Kitty Applique Coin Purse Project - Part 1 (Applique Technique)

A very good morning...

I have been doing this small project for a few days now, a little at a time, during my way to office, in the late evening after work... finally this morning, I finished the last bit of the kitties.

I wanted to learn applique quilting, even though I have not even done quilting before.  So, I bought this kitty applique coin purse kit online as I thought it will give me all the instructions I need.   My expectation was wrong.  It was not really for beginner like me who has never done one before.   Luckily the stitch names are there in the brief instructions provided, so I could ask my good friend, Mr Google what they are :).   I went searching and found tutorials for the stitches I need:

1) Needle Turn Applique Stitch - To sew the applique to the background without showing the stitch
http://appliquetoday.blogspot.com/2008/04/needleturn-applique-stitching-tutorial.html 

There is an easier way of doing this if the applique is large.  Sew the outline with wide stitch and then pull the thread so that the seam gathered underneath and sew it the same way as above.  I have only read the instructions but haven't tried it:
http://www.sewlover.com/basic/applique_technique.html

Another tutorial: http://www.360doc.com/content/10/0929/09/69678_57231974.shtml

2) Fly Stitch for the nose & mouth

http://inaminuteago.com/stitchdict/stitch/fly.html

3) Outline Stitch - for the leg & moustache

http://stitchschool.blogspot.com/2009/12/stitch-school-stem-and-outline-stitch.html

Here is a handy stitch dictionary I found:

http://inaminuteago.com/stitchindex.html

Thanks to the link owners for sharing the information, otherwise I won't be able to complete the kitties. 

Bye now and have a wonderful weekend.http://www.360doc.com/content/10/0929/09/69678_57231974.shtml

Frame Coin Purse

I made my first frame purse.. hooray.. ! :)   A mini one.  The purse frame is 6.5 cm.  The cover fabric is a gift I received from a craft seller.  :)   Why did I choose this frame?  Because it was the cheapest I could find.   I want to try out making a frame purse but I don’t want to spend a lot of money.  :) 


I found below patterns available for download.  These are patterns for different sizes of frame.  Very convenient. :)
1) 2 pieces of cover fabrics like the one I have made. 
http://www.sewlover.com/PDF/bag/2patch_frame_pouch_pattern.pdf

2) 4 pieces of cover fabrics:
http://www.sewlover.com/PDF/bag/curve_frame_purse_pattern.pdf

The patterns are in PDF and print them in scale of 97%.   For scaling, look for something like “reduce/enlarge to” in the printer setting.

The above links are provided by the tutorials below:

1) 4 pieces of cover fabrics:

http://www.sewlover.com/bags/tutorial/curve_frame_purse.html
This tutorial provides the instruction on how to attach the frame.

2) 2 pieces of cover fabrics, simplest to make:

http://www.sewlover.com/bags/pattern/2patch_frame_pouch_pattern.html
I made mine according to this but for attaching the frame,  please see 1 above.

Here is one in English that shows how to attach the frame:
http://cottonandcloud.com/blog/how-to-attach-a-purse-onto-a-sew-on-frame-crochet-purse-tutorial/

The last step of this tutorial is to clamp end of the frame which was not there in the sewlover tutorial.
In addition,  sewlover tutorial attach the frame from the middle of the frame (which I used, and I think this will ensure balance of both sides) but this one start from the side. 

Here is a list of online sellers who sell purse frames:

1) http://hong2lee.blogspot.com
2) http://craftgallery4u.blogspot.com
3) http://emma36handmade.blogspot.com
4) http://cforum2.cari.com.my/redirect.php?goto=findpost&ptid=1958360&pid=74941269
5) http://homegalhandmade.blogspot.com/search/label/purse%20frame
6) Daiso, The Curve - 5cm x 2 at RM5.00 (Thanks to Sueann for sharing this.) 

The frame I bought has holes.  How about frames without holes?  Here are nice tutorials for that:
1) http://u-handbag.typepad.com/uhandblog/2006/12/purse_frames_de.html
2) http://www.purlbee.com/cute-japanese-coin-purse/


Thanks to the crafters who have shared the above tutorials..

Bye now and have a great Sunday.