Thursday 13 October 2011

Promise

Thankyou for all the get well wishes. I am back at work and feeling much better than last week.  I have an energetic job so when I get home I can't get much sewing done until I feel a bit more up to speed.  I did fancy a quick fix instant gratification make.  I bought this months Mollie Makes magazine, mainly for the tiny coin purse frame kit on the front.  At £4.99 an issue, it is at the pricier end of the magazine market. I blindly cut my fabrics out following the instructions and cutting round the templates , I then realised there would be no lining, the seams would be visible on the inside and the whole thing would be too flimsy for coins.  So I abandoned the sparse and slightly inadequate instructions and made it using previous purse making knowledge- see U-handbag for great purse tutorials.  
Suzuko Koseki fabric and a little stamping with versacraft ink.

The lining is Kei dots.  The coins give you an idea of scale, this is a tiny purse.

I am not a great craft magazine buyer. UK magazines are often aimed at beginner sewers and have great aspirational lifestyle pictures but projects with often rather limited usage or not the best instructions.  If I had been new to sewing and had made the purse how they suggested I would have been rather sad about the result.  The crafting tradition and maybe a larger market to see to in USA and Japan leads to more adventurous magazines with a variety of projects for a greater range of abilities.  Don't get me wrong, Mollie Makes is very pretty but there is the edge of whimsy that pushes me over the edge- I am a little irritable at the moment and "things that have been made with love last longer" as a caption was going too far for me. 
I have had a week of frustrating tech which has compounded my grumpiness.  My phone is a Blackberry- I just got it fixed and then the Blackberry crash has made it inoperable for most of this week.  I also working on my first paper pieced pattern for sale on Etsy and drawing the pieces has been fiendishly hard in Word!  I have now sussed it, publication is imminent and I promise Damian that I will be a loveable person to live with once more and not a raging, irritable old bag x
sib blog

28 comments:

  1. Glad you're feeling better - hope your recovery continues! Love the purse but the instructions that came with it sound rubbish! Oh, and I completely agree about UK craft/quilting magazines!

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  2. Glad you're feeling better, although the Blackberry thing sounds like it's been a nightmare all round. So many people rely on them that it's ridiculous they can't get it sorted quicker.

    I do buy a few crafting magazines, but have gradually whittled down the titles I like. My local WHSmiths carries a HUGE selection, both UK and US, so I'm spoiled for choice. I like British patchwork, Sew Hip and Handmade Living, but am not a huge fan of Mollie Makes. Making magazine is sort of similar but for me, the projects are usually better. Mind you, I've stopped buying Inside Crochet because the patterns just don't do it for me, plus you have to pick out the patterns from the errors sometimes! When you look at its US equivalent, Interweave Crochet, there's just no comparison.

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  3. I feel your pain. I hate the UK mag market with a passion. They're so cringe its not even funny. The crochet and knit ones which I have been subscribing to are so "trying to be cool but totally not making it", and as yet I haven't found a sewing mag that doesn't involve some "new" and "innovative" way to make a loo-roll holder. Really peeps! We should get together and publish a mag akin to those in america, that people actually want to read. Then I will subscribe. Although we would probably get a copy for free... lol

    I'm incensed now.

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  4. I love your purse..it's so cute!
    Your post made me smile. :) I am glad to hear that you feel better.
    Hope you have a great week!

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  5. Your coin purses are so cute! thanks for sharing how you did them -i'm awaiting the next issue-we're a bit behind here...

    are you drawing up your patterns in word too?

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  6. Thank you Kerry for stopping by my blog.

    I am not sure how you can reply to my comment on here but I chose to subscribe to the comments and they will be sent to my email address (thanyalak.c@hotmail.com).

    I've become your blog follower and really enjoy reading your posts.:) Thank you!

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  7. things that are made with love and quality craftsmanship last longer...

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  8. Though a super text program, Word is hopelessly inadequate for anything else. Been there, torn my hair out too. For drawing, try Inkscape, a free, downloadable vector program. It makes drawing patterns a pleasure and traces bitmap images better than Illustrator.

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  9. Sorry to hear about your frustrations. :( Your little purse is darling though!

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  10. I agree with everything you say about the UK craft magazine market - I subscribed to Making mag in the hope it would fill the niche but sadly, I find it hard to identify the intended market, so confused is the level of material inside. All I know is that it's not me!

    Yes, Mollie Makes is whimsy and makes me feel old. I'm sad that the project was poorly explained too - because it's so important to achieve great results with first craft projects to inspire more adventure.

    Love your purse though!

