echino bike bag

I probably have more bags than I could wear out in the next 50 years. Yet I enjoy making (and buying) new bags. Also, there are a couple of bags that I use all the time. This bag is one of them. I had it with me in Vancouver, so it was pretty much the only bag I used for a whole year. It has the perfect some and the perfect amount of pockets. Plus I have my hands free and I can also use it when riding my bike.

After almost three years of constant use my old echino bag looks very... loved? The strap is basically falling apart and although I still use it, I knew I'd have to replace it eventually. So during a sewing retreat in March I made a new bag. Same pattern, same combination of fabrics yet it's a very different style.
The bag is big enough to hold my laptop and notebooks, textbooks etc I need in school. It's also perfect for grocery shopping. And for going out with friends. Basically I use it for everything, because it doesn't look bulky when empty yet it can easily hold a lot of things.

One of the most important aspect of a bag are the pockets. I always put my purse + keys in the zipper pocket and my cell phone in the bird pocket, so I can reach it easily and don't have to fiddle with a zipper when it rings.

I quilted lines on the straps and top of the bag to give it some more texture. I love how it turned out!

This time around I didn't add adjustable straps because I cut the wrong size of fabric always wore my old bag at the same length anyway so I knew it would be comfortable. I wrote down all the measurements for the bag so I hope to post a tutorial on how to make it eventually.

Ressources:
outer fabrics:
green bikes // echino
strap + top // ikea 'minna'
inner fabrics:
gray // unknown
blue // ikea 'ditto'
bird // echino (from my last bag!)

interfacing // pellon TP971F theromlam plus
magnetic closure // recycled from an old bag
zipper // YKK

52 craft projects // shopping cart coin case

In Germany you need a coin (0,50€ or 1€ or a plastic chip made of the same size) to get a shopping card. That can be pretty annoying especially since you never seem to have any coins on hand when you need them. So I made a tiny case that can be added to the keychain to hold a coin,
Turns out these tiny pouches are also idea to hold small USB sticks.

I like to make these from fabric scraps and add a coordinating case to all orders over 20€. People usually love them and it's fun to have a coordinating accessory to your knitting project bag, right?
I gave this one to Julia and seeing how 'raw' her keychain looked it really adds a pop of color.
This is project #48 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013. You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

52 craft projects // echino ipad cover

Hey there and a (very, very late) happy New Year 2014!
It's that time of the year again when school takes up 95% of my 'free time'. I'm usually stuck on campus until 8pm these days so taking daylight photos is impossible. Yesterday I finally managed to take pictures of the remaining 52 craft projects. Most of the last ten projects are dear to my heart so instead of cramming them all into one post I decided to schedule posts and share one or two with you each day. So you get to enjoy looking at my craft projects while I'm spending every minute of my day trying to learn about the German corporate taxation system, Spanish vocabularies and marketing strategies. Sounds fun, right?

My family has had an iPad for almost two years and it took me 1.5 years to finally sew a proper iPad sleeve for it. We've had the magnetic Apple cover thingy since the beginning but this quilted sleeve is definitely an improvement.

I used this tutorial because I was too lazy to come up with the measurements myself. The tutorial is great but I'm not a fan of the 'floppy look' of the velcro. If I ever make another one I'll skip the interfacing and quilting on the flap and just use regular kam snaps. Or buttons. But that's just a personal preference.

The iPad including the smart cover fit into the cover with still some room. 1/4 to 1/2 inch smaller would've also been fine. The outer fabric is one of my favorite echino fabrics and the lining is a pink polka dot patchwork fabric I got on sale last summer. You can't ever go wrong with polka dots, right?

This is project #43 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013. You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

52 craft projects // daily planner cover

I've been using the Moleskine daily planner (pocket size) for four years now and I'm really happy with it. I use it to keep track of appointments and school deadlines, to jot down ideas for craft projects and recipes and my daily to-do lists. This year I got the magenta version which I love but the cover is plain so I thought why not add some linen goodness to it?

I went through my scrap bins and found a bunch of echino (and some other kokka) scraps of various sizes - perfect for a patchwork book cover!

Even the backs of the covers are pretty!

The deer with glasses that's on the back is probably my all time favorite echino fabric - so happy I got to include it right next to some sheep and a camera!

I've been using the cover for the past days on my 2013 calendar and it's awesome how easy it is to find it - I used to empty half my bag because small planners tend to be at the very bottom of bags but with a colorful cover it kind of flashes at you when you open the bag. I'm exited for a colorful and well-organised year 2014!
This is project #42 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013. You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

52 crafts // echino tote

Yet another project I've made as a Christmas present. My mom is the lucky new owner of this tote. I came up with the design and pattern myself. We both love echino fabrics and linen so naturally I used both in this project. I started with a bunch of echino fabrics and determined the width of the strip by the size of the green bike fabric.

I just love how bright and summer-y it looks. I'll definitely have to make a similar one for me - once I found a source of high-quality linen in Germany! [other than flea markets...]

