Monday, August 17, 2015

Embroidered Town Ruck and a purse

Hello, dear reader, how good of you to drop in!

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Unfortunately my cat doorstop has taken longer to make than I thought, plus everyday things have gotten in the way, so it will be a few more days before I can show you the completed doorstop.

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However, today I am joining Super Mom - No Cape's Stitchery Link Party, and would like to show you what I call my Town Ruck and its matching purse.

I've only been embroidering a few years and this was one of my first projects.

I stitched the flap of my bag in Cotton Perlè, there are stem stitches, stab stitches, french knots and sheesha mirrors in the yellowish circles.

The main body was backed with cotton wadding and machine quilted.   Inside, the lining has two pockets, with elasticated tops, one approx 5" square which holds keys/mirror and a smaller pocket (approximately 1" x 5") to hold a pen.

There are also two outer pockets of different sizes on either side, one for my umbrella and the other for a water bottle.  I know it looks a tiny bit lopsided but I wanted to be able to see quickly which pocket held which item, and it seemed a good idea at the time....... it actually does make it easier to remember what is in each pocket!

Front View
Before the cord carrier had been completed.
This picture is the truest colour of the fabric.

Back view
Work in progress.

Work in progress
 Deciding where to fit everything.

Draw cord and inside flap.
As with many quilters I like to add my signature
 label to most things I make.

The bag is closed by a draw cord, and covered by the embroidered flap (edged with piping) and finally held shut by a hand made, lightly sanded, varnished log button trimmed from a branch of our very own cherry tree!  (Log button made by Darling Hubbie.)

Front of Ruck, showing Al's varnished log button
Complete with varnished log button

As the bag is quite small there is a 6" zip, hand stitched into a side seam to allow easier access.

Finished back.
The bag has removable shoulder straps.
You can also see the carrier loop clearer here.

I also stitched this little purse around the same time. The embroidery was stitched in stranded thread.

Matching dumpling purse.
Matching Dumpling Purse - again with "signature".

Dumpling - other side.
The flowers on both sides were stitched to match the
hexagon on the flap, as closely as possible

Ahh, the date on the purse does rather give the game away - and that is when I started my embroidery journey!
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After finishing this post, I was trying to get to sleep when it dawned on me there is more embroidery which I stitched in the same style, and so here is another photograph. This one too has stem stitch, lots of french knots, chain stitches, small and large sheesha mirrors and satin stitch and was stitched using both stranded cottons and Cotton Perlè. I will be making this into a larger bag to carry my projects to my handicraft classes.

The patterned fabric has a bit of a shine on it,
 would you believe it - too much sunshine!

It is still waiting to be completed, is that a familiar story with you?

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Assuming you are not visiting me from Sue's linky party, do pop over
 (each and every Monday)
to see what lovely projects everyone else is working on.

The link for:
"Super Mom - No Cape" 
 is at the top of my side bar.


Hope you manage to find time this week for some crafting, 
and that you call by again soon.


Barbara xx



30 comments:

Alex said...

Fabulous matching purse and bag and a pretty big project fro a beginner too!

FlashinScissors said...

Hi Alex,

Thank you for your comment. It was only the embroidery that was new to me.

I had embroidered something small with my handicraft group before I started, but this was the first make that I initiated - a project bag (last photo) then it got a bit out of control, and I started work on the bag flap. When that was was finished I wanted a purse.

It took much longer than I thought!

Christine B said...

Hello Barbara! I am visiting from the Super Mom - No Cape link up.... what a beautiful rucksack.... you have done such a wonderful job with the embroidery, it is very pretty and reminds me of embroidered bags I used to see in the Swiss Alps! Christine x

Needled Mom said...

That is a beautiful rucksack. You did a great job with the embroidery.

FlashinScissors said...

Hello Christine, I am pleased to meet you! Thank you for your sweet comment. I hadn't thought of my bag in that way, but I can see what you mean. I will be over to visit you shortly. Thank you so much for popping by. Barbara x

Sheryl said...

