Another two

Only two animals got done yesterday. Well it was Friday and a bottle of red wine usually finds it's way into the 'scheme of things' on a Friday evening!!!

I did, however, manage to pin the critters I've already done onto the bag during the afternoon! I raided one of my boxes of completed stuff and found a few more animals to add too. Maybe today I'll get the two new ones on and start sticking them.
Not sure if I mentioned that I got some new glue from our craft store last weekend. It said on the packet that it would stick anything to (more or less) anything but that it was also washable too. Ah, tat's exactly what I needed for my bag!!!
When I got it home and opened up the packet it said that before using you should wash the garment well! Also mentioned that denim should be washed four times before sticking!!! On yer bike, thought I!!! When I made my shopping bag (translated to American as tote bag!) about six months ago I stuck the bits of tatting on with some other glue that I'd got. This isn't washable and I didn't expect the bits to stay on. They're still there and looking just as good as the day they were added!!!
SO, I reckon that I'll just use this stronger glue on the 'virgin' denim and see what happens. After all, if the pieces fall off I can stick them on again AND knowing me - I'll not like the bag in a few months time anyway!!!!
Below are two fishes that got done before the red wine took too great a hold!!!

Playtime!

Well I'm playing. I've still no plan for what is going to go onto the handbag but I'm going to tat lots of bits and pieces. Below is what I've done over the past two/three days. If they aren't used for the bag then I'm sure they'll find a home somewhere else (unless I lose them first!).

I just LOVE Martha Ess's little New Critters on the Block book so that came off the bookshelf too. These are just the right size for the 'in between' places on the bag. I think another evening of tatting should see enough to start sticking them all on. The really, really exciting part!!!

Testing the new handbag!

For the first time in years I've now got a handbag that I like!!! So cool!! The only thing I don't like about it is the fact that it's dull and boring at the moment. So, to put this right I've started to think about decorating it. Well, what would anybody in their right minds want on a handbag?

Tatting, of course!!

As there are many 'facets', sides, ins and outs to this bag this will be a tricky one. So, last night I started on some odds and ends. As usual there is no forward planning to this task - just the regular 'hit and miss' method. I think all those years of planning lessons for youngsters has knocked this skill out of me. OR, did I ever plan that well anyway? Hmmm, won't go down that road!!!
I thought I'd make this an animal bag. So I've started with a gecko and a couple of pigs. There's an owl half done and then I thought I may do a seahorse (or 2). One of the pigs may go elsewhere as a present. Just like doing things in pairs as once a couple of shuttles are wound it's easier to use most of the thread than wind it back onto the ball (ooooooh, I LOVE my Aeros for that!). I always wind thread back onto the ball when I've finished a project so that I know where the thread came from. This also frees up the shuttles. One of the advantages of using a bobbin shuttle.
Anyway, I digress, as usual!!! I may do some flowery bits too but it's early days.
At the only local craft store we have (yes, we do have one - only one) I noticed some glue that they had. This is glue that you can use to stick stuff onto fabric AND still be able to wash the item. I'm going to give this a try on the bag as I doubt it'll need washing that often. Here are the first contestants for a placement on the bag!!!

Snowflakes

I found that the new motif (now known as snowflake 2007) fits into a 3" bangle. I spent a few hours tying the first eleven in using invisible thread.

One hint is to tie them in, put a blob of strong glue on each knot and let them dry.

I also made three more over the weekend at odd times.

Oh, I know I've been tagged by several people but the brain hasn't worked on the seven facts yet!!! I'm not sure I can think of seven but I'll try!!!! Check back later!!!!

I've been tagged

I've been tagged by TatBit and Julie - to share 7 facts about myself! I know several people have tagged me and I've been so busy that I've not done my 'confessions' until now!

1. I'm 64 and living in sin!! Actually I was married for 24 years when he walked out on me with my friend. Instead of a silver wedding anniversary party - I threw a divorce party. The hangovers lasted a full week!! I now live with a second cousin (been together for about 14 years) and we both have the same surname (Eborall IS my name and I reverted to it when the ex walked out). Actually, he ran!!!!

