Tote Bag Experiment with Vintage Material

I spent the afternoon making this.


Of course I found a way to cheat, as a beginner I am just not clever enough to make it all without a pattern. Doesn't the colour in the photo below look peculiar, its almost as if it has taken on the colour of the background. The right colour are the other photos.



So - using a cream tote back which I had bought previously - I used that as the inside liner. It isn't crunched up in real life - I just did it this way to show you the inside


I cut out a piece of material, machined it into an oblong - which made it nice and strong, and sewed it onto the tote bag to make a big strong inside pocket. It is big enough to take my purse/wallet, car keys, and cell phone - no more rummaging around in the bottom to find them.



I cut out two squares of the fabric which I bought from Very Mary's Etsy shop - its vintage and I love it!

Next I sewed on the flower centre (tell you more about that tomorrow - it has a story) and sewed on some sequins in the two flower centres near the bottom - I love the way they catch the light! Picking up ideas from Pat Winter Gathering's in a very small way of course.

Then I tried to work out how to make a proper bottom - so that when shopping, tins etc would stand up right - so I machined the corners at an angle - and it worked!

Of course, being me, I took the photos before I pressed the bag!

Lastly I just had to put the cream tote bag, inside the patterned handle-less bag, and sew them both together!


Here is the reverse side. Probably beginner's luck - but I was pleased with how it turned out.

What I am really thrilled about is that I have a bag that is wholly original - because I made it, and the material is vintage.

I am raring to make some more now - but when I shall get the time - who knows?

Thank you.........

For all your kind words of support after losing my Allotment Lady website - and so many years of daily posts, recipes, sightseeing, chickens, home, garden, family, self sufficiency, allotment growing - and so much more.

I am absolutely gutted - and did not realise that Webmania did not have a back up - and have never received any emails to tell me that or advice about backing up.

I am not a young computer savvy person - or even an old computer savvy person - so am feeling so upset.

The enormity of it didn't hit me at first, but it did yesterday and I spent most of the day in tears - what good is that huh? - what a wimp - all it achieves is a headache and red nose! LOL

I might start to incorporate some of my 'other' life into this blog as time goes by. If you don't mind.

It is ironic that I went to the expense of getting the domain and website and someone to put the blog on my website - so that I would have it forever - and my children and grandchildren would have it to look at when I am gone (so long as they kept up the yearly subscription).

When I started it, Blogger was in its infancy, and there were quite a lot of teething troubles - so at the time it seemed like a good idea.

What was that famous quote about 'Hindsight' LOL!

The appliance of science

After losing around six years of work on my website (I mistakenly thought my back up was backing it all up) I felt a bit down in the dumps yesterday - and not in the mood to cook a fancy Sunday lunch.

So I got out the new steamer that arrived Saturday - replacing our defunct old one and experimented with an all in one lunch




Front left - a parcel of chicken



Front right - one of my ratatouille mixes from out of the freezer




Back carrots, potatoes at far end, runner beans on the shelf



This steamer is almost as clever as me! You can set the timer for each compartment, and content. The vegetables at the back were the first to start steaming, the chicken parcel next and waiting to go is the ratatouille.

I only have a teeny kitchen so every inch of space has to earn it's keep.

This is my gadgets end of the kitchen - steamer, vacuum packer and food mixer. Rack of plates above and in the corner the bantam egg tray, and out of sight the pottery bread container.





Thirty five minutes later - and it is all finished.





The chicken is boneless breasts, which I cooked with two home grown tomatoes diced up, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a couple of slices of chorizo chopped up which makes a lovely colour and introduces a fabulous flavour.



It's all home grown and I love the colours - OK so it's not as tempting as a Sunday roast - but boy did it taste good, and the sauces from the chicken parcel were amazing.

(For those of you who never got to read my Allotment Lady website - the chickens are not mine - I don't eat my chickens - a friend 'grows' them for me, and plucks them etc, I just joint them all. Well how can you eat one someone who is called Daisy for example).

Talking of chickens, I might just buy myself two more to cheer me up. I would rather have a little dog like Pat Winter's Angell


But can't - so fluffy little bantams are the next best thing!

Daisy and Gozzie - digging over where I was digging - looking for worms and bugs.

Why do things go wrong all at once!

You get spells when 'things' go wrong all at once don't you - but I really have had enough of them now!

My little old laptop packed up - it had been slow for a long long time and finally expired. Well not such a tragedy, I can live without it.

My printer died - I can't manage without that - it was silly really - just a tiny bit of paper stuck in it - and that's it - total malfunction "Error - look in your manual for your nearest service engineer". It really meant it this time - so I had no alternative than to buy another printer. Just a little cheap one; it would have cost more than that to get someone in to look at it!

Installed it - it wouldn't print. It sounded like it was printing - it pretended it was printing - but the pages were all blank.

A trip back to the little shop - they ran a check - and it printed - so they said it must have been a glitch with the installation CD.

Back home - uninstalled the software - re-installed it - and it worked - yippee!

Then the steamer died. We use our steamer most days, but it had just had enough - stopped working - and wet all over the worktop. Did it have to do a wet as it was on it's way out?

Cooking with just two saucepans was quite a novelty for just a day (Hence the slow pot being used as well) We have a new steamer now - more of that tomorrow!

