Pouch Production and Sewing Beyond Cotton

While at our annual Loon Lake retreat in mid-November, several of us got busy trying out some of the awesome projects in Krista Fleckenstein's new book Beyond Cotton. Krista is super clever and an amazing artist to boot, so she's got some incredible ideas on how to expand our work beyond cotton just like the title says.

I started out making pouches using Krista's easy pattern. I didn't have leather on hand with me at retreat, so I substituted Craft-Tex (a C&T paper product that is totally washable and strong like leather!). I'd pre-washed and crinkled my Craft-Tex before retreat, hoping that I'd be able to use it for some project or other.  These pouches will be gifted at Christmastime. I was nervous using chunky metal zips, but I didn't break a single needle and I'm so pleased with how nicely the zipper ends appear once the pouch is turned right-side out. Plus, I got to use some of my treasured Japanese linen collection!

I made these smaller versions after returning home and getting my hands on some lovely upholstery-grade vegan leather (otherwise known as vinyl).

I also followed Krista's pattern to make leather boxes (again using Craft-Tex) and got to try riveting thanks to friends that had brought along the hardware and tools. There was a lot of banging on this retreat as we were riveting all the things with hammers!  This is a very tiny box, so to avoid confusion I stamped exactly what might fit in it onto the bottom of the box *wink*.

Finally, Krista had sent along a few leather cuff kits for us to try our hand at punching a pattern of holes and then using them to embroider a design with floss. I was feeling a bit lazy, so I stole Katie's carefully prepared design template and copied her bracelet completely.  Here's a photo with all of our lovely leather cuffs!

I've since visited a leather supply store here in Vancouver. I must say, it is not a cheap endeavour. Keep an eye out for free leather couches on Craigslist!! There may also be some industrial felt winging it's way to me right now for some more fun projects out of the book. Next, I want to try some stamping on canvas. Check out Krista's sweet tutorial and make your own wrapping paper this year.

Thank you for so much fun, Krista!!