Well, with my pocket journal all ready for our trip, it was time to clear the decks.  Lesley, you mean to say you didn’t recognise those characters in my last post as “Ni Hao”…or Hello in Chinese?  Like you, we have a few Japanese words but couldn’t recognise them written in Kanji symbols, sadly.  But whilst working on my journal, I established quite an efficient workflow getting characters in Chinese, Japanese, Korean –whatever –from website to Silhouette and can reveal

 

 

Seoul – in Korean, of course

 

 

and Beijing, in Chinese.  Well, I hope that’s what they say!

Will we need to recognise these names? I very much doubt it.  But it’s interesting to find these things and of course, the symbols make great decorative features for a journal page.

 

 

So, the papercraft put away, it was time to get out the next project.  I’d agreed to make a sample to inspire people to have a go themselves and as I thought about how to tackle the project, I made a decision to keep it simple and far from perfect, so that, hopefully, those looking at it would think “Oh, it’d have been better if…” and think of ways to improve it.

 

 

I got out the fabric.  Two coordinating teacup prints in a heavy cotton and four zips which I bought yesterday, ready to get going.

 

 

I cut four pieces (two from each colour), 20cm x 35cm and set to work.

 

 

First job was to sew a zip in between each pair of pieces.  I checked that the teacups were all the right way up and the tag of the zip was at the top on both.

 

 

I joined the other ends of each pair of pieces with another zip, so two rectangles of each colour were joined at both ends with zips.

 

 

I turned them inside out and stitched the two sides of each, so each pair of fabric rectangles was closed on all four sides.

How was I going to turn them right way out again?!

 

 

Easy!  Undo a zip and turn it right side out again through there.

 

 

Tada!  two tubes of fabric with a zip at each end.  All teacups the right way up and all zip tags are at the top (phew!)  Have you worked out what I’m doing yet?

 

 

I measured carefully to find the middle and pinned all fabric layers together, with a piece of ribbon there.  I drew my sewing line in washable pen because it was really important to get that straight.

 

 

By joining the two double ended pockets together, I created a “book” of four separate pockets with zip fastenings closing each one securely.  Perfect to put loose cash in and large enough for cheques, small receipt books and so on.  Everything a treasurer might require at a meeting, in fact.

 

 

If each zip was labelled with the contents of that pocket, then taking cash at a meeting would be easy and keeping the raffle money from the sales takings very simple too.

 

 

And at the end of the meeting, she can roll it all up and put it safely into the bottom of her handbag to take home.

 

I’ve detailed the steps to make this “treasurer’s purse” because one of the challenges for the centenary of the NFWI is for members to create an heirloom for tomorrow.  Whilst I’m not suggesting that this funny little purse is anything near being of heirloom status, it might be a starting point for someone who is stuck for an idea.  Think of it made in a beautiful fabric, with embroidered tags and some individualisation to the design.  Maybe add a handmade cord tie and a more lavish fastening?  I’m thinking that any “heirloom for tomorrow” needs to be practical and work for today’s treasurer, who is likely to be a busy woman with no time to waste!

 

And for my next trick?  Who knows?!