2 leather genoa totes

Hello, I have something very fun to share with you today. Not one but two leather bags!

I was contacted by Anna a couple of months back with a link to her new Genoa Tote pattern, which is what I'm showing you. I must admit that I don't love getting freebies because I can feel my creativity dropping when I feel obliged to use something, but I did not feel like that with Anna at all because it was a fairly casual exchange where I felt she wasn't expecting me to use her pattern. I was thinking of making a bag anyway and found it useful having a template!

On the note of freebies I am reviewing something next week, which is unusual for me, but again I really wanted to make the project for me so it was a joy not a chore ;-)

As mentioned above I used the pattern as a template, but I constructed it how I wanted to because I was using very different materials.

This bag was the first one I made in leather and was a gift for a friend. All the leather was bought on eBay and is reclaimed as it's offcuts that were being sold second hand. The strap leather was reclaimed of sorts as it was an offcut thrown in with something else I bought new! It's thick metallic olive green and is perfect for straps. The kind of thickness used for stachels.

The main front has a reverse applique design from some screen prints I have designed and used many times in the past. I sewed everything on my Pfaff Passport 2.0 with a leather needle in and walking foot engaged and it sewed very easily.

I backed the main back front and back with horse hair canvas for a bit more stability and I really like the structure it has provided. I also made the inside zip pocket a lot longer than the pattern.

I preferred to stitch my straps in place rather than use rivets. I punched the holes in a design to echo the cut outs and stitched them on with a thick waxed linen thread. I do have screw in rivets that I could have used, but I prefer this look! I also left the top edges of the bag cut raw rather than folded over as it looked neater than trying to grapple with the leather to fold over nicely.

The leather facing on the top of the lining only has one join (I didn't use the pattern piece for this) and it is joined flat with a piece of horsehair layered underneath to keep it together and reduce bulk. My leather needle snagged the lining on this one a bit which is a shame, but hopefully it doesn't show quite as much in real life!

Oh look, also my pockets are constructed differently! I don't mean to change everything, it just kind of happens as I try to use things from my stash. My red zip is an open ended one, so I had to cover the bottom of it. Rather than make a pocket with the seams on the inside I bound the edges with bias binding which does the double duty of covering the raw edges of the fabric as well as the opening bottom of the zip!

Next up is more of the same with more reclaimed leather. The orange is actually from my old handbag I am replacing as is the key chain thingy. The yellow strap leather was bought new (the metallic olive leather for the above straps was thrown in with this order).

Oh how I love this bag!

The only thing missing was a matching purse right? Sorted and with co-ordinating cut outs!

I made a very simple little bag which I just marked out straight onto the leather and sewed up. The lining is hand stitched to the inside of the zip.

A little flat gusseted bottom for a bit more room in there.

This was so much fun and sewing leather on my machine was way easier than I thought it would be. I would be interested to see if my old Toyota would handle leather with the correct needle, although the feed has always been a bit uneven on that one and there is no walking foot so I probably wont bother.

A review of sorts, but not really as I'm notoriously bad at following other peoples instructions. The pattern in general is very well put together and the instructions look very detailed, so although the pattern is simple you get a lot of guidance on how to make a really nicely finished bag. Hopefully this will provide you with some inspiration for what you can do to personalise your own bag or if you were thinking of working with leather then maybe this gives you some ideas of how you can make it more individual! No blank canvas is safe!!!

Pointy edge coat pocket

Here is a closer look at the inside pocket of my recently finished coat and a quick run through how I added it!

The points I have edged my inside pocket with appear to be called prairie points and are the type that can be nested as described in this McCalls post. I saw this idea somewhere else and it was described as a Hong Kong pocket or something similar, so is something traditionally found in tailored garments. Mine is a lot clunkier and less delicate than the example I have seen because I wanted it to look like teeth to scare my children (naturally), but you could make this look far more delicate with smaller nested points.

To start, there was no pattern for an inside pocket, so I just free hand cut into the fabric two pocket pieces. It is a rectangle big enough to store a phone and the extra bit on the side is big enough for my hand to fit in and out of. That extra bit is 1.5cm wider than the bottom edge.

I folded back the edge flap by 1.5 cm (wrong sides together) and pressed along this line on both pocket pieces.

I then marked with chalk the end of the pocket opening so I know where to start sewing when I come to make the pocket up. I used a seam allowance of 1cm for the pocket seams.

I cut a long strip of the lining fabric which measured 6cm wide, but you can alter this to make smaller or larger triangles.

I pressed it along the length with wrong sides together and then chopped it up into short lengths. They look approximately 6cm long, but I don't think you need to be terribly accurate with this method. The McCalls link I mentioned above is far more methodical if you want to work to a more precise formula.

 I then folded the rectangles I cut in half and pressed them to make small squares. The squares have two nicely finished, pressed edges which will form the pocket edging.

My pocket is on the left hand of my coat, so I sewed the triangles to the pocket lining piece with the extra flap on the right hand side (if the right side of the fabric is facing up).

I used the pressed line on the pocket lining as my stitch guide and just kept adding the points as I got to the end of the last one so they are butt up next to each other. I just went by eye to make sure the height of the points are the same, but you could easily draw a chalk line for accuracy.

Important - Make sure the points remain within the seam allowance of the pocket bag!