2. My mum never liked me but that's never bothered me as in the end the feeling was mutual!!!

3. I've lived in the same town most of my life and I used to teach very young children and LOVED every minute of it.

4. I love to make people laugh and my only unfilled ambition in life would have been to have 'made it' as a stand up comedienne. Too late now - I can barely make myself laugh some days!!

5. When I die I want the Beatles music played, no religious 'stuff' and I want everybody to party, party, party. If somebody stood up and said 'she was OK' then that'd be good too!! Oh, I want 'Give me Sunshine' played too and I want everybody to laugh and laugh.

6. I have three grandsons aged from 7 to 3 and a granddaughter due in three weeks. She'll get all my tatting stuff whether she likes it or not!!!

7. I don't like sport of any sort - either to participate or to watch. I don't watch telly very often but listen to bits of it. (I love Corrie, though!!!) I've always got shuttles and thread in my hands and a laptop on my knees!!!!

Now I've got to tag three people and I'll do this with apologies to those who don't want to take part!!! I didn't want to either but now I've done it I'm VERY pleased I was tagged!!!!

First is Sharon she's a megga tatter.
Next is Riet a dear friend from the Netherlands
Finally Tanya another of my good tatting friends.

Got to dash - got an emergency with my dad!!!

Who said I was an old bag?

Yup, well known for it too!!! It's something that Nick and I have in common - a love of bags! Not posh bags, expensive bags, but downright useful bags!! Wherever we are we seem to be drawn to bags. We buy bags and then find that the 'new and REALLY useful' one that seemed like our dreams come true in the shop turns out to be flipping useless!!!

I also make bags - I have a 'thing' about making them too. The last one I made was a shopping bag, the one before that a tatting bag and the one before that was a 'quite useful' handbag. Most of them never really 'took off' except the shopping bag which I use all the time.

I honestly can't remember when I made the first bag but it was many, many years ago. I've made them from Laura Ashley patchwork pieces, I've made rolly polly bags and straight sided bags. My main love is denim as it 'goes' with anything.

Well the week before last we had a 'turning out' of bags. No more, we said to each other. This bag business has to stop. Duh! During the the painful operation of deciding which ones had to go I came across a favourite one which I'd put to one side as it was made of hard plastic. I liked the shape and size of this one but it sort of 'crinkled' and looked really nasty. Ah, I thought, I could make a bag like this but out of fabric and not hard, ugly plastic.
Out came the denim and the sewing machine. Making a bag is like a jigsaw puzzle. I start with a tape measure and pins. A ruler and pen are also useful. Usually I cut out the main pieces and then start putting them together as I think they should go. Seems to work. Here's the bag - fully lined and stiffened too!! Ta de dah!!! Far left is the front, then a side view followed by the back. What it needs now is some tatting on it. Tat's the next task!!!

PS - yes, I'm allowed a PS in a blog, I'm sure!! Before I put the sewing machine away I made two more little 'quickie' bags. Sad old woman!!!

How wrong can you be?

Yesterday morning I emailed Georgia about tatting stuff and personal things. At the very end of the email I said the following.

"Well, time for a trip to the car boot market. Just for eggs - there's rarely anything interesting to find!!!"

The car boot market is held each Saturday on a bit of waste land at the end of our road. A car boot market is similar to garage sales or neighbourhood sales. People come along to a given place with a stack of stuff they don't want, open the boot (trunk) of their car, put out a table and the stuff from their boot goes onto the table. Good way to get rid of stuff you don't want!!!
I normally go up to the market for eggs and vegetables cause a man sells them from his small holding. Yesterday the local hospice had a 'pitch' too and I was dozing past there when I saw the two doilies at the end of this post. I started looking at them and the lady told me they were crochet. Sorry, says I, they're not crochet - they've been tatted. Out come my shuttles and thread, which I happened to have with me, and on a very cold morning and only half awake I showed the lady how the mats were made.
Well I couldn't leave them there. Unloved, unappreciated. I told her that I didn't want or need them but that they needed liberating. So, for the princely sum of a whole round pound they came home with me.