My internet is still very 'flakey' but we are working on it - I am going to order a more up to date network card - just waiting for my son to send me a link for the right one.

But another disaster happened overnight.

I am famous for being 'The Allotment Lady' or just plain 'Allotment Lady' and had my own website which I have had for a few of years - and had had almost 300,000 visitors in that time.

Webmania - the company which hosted my website had a problem - and lost my site - the whole lot - gone - not just mine - but lots - so the email said.

Hundreds of posts, photos, recipes, information, stories, the lot - gone - forever.

I would just like this run of things going wrong to stop now please.

Enough is enough - it's not funny any more!

I can't face starting another Allotment Lady blog - its like losing a part of me - a very big part of me - hey ho - tomorrow is another day.

Night night

Autumn Warmers

You know it is Autumn and cold because I get out the slow pot cooker.



Add lots of home grown veggies,shallots, lots of tomatoes and a brace of pheasants and four hours later..............

Cooked - Free food from a farmer friend who doesn't like them - well we do! Served with fresh home grown potatoes, calabrese, Cherokee trail of tears beans, and carrots - warms the cockles of my heart on a cold day like this.

Wall hanging message board - note book.

I spent the afternoon and evening making this - I had had it on my mind for a couple of days, and I just had to have a go. I should have waited until morning to take the photos as it was pitch black at 7pm and my studio shed is not very bright.


I cut out a large piece of mount board to back the main piece and covered it both sides with K&Co - Teal Taperstry. I like this paper as it looks rather vintagey I thought and it matched perfectly the colours in an image on a CD I have.


Whilst that was drying, I printed off the lovely lady, mounted it on thick cream card then decorated it with some of the lovely sequins that were amongst the seed beeds etc which Pat sent me. They picked up the colours of her dress and the backing paper exactly.

I coloured with alcohol inks a little lace flower which I recycled from a old project, and added some seed beads and another sequin in the centre - it looks lovely in real life!

I cut out about 50 sheets of cream paper - took rather a long time, then punched holes in them with my Bind It All machine.

Next I cut out another piece of mount board to make for the front cover of the note pad, covered it, and matted the lady image onto it.

I was so pleased with the way that I managed to cut out a piece of the patterned paper, so that it matched exactly the pattern behind it on the board. Believe me - it wasn't easy!

Using lace from Very Mary I sandwiched is all around the note pad between a lining page - so it gives a lovely feminine feel to the book - and makes it stand out more.

I ran some more lace along the bottom edge of the message board mount too.

I used rick rack for the hanger which matches the paper really well (having first punched holes and inserted silver rivets in the backing board)

I then, with the BIA punched the holes for the backing board and the notepad front page and assembled the book. Added more lace and satin ribbon to decorate the wires - to match the colours the lady is dressed in etc.


Then I finished it off by mounting the pencil.

I managed to make it just as I had envisage in my head - makes a change - it took longer than I thought but it was worth it.

The added bonus is that if I keep it for myself - I can always make more pages for the pad, as it is easy to remove the owires and put another wodge of pages in.

Heavenly Gift from an Angell

I could smell this before I could see it - it was the smell of flowers on a warm summer evening - at dusk when the perfume is strongest.




From out of the envelope I pulled out pansies - I just love pansies - and this paper I am going to keep too - and I think I will carefully iron it and see if I can scan it - then I can use it and keep the original.

The package measures 6"x9" and look what an Alladin's 'cave' of treasure it held.


I have spread it out on the piece of net curtain I got a couple of weeks ago from the lady in the village - and the Autumn sunshine is streaming through my studio window - and it is glowing!

Here are some close ups - as usual click on photos to enlarge



Samples of silks and satins, lace, threads, pictures,ribbons all colour co-ordinated.



Take a closer look! The pictures of the little girl with the butterfly - printed on material - happens to be my favourite image. I don't have that image - but I loved it as soon as I saw it on a card that my friend Paula had on her blog. There are more little images, hand dyed ribbons, and look at that little bag crammed with seed beads, little leaves, flowers, and other glittering delights - I can't wait to examine them all one by one. But now I am so excited I just have to show you more.





Look at the lusciously rich brocade - looks like it is a piece from one of Queen Elizabeth I gowns - what a treasure. It positive gleams and glows in the sunlight.



Look at that little piece of hand painted trim - isn't it just amazing - and the painted portrait to the left of it - where did that come from - what a treasure!




This is a much covetted original work of art - one of 'her' very famous nest pendants - wow! The time and work that has gone into creating it!




My wondrous parcel has now been added to my stash drawer and I can't wait to get started. But first I am going to buy this book - it is a 'must have' for me! I was going to wait until Christmas but I need it NOW! Then I can start to make some of these well perhaps not some - but a crazy quilt little work of art(but obviously not as well as) this lady who is very famous - and just happened to have sent me such a wonderful gift to get me started.

It is going to be wonderful hobby for me to be able to do indoors in the winter, when the weather is bad, and it is too cold and wet and dark to be in my 'studio' (shed at the end of the garden.)

Thank you so very much Pat - I am going to get started as soon as I can - but first I need to buy a needle threader LOL my one broke and I am hopeless at threading needles.

It is pitch black outside - so best I go up the garden path and back indoors - and its not even 7pm yet!

P.S. you should Google Pat Winters - and see all the fantastic work she has done - visit her blog to see her very own Angell