Absolutely gorgeous, pretty colours and perfect stitching,

KimM said...

WOW! Just popped over from Sue's Link Party - and just signed up to follow you. Amazing work - I love the sack. Beautiful!
KimM
WisdomwithNeedleandThread.blogspot.com

FlashinScissors said...

Hello Mary, Lovely to "meet" you and thank you for your kind comments. I shall be visiting you shortly to have a look around. See you soon.

FlashinScissors said...

Hi Kim, Thank you! You are very kind! I will be signing up to follow you and your lovely blog back! Be seeing you, Barbara xx

FlashinScissors said...

Hi Sheryl, thank you for your kind comments. Lovely to hear from you.

Rachel said...

That's a delightful bag, and I imagine very useful. Good to see where you started on your Adventures in Embroidery!

FlashinScissors said...

Thank you Rachel. This bag is certainly very useful. I tend to use it in the winter months mostly, when I generally wear darker clothes.

Laura said...

Beautiful stitching! I do a lot of counted work, and I find surface embroidery much more difficult.

I wanted to reply to your comment on my blog by e-mail but couldn't. Did you know you are a no reply blogger?

Magpie's Mumblings said...

That's a fun bag - I imagine you get lots of comments on it when you use it (and rightly so!)

CathieJ said...

What a beautiful rucksack. So much detail in such a small space.

Amy at love made my home said...

It is a beautiful bag and the purses are lovely too!! You are incredibly clever and I am sure that you love using this bag! xx

FlashinScissors said...

Hi Laura,

Thank you for your comment.

I used to be cross stitch crazy, until I joined a handicraft group and we all worked on a month's project using embroidery.(I may do a post shortly about this.)

I have found embroidery a lot easier than cross stitch, as I don't necessarily now follow any pattern.

Daryl @ Patchouli Moon Studio said...

Wow what beautiful bags! Barbara you left me a comment on my blog, but you are a no-reply, so i couldn't email you directly to thank you for stopping by.

FlashinScissors said...

Thank you for the lovely comment, Mary Anne.

FlashinScissors said...

Thank you, Cathie, I enjoyed stitching it. Thank you for popping by, much appreciated!

FlashinScissors said...

Yes, it's always great to use something one has made, isn't it! Oops, my bad labelling - it's one purse, the pictures are back and front but I couldn't decide one side was better than the other. I should have said, sorry to mislead.

FlashinScissors said...

Thank you for taking time to pop by, Daryl. Thank you for your lovely comment. I'll have to change the no-reply thingy! Barbara xx

Sheryl said...

Barbara you are the winner of my giveaway. Please contact me with your mailing details. Congrats.

karen said...

these are wonderful Barbara, so much detail...

FlashinScissors said...

Hi Sheryl,

I am so excited to be the lucky winner of your amazing sewing giveaway and have already contacted you directly by email. Thanking you in anticipation.

Barbara xx

FlashinScissors said...

Hi Karen, Thank you for taking the time to give such a lovely comment, especially as you are so busy.

SuperMomNoCape said...

Your bag and little purse are each beautifully stitched. As it the piece that you'll be turning into a project bag.

Thanks so much for linking up and sharing these beauties on this week's Stitchery Link Party and for linking back to let others know about the party.

FlashinScissors said...

Thank you, Sue. I have enjoyed linking to your Stitchery Link Party, it is so nice to meet new people and discover their lovely blogs.

Thank you for running the party, it's such a fun idea. xx

Mrs Tiggywinkle said...

You are SO clever! I am a non-sewer so this seems miraculous to me. x

FlashinScissors said...

Hi Mrs Tiggywinkle,

Thank you for your lovely comment. We all have different things that we are good at doing. It would be impossible for all of us to do everything, we would go crazy!
It wouldn't do if we were all the same!

Hope you've had a lovely weekend. xx