Fab purse making course

I spent a wonderful evening at the lovely Make Lounge in Islington London back in June and I learnt how to make this snap frame purse in just one evening. The course is run by the lovely Ariane Dreysse who has her own accessories label Peppermint Twist. If you live in or near London I'd totally recommend the Make Lounge. It was a great way to de-stress after a day at work complete with nibbles, wine and like minded people. I really felt like I learnt something useful and as these purses can be a little bit fiddly, actually being shown how to make it rather than struggling with an online tutorial was totally worth the money.

At the beginning of the class you get to chose your material for the outside and lining from the amazing selection in the on site shop at the Make Lounge. I was in heaven - there were soo many fabrics that were totally my kind of thing. I couldn't help buying a few more for the next lot of bibs on my way out. I even picked up some glue and purse frames determined to make sure I made some more at home so I didn't forget.

As I'm writing this a few months after the course I'm pleased to say I have actually made some bibs with the new fabric and another purse as a birthday gift. Images to follow...I'm very excited!
How cute are these prints?!




Links: Snap Frame Purse course
The Make Lounge

Material Girl

So now I've made one pair of curtains (one down, one to go) I'm allowing myself to start thinking of other fun sewing projects. For a while now I've had my eye on some cute material in Beyond Fabric, a lovely little shop on Columbia Road. I've just been trying t owork out what to do with it and as I have two friends expecting little ones I've been thinking about making bibs and applique baby grows.

This gave me the perfect excuse to buy this at the weekend.

It's so sweet that I definitely want to make something like a purse for myself as well as baby gifts. Incidentally I've got my eye on the metal snap frame purse course at the Make Lounge but I'm just waiting until I have some money to go on it. 

There are quite a few lovely material websites that I've been lusting over recently and now I've decided what I'm going to make I think I can justify buying some more fabric. Yay!

Just check out these adorable fabrics that designer Jilly P has been working on with Hoffman fabrics. I'll post some of the finished baby stuff once I get around to making it. (Images from Jilly P's blog)