Lisa’s wonderful bag making book has been released early or at least is in stock on amazon earlier than the stated publication date so of course I had to order a copy as soon as I saw it yesterday – before they realised their mistake!

It arrived this morning with the postman, and it’s everything I hoped for and more.  You can find my review on amazon, or if you’re lazy, just read it below:

You might question how a book of only 160 pages can call itself a “bible” but don’t, because that’s exactly what it is!
It has everything you need to know in order to make your own bags from the patterns included in the book and to understand how to put your own ideas together to create your own bags should you feel inspired.  I’ve been waiting (not so patiently) for this book ever since Lisa Lam announced on her website that it was happening, and as soon as I saw it listed on Amazon, I took full advantage of the “look inside this book” feature to see exactly what was in it, so I knew what I was getting.  Having purchased some of Lisa’s bag making kits and PDF patterns previously I was concerned that there might be some overlap/duplication with the patterns included in this book but I am happy to say that all 8 of the bag patterns in the book are new and not available in any of the kits or PDF patterns available from her shop.  In other words 8 brand new designs for some fantastic looking bags are contained within this compact bible of a book.
As I had already checked out some of the images, I knew which ones I couldn’t wait to make as soon as my copy arrived, and as soon as the book was showing as being in stock I ordered it.  In particular, I can’t wait to get started on the Oversized Fashionista, the Organised Office, and the Great Getaway bags, but all the bags look fantastic.  There are plenty of photos of the bags and photos of key stages and techniques, as well as photos of basic equipment and fabric swatches to ensure you can identify everything you need when you go shopping for them.  Plus full size patterns for all eight bags in good strong paper and not tissue paper, which let’s face it is a bit of pain to use and doesn’t last very long, so kudos to Lisa for giving us patterns that will last!
I’ve seen a lot of bag making books before, bought a few, decided against a few, but this one is definitely a winner and one that I will keep on my sewing table as a handy reference in between all that bag making.
Final comments:  It’s a great book, one of the best sewing books I’ve seen in a while and definitely of the same high quality that I’m used to as a U-Handbag customer and U-Handblog visitor.  If you have seen U-Handblog’s tutorials then you’ll know what I mean.  If you haven’t then please visit immediately after purchasing this book and you’ll see the wealth of information available there as well as becoming hooked on bag making and Lisa’s very friendly style of blogging.  The U-Handbag shop has everything you need to make your own fantastic and unique handbags like the ones included in this book, and it’s been a fantastic resource for me over the past few years as she sells some unique bits and pieces to make your bags truly special.  Thanks Lisa!

Review

Buy the book:

Behold, Japanese fabric I bought yesterday and received today from U-Handbag:

And fabric I want but is currently out of stock.

This is a strange one for me as I generally wouldn’t normally like this kind of thing but I find that I actually do.  It can only be fabric lust strikes again.

Well this is what I was working on last night and a bit of today.  It wasn’t fun, it was very fiddly and I’m not sure I want to do it again.  However I do have three of the little suckers to do /fail  

It may be small but you can still pack quite a few things in. It’s made of cotton fabric which is padded and the lining is black cotton. The frame is silver coloured and opens like a fish mouth, see nice and wide so you can find your lip gloss. It actually looks quite pretty in a dinky sort of way but it was the purse from hell to get done last night or maybe I was just tired having been up since 5.45am.  Now that I’m finished, having both slept and eaten and posted about it, I am considering making another one.  Good grief what’s wrong with me.

Actually I decided to start knitting a teddy for a change of pace inbetween the bag making, washing-up, studying, fabric cutting etc.  That has been a lot more restful so far.  *sigh*

Arrived yesterday. Not sure what I’m going to do with it but it’s a great colour and really supersoft. Kitty coats? A Michelin man suit for me to protect against the cold?  A range of quilted bags?  Still undecided at this point.  I will have to mull it over and keep looking at it some more.  Of course that tends to happen and then I run out of time to make anything.

Other fabric arrived yesterday.  Had to pay customs handling charges for it and wait an additional three days for delivery which made me a bit less enthusiastic about it, but the fabric is great.  I got 8 yds of fabric from fabric.com which btw has a 30% sale on now on fabrics that they only have 20yds or less of, so a great time to pick up a bargain.  Just remember the costs if you are ordering from outside the US.

I spent some frustrating hours last night working on a new purse.  The frustrating part was caused by the fact that it’s tiny and very fiddly and if I charged by the hour the purse would be unaffordable.  After breakfast I’m going up to finish it off but I’m already hating it and I have two more of the little buggers to do today.

At least I stopped to watch Come Dine With Me, Gordon Ramsay’s Christmas Cookalong (with Gok Wan pashing on with Gordy) and the IT Crowd.  Quality stuff.

