Simple patchwork needle book

Before my business trip last March, I wanted to make a portable needle book. I had needles stuck to thread spools, in their plastic packaging, on scraps of fabric... No specific housing for those sharp needles (I've poked myself a couple of times cos I forgot I had a needle in some spot :p).

Not anymore! :) I grabbed some scraps from the shop's table, cut several felt pages for the book, and started piecing the fabrics together. I winged the measurements and in less than an hour had this sweet thing done.

I just worked from memory, trying to recall the various tutorials I'd looked at, and I think it got it all covered. There were some steps that I'd have done differently, but the outcome would be pretty much the same.

I'm loving it! Will transfer all my betweens and embroidery needles to it soon, and stock up on more sharps...

More 'out-to-lunch' bags!

When I used my 'out-to-lunch' bag at work, a colleague took a fancy to the bag and wanted one. Another friend also wanted one, so I decided to go ahead and work on 3 pieces in one go.

I managed to squeeze them in between a crazily hectic work schedule, but just when I thought I'd finished them all, I realized I'd placed the handles wrongly!!! The angle I used when placing the bag handles was different from my original bag's, so I (reluctantly) unpicked all 6 handles.... Arghh.... Not fun at all!

I got them done anyway... Now all I gotta do is to sew on magnetic buttons on the green bag plus the labels, and I'm good! :)

The red one's booked by my sis-in-law, while the brown is up for grabs :) I have another piece in the works for the other friend (she told me she actually wanted polkadots on a white base, hence the red one is going to my SIL instead)... I'm ok with it, cos I love making this bag!

'Out-to-lunch' Bag!

I have been swamped with work these past few weeks, with very little time for much else.

I did manage to get this little piece done though, before all craftwork had to be put aside :)

I was in sort of a blue funk some time back, anticipating the lack of sewing time I'd have due to my day-job projects. I had time to work on something, but for some reason I didn't want to make the usual bags or even try out some new patchwork design (even though I had plans to try an appliquéd bag!), so I started flipping through my mom's collection of Chinese craft books.

Have you got one? There are a bunch of them in most bookstores, and quite a few are actually translated from Japanese craft books. So even if you can't read or understand the writing, the picture directions are pretty easy to follow. This is, of course, more applicable to the translated ones. Those that were originally published in Mandarin can have pretty obscure directions (they assume you already know the basic construction of most items, so they skip ahead to the design parts).

Anyway, I digress... After sifting through some possibilities, I ended up with this one. I did make a few modifications to the handles (I went with cotton webbing, so the original instructions didn't quite work with that), but otherwise stuck to the design.

I love it!! I call this my 'out-to-lunch' bag, cos it fits my extremely bulky wallet/pouch, my phone, & some odds and ends too... Perfect for a quick lunch outing!

I've got 3 others made (only finishing touches required) right after I made this one, and I'll put those up as soon as I can tie up all the loose threads & take a decent pic :) This is a really great, quick project to make, and easy to customize!