Cosy Project

More press and an opportunity for you to buy an ikatbag pattern that hasn't actually gone on sale here on the blog! 

Well that totally made sense, so let me explain (hopefully succinctly).

Some time back, the Australian craft-and-sewing magazine Homespun

commissioned me to design a sewing pattern to make a softie cat family (specifically, a mother cat and her kittens that zip into her belly for storage). Folks who wanted to sew that cat family would buy that issue of Homespun. Easy.

But consider two limitations:

1. People living in countries with no/limited access to the print copies of Homespun were unable to get their hands on the print copies of Homespun, or else did with difficulty.
2. Once the issue was out of print, there was no easy way to get that particular issue if you wanted to get that pattern.

Enter Cosy Project, an online database of patterns for many of the popular projects featured in past issues of Homespun. These include sewing, embroidery, crochet, knitting and quilting. So now you can buy the pdf pattern (templates and instructions) for my Cat & Kittens! And for each sale, the designer (i.e. me) gets 10%.

So, if you've ever had your eye on that Cat-&-Kittens project but didn't know how to obtain it, you now do! I'd say the difficulty level is very similar to the Pig-&-Piglets, (since it's a variation of that theme) 

one: there's a zippered pocket, and 3D construction, and the kittens, being small, have some small pieces to keep track of. 

Other news: we are remodeling the kitchen.

All I will say is that it is madness like you wouldn't believe. Our lives are in constant flux, and with so little stability, blogging and photo-editing and any creative pursuits, really, went out the window. January was literally a black hole (the children, though, thought it was great fun to have all our rooms mixed up and to live as if we were on a perpetual camping trip. Indoors.).

Then, suddenly, it's February. And it is time to move on. I may not have a kitchen but I still have a sewing room and a camera and by Jove, there shall be Harry Potter posts! And soft toys! Random cardboard knick-knacks! And maybe even drafting! And now, friends, once more unto the breach!

Cardboard Shoutout

Very excited to show you what arrived in the mailbox this weekend:

Isabelle Bruno's and Christine Baillet's Reinventer series of books by the French publishing company Hoebeke Editions features fun new ways to use familiar products and materials. The first two books were all about Lego and IKEA.

The newest book, Reinventer Ses Emballages is all about packaging materials - - a little bit upcycling, a little bit repurposing and a whole lot of art, readers are challenged to put a new spin on an old thing that's headed for the recycling bin. 

I am ridiculously thrilled to say that I am in it!

Well, my cardboard train is, at any rate.

Whoo!

Let me show you what's in the book. It's divided into four sections according to difficulty level. 

My cardboard train is in the intermediate category.

Here are some projects from the different categories: a cardboard lamp (Simple),

Cardboard lamppost and masks (Intermediate),

A wooden palette outdoor swing and chair (Advanced),

and a manipulate-able cardboard bird costume and a camera made from a sardine can (Expert).

It's mind-boggling, the things people have made from plastic cartons, cardboard boxes, wooden pallets, glass bottles, food containers, tin cans and other kinds of packaging. I wish I could show you everything in the book - from organizers, working toys and furniture to entire rooms and offices made from cardboard and pallets. That's cardboard walls and supporting posts, people.

I haven't seen this book on the US amazon, but I found it on the UK site and the France site . 

Project Sighting: On-The-Go Bags and a Giveaway!

Today, I am very excited to show you my bag in a new book!

Many months ago (for that is how long it takes to make a book happen), one of the co-authors invited me to contribute a bag for their new book.

So I did.

Here it is on the back cover. Eeeeee!

Loosely adapted from my old Mesh Swim Bag that I made en masse for Jenna's swimming birthday party in 2013, 

this is a breathable shoulder tote designed for gym visits and other athletic adventures. Unlike the soft mesh in the earlier swim bags, the mesh in this gym bag is a sturdy pet screening, so the bag stands upright like a regular tote, to hold stuff like yoga mats and towels and bottles and running shoes.

The fabric itself is outdoor canvas, because this particular model wasn't meant for aquatic activities, but you can make it out of nylon or some other water-friendly fabric and turn it into a swim bag for flippers and snorkels and wet towels and such.

Now let's talk about the new book, On the Go Bags—15 Handmade Purses, Totes & Organizers by Lindsay Conner and Janelle MacKay (Stash Books). The book is available this month at CTPub.com and January 7th on Amazon, where you can already peruse quite a few of its preview pages.

Unfortunately, I don't have a physical copy of it myself to photograph or do a full review of, but here is a short video of the book trailer.

And here is some useful information about what's inside:

146 pages, including the front and back covers, in about 20 chapters, broken down into the following sections:

I      Introductory chapters

II    Biographies of authors and contributors

III   14 pages of techniques and tips, covering

• How to cut curved corners
• Interfacing and stabilizers
• Back-stitching
• Open-end straps
• Closed-end straps
• Adjustable straps
• Installing magnetic snaps
• Bias binding and piping

IV    15 chapters of projects, organized by sewing levels:

EASY
1 Hipster Pocket Scarf
2 Laptop Keeper
3 The Man Clutch
4 Handy Purse Pockets
5 Padded Bag Insert

INTERMEDIATE
6 Cart or Stroller Caddy
7 Park Blanket
8 Travel Toiletry Organizer
9 Two-Bottle Tote
10 Tablet Shoulder Bag
11 Sporty Strap Pack

ADVANCED
12 Mom's Minivan Organizer
13 Airport Sling
14 Snap-and-Go Sewing/Art Case
15 Air-It-Out Gym Tote

Roughly categorized to give you an idea of their functions, I'd say that of the 15 bags, there are

• 6 inserts and organizers, including a fold-up blanket
• 3 clutches/pouches
• 4 purses and totes
• 2 backpacks/over-the-shoulder style-bags

Where provided, the pattern templates are full-size and include seam allowances; other pieces not requiring templates are rectangles and other straightforward geometric shapes for which full dimensions are given in each project. Each instructional chapter contains detailed steps and clear and colorful illustrations, as well as photographs of the finished projects and parts thereof.

