Crafting: Lebkuchen Heart Felt Purse with Deer

I made this felt Dirndl bag in the shape of a Lebkuchenherz to wear with my Dirndl for Oktoberfest this year! There's a fabric pouch with a zipper inside to keep me from losing anything. My favorite bit is the plastic toy deer in the center!

I don't really have step-by-step instructions for this because I pretty much made it up as I went along. I spotted a similar bag at a local department store and thought I could make my own. It took about a week to make because of all the times I messed up or decided something would be better differently.

The front, back, and sides of the purse are made of brown felt. Before sewing them together I made sure I was done decorating the front cover. I wanted it to look like a Lebkuchenherz, which are gingerbread hearts sold during most German festivals. I used ric rac trim to represent icing border of heart. Then I embroidered the leaves and the grass - the flowers are french knots. The deer was attached using two wood screws. On the back piece I added to strips of fabric to act as belt loops, and at the top of the sides two more loops to use to attach purse strings. Once the parts were done I attached all the felt pieces together.

For the inside pouch I used some quilting fabric I had. I cut out two hearts the same size as the brown felt hearts (accounting for seam allowance, I thought they would end up smaller, but as it turns out my seams really aren't that even.) and two strips to be the sides. Then I sewed everything together inside out (although not necessarily on the first try...). The zipper was the hardest part. I used a trouser zipper that locks in place because I figured it would be added protection against pickpockets. I sewed a strip of cloth along each side of the zipper, put the zipper in place along the top of the heart, and then hand stitched the zipper in place.

The inside pouch was attached to the felt heart at the bottom (point) of the heart, and then again along the tops of the sides, front and back. I sewed right under the seam that attached the top (with the zipper) In the front, I used white thread and stitched inside the ric rac ribbon so it would be less visible. In the back, I just used brown thread that matched the felt.

I'm thinking getting a chain to attach as a strap, but right now I just thread one of my apron straps through the purse to wear it.

Crafting: Felt Cover for Android Phone

Please note: I'll have the pattern for the Android up in a day or two - I need to get my scanner working again first!

I made this cover for my husband's G-1 phone. He designed it himself! He's a huge fan of Android , so he wanted something to show it off. It was a bit tricky to make because he wanted the arms to be along the sides of the phone while it was in the case, but the case to basically fold flat (now it's like a wedge).

What you'll need

• Pattern for Android
• 1 piece neon green felt (I think it's 3mm)
• 1 piece black felt
• needle (I used an embroidery needle because the lady in the felt store said to use the same needle for felt that I would use for normal embroidery, but since then I've switched to using quilting needles - for some reason they work really well.)
• black (and neon green thread if you don't want to see the stitching as much)
• scissors
• hole-punch

Time: 3-4 hours, or one afternoon in front of the TV

What to do

Print out Android design or sketch one yourself, and cut it out. If you design one yourself, make sure that it'll fit on the front of the cover.

Pin design pieces to green felt, and draw around them in pencil, then cut them out.

Measure your phone. The cover should fit snugly around your phone, so the exact measurements will depend on what type of phone you have. This cover is for G-1, but can easily be made for the Hero, Dream, or ironically-minded i-Phone owner. The cover is made out of one piece of black felt folded in half.

Dimensions: Length (L) of phone, width (W) of phone, plus depth, height, or thickness (whichever helps you visualise what I mean best) (H) of phone.

(2 x L) + (1 x H) + 5mm by (1 x W) + (2 x H) + 1cm

The 5mm and 1cm are seam allowances - it's way more than you need, but you can always cut off the extra later - it's hard to sew more on!

Cut out a rectangle of black felt to the dimensions you calculated.

Position your Android on what will be the front of your phone cover and pin it into place. Don't worry if the felt bulges due to the pins; I find that once you've gotten a few stitches in you can pretty much hold the piece in place while you sew the rest. I actually outlined the Android lightly on the black felt so I would know exactly where I wanted the pieces, but as you can see, the head was still a bit wonky. I pinned the head on first, then the body, then the arms, because it was easy to align the antenna a few millimeters from the top.

Thread your needle with the green thread if you're using it (black'll show more - you can see the stitches in the picture). Begin stitching at the top right corner of the body piece. I found that stitching the body piece on first was easiest because I could orient the other pieces around it.

Once you've got your Android attached, use the hole punch to punch out two holes from the excess black felt (a multiple hole-punch works just fine). Place them roughly where the Android's eyes should be and stitch them on one by one.

Now that your Android's complete, it's time to finish your cover. This is where the tricky bit with the arms came up. The front half of the cover wraps around the sides of the phone, so that the Android's arms are along the sides of the phone. The front cover of the phone is therefore wider than the back cover. The top of the back cover should be the width of the phone, but taper out so that when you reach the part where the phone cover is folded it is the same width as the front cover.

To make this happen: Measure along the long side of the black felt, make a mark in the middle and then do the same on the opposite edge. Connect these marks - you've just drawn a line where the felt will fold to make the pouch.

Now, measure the top of what will be the back cover (the width of the black felt). Find the middle, and then measure out half the width of the phone (plus 2mm seam allowance!!) on either side of the middle and make a mark here. Now draw a diagonal line from this mark down to the edge of the felt at the line you just drew to mark where the felt will fold, and cut out along this diagonal.

This is pretty confusing, so this diagram is to help you visualise it:


Fold the piece of black felt in half so that the Android is on the inside (so that the cover is essentially inside out. Begin sewing one one side where the outside edges meet. I used a running stitch, which will leave you with a small seam allowance. Sew toward the fold. This may be a little tricky as you near the fold, and you'll probably gain some seam allowance. I stuck the phone in a couple times to make sure it would still fit once I was done.

Repeat along the other outside edge. When you're done, you'll have a pouch - but inside out! Turning it right-side round was actually the hardest part, since the felt was so stiff. I used a pen to poke out the corners. Once I was sure the phone fit, I turned the pouch inside out again to cut off the seam allowance, and then turned it back right-way-round again.

Pop your phone in, and admire!