DIY crocheted clutch bag!!

 

 

Hiya guys!!  Happy Friday!  I hope you are all fab! 

So, in my last post, I mentioned that I’m going to start posting every second Monday…however instead of posting this upcoming Monday, I am doing a post today, as I will not be near a computer on Monday!  I know, I’ve just made this totes confusing, but from the 10^th August I will be posting every second Monday!! 

Okay, now that’s out the way…today I thought I’d do a post about something I’ve been working on for a wee while.  Had this little project going for a couple months, but had to take a break from it as I had no time to finish it.  But as I had quite a few days free this past week I managed to complete it…yay!   So what was the project…a crocheted clutch bag!! 

 

 

 

I know, another crochet thing!!  But, you know what, I love crocheting so there probably will be many more crochet posts coming up!

 

So, this little piece of work was actually meant to be a tablet cover for my sister, but I just loved the stitch/pattern that I used and ended up just making it into a clutch bag for myself.  That’s bad isn’t it, haha!  To be honest, if I decide I don’t want it to be used as a bag anymore, at least it can have another life as a tablet cover!

 

This was quite an easy project as all that was needed was:

 

 

·         Yarn – I used a super chunky wool yarn

 

 

 

 

 

 

·         10mm crochet hook – as recommended on the packaging of the yarn

 

 

 

 

 

·         Zip – bought this in a haberdashery store

·         White cotton pillowcase – used for the bag lining

 

 

 

 

·         Needle

·         White sewing thread

·         Scissors

 

 

 

And this is what it turned out like!

 

 

 

 

I basically just did a ribbed stitch for the whole clutch bag!  To be honest, I came across this type of stitch when I was trying to crochet a beanie hat and needed to watch a video to see how to do that.

 

Originally I was aiming to make a beanie but halfway through I thought it would be quite cool to make it into a tablet cover/clutch bag!  As I used a super chunky yarn, it probably would have been a wee bit too thick for a hat anyway!!

 

(I have put the link to the video at the end of the post, so you can watch it, if you like.)

 

So, the only extra bit I added to the bag was the lining.  I just used a white pillowcase for this.  Another kind of material would be quite good for the lining, but I just stuck with a cotton pillowcase as it was handy for me.

 

 

 

 

How I made the lining:

 

 

1.     I measured the pillowcase against the bag to get the size for the lining.

 

2.     I made sure to use one corner of the pillowcase so I wouldn’t have much sewing to do.

 

3.     After sewing the open side and creating a pocket, I sewed on the zip.  

 

To be honest, this would be SO much easier to do using a sewing machine!!

I had to sew by hand and to be really honest, it was super difficult!  I just can’t sew.  I’ve tried so many times but I just can’t get it.  I can cross stitch no bother but that’s probably because of the wee squares and lines, haha.

 

So, if you are amazing at sewing by hand then you’ll manage this with no problem. 

 

4.     Next, I sewed on the pocket lining, with the zip, to the crocheted part.

 

 

 

 

5.     And lastly, I attached some scraps of grey yarn to the slider of the zip to make it easier to use as well as to add a little bit of extra interest to the bag!

 

 

 

 

 

And that’s all that was needed to make this clutch bag!

 

Even though attaching the lining to the crocheted part was a bit stressful for me…this was quite an enjoyable thing to make!  And now it’s all finished it looks fab!!

 

 

 

 

Anyway guys, thank you SO SO much for reading!  I really hope you enjoyed this post J and I’ll see you back here on the 10^th August when my new post will be up!

 

Have a great weekend and as always, take care and I’ll see you next time!

 

Lin xxx

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YouTube Sources:

 

Super Easy Ribbed Crochet Hat/Beanie by Amanda Lee-Roy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCIUAWfUCLU 

Easy DIY embellished dinosaurs!!

 

 

 

Hiya guys!!  I hope you are all doing great!

 

First of all, before I start with this week’s post I want to apologise for not getting a post uploaded last week!!  I was super busy with work and things and I didn’t have a chance to get a wee crafty project done to post about! It totally sucks, if I’m being totally honest, as I hate missing deadlines I set for myself! L

 

So, as this has been happening a wee bit too much recently where I’m finding it hard to upload a post every Sunday, I’m thinking it might be a good idea to change my blog day to every second Monday.

 

The most gutting thing is that I’ve managed to make the weekly blogging schedule work for a while, but with my new job and more working hours etc. I have been finding it quite difficult to do a crafty project every week.  So by changing my posting time to every two weeks, hopefully that will give me a chance to upload better and more detailed posts!

 

Again, I apologise but you will catch me posting on here every two weeks from now on!

 

 

 

 

Okey dokies…so let’s get on with this week’s post!!

 

 

 

 

For a while, on Instagram and Pinterest etc. I have been seeing people update random items like glass jars and toys by painting/spray painting them gold to give them a new look!  It’s amazing how a bit of gold paint can make something random and ordinary look quite elegant and funky.  Love this idea!

 

 

As I was looking through these pictures I noticed that one person had used little farm animal toys, painted them and then stuck them to jar lids to create funky embellished jars!

 

 

So, like all other inspirational ideas, I stored this crafty idea in my wee brain…and totally forgot all about it until I was walking through a pound shop and found tiny little dinosaur toys that would be great for this DIY.  Obviously I had to buy them!  Four little dinosaurs for £1!  How could I resist a wee bargain like that?

 

 

Instead of going to buy gold spray paint, I decided I would use up some nearly empty bottles of old just-about-gloopy nail polish.  This worked quite well, because since it is nail polish it dried fast – which is fab!

 

 

 

 

What I used:

 

 

·         Toy dinosaurs

 

 

 

·         Three nail polishes

 

 

·         Opaque gold polish

·         Light thin metallic gold polish

·         White polish for a base coat

 

 

·         Bottle lids 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      ·         All-purpose adhesive glue

 

 

 

 

 

Steps for Dino #1

 

 

 

 

 

1.     For the first dinosaur, I had to use a white base coat as the gold polish didn’t show up very well.

 

 

2.     Once the base coat was dry, I put a couple layers of the gold polish on top.

 

 

3.     As a little extra, and to make the dinosaur more detailed, I decided to add a little of the opaque polish just on the top part to give it an ombre look.

 

 

4.     Lastly I stuck the dinosaur onto the lid using an all-purpose adhesive glue.

 

 

 

 

 

Steps for Dino #2

 

 

 

1.     For the second dinosaur, I didn’t need a base coat as I used the opaque gold polish which went on quite thick in only one coat!  

 

2.     Next, I just touched up the little spaces missed.

 

3.     And lastly, like the first dinosaur, I used the all-purpose adhesive glue to stick it onto the lid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So this is what they ended up looking like!

 

 

 

 

 

These are funky things that can be left as they are.  Or, you could stick it to a little side plate/saucer to create a little desk tidy or jewellery holder?  You could even add a little weight to the underside of the lid to create little paper weights?  So many ideas!! 

 

 

Anyway guys, thank you SO SO much for reading!  I really hope you enjoyed this post J and I’ll see you back here in two weeks’ time!

 

 

As always, take care and see you next time!

 

Lin xxx