Lederhosen bag

Lederhosen bag

I made this bag from a vintage deer-leather Bavarian Lederhosen. I cut the Lederhosen in usable parts and sewed them on a beautiful woollen fabric (some dark green and black woodland fabric). The Lederhosen pockets were still functional; so both outer sides of the bag have these pockets, and one side has also the Lederhosen knife pocket. The sides of the bag are from the woollen fabric and have elastic at the top. The lining is made from a dark green Bavarian Dirndl cotton with pink flowers and has a pocket with a pink zipper. The bag closes with two magnets in the upper stiff border. Four thick dark green antler-like buttons on the bottom serve as bag feet. The handles are black artificial leather straps; when you take them double, you can wear the bag as a handbag; when you pull them high, you can wear the bag as a shoulderbag.
I have the feeling that it is a pretty sturdy bag, but I am going to try it out in the coming weeks :)

Bags : Snowflakes

One month ago I went with my neighbour friend to a flea market; she told me she had so much linen, doilies, tableclothes, etc. from her mother, grandmother and aunt that she wanted to get rid of them. So we went to the market and sold almost nothing ..... But I was secretly very happy about that :) I loved all this old stuff and my mind was already going crazy with ideas what I could do with all these old textiles. So, we did a deal, she wanted some old porcelain plate from me and I got the doilies; and a lovely bouquet of button flowers gave me the old linen ! And I had to promise her that she would be the first to see the first creation with it. Well, I did keep my promise, and as a consequence my friend Anne is posing on the pictures of my first snowflake bag too. She was happily surprised to see her old doilies making such a lovely appearance and loves the snowflake bag (so I will make her one).

I have a lot of lovely beige, grey and white woollen fabrics (loden fabric), almost like very thick felt, and the doilies look great on those fabrics. So, I made this bag of such woollen fabric, lined it with beige cotton and put a large metal white zipper in it. On both sides I sewed the doilies, and I sewed a strap of heavy cotton webbing with large vintage mother of pearl buttons on one side of the bag. It's big and beautiful ! And it could go directly into this week's EST challenge because of the snowflakes :)

And it is for sale in my etsy shop ! Lots of snowflake bags still to come .....

Buttons : Button Blankets

Haida button blanket decorated with a human figure (ca. 1900); wool, dentalium shells, abalone shell, pearl buttons (from Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation)
A few years ago I found one of the most spectacular button art creations I had ever seen by surfing on the internet. I am talking about the North American Button Blankets. I fell immediately in love with this kind of button art !


Haida button blanket with a double-headed Eagle (ca. 1900); wool, dentalium shells, abalone shell, pearl buttons (Photo from Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation)
From around 1800, Pacific Northwest Coast Indian tribes (like the Haida, Tsimshian, Tlingit, Nisga'a and others) often traded furs for woolen blankets from maritime european traders and later the Hudson's Bay company. Rather than sleeping equipment, the blankets were made into robes for ceremonial purposes; they were worn over the shoulders like capes.


First Nations people in button blankets at Quatsino Sound (Ben W. Leeson, 19--) from Vancouver Historical Society

Why were they decorated with buttons ? One legend tells that a member of the Kwagiutl tribe saw once a Pearly King and liked what he saw. Another legend tells it was inspired by the white pearl buttons on the uniform of a British sailor. Truth is that early pictures show that the blankets were first decorated with feathers and abalone shells. These were eventually replaced by mother of pearl buttons, obtained from traders and sailors' uniforms, and were much easier to use. Most blankets are made of dark blue duffle with red flannel appliqué outlined with pearl buttons. The central crest typically portrayed a symbol of the wearer's family heritage. Symbols found are the frog, raven, whale, thunderbird etc.


Tlingit button blanket with killer whale (1891-1898); wool, pearl buttons (from The Burke Museum of National History and Culture)
Traditionally, these robes were worn during dance ceremonies. The dancer would move displaying the shiny patterns of the shell buttons to the audience. The community would know the dancer's family clan and its historial status just by the design on the robe. The robes were handed down from generation to generation. After 1880 the Indians were discouraged by the governments to hold their traditional ceremonies and not many button blankets were made anymore. Around 1950 a revival of the button blanket occurred. New button blankets are made, and classes in button work are offered. The button blanket has now become the most popular piece of contemporary feast attire. Today, buttons are sometimes used to fill entire zones of the design elements and even the whole field of the background.


Tlingit button blanket with frog (1920s); wool, pearl buttons (from The Burke Museum of National History and Culture)
A modern re-invention of
the button blanket concept by
Coho Creations:

Based on:
Wikipedia
Clarissa Hudson Studio
The Button Lover's Book (Creative Machine Arts Series) by Marilyn V. Green
Make a Button Blanket

New button blanket (from Shawl Lady dot Com)

Fabrics: Leftovers & Wrist Warmers

I had a Christmas market last weekend and am pretty exhausted from those 2 days standing and talking. My bestsellers this year were the wristwarmers I made from all kind of beautiful leftover fabrics; silk, velvet, lace, wool, felt, etc. Most of them are lined with wool and, therefore, pretty chic and warm ! And, of course, some of them are decorated with some pretty buttons too.
Made lots of them in the last 2 weeks, here you can see a selection:

Hats : New Creations

I am pretty proud of my last two hat creations; experimented a bit with velvet and heavy wool felt. The turquoise velvet one was made for the European Street Team challenge of last week: AQUA. Especially the wool felt I love to work with; it feels thick and strong, does not fray and is lovely for making decorations like flowers and leaves. Got myself a lot more of this woollen felt,also a bit thinner which is a bit better for my sewing machine who had some difficulties with the thick magenta I used now.

Fabrics : wool upholstery

I bought a bunch of beautiful woollen upholstery fabrics from a closing german fabric factory. No idea what to do with it yet; but they will make great bags and hats, for sure !