Rucksakura

I’m going to Japan! I’m unbelievably excited, I’ve starred every fabric / wool shop on the map and I’ve even had my camera repaired.

In honour of such a longed-for trip I decided to make myself the perfect travel rucksack.

Here she is:

She’s based on my favourite (bootleg copy) Fjallraven Kanken, but made 1cm deeper to accommodate my reusable water bottle in the side pockets. I also added a little tab on one side to loop the inevitable bag charm through, for when I cave and buy one somewhere (and yes, “somewhere” probably means the Studio Ghibli museum…).

The fabric is from Miss Matatabi – it’s a canvas from Kokka. I love the cherries and cherry blossoms! Very fitting for a trip to Japan. Buckles and snap from Ray-Stitch, webbing from Maculloch & Wallis, lining fabric from The Village Haberdashery. I interfaced all the pieces and also put some fusible wadding in the base to keep my cameras safe. The zips came from somewhere in the US – I was surprised at how hard it was to find a closed end 2-way zip in the UK…

I also made a matching purse and camera strap (pics of the camera strap to follow later…).

Espadrilles

On the day I finished my exams in mid May I took the train to Wales and sewed these espadrilles together in the sunshine at my train table, letting my hands remember sewing after all that frantic essay writing.

I’d prepared all the pieces before my exam so all I had to do was stitch the uppers to the soles.

I used Nani Iron canvas in the design “Clear Heart”. The lining is in Liberty tana lawn. The espadrilles match my rucksack and duffel bag in the same fabric.

Tragically these are a bit big on me so I’ll need to make another pair, and give these away. C’est la vie. I’m still very proud of my first ever pair of handmade shoes.