3D printed bead hangers (Part 2 – Silver)

3D Printed SCA costume accessory – modelled after Finnish Iron Age Bead Hangers

Back in 2017 I went to a workshop to learn about bronze casting, and cast a single bead hanger based off a 9th Century  Finnish find.  Unfortunately due to time restrictions (and an accident on site) I wasn’t able to cast a second hanger to complete the set. Later in 2019 I used the same basic design to make some wooden bead hangers, though I’ve never yet worn them as bead hangers. Then, a few weeks ago I posted about a pair of bronze 3D printed ones that worked… just not the way I hoped that they would. While those were in progress (after making a mistake that I thought would be irrecoverable) I submitted a second file to print those bead hangers – these ones.

Rain print crossbody bag

Rain print triple zipper crossbody bag

After using the Miko Craft patterns for a few different backpacks and purses, I really wanted to start looking at some of his patterns for crossbody bags instead.

Whenever I travel with my backpack, a crossbody bag is so much easier to carry and stay hands-free compared to a shoulder or other strapped bag, and certainly it’s not possible to carry my mini backpack purse with a full backpack too!

I picked out three different bag patterns to try, including the Triple Zipper Crossbody bag, and decided to give it a try in the raindrop print fleece backed vinyl that I previously used for one of the Miko Craft Dianne mini backpack purses.

I tried out the Retreat Bag pattern

Sushi-print Retreat Bag

… from Emmaline Bags

Bag-making site Emmaline Bags has a free pattern for a Retreat Bag, which they describe as;

“a simple zippered pouch with a wide base and a wide structured opening. There is a casing in the top where you insert two wire frames (one on each side), which helps it stay open when open, and helps turn the corners down when closed. It has two optional slip pockets inside and a long zipper that helps it open wide.”

I wanted to try it out for a few reasons – first, a free pattern is a great way to check out how a company does their patterns – & if I like them or not (the patterns and the instructions!) but also I saw another bag using these wire purse frames and really wanted to try a pattern that utilized them (especially before trying to draft my own!). I made this pattern up in the same Happy Sushi print that I used for the Windsor Pouch as a test. (Before using a more expensive fabric which is my eventual goal.)

Gothic Chaos Quilt

The top corner of my gothic chaos quilt

Instead of “Victorian Crazy Quilt” which this style is is most commonly called… I’m calling this my Chaos Quilt – and it is a very, very long time coming.

I actually started this many years ago, collecting the scraps from all of my fanciest projects – the corsets, the costumes, the fancy dresses, the crafts. I opted to focus nearly entirely on a darker colour scheme, partially intentionally, but also partially by opportunity since that’s what I most commonly sew with anyways, and that’s what would be left over. I collected velvets, velveteens, silks, satins, silk-like polyesters, brocades, sheers (including some fishnet, netting, and lace), flocked fabrics, and a few other fabrics added into the mix when I thought I needed a little more contrast to help the showstoppers shine a bit brighter. Each fabric in this project reminds me of a previous project…

I tried out the Windsor Pouch pattern

Sushi print Windsor Pouch

… but unfortunately I’m not a fan.

Bag-making site Sew Sweetness has a free pattern for the Windsor Pouch – a small pouch that I thought would work well to hold cosmetics while travelling, to use as an extra-large pencil case (or a mid-size marker case .. lol), etc…  I wanted to try it out – partially because I like the shape, but also to see what their patterns were like before purchasing one.

The  free PDF pattern includes 4 pages of sewing instructions, (which I shrunk down to be two per sheet of paper, and then double-sided) complete with 7 step-by-step color photos (which of course I printed in black and white). They list the finished size at 9.5″ x 4″ x 3.5″