Coasters gift - tutorial

I'm finally coming to an end of my course, and wanted to say thanks to my last supervisor. He loves photography, even displaying and having his work available for sale. So I decided to use up a little more of my camera fabric, to make up some coasters, perfect for a man who also loves his tea... And they're so easy, perfect for a brief tutorial!

(Disclaimer: I got the idea a while back for these from another blog, but I can't remember where, sorry whoever I have plagarised!!)

Tutorial
As always, remember to pre-wash your fabric - especially where tea is concerned you can guarantee they'll need a wash at some point!
To make each coaster cut two squares of fabric and one of wadding 5inch x 5inch.
Place the wadding at the bottom, then the bottom fabric, right side up, then the top fabric, right side down.
Sew using a 5/8ths allowance, along three sides, and a third of the way across the left and right of the last side.
Turn them so the upper fabric faces the right side out.

Use a pin to bring each of the corners to a point, then, sew the last bit of the final side - *wagging finger* remember to use hand stitching (What? Me? Ummmm.... Well I used a sewing machine because I'm lazy!)

Finally, do some top-stitching as you see fit!

Retro bag for a digital camera

Another gift, this one a bag for a very well loved and used camera (the one that takes the nice photos on here). This is actually my second go with these instructions, though the first didn't make this blog yet.

This time instead of cardboard for the base I used two layers of felt, not enough to protect against a big hit, but enough to protect the screen on the back. Last time cardboard didn't do a great job and just became damaged and added unnecessary bulk.

I found this fantastic fabric on Ebay - I love the retro print, perfect for a digital camera!

 I chose to use it on the inside - a hidden detail in an otherwise quite anonymous bag. I just love interestingly detailed lining.

The cord ends were sealed with a knot, and then clear nail varnish. So far that's been enough to hold back the fraying, and this time the ends don't feel too sharp or scratchy. 

All the overcasting was done with my sewing machine, and turned out really well. I also slipped in one of my 'Hand made with love' ribbons for a detail. I really love adding these, and will need to buy more very soon!