I made the handles long enough that the tote can be carries on your shoulders or in one hand. The lining is a repurposed bed sheet and the cute pink polka dot pockets are ideal for cell phones, keys, etc.
I used a lightweight fusible interfacing to five the bag some stability without adding too much weight and bulk - it's suppose to be a tote that can be carried around to flea markets, the grocery store, etc.

I'm sorry about the picture quality - we're having a very rainy Christmas over here so we had to wait for the rain to stop for a few minutes to hurry outside and snap some pictures in my grandma's garden. This bag is definitely my favorite gift I made this year - do you know those gifts that you'd love to keep yourself and you're having a real hard time giving them to the recipient? This tote is definitely one of those and I'm glad I decided to make it and finally use some of my beloved echino fabrics. They're too pretty to stay hidden in my closet!
This is project #39 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013. You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

52 craft projects // echino messenger bag

Back in 2011, I made an echino bag. I love it and I've been using it pretty much every day since. in Vancouver I only had the echino bag and a small purse so I used it all the time; when I got back to Germany I took the bag to work every day in the summer, used it when I went grocery shopping, etc. Believe me if I tell you that I used it a lot. After a couple of months the straps started to rip. When I made it I didn't consider that I'd be using it to drag tons of books across campus. My mom sewed the straps back in(with a square and X in the middle etc.) and everything was fine but a couple weeks ago I noticed that the strap fabric starts to fall apart and the bottom of the bag is pretty worn, too. The chino fabric didn't fade at all though and I'm really happy with the quality of the fabric and print!

So when I decided to sew a new bag of course I'd go with an echino fabric again. I've considered sewing a similar bag to my old one but with a zipper to close it. Turns out it's impossible to find a durable metallic zipper anywhere in my hometown. So I decided on a messenger bag instead; I feel more comfy if I have a bag that can be closed properly so I don't have to worry about anyone picking something from my bag ;)

I didn't find a bag pattern/tutorial I liked online so I came up with my own design. I love it because it perfectly suits my needs:
- two elastic pockets on the outside to fit my water bottles (one of them is big enough to hold my trusty nalgene bottle)
- a zipper pocket for my keys on the outside so I don't have to empty my entire bag to find them
- a zipper pocket for my (oversized) wallet
- a '3 D pocket' with a flap that can be securly closed with a snap for my cell phone
- a cute 'bike' pocket for my tissues because I don't have a cover for my bike seat so I have to wipe the rain off pretty much every time I wanna go somewhere
- a keychain hook for my shopping cart chip
- many colorful pockets and tidbits to brighten my day

The flap is pink on the inside (it's a very colorful linen fabric that I got at a fabric market at a bargain price) and it can be closed with two magnetic snaps if it's full. If it's empty I usually don't bother closing  it. The adjustable straps and the bottom of the bag are made usinga very thick ikea fabric. The linen I used for the lining is from the fabric market too. The '3D pocket' fabrics are kokka and the green bicycle is an echino fabric.

I love sewing bags and pockets. I'm sure I'll add another bag or two to my collection this summer ... :)

This is project #18 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013.
You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

52 craft projects // lens pouches

It feels like it's been a while since I've written a 52 craft projects post. It's not like I haven't done anything crafty in the past weeks. It's just that I feel like these projects should be more personal and challenging than just one of those 'hey, I needed a last minute gift and made a quick zipper pouch' projects.

I made these two lens pouches for my dad's birthday earlier this week. He's a great photographer and he's been complaining about needing a proper solution for storing and transporting his lenses. So one rainy day(we've had lots of them recently...) I invited my mom over for a sewing day to make these two lens pouches and a tote my mom gave my dad for his birthday.

Sewing the pouches turned out much harder than expected:
- my mom brought the 'wrong' lens so I had to call my dad and casually ask him what lenses he owns so I could check their measurements online to make sure the pouches fit perfectly.
- my dad decided to drop by spontaneously. My mom hid all the stuff in random places in my room while I stalled him at the door. Luckily he didn't stay long ;)
- we had to walk to a fabric store (the sun was shining all day but about 5 minutes after we left my apartment it started to rain...) and they didn't have all the stuff we needed so we had to improvise and my mom couldn't finish her tote.
- in the afternoon we got a call that the toilet in my grandma's apartment broke so she had to go there to fix it. So I sewed the tote while my mom practiced her 'homeowner skills' ;)

We finished the lens pouches in time and my dad loves them - yay. They weren't very much fun to sew thought; cutting all the round bottoms was pretty annoying and time consuming without proper tools. Also, calculating all the measurements wasn't much fun either but I guess paying attention in math classes in middle school paid off because I got it right ;)

We used my very favorite echino camera fabric and linen as outer fabrics and two different polka dot fabrics as linings. There is a very thick interfacing between the two layers and we cut out circles from an old camping mat for the bottom. We added snap hooks to both pouches for convenience.

I love the combination of linen and echino fabrics. Kokka fabrics are my favorite!
Aren't handmade, personalized gifts the best?
This is project #15 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013.
You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

lens cap pouch tutorial

I'm one of those people who always loses their lens cap. I usually put them in my jeans pockets but then I make weird acrobatic moves to get a good picture, thus the lens cap is uncomfortable in my pocket and I put it somewhere else. Next thing I know it's gone. So today I made something using my favorite camera fabric and decided to make a lens cap pouch. It's super simple and quickly done and a great gift for photography enthusiasts!