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  11. What a fun coin purse. I need to purchase some of those little closures and try one for myself. I've been feeling a similar way about most sewing publications--I get sucked in by the styling of the photos and then discover that the instructions are nothing I couldn't have figured out.

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  12. Honestly, pattern writing instructions have gone downhill in the past number of years. I think it is in the effort to make everything appear simple. Bugs me.

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  13. Love those little coin wallets. Great idea for Christmas presents. I just have to figure out where to get the clip part here in the US.

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  14. Glad you are on the mend Kerry.
    I always think UK P & Q mags just re-cycle themselves year after year and have such obvious tie-ins with fabric manufacturers.

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  15. Glad you are feeling better Kerry. And I love those little coin purses - they are so cute. Am loving your little labels, I wonder if I missed a blog post about them?

    I am totally in agreement about Mollie Makes. Can't understand the slight hysteria that surrounds it... I subscribe to Selvedge because I like to read about the textiles and fashion - but that is seriously high end, and I guess not really a craft magazine as such. I often buy Stitch from the USA, after a gulp about the price... But the projects are great and the instructions always thorough I think.

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  16. I don't like UK crafting magazines as a whole so it's good to know it's not like this the world over as that's kind of put me off of buying magazines full stop. I really don't need to know how to make a loo roll cover or something be-decked with lots of nylon lace. I love your little purse. I'm feeling a tad grumpy after completely messing up a simple purse make this afternoon. So I feel your pain about disappointment!

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  17. Glad you got to 'try' the purse before me, I will just use the mini-frame some other way, at some point!

    I am a magazine junky - but have stopped with the Sew Hip but haven't quite tired of Mollie Makes or Making, but I feel a new year's resolution/revolution coming on!

    Be 100% soon xxx

    Good luck with Word - it's a pig at the best of times, and the Mac version is pants!

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  18. Oh i love your little purse, I keep meaning to buy some versacraft ink and bring some life back into my neglected stamps.

    I cancelled my subscription to Popular Patchwork on Monday as there is an advent callender in there that looks like the ffabric is from 1982.....infact if I didn't know better the whole magazine could have been produced in 82....just the shop adverts are a little difference. I anly subscribed to get the free jeelly Roll...they are doing the same offer until the 14th Oct so £8.99 for a jelly roll is good.

    I've bought far fewer magazines since reading blogs - there are far more interesting things to read in blogland - and then I have ordered a few excellent books from talented bloggers. Oh - just ordered The bag making bible from the library too.

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  19. Oh my goodness the little coin purse is...little...but so cute. Those frames still kinda freak me out. I LOVE U-Handbag, and her book is totally worth the price! Even though so far I mostly just page through it and gaze at the pictures.

    I hope you feel completely better soon. And a pattern on etsy? So cool!

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  20. Your tiny coin purse is adorable! Which part did you stamp?

    I hope you get to have a more cheerful day! :)

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  21. How can you be a craby old bag when you made such a darling little purse?

    I'm not familiar with magazines in the UK. However, I have gotten several issues of Irish Quilting and thought them lovely.

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  22. i don't know how big your coins are but that coin purse looks so teensy weensy. i swoon a little just looking at it.
    i swear that the magazine editors/publishers aren't crafters at all and have no interest in learning what a regular crafter is looking for. they are lazy and slick and just want barely enough content to sell the items in the adverts. think of it. if the craft projects are super cool, why look at the ads? as crafters we take pride in our work. i wish those editors/publishers did the same. hmmm...now i'm sounding crabby.

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  23. Just a quick note to let you know that a link to this post will be placed on CraftCrave today [13 Oct 09:00pm GMT]. Thanks, Maria

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  24. I love your little purse! I'm also a bit of a magazine junkie - I subscribed to Mollie Makes and I think it is lovely to look at but is still very expensive for what it is, and you are absolutely right, the "free gifts" (and their instructions) are pretty crap so I won't be renewing my subscription when it runs out.

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  25. oh Kerry, you make me smile, you old bag you! lol! your coin purse is so cute and tiny! Was it fiddly to make? I am in absolute need of one but am a bit shy to try it!
    I can't wait to see you new pattern for sale! When do you expect to have it posted by?

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  26. I had no idea about the UK magazines being like that. I have one French sewing magazine with a dress's instruction written in a few sentences! That made me wow! Mollie Makes looks so pretty on the cover though :)

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  27. I'd rather read blogs like yours than crafty sewing magazines any day of the week. Cheer up -- if you're still feeling grumpy, I give you permission to smash something! :-)

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  28. So glad to have found this post on your blog - getting very frustrated with the Mollie makes instructions and cannot get fabric into clasp - grrrr, thanks to you am off to visit the sites you recommend - thanks

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