Silver by Mail Has Such Cute Jewellery!

I was looking at a Silver by Mail catalogue this morning and I found THE CUTEST earrings and necklace combination. They are the 'Belle Button' pieces, the Pendant and the Earrings, and I would really love to get them because they are so super cute.

The earrings:

The necklace:

Website: www.silver.uk.com

What's In My Sewing Box?

I have two sewing boxes, one that is big (38cm x 28cm) and one that is small (23cm x 16cm). The smaller one has two compartments; the 'belly' of the box and a transparent shelf above.

The Big One

This box has:
- threads (not including a large black because it is in the sewing machine)
- buttons
- beads
- large scissors
- buckles etc
- elastic and other components if I have them

The Small One

The top tray:

The tray has:
- poppers
- hook and eyes
- small scissors
- bows and other decorations
- ring pulls from cans
- safety pins
- threads plait
- seam ripper/quick unpick
- needles
- thimble

The bottom:

This section has:
- zips
- piping cord
- ribbon
- tailor's chalk
- tape measure
- pins (white box)

All of my machine things, like spare bobbins, needles, and machine feet, are kept either inside or next to the sewing machine, rather than in one of the boxes. I have very limited space and so have the bare minimum inside the boxes.

Really Cute Black Handbag

I used:
- leatherette fabric
- lining fabric; I used black cotton sheeting
- old zip cut off of some clothes
- thread and the usual stuff
- cardboard

Method:
This was actually surprisingly difficult to make. The leatherette was slippery and tricky to work with, and I did not have the right machine foot. Ideally I would use a synthetic foot to sew this kind of fabric, but I do not own one and they are fairly expensive. Therefore I had to make do, and although it is not perfect, for my first attempt at anything like this I am fairly happy.

The bag consists of two sides, two ends, and a base, with handles at the top. The lining is the same as the bag, without the handles, but is inside out so that the wrong side is sewn onto the wrong side of the leatherette. I attached the handles/straps by cutting small slits in the leatherette and threading the handle through, then sewing in place by machine. Then I sewed again 1cm up to secure it. This fabric is fairly old, having bought it 5 years ago for a project, so is beginning to age as it was not very expensive. Therefore in places where the leatherette has torn I superglued some red satin on the inside behind the holes so that if you can see through then it would look deliberate.

I also superglued some cardboard to the base of the bag, on the inside, to give it shape and make it more stable.

The zip was put in like a normal zip, then the lining was slip stitched to the zip. I had to be really careful that the lining was not sewn too close to the zip because then it would catch and would be a real pain every time I used it.

All in all, while the bag does not look particularly complicated it was harder than I thought it would be, and there are definitely things that I would change if I were to do it again.

Bling Up Your Gadget Case

Before:

After: 

This is one of the easiest and most satisfying projects that I have ever done, especially if you already have all of the resources that you need.

You will need:
- Clear or plain case to fit your phone/ipod/etc; mine is just a transparent silicone one from Amazon that I decided to change because it was getting discoloured
- Assorted beads/gems/rhinestones/sequins
- Some sort of super glue
- Tweezers
- Newspaper
(optional...) - Rubber Gloves

How:
1. Lay the newspaper onto a table, and if you wish to put the gloves on. I wore one on my right hand, and used the tweezers with my left.
2. Blob some glue in an area of the case, then use either your fingers or the tweezers to pick up a decoration and stick it down.
3. Basically, repeat until the case is filled. Simple as that! Leave to dry, I recommend overnight due to the glue fumes, then you're good to go.

TIP - If it looks a bit warped at the end (like mine), don't panic - if it is a silicone case then it will fit anyway.

Men's Work Shirt = Women's Strappy Top

Before: (with the sleeves cut off)

After:

I used:
- Blue swallow edging
- Shirt
- Thread
- Machine

How?:
1. I first of all cut off the sleeves, as shown in the first picture, because I had planned to make a short sleeved top instead.
2. Then I cut the collar off to see what it looked like.

3. At this point I changed my mind and decided to cut underneath where the sleeve holes end.

4. Then I put it on inside out and pinned straight down the side seams to make it fit. Then I took it off and sewed down that line using a straight stitch.

5. Then I cut off the excess fabric and zigzag stitched the raw edges.
6. I bound the top using the blue tape - I ironed it in half first, then went around the top pinning into place. I then sewed with a straight stitch, but as it began to come apart in places I went over it in a zigzag stitch. At this stage I made the two layers of fabric where the buttons are separate, but as this was difficult, I...
7. ... sewed down the front next to the buttons to permanently close the front together.

8. Then I made the straps (0.5cm wide). I did this by measuring a 2cm width bit of fabric (left over from the sleeves or from the top of the back) of the desired length, then ironing a crease in the centre (1/2 along) (1cm from the edge), and at 1/4 along (0.5cm from edge), and at 3/4 along (1.5cm from edge). I sewed the edges into the centre, folding on the 1/4 line and the 3/4 line. Then to finish I folded on the centre line and sewed straight down to make the strap. Then I repeated this whole process for the other strap.
9. I sewed them in by putting the garment on and pinning the straps on so that they looked right, basically! In the end they were 10.5cm from the centre at the front (either side of the buttons), and 4cm inside the darts at the back.

Birthday Bunting

I made the bunting itself about two years ago, but after neglecting it in a cupboard I decided to make it into something useful.

I made the letters roughly from scrap curtain fabric that we had. Then I simply zigzag stitched (firm edge appliqued) them onto each flag. I left two plain ones at the start, end, and between the words.

As you can see, the letters are very roughly cut out and are not all the same sizes. I did this deliberately to give it a slapdash, country feel, but it would work just as well using stencils.

The bunting was made using scrap fabric, some from an old duvet set of mine that ripped. It was made very quickly, and the flags all have raw edges, but on hindsight I would have used pinking shears to tidy the edges up a little.