Here's a tutorial so you can make your own:

estimated time needed to complete: 30 minutes
skill level: 1 of 5
materials: two 4x4" pieces of the outer fabric, two 4x4" pieces of the lining, ribbon, hook and kam snaps that match your fabrics.

All seam allowances are 1/4 inch.

Step 1: cut all your fabrics and sew them together in the following order: lining, outer fabric, lining.

Step 2: Feed the hook through your ribbon and secure with the hook facing in. Make sure your seam allowance is less than 1/4 inch so the seam won't show through once your pouch is done.

Step 3: Fold your piece in half, right sides facing together, and sew around all open edges, leaving an opening at the short edge to turn your piece right side out. Carefully trim the corners.

Step 4: Turn right side out and press. Sew the opening at the bottom close using a very small stitch. Tuck the lining in.

Step 5: Now comes my favorite part. Choose kam snaps to match your fabrics and put them in.

Step 6: Enjoy!

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or send me an email :)
Also, I'd love to see your lens cap pouch if you decide to make one yourself.

52 craft projects // pencil case

The other day I found myself sitting in a rather boring logistics class and noticed a cute, handmade pencil pouch a girl had. I made a mental note to sew one because the one I've had since high school is rather small (as in three pens and one highlighter and it won't close properly anymore). So today after trying to study for like an hour I decided to take a break and do something useful instead of just reading the same page over and over again without actually remembering anything.

I used my current favorite echino fabric (again.) and the 1€ ikea fabric for the lining. I don't have much fusible interfacing left (that stuff is hard to get in Germany... sad face) so I used some 'conventional' interfacing. It's rather thick and I was worried I'd have to quilt it to keep it from crumbling but just sewing it to the outer fabric worked fine, although it kept stretching and moving in all directions. Learning how to sew bags with fusible interfacing really spoiled me.

The zipper is from a big bag full of recycled zippers that I got at a flea market last year for 2€. It looks super sturdy and the color is awesome.

I made it big enough for my calculator, ruler and pens and highlighters. Not having to empty my entire bag in every class to search my calculator will save tons of time. The calculator seems to always end up being stuck at the bottom of my bag underneath books and binders. I guess the calculator is happy to finally have a home in my bag ;)



This is project #12 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013.
You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

52 crafts // sewing machine accessories pouch

Today I needed a creative break from studying. I'm at the last section of my color affection shawl where it's just knitting back and forth and it seems to take an hour just to knit one row because there are like a thousand stitches on the needles (or so it feels...). Anyway, the prospect of knitting endless rows of garter stitch in just one color isn't very exciting so I'm saving it for a movie's night or something.

I decided to make a little pouch for all of my juki sewing machine supplies because there are so many feet, bobbins and screwdrivers etc. My old sewing machine had like three feet that I stored in the little thingy on the front of my machine plus some bobbins that were in a vintage metal box. But the juki has way too many accessories to fit into the thingy on the front (is there a technical term?) and my sewing supplies drawer that holds my scissors, measuring tapes, etc. was getting messy and it took me forever to find what I was looking for.

So I used the echino peacock fabric (I love the combination of 45% cotton and 55% linen - the structure is amazing and it's perfect for pouches and bags because it's heavier than just a cotton fabric) for the outer and a matching ikea ditte fabric for the lining. I didn't add an interfacing because I was too lazy to get my ironing board out the pouch isn't supposed to protect the stuff, just keep it from being all over the place.

There's still plenty of room for more feet and bobbins etc.
Have you noticed that the pouch matches the juki logo? Of course that was intentional - duh.

It was the perfect quick study break project; it only took me 25 minutes to complete it - including cutting the fabrics and bobbin winding. Yay. Fun and quick, that's the kind of project I like :)

How do you organize/store your sewing machine accessories?



This is project #10 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013.
You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

h+h Cologne

The h+h Cologne is an international trade fair for crafts and hobby. I went there last Friday with my mom and we've had so much fun! I was in yarn heaven - sooo many gorgeous fibers to see and feel! We got to meet many designers and book authors and the amount of inspiration you get at such a trade fair cannot be beaten.

Unfortunately, most companies didn't sell their products there but I got some knitting needles to try and an entire bolt of Echino fabric at a bargain price! I'm so excited to make some bags and pouches... and maybe a skirt?

Seeing all those gorgeous knitwear designs makes me wanna cast on a sweater (or two or three...) right away. But I'm still working on my second color affection shawl so I guess I gotta be patient...

The highlights of the day were using my future sewing machine for the very first time (I've been reading reviews about the sewing machine for months but actually trying it was so great! It was love at first sight and I can't wait till it's mine - sewing bags will be so much easier! I love my Juki but I'm super careful with it and avoid sewing through thick layers since I had it repaired a couple weeks ago. Now I just gotta find a way to finance the sewing machine.), meeting a blog reader (hey, Lizzy!) and meeting my mom's co-workers after hearing so much about them.