The Dutch Postal System

I have been selling knitted items on Etsy for quite a number of years, and until recently have had no problems. But in the last few months I have had two packages go misssing, and strangely both were to customers in The Netherlands. For both customer I have remade the items, and then sent them tracked. (It is quite dispiriting, but it is the seller's responsibility to get the items there, and I am also very proud of my customer satisfaction rates and 100% good reviews.)  

One item was one of my mini cars, and the other these phone cosies. I did enjoy remaking the phone cosies, and it has put in my head to make a completely new set, with different flowers.

I have just found this article in The Daily Mail about the Dutch postal service. I don't believe very much in The Daily Mail, but in this case my experience does back this up.

Guelder Rose and Bumble Bee

Shepherd's Purse

Big School Wallet

My daughter is off to secondary school in just a few days, and so we started hunting around the shops for a new wallet. There wasn't anything quite right, and I then saw Vicky Myer's 5 Wallet Tutorials. Why not have a go at making one?

My daughter was very specific about what she needed: a pocket for her phone, a space for her bus pass, and somewhere for a tiny bit of cash for emergencies and her door key. They have to hand these things in every day, so it does seem a good idea to have one wallet for everything. 

The wallet tutorials, although all excellent, had lots of pockets for cards, and as we didn't need this, I thought I would just go for it and make up my own design. So with a few mistakes along the way, she now has a bespoke Big School Wallet.

Like Vicky, I do like the idea of recycling fabric, so we used a pair of old denim shorts, and a cotton fabric you may have seen before. The zip pocket for change and the phone pocket were stitched onto the lining piece. I then made the curved pocket flap and rouleau loop and tacked these in place. The lining and blue denim outer piece, with thick interlining piece, were then sewn together inside out, leaving a hole, so the whole thing can be turned out. A few buttons and poppers and I was done. I did top stitch carefully, but didn't do a lot of measuring, so there are a few bits that are wonky. I may have another go at making another one with a bit more precision. It has inspired me a bit for my small squares of thick fabric that I wrote about here, but still have done nothing with. So off to Big School ...