I just finished and perfected this new pleated pattern last week and I really like it. It’s quite a lot larger than most of my other designs, which means it would be perfect for vacations or even as a diaper bag. The last one I made, the leopard print one, has 6 pockets, so it would make a great and pretty diaper bag too.
If you scroll down you’ll see another new bag – very simple but pretty and super-functional. I say functional a lot, because as much as I love pretty bags, they have to be functional. I’m a wife and a mom and I don’t have time to go digging around in my bag to find what I need. Anyway, this one would make a perfect bag for the beach, a carry-on at the airport, or as a diaper bag. This particular one has only 3 big pockets, but in the future it will have at least 6. I like the way it looks a lot – the proportions are perfect and I love that fabric.
Finally.I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now, but couldn’t find the materials needed. Turns out I just wasn’t thinking creatively enough. You see, at first I wanted to do it on sheet metal. You know – wrap the fabric around the metal and then drill holes for a ribbon. Well, I had some trouble finding sheet metal and sent hubbie on a mission to find some for me. He’s in the construction biz, so I thought he mind find some laying around or at a good price through his contacts. Well, turns out he doesn’t care about my little projects quite as much as I do. Also I’m impatient. So Monday I was doing some shopping and came across some magnetic dry erase boards. They were $7 a pop. So why wait. It was super easy to do to. Sorry there are no pictures to show the process, but its easy enough to do without the images I think. I had initially planned to remove the board from the frame, but that proved to be too much trouble, so I left the frame.
1. Okay first off the frame was some kind of wood product and it was flawed when I took the label off. So I decided to paint it. So, I had to sand it to give it a little tooth. Then I used some acrylic paint, Folkart I believe in Champagne, which has a pretty pearly look to it.
2. Cut out a piece of fabric the same size as the board + about a 1/8- 1/4 inch on all sides. (excluding the frame in measurements). Iron the fabric. I used some fabric from Michael Miller called Iron Works in Brown and White. I’d recommend quilt weight fabric, anything heavier might interfere with the magnetism.
3. You need some kind of adhesive to spray the fabric and/or the board with. I used quilt basting spray because I’m thinking I will want to swap out the fabric background from time to time. Spray the back of the fabric with the spray. You don’t need a lot, just a little. Too much will make this much more difficult. Other options might be repositionable adhesive
4. Center the fabric over the board. Now this is the tricky part. You need to use something very flat to help you tuck the edges of the fabric up under the frame. I found it helpful to do the sides first then the top and the bottom. I used a very old butter knife for this. It’s a little fidgety but if I can do it anyone can. It will take a little time.
5. Smooth out the fabric with your fingers. You might even go over it with an iron on lower heat and no steam. That will also help the adhesive to stick.
Voila! That’s it. Now you can hang the board and attach your photos with magnets. These boards are very economical and they come in a lot of sizes too so they could be great for kids rooms when you don’t want to use thumbtacks, the kitchen or whatever. I put mine in my living room right above a bookshelf. I do think I will find some coordinating ribbon for it though. Drill some holes in the top and tie the ribbon through for a finishing touch.
You know it stinks when you spend several days and materials to create some new designs and you end up ruining your work. I was working with some pink twill (I’ll never use pink twill again) and something, I don’t know what got on the fabric and would not come off. The worst part was that I was completely finished with this bag. Aaarrgh! I think pink twill is bad luck for me, so no more of that. At least I used some clearance fabric I’d gotten and I did manage to complete and perfect the design. So live and learn right?
So anyway, today was a better day, I finished something I’d been thinking of for a while now. I wanted to do a bigger bag and I wanted more pleats, cause pleats are just well, CUTE! I must have been feeling brave, cause I pulled out a bit of fabric that I’ve been saving for a while and ta-da. A new bag! It doesn’t have a name yet. Any suggestions? Did I mention how much I like pleats.
