Clutch Bag

Some days you just HAVE to sew something. This was the result of one of those days. I knew my time was going to be short so I needed a quick project that I could bust of in under an hour.

I opted for the Anya Bag pattern by SoZo. But I omitted the straps and swapped the 2 small box pleats for one large central one. I wanted to see if I could make a decent looking clutch bag using this pattern.

Mainly because I have a love hate relationship with clutch bags. On one hand they are so cute and dainty and on the other hand how the hell are you meant to fit things in them? I dunno about you but when I go for a night on the razzle I like to take:

House keys

phone

makeup

purse

tampons

pen [hey don't knock it , you never know when you might need a pen] 

painkillers [places are so noisy nowdays]

glasses

spare contact lenses

hand sanitiser [you might think this is silly but some pub toilets are quite frankly foul]

BUT the only thing I can fit in clutch bags from the shops is maybe my phone? a key? a small amount of air?

Anyway as it turns out you can make a cute clutch that does actually fit things in! This was a trial version so it will probably end up in the spare present box. However when I make my final version I think I might go back to the two small box pleats and try and incorporate a zip? Having a semi open bag in a crowed space is just asking to have your phone/wallet nicked. 

The button is none functional instead the whole thing closes with a press stud. 

All in all I think its a pretty cute bag and will make a lovely gift for someone!

In other news!

I'm trying to get back on track with blogging and vlogging regularly.

I'm addicted to a cleaning product called Zoflora! Honestly its the most amazing thing ever! Its a disinfectant but it has a really strong smell and come in loads of different scents. It is definitely worth picking up a bottle!

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

My Second Anya Bag

After how much I loved my first anya bag I just had to make another one. 

I've already waxed lyrically about how much I love this pattern and how well SoZo wrote it so I won't cover all that again.

Construction wise I just followed the condensed version of the instructions, I like this colour way a lot more than my previous Anya Bag it just feels a lot more like me. 

The outer fabric is this awesome woven blue and white thing that I was given by my Nan. I have no idea where she got it from but its fully luscious, I actually love it and this was the last of it , which makes me really sad.

In fact I had so little of the fabric left that I had to cut all of the pieces out flat and I had to piece the strap so that's in three parts but because of the looser weave I don't think you can really tell. In fact that's the only thing I did differently to the actual pattern, I chose to make it with one long strap as opposed to two shorter ones, I always tend to wear bags across the body so it just make more sense to me. But it didn't alter the order of the construction just where I positioned them.

My buttonhole went in first time no issues and looked beautiful , gonna be honest I felt like a bit of a sewing goddess when that happened.

And the button came from my stash, It's a shame really because I had hoped to use one of my single buttons and this one has a pair, which is a shame but this one was the best match and this way I have a spare.

The lining is cheap and cheerful some kind of nasty faux silk stuff. It came from one of my nieces too small dressing up outfits, Don't say I don't recycle!!! It looks really cute and I had just enough of it but boy was it a swine to sew, it moved faster than a small child who sees a bag of sweets.

So yeah I'm giving this make a solid 10/10 I think its going to get a lot of wear especially when the sun comes out and I need a lighter handbag.

In other news we had a huge family day today, my cousin and her five children came down and we all congregated at my mums which was lovely, although my brother was missed because he had to work. It was a really lovely day and I was lucky enough that one of her kids was nice enough to look after lil man and make sure he kept himself out of trouble. Which meant I got to have some much needed grown up time. Plus I got to snuggle a baby! WINNER! We had 8 kids in total although I guess two of those don't really count as kids because they are taller than me. So six kids and 2 teenagers!!

  Anyway I'm not sure how not supervising my child and just chatting and drinking tea could be so exhausting but i am pooped! And I'm hosting the Liverpool football final tomorrow so I need to be my perkiest! [Note: I'm not hosting the actual final, that's at Wembley although the idea of martin skirtle being in my garden is quite lovely.....swoons. We're just having people round to watch the match] Anyway This has lead my decide that the rest of my evening should be spent hand stitching I'm not even going to get my sewing machine out I'm just going to get into bed and chill!