Yet another example of my non-methodical approach to this technique is the excess from the points in the picture below. Just trim these down in line with the pocket lining edge.

Make the pocket up! Sew the two pieces with right sides together and with the points pointing inside the pocket. Don't go beyond the stitch line along the pocket opening when joining your pocket pieces together. FYI - The seam below at the bottom of the pocket opening is an 'L' shaped seam if you are planning to cut the same shape pocket as me.

Pin the pocket bag to your coat lining centre front edge and sew in place. It is the edge with the points on you are attaching to the lining (although you could sew the points to the coat if you prefer).

Next flip the pocket back around to the wrong side of the lining  and that's pretty much it!

When you hand sew your lining into your coat you can also sew the remaining edge of your pocket down.

I was just making it up as I went along to try an idea out, but you can iron out any kinks and make a much nicer job of it if you have a go!

Finished coat - Vintage Vogue 9939

All finished and I am a bit sad about that as it was a really enjoyable make, but then I am also really happy to have something for the new season and finished ahead of actually needing to wear it. A rarity!

It was such an easy make really. It took time because of all the hand sewing, but there was no fitting because I already new I liked the fit from a previous make and it does not require loads of different interfacings or interior structure. I added interfacing to the centre fronts and collar as instructed and hand sewed it in place rather than heat set it, but that was it! When I hand sew the majority of a garment or thing like this I tend to keep going with it, so although my interfacing had a gluey side, I chose not to fuse it. Crazy huh?

There are more close up detail shots in this post and notes about the length of the coat, but this finished length is what I shortened it to. It finishes below most of my dresses which I like and has retained the feel from the original illustration (I think).

Not much else to say really. I added a pretty cool inside pocket, which I can show in more detail if anyone's interested!

The lining is all sewn in by hand, which I love doing. It is satisfying to get everything sitting exactly where I want it with no pulls or dragging. The lining is a dark brown slinky twill satin. Probably synthetic, but I can't remember. It's possible it may contain viscose, but who knows...

I haven't pressed anything on this coat (apart from the lining). The under collar on the back looks as though it's rolling back, but everything else is laying fine, so I think I shall probably leave it! Also the bottom hem is looking a bit soft in these pictures like it could do with a gentle press, so I may just do that. All seam allowances are sewn down flat and haven't been pressed.

I opted for the fastening as suggested in the pattern which is just at the collar. Well it says loop and button, but a hook and eye is pretty much the same. I think I will add one at waist height, but on the inside of the coat too so it doesn't flap about in the wind, but I do like this simple finish.

Anyway, that's it from me and all set for the cold weather! The olive colour is not really represented in these photos very well, but it basically goes with everything in my wardrobe. As for the boiled wool itself, it seems the perfect texture for a coat like this (although required underlining). I'm unsure how it will wear as it looks prone to bobbling. If anyone has experience with this fabric then please share.

Thanks for following along with me and happy winter sewing! xxx

Landgate jacket

I made James a jacket!!! He can't believe it, I can't believe it, but it happened. He's only been waiting 2 years (although that's actually not that long in selfless sewing terms).

I  was originally making him a waxed cotton Colette Albion jacket, but a mixture of hating the fabric and going off the pattern made that scream to a grinding halt. I am probably never going to want to sew with waxed cotton EVER. It just feels too icky and cold.

I have been eying this landgate pattern for what seems like an age and finally bought it with some birthday money this year. I really like the simple shape of it and how it is actually unisex. The pattern is drafted in length to female proportions, but you lengthen by 4cm to make it a male pattern.

Everything went together perfectly and I made from scratch omitting to toile this time, as I think that was my downfall previously. I lost momentum with the whole process when I just needed to soldier on through from start to finish in one go!

 Fabric wise I used a Paul Smith cotton twill suiting for the outer (bought off ebay). The fit is good overall. If I made it again I would maybe taper the sleeves a bit. I think this look would be perfect for me as is, but maybe James would better suit more shaping or maybe ribbed cuffs? I know people do mention drag lines when talking about fitting, but these sleeves are comfortable and roomy, so I don't think the drag lines on the front sleeves are particularly a cause for concern.

The pockets are pretty great! They are roomy and secure enough for all of the junk that James seems to carry around and there are inseam pockets too for some hand warming in the colder months. I do like the choice of two pockets!

I kind of wish I hadn't added the gusset thingy behind the zip. I like it enough, but it's so close to the neck and fills in the void that visually I would prefer to be open. This is just a personal preference though.

I forgot to take pictures with the hood up, but it's nice and roomy.

I didn't really follow the pattern in terms of instructions as I lined it (I don't recall it having a lining in the pattern). I lined it in some left over brushed cotton, but didn't quite have enough so used a black cotton pique jersey for the sleeves. A bit of a random choice, but I happen to have a lot of this stuff and it's black so went well with everything else. It all feels very cosy and substantial like a 'real' coat!

I didn't even have enough of the plaid for the front raglan lining pieces so used a bit of the outer fabric.

I really enjoyed sewing this and thanks to my new machine the finish is pretty good. I would quite like to have another go to change a few bits here and there, but lets be real. That's not likely to happen any time soon!!!

Definitely recommend this pattern for a funky easy to wear jacket and it is definitely unisex. I might be heading out the door in this from time to time (with the sleeves rolled up). Big thumbs up!!!