Getting more adventurous

I'm getting more adventurous on the inside.... of my bags that is!

I whipped up a bag the other night - I just love that I'm now getting to the stage that I can say that I "whipped up a bag" rather than "wrestled with a bag" or "struggled with a bag". It was for a dear Japanese friend's birthday. She's an older lady and loves red, so I chose a beautiful obi with fans on it.

With this bag though, for the first time, I tried something a littl more fun for the inside. I used some funky kimono fabric which I just happened to have that matched so well!

You get a hint of the lining as you open the bag....

And then (excuse the bad photo) you can see how it looks on the inside. I'm getting better with the pockets, but I'm still not finding them fun.

Luckily, I have some holidays coming up soon. I can't wait! I so need a holiday! For the first few three and a bit weeks, Wayne and I are off to Vietnam, Cambodia and will do a couple of days in Thailand before we head home. I've always wanted to hike up to the hilltribe areas in Vietnam and can't wait to see the textiles. Mmmm.. I think my backpack may be a little heavier on the trip home.... Before I go, I hope to go through some of my kimono that I have collected to have re-made into something else by the tailors in Vietnam. I'll let you know how I go.

After we get back, I still have a few weeks off, and I can tell you - I'm going to be so busy! I've just sent off my bag label design for a few quotes and really want to get stuck into them. I also plan to get a website up and running, have two books I'm working on at the moment (stay tuned for them - one is on Japanese motifs used in kimono design.....), I have some new card designs I'm working on and want to get stuck into scanning my film photographs to convert everything to digital and finally get a Flickr account running. We'll also be back in time for the last of the summer festivals, so there'll be some great photo opportunities. I just love having the time to do this sort of work, lately I've had so many designs and ideas running around in my head and no time to do anything with them. I start to go a bit crazy after a while.... I can tell you - all (non-creative) work and no (creative) time, makes Melanie a very crabby girl!

Obi bags by......... ME!!

Obi Tote Bag by Melanie Gray-Augustin of Kimono Reincarnate

As I said in my last post, I finally got around to playing with my own stash of Japanese textiles. My very first bag was a tote. While the tote seemed a little casual for this stunning fabric, I think it does allow a lot more of the design to be seen. I made this one for a Japanese friend's birthday. I hope she'll like it.

My second attempt, which isn't totally finished yet, was a smaller, more elegant handbag for my sister's birthday. Again, I hope she will like hers too!

I found the wooded handles and just loved them! I want to keep some black fabric showing between the bag and the handle, but at the moment I'm having trouble getting the machine in close enough to sew the hem for that facing. I'm just using a standard foot on the machine. I went to the craft shop to ask for some advice and I think there may be another foot, but they didn't seem totally convinced, plus the language barrier was a bit of a problem. Does anyone have any advice? At the moment I'm finding I'm having to hand sew it.

For both, I used a bag pattern from Nicole Mallalieu as a base to work from. Thanks Nicole your instructions were very clear and easy to understand!

I found that obi's lend themselves really well to making bags. On both bags the front and back are made from the obi fabric. On the tote, the handles have been made from the obi as well. I'm thinking, that if the interest is there, we might start cutting some obi pieces so that they are almost ready-to-go pieces for different bags. Drop me a line in the comments section if you are interested and any colour preferences you have.

Next I'm going to work on a couple of satchels. I personally love satchels. I'm going to do one for another friend's birthday (so many birthdays in May!) and I've promised my husband I'd make him one. I found a really funky black obi with red dragons on it. He's a huge dragon fan and like me, loves red and black, so it's perfect.

I'm thinking of playing around and getting the hang of these for a while. I think a number of people might be getting some in different fabrics for birthday or Christmas presents this year. Hehehe... if you're hoping to score one, let me know colour and style preferences.

Then, I'm planning to make a range to sell.

I'd love some feedback from people... what do you think of them??

Obi Handbag by Melanie Gray-Augustin of Kimono Reincarnate