And maybe fall asleep

And watch very trashy telly!

Much Love

Frankie 

xxx

Anya shoulder Bag - Pattern Review

Anyone who reads sewing blogs religiously has heard of SoZo. Designer of the "Dolores" pattern, awesome sewist and mum to one of the best dressed kids in England! As well as being extremely talented in the sewing department she's also super nice { I personally can either be nice or talented but both at the same time is too much} To the point where I sent her an out of the blue email asking why I was having problems sewing knits on my machine, "WHYS IT NOT WORKING HELP ME!" and she was kind enough to other several solutions!

And she was even nice enough to ask me to do a small review of her latest pattern the "Anya Bag"

Which naturally I was thrilled to do!

So lets start with how SoZo describes it:

The Anya shoulder bag pattern is a deceptively voluminous, lined shoulder bag with an optional button tab closure which measures up at 38cm (15") wide and 27cm (10½") high without the straps. 

Which pretty much sums it up. Now in all honesty I wouldn't say this bag is my style however after making it I think I might be in love.

 

Lets start with the pattern, it consists of three pattern pieces and one that you draw directly onto the fabric (this is for the strap and the dimensions are given). As the pattern comes in PDF from you have to print the pages off and stick them together yourself. BUT! The entire Anya pattern prints onto 4 pages of paper! 4! which is virtually unheard of for any sewing pattern. And the instructions are on a separate pdf so you don't have to print them if you don't want to, you can read them off your tablet or smart phone. I personally printed the pages but did that thing where you print four pages to one page? I couldn't tell you how but I managed it at the time, it uses less paper and means you always have the instructions with the pattern. 

Fabric wise I think you could use most cottons and heavier weight fabrics, because of the interfacing. I personally used a length of curtain fabric and some old sheeting to line. I didn't use interfacing because of the thickness of the curtain material, however if I used a cotton I would definitely use interfacing. 

I think this is a great canvas for fun prints and designs, in fact I've already messaged my mum to see if she still has her curtains from the 70s, or if she's binned them. 

Due to the detailed instructions and the simple construction techniques I'd say this is the perfect pattern for beginners, or people who have just started sewing, it really does look professional when its finished in fact one of my friends was shocked I'd made it. And its a very quick and satisfying sew if your not a beginner.

The button tab is option and you can tweak the straps to make the bag suit your body. I especially love that the raw edges of the straps and button tab are concealed by the lining. Due to the nature of the pattern you can tweak the design to fit different occasions for example I'm already thinking of enlarging the pattern to make an awesome beach bag!  

The pattern also features three small box pleats on either side which make the bag a lot roomier than it looks {here its stuffed with a tea towel} But I can imagine you'd be able to fit all of the essentials you'd need for a walk in the park or a trip to the shops. In fact if I had a daughter I would totally be making matching versions of these for shopping trips. 

Here's a close up of the button tab, my top stitching could have been better but I did make this in an afternoon before I had to pick up lil man from nursery. Only needing one button means you can use some of those awesome feature buttons that you only have one of!

My absolute favourite part is the condensed instruction option at the back of the construction pdf. This means that after you've made it a few times you won't need to go through all the instructions you can just remind yourself what's next with the condensed version! I think this is a brilliant idea and I wish more pattern companies would do it!

All in all to say I though this pattern was going to be a bit meh for me, I actually love it! I have about five more versions planned as well as a few for gifts! Oh yeah I plan on busting out quite a few of these this year as gifts , think teachers, friends, family! In fact I might make these for all of lil mans nursery teachers as a leaving gift, and I could pop an apple in!

If you wish to purchase the Anya shoulder bag pattern you can find it here:

http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.co.uk/p/anya-shoulder-bag.html

It's definitely worth the purchase

Much Love

Frankie

xxx

Disclaimer: Although this pattern was sent to me free, all opinions are my own. I would never provide good reviews for items I myself would not use, as a teacher once told me I'm honest almost to a fault!