Sunday 13 May 2012

How To Cheer Up An Old Bag (No Not Me) with a Handbag Charm

After I made the bias binding last week, I had about 18 - 20"  of piped cord left over...  not enough to pipe around a cushion... but too much just to bin, so what to do with it?  I sat there twiddling it and started to make a flower shape, but really did I need another flower brooch... err no!  And then it came to me, a handbag charm and for this you will need:
20" of covered tape (use this tutorial)
12" of bias binding or ribbon
Scissors
Needle and Cotton
Pin
A piece of felt
Decorative button 
Handbag clip

Take your covered bias binding and create a loop (remember flowers have uneven numbers of petals... and please don't sit there plucking petals off daisies, you know I will be right and you will get bored with counting :)  ), pin it into place.
 Thread up you needle with a matching thread and stab stitch it through twice... this is literally as it sounds a stitch through both cords, it does not need to be pretty as it will be covered.
Now create another loop opposite the first, pin and stab stitch in place, repeat this until you have five petals and  sew off firmly.
From your felt, cut out a flower shape... I did this by finding a glass which covered my cord flower, drawing around that, then using the cord flower to trace around.



Now sew the seams of the bias binding down (don't bother if you are using ribbon), place it in the centre of the felt flower and sew it into place.  The felt will protect your bag from any potential scratches from your charm.
Put your corded flower in the centre and choose a suitable button for the centre.  To sew the button in place, I recommend that you use a thimble if you can and work the needle through a couple of layers at a time as you have quite a dense mass to get through.
Slip it onto your clip and attach it to your handbag... job done!
Now I know that many of you will be wondering if I managed to get a better ball of wool from my stash to make my socks, well the answer is a resounding yes!  A rather lovely hand dyed Peruvian yarn which shows up the diamonds on the socks beautifully.


And next it is time to go over to Handmade Monday which has moved to Wendy's other blog, Handmade Harbour which is a great read, so take a good look around.

17 comments:

Tickled Pink said...

What a good idea and it looks so pretty against the dark bag.

Nicki Tustin said...

great idea and instructions, really like the diamond pattern on the socks, I started knitting socks but got annoyed with then, I have clumsy hands

Mrs A. said...

Very pretty and a good use of a left over. Hugs Mrs A.

lovetartan said...

Love the flower Ros - I can think of lots of other places to use that too. The new yarn for the sock is great (mind you I didn't think the other yarn was so bad) Have a good week. Mich x

CatkinJane said...

Fantastic idea, it is so awful to throw anything away especially when you can make something so pretty!

Christmas Pie Crafts said...

Very pretty, I love the colour red and it looks great against the black bag. Many thanks for another great tutorial. The yarn you used for the socks looks good - now, what did you do with the 'other one'> Hope you have a good week.

Wendy said...

Just brilliant. The finished flower looks fab and the tutorial is perfect. The sock's looking good too!

Highland Monkey's said...

Lovely blue socks and it shows the pattern up very nicely. Good idea to use the piping up on another project rather than bin it.

Carolee Crafts said...

A brilliant idea for an old bag, rofl must admit had to read twice just in case! Love the look of the socks and gets me wanting to knit up a pair of cosy toes around the house.

Free Spirit Designs said...

what a cheery bag decoration! and great instructions to :)

your socks look wonderful with their diamond pattern and new wool!

Fiddly Fingers said...

A lovely idea to use up the leftovers and glad you sorted out your socks!!

Little Harriet said...

Great tutorial, I like how squishy the flower looks.

LH
x

Susie said...

That little charm is very cute, and looks simple enough that I might actually be able to do it! Love the yarn too, but knitting? Maybe not so much. :)

butterflyblossom said...

Where do you get all of your ideas from?! Another outstanding tutorial Ros! X

Jan said...

A lovely flower charm Ros, lovely colours and a really cute button too.

Jan x

fatmonica said...

I love the bag charm and the wool for the socks-gorgeous!

Unknown said...

Great idea for a bag charm - really pretty and that new yarn for the socks looks great.