plain red and embroider or paint the dots/ seeds on if you wish/ have the time)
• Strip of green fabric
• Green bias binding (I used cotton, but you could always make a small strip for this bag from fabric; I’m just being a little lazy here!)
• 3 metres of bias binding to use around the handles (this should be more than enough so don’t worry if you have less in)
• Green cord suitable for a drawstring
• Matching thread – green, red and something to match your bias tape or pillowcase.
• Pins
• Scissors
• Sewing machine
• Iron
• Patterns for leaves and cut outs:
• Strawberry bag handle No1
• Strawberry bag handle pattern No 2
• Strawberry leaf pattern 1
• Strawberry leaf pattern 2

To make bag:

To prepare the pillowcase for being turned into a bag, you need to first undo the “flap” that is on the inside (the bit that keeps the pillow in place – you don’t need to be too careful in removing this, unless you are as tight with fabric as I am and plan on using it for something else.  Otherwise just snip along the line of sewing it’s attached to.

Once you have snipped the fabric away both sides just pull it out and leave it.  Then you need to mark a line (I used pins but you may want to use chalk if you prefer) 50 cm from the bottom edge of the bag, like this:

Place the patterns on for the side and top cut outs onto your bag, and cut out.  You will be left with what looks like a carrier bag but the handles being open, like this:

You now need to join the handles together; turn the bag inside out, and pin along the raw edge at the top of the handle, then sew using a small stitch a couple of times in the same line.   I used a 1cm seam allowance for this – remember it is this seam that takes the weight of what you have in your bag so you want it to last!

You are now ready to attach your bias binding round the handles.  I use bias binding because it not only gives you a chance to tie in some colours (I used red because of the strawberry) but also because doing a hem on a curved edge isn’t that easy.  Fold the bias tape in half, creasing with your finger, and with the resulting “V” shape fit this over the raw edge of your fabric.  Pin in place, remembering to tuck in or join your strips together so no raw edges are sticking out.  I started from the seam so that it wouldn’t be really obvious where the bias tape began.  You also need to attach bias tape to the opening of the bag – try and make sure you don’t have any bulky seams or joins where your hands would be when you are carrying the bag; you want the bag to be comfortable to use.  Sew in place using matching thread.

Once you have given it a bit of a once-over with your iron, the bag part is complete.  Now you need to make your strawberry.

To make your strawberry: Cut the square in 2 diagonally, and place right sides together, pinning like this:

Using matching thread sew along the 2 shorter sides of the triangle.  Clip the corners off to redce the amount of bulk and turn round to the right side.  Iron.

Now you need to assemble your strawberry:

Using something like your finger as a guide, place the stawberry you have just sewn over the right hand corner of the bag (you can put it on the left if you want, but it will be on the right hand side when you turn it over!).  I tend to poke my finger into the corner of the bag, and place the strawberry on top, and wiggle it a bit to make sure it is in as far as it can be, if that makes sense.  Pin your strawberry in place, making sure you don’t pin both sides together!

Next you need to add your leaves – they should lay across the top of your strawberry (if you have done slightly less of a seam allowance then you may need to gather or pleat your leaves slightly to make them fit properly.  Pin in place, on both the front and the back.  Sew them down either by tacking by hand, or really close to the edge of the fabric (so that it will be hidden once you put your binding in place) like this:

Once you have your leaves and strawberry sewn in place, you need to add your bias binding.  Cut a strip of binding long enough to cover the raw edges of fabric, and fold under about 1 cm each side.  Pin in place, starting from the middle and working your way to the sides.  When you reach the edges of the channel (which are at the sewn seams of the bag/ strawberry) you need to tuck the ends under so that they form a neat line, like this:

You need to have an opening at both seams to be able to thread the cord through and tie it.  You may choose to only have one opening, in which case I suggest that it would be on the side edge of the bag, and you may want to use a taggle or something to help draw the bag in and keep it that way.

You now sew along in a continuous line all the way around, making sure that you overlap your stitches from where you started, as this area gets a lot of stress when you use the drawstrings.  Remember to use a small stitch for strength, and a matching thread for your fabric on the top and bottom.

Once you have sewn all the way round the top and bottom of your bias binding, you are ready to add your cord.  You can make the ties as long as you want – mine were cut to 80cm.  If possible (if using synthetic cord – it won’t work if it’s cotton!) singe the ends of the cords to seal them either by passing them through a flame or putting them near some heat – be careful when you do this however as molton cord is painful if it hits your skin, and you don’t want to start a fire!  You will need 2 cords that are long enough to tie in a knot after being threaded through the bias binding.

Using a sfaety pin, start at one opening, thread your cord all the way round until it comes out next to where it went in.  Tie this off in a knot at the end of the cord.  Next thread your other cord, and start at the other gap in your binding, threading it all the way round until it comes out and tying it off.  Now it should look like this:

Give your bag a final press with the iron, taking care that you don’t melt the cord!  Your bag is complete now – just stuff the bag into the strawberry, pull the cords and you’re ready to go shopping!

Enjoy xoxo

Tags: bags, tutorial

• pinky and boo , Tutorials
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