Sneak peek on a work in progress.

Yesterday, after I had finished the 'secret squirrel' project, I spent part of the afternoon and the whole of the evening doing something 'just for me'.

I am trying something totally new to me, and this is a work in progress, there is still lots to do.



I cut up a piece of an Indian hand stamped scarf which I bought in a charity shop - which I am going to make into my very first bag.

It is totally trial and error - no pattern - no bought 'special' supplies - just playing around.

So this is it laid in the shape of the bag - I still have to interface it, line it, do lots more to it.



I cut out a piece of the silky material - and that was hard in itself as it slid all around on the work top. I guess I should invest in all the right 'stuff' first - but I really needed something to get totally absorbed in, without thinking of anything else - and this was just what I needed.

The purple material on the left is a piece of one of those old Indian cotton skirts that I bought years and years ago from a charity shop but it was too big - it somehow
escaped the dustbin! I had sewed it on beside the image which I printed on special material.


I had one piece of the 'hairy' knitting thread which I have stitched on (I should have been more careful when I photographed this and moved the stray 'bits' which show on her face and on the purple material!) On the right, the dark blue looking thread (the only piece I have) is in fact a very dark green and matches the pattern on the scarf material. I will arrange it neatly and sew that around the lady. I really wish I had a little purple flower or some purple or green beads to sew into her hair as a little decoration. You won't believe how long it took me to make that little necklace and sew it on! - And I have also put on pieces and taken them off again after spending ages sewing. I also need something in the top left corner - don't know what yet. Can't find anything - so will have to try and work out how to dye something without any dyes. Maybe with some purple ink - but need to check to see if it will 'leak' or run if it gets wet!




I took the cord out of the old skirt and will use that for the bag (as I have laid out in the photo), and I have made a 'flower' from a piece of the skirt border which has some gold pattern on it - I will add that too.

Oh I nearly forgot this bit I was rather pleased with - and how I had the patience I don't know. I had a small bit of net curtain, which I coloured for some reason a while back and as I was looking at it, I worked out that if I cut out a bit in the middle of a pattern, it would not only look the same colour as the lady's dress, but I could also cut it in a way to make a collar!


I still have a very long way to go before this ends up as a bag - or if I mess it up it might end up as a collage for a book cover or something.

Inspiration and a tute on how to make the 'flower' from Lilla's blog, if only I had a smidgen of her talent.

Image from one of my purchased Victorian image cds, and also appears here

Secret Squirrel!

Well you may think that I have been idle in the crafting department - but far from it - I have been working on a 'Secret Squirrel' project that has literally taken me days to put together. Having messed it up more than once - and working to a time schedule - its been quite stressful. But it is all done now and once it has been posted out to the recipient, and she has acknowledged its receipt, then I can post the finished project on here.