Now for the giveaway!

Stash Books is giving away one copy of On the Go Bags (RP: US$26.95) - U.S. winners will receive a hard copy and winners outside the U.S. will receive an e-book. No purchase is necessary to be eligible to enter. The giveaway ends at midnight EST of 15 Dec 2015, and I'll pick a winner by random-rafflecopter the next day, and let you guys know the results. I'll also contact the winner by email for their postal address; if I am unable to reach him/her after 48 hours, I will select a new winner.

For a chance to win:

1. leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite style of bag to use, or your go-to style to sew,     then
2. enter your information on the rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Visit the other stops on the blog tour, and enter their giveways for more opportunities to win this book:

Tuesday, Dec 1: Shannon Fabrics / Sew Sweetness 

Wednesday, Dec 2: Clover & Violet / Ann Kelle 

Thursday, Dec 3: Radiant Home Studio / Melly Sews 

Friday, Dec 4: Sew Caroline / Mia's Creations 

Saturday, Dec 5: ikat bag / imagine gnats 

Monday, Dec 7: sewVery / The Girl Inspired 

Tuesday, Dec 8: Stash Books / Fabric Mutt 

Wednesday, Dec 9: Pellon 

Thursday, Dec 10: Simple Simon and Co / Mrs. H 

Friday, Dec 11: Emmaline Bags / Lindsay Sews 

Monday, Dec 13: Sew, Mama, Sew

  

Jam Tarts in Homespun!

'Nuther bit of press!

The lovely Homespun magazine again - this time it's their 150th issue! Truly, an honor.

In this particular issue, there is a feature on fabric high tea.

Ta-da! My jam tarts! So excited. Here is the original jam tarts post, by the way.

But wait, here is the really astounding thing in that spread - the tea cup.

It's FABRIC. 
The teacup is fabric (the tea is nylon stocking)! 

I've seen fabric teacups before, but this one absolutely takes the cake (in the very best sense of the word). 

Here are a couple of other projects in this issue: this adorable turtle, whose shell is his backpack. Eeeeeeeeee! I'm dying from the cuteness.

Clever upcycles of old jeans and denim scraps - and gorgeous photography.

And this quilt! A celebration of china at its very best. I know squat about quilting, and I'd generally pick any color in the spectrum before pink, but I really, really love this.

I am going to disappear for a few days  - not that you'll notice, given my sketchy attendance on this blog lately - and when I come back, I shall have (hopefully) Owie Dolls in the shop for you to buy, and (even more hopefully) Time Warp bags to show and tell and deconstruct!

Press: Cat and Kittens in Homespun

It feels like this is my season of softies. 

I mean, if you were a new reader (welcome!) you might, based on the more recent posts, be led to believe that this is a softie blog. Because it's all I seem to have been producing since the start of the year! And veteran readers who're following ikatbag for the drafting, cardboard or science stuff are probably in despair because those have all but vanished completely since whenever. 

Not intentional! 

Now, it's true that sometimes, I get into specific project moods. Like I might be insane in the wintertime and feel like drafting coats and wool skirts. Or in the summer I might be obsessed with kid crafts. And I do have a year-round bag fetish. But more often than not, the flavor of any particular crafting season is heavily influenced by working opportunities, both commissioned and self-initiated. Given the choice, I'd sit around at home and bake and swim and run and write and read with my kids as creative outlets. But a person has to work sometime, right?

And so it was with deep amusement that I looked back over the past couple of months of archives and realized that everything was coming up softies (and there are more in the works, believe it or not- stay tuned!) My kids love this, of course - they much prefer me making toys to boring Mom-skirts. Because every single toy on this blog - softie and otherwise - was inspired by my kids and made for them. Except one. 

Which brings me to this post. 

Some months ago, the good folks at Homespun, the gorgeous Australia-based sewing magazine, commissioned this work. They put forth their idea for a mother cat with kittens, much like my old Big Pig, and let me run with it.

And what fun I had!

I am so thrilled to be able to share this project with you! You can find it in the May 2015 issue of Homespun. It has color photos and detailed sewing instructions, along with full-size templates:

US friends - can you suggest where we can buy Homespun here? Barnes & Noble, maybe? I'll head out sometime this week to peruse their magazine racks and if I find it, I'll let you know. 

Collaborations and commissioned projects like this are part of what I do as a blogging/etsy/pdf pattern designer sewing person and I love that I get to co-create with people in faraway countries whom I've never met in person and probably never will. This is my second feature in Homespun (the first was here) and the team are among some of the most delightful and gracious people I've ever worked with.

And the magazine itself! Absolutely beautiful, down to the matte-finish paper on which the pages are printed.

Then there are the projects and features - and I'm just going to share my favorite:

I will never be able to look at a granny square the same way. 

Back to the kittens now:

Whenever I make softies, I usually aim to have them pass my kids' Awww Test.

They did.

Kate was somewhat distraught to discover that the final versions would be sent to Australia for their photoshoot. She did get to keep the earlier samples but she would've preferred to have had them all. Along with her 1 million bunnies. 

This is a pattern in fleece (mother cat) and fleece or microfleece (kittens),

and the mother has a zipper in her belly to store her babies.

Although, for thoroughness, I did another sample in fur, with safety eyes.

I like the sleepy fleece version more, though.

I love that the pattern is ready for you in time for the Mother's Day weekend,

so you can squeeze in some sewing time while the meals and chores are being done by other people! 

Happy Mother's Day, friends!