Ha! I watched Heroes episode 12 last night.  I could have watched it yesterday morning but certain people demand that I wait for them *le sigh*  If you haven’t seen it yet then all I’m going to say is Sylar – lie detector – “there’s cake?”  LMAO  I am so making a banner with his face at that moment lol

Ok a few posts ago I mentioned I had ordered 3m of art deco silk taffeta.  It arrived this morning along with a gazillion other packages – it was better than Christmas.  Anyway after communicating with the seller about various fabric related and boring questions, he told me he didn’t have much left, so of course I then had to order what was left.  It was unavoidable.  I will now have 13 metres of silk taffeta to play with – ideas on the back of a postcard to…

Also arrived today was a big box of books from amazon (go Prime!) but unfortunately one of them is diabolical and has to die be returned.  I just wrote a reasonably scathing review of it on amazon which they may or may not publish but here’s some highlights just in case they don’t.  DO NOT buy this book under any circumstances

Creating Romantic Purses

I saw this book on amazon a few times and read the reviews which made it sound pretty decent.  It’s hard to tell from the cover but the two bags featured on there looked “ok” from a distance. Having now seen inside the book, I think you would have to have a screw loose to want to carry any of them around with you outside in public, let alone make them.  They are completely over the top, over-embellished, overdone and really reminds me of crafts you used to do as a child with lots of leftovers and scrap fabrics.  Truly appalling.  Less is more people, and if you are going to have more, let’s not have them looking like something your granny’s granny might have had stashed away. Lots of lace, fake flowers, buttons, beads, and lots and lots of fringing on everything. Another review mentioned that the authors looked like something from a Jane Austen movie – do not be fooled into thinking that must mean Elizabeth Bennett or Emma – they look like Mrs Bennet or worse Lady Catherine de Burgh (or her granny)  In addition to that, all patterns included in the book have to be enlarged at 335%!!!  They do have a website but it’s full of curtain tassles, fringing, fake flowers etc that really don’t need to be put on a handbag.  Don’t waste your time with this book.

Maybe the title and the cover might have given a clue to how bad it was going to be, but honestly at that small size what was on the cover didn’t look that bad and it got some positive reviews.  I did consider it a few times before and never clicked the “add to basket” button so I need to learn to trust my instincts where crappy books are concerned.  It’s being returned this afternoon :p

crafty photos coming up in the next post…

Day 5 in the big blood eye house.

Ellie is turning into a vampire

Yup I can actually feel when it’s bleeding now, and it seems to bleed a little more every night.  Hmm usually after talking to Jack *wonders if there’s a connection* *eye starts twitching*

Went a bit mad last night on a fabric shop that someone from Etsy linked me to because I wanted to know what fabric she had used on something that I ended up buying.  OMG the shop had a sale and shipped internationally.  Many dollars, a seven page wishlist and some hours later, I logged out and went to bed dreaming of all the prettiness and ruby slippers.

This morning the postman delivered some parcels but still not enough (!) and also a card demanding more money for customs charges for something they haven’t/won’t deliver until I pay *sigh*  I think it’s probably my sexy topless men fabric.  I hope they didn’t open it or they may think I’m some kind of pervert.  I guess I can look forward to at least another 3-4 similar cards for all the rest of the stuff that is on its way

On the bright side, I did the rest of my Christmas shopping online this morning and it should all arrive this week.  Then it’s only a matter of me making the rest of the things I want to give people – once the supplies arrive from the four corners of the globe.  Hopefully I am not cutting it as fine as I think I might be.

Also thinking of throwing in free tablet with orders on Etsy once I get organised and make stuff to sell there.  So far it’s only book covers and mousepads.  It should be many other things which should be easier now I can see the room I’m supposed to be working in, but probably too late for Christmas orders.  Timely for January sales though!

Oh and later I will post some photos of the new improved sewing room now that I can see it lol

Just a reminder that today is the final posting day for overseas mail that is “guaranteed” to get there for Christmas (of course it doesn’t mean that if you post after today that it won’t get there but it’s not guaranteed)

Consequently Zazzle has free postage offers for today and Cafepress are giving free postage on their FLIP mini camcorders.

There are also lots of sales on Etsy today and this weekend, so now’s your chance to pick up something special at a discount. Remember too you can filter your browsing results by locality which is great if you want something in a hurry – order from someone close to where you live! I’ve been buying a few things there this week and it occurred to me that if anyone came up with handmade things for teenage BOYS they would make a fortune because there isn’t anything and they are so hard to buy for. I checked the gift guides on Etsy and not only is there nothing for teenage boys, men are not really catered for either. I guess it’s a girl thing huh? Wanting to have pretty shiny handmade things lol

*goes into man bag production overdrive*

Speaking of men, I was shopping in the men’s underwear section of Tesco last night because I’ sick of freezing (I’m tempted to say “nuts off” considering what I bought) and decided to invest in some thermal underwear! I bought some men’s long johns in attractive white with handy little pouch for storing things or keeping your mobile phone handy. I may have to dye them purple or something though as I don’t like white. Next week I’m going to get the matching t-shirt, also thermal

I bought the object of my fabric lust yesterday btw. There was never any doubt that I would buy it but I’m still short on ideas what to do with it when it arrives. It is very pretty though. I keep thinking moulin rouge and corsets. I don’t know why.

Only Vampires Love You Forever design remains my top seller on Zazzle. It’s now available in four colour options and it’s selling like hotcakes. Keychains in all designs are also flying off the shelves. I also added some embroidered hats, totes and t-shirts in two new forum related designs – 100% Book Addict and Paranormal Social Club. Probably doesn’t make a lot of sense now but it’s all part of my not so cunning plan.