#Goth crafting

[borninwinter81]

Replacing my bag strap

Unlike many of my clothes and accessories this bag isn't thrifted. It's a bag by Jawbreaker that I absolutely love the look of, it has multiple pockets, tons of space inside, and is clearly great quality as I've had it for over 10 years and it's almost good as new. It's the only handbag I own, and I've no desire to get a new one.

However the one bit I've had to replace multiple times is the shoulder strap, since that's the bit that gets most wear and tear.

It originally had the kind of strap which clips on, but the problem with those is that after years of metal rubbing against metal, eventually it wears away to the point where the clip is thin enough that it snaps. Last couple of times I just put a new clip on, however this time not only were the clips worn away but so were the d-rings you're supposed to attach them to, so I did a more thorough job.

First of all I unpicked the stitching attaching the d-rings to the bag and replaced them with these large rectangular ones. I always save metal hardware from clothing items I mod or that are finally old and worn enough to be thrown away, and I think these came from a skirt. Happily I had two the same, so I used bits of the old strap which weren't too badly worn to make loops to sew them on.

I sewed them by hand with thick top-stitch thread doubled over, and I even did those criss-cross stitching lines to make them extra secure.

I then went to a nearby charity shop hoping to find a cheap bag I could steal the strap from, but even better, I came across this belt, the construction of which was extremely similar to the detailing already on the bag. It was £1, way cheaper than a replacement strap from ebay, which I have also bought in the past.

I didn’t want to cut the buckle off because the belt fabric would fray, so I unpicked the stitching around the buckle instead, and put the buckle away in my crafting box to hopefully reuse in the future - like I said, I save everything.

I wanted the eyelets on the belt to be visible as they match the rest of the eyelets on the bag, so I put the belt through the rectangle and folded it over as far as I could while still showing all the eyelets, then sewed it shut. Again, I did multiple rows of stitching to keep it secure, and I also oversewed down both sides.

I don't have a sliding buckle that would enable me to adjust the strap length, but I never adjust my bag strap anyway, so I just put the strap over my shoulder, adjusted it to a length that I liked, and sewed that end together too. This was a long belt so I ended up doubling it over quite far, but that's good as it will make this section of the new strap extra thick, so hopefully it's extra strong.

And there we go, it looks as if I bought it like this!

[ladiesofcinema]

We are the weirdos, mister.

The Craft (1996) dir Andrew Fleming

[incinerated]

BARBED WIRE CANECHAINS ARE NOW AVAILABLE AT THE HELLFIRE FOUNDRY! 15.00 USD EACH :)

PREVENT UNWELCOME ABLED HANDS FROM TOUCHING YOU OR MOBILITY AID. CAN MODIFY CANES, ROLLATORS, FOREARM CRUTCHES & MORE. THE CHAINS ARE LIGHTWEIGHT ALUMINUM, HANDTWISTED TO CUSTOM LENGTH.

[seasonofhorror]

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970) | The Craft (1996)

[nekoxyuki]

[keirahknightley]

Costume appreciation series: The Craft (1996) dir Andrew Fleming

Costume Design by Deborah Everton

[faiiryteethh]

[daily-spooky]

Source/Credit

[gringlishgoth]

The craft (1996) 🥀🖤

[arcane-trail]

🔮 Witchy Shop 🔮

Use code "TUMBLR" for a discount

[borninwinter81]

You ever get the feeling that sometimes the universe thinks the time is right for a specific project?

Earlier this week, heavily inspired both by @rattusrattus3 and their collage box youtube tutorial, and the gorgeous corvid boxes posted by @korva-the-raven, I decided to make something similar myself. THE DAY AFTER that decision was made I found this wooden chocolate box in a charity shop for £1.99. It could not be more perfect for purpose.

I had been thinking the collage part would be difficult as I "don't really keep interesting bits of paper." As it turns out, the hell I don't.

That same evening I found this stash in my old art folder. I thought all I had in there were a couple of greetings cards.

Of particular use were the William Blake and Exploring the Gothic art exhibition guides. These are both really high quality prints and contain some gorgeous artwork. Thankfully I have a paper guillotine so I could cut out the pictures really neatly.

This is what I ended up with. I could make several boxes just from these!

Korva's boxes have individual compartments made out of matchboxes which are also decorated. I don't have any matchboxes, but then I recalled that I know how to make an origami box - I had a friend in school who was Japanese and her mother taught me. So, what if I was able to find some nice paper and make small boxes to go inside? Again, the universe provided...

These are from a pad of scrapbooking paper, 24 double sided sheets, 30x30cm (12x12 inches) for £4. Very thick and high quality and excellent for making sturdy boxes that are fit for this purpose. I didn't love all of it but these designs are beautiful, and I will have more than enough for this project and tons left for the future 😁

I thought to save it looking too "busy" I would just use one plain colour and one floral. Since the internal boxes need to be quite small I thought a smaller print would work best, and paired that with a plain purple. I used the guillotine again to cut the paper into squares that were the right size (after a trial run with some cartridge paper to make sure they would fit) and...

This box is super easy to do, probably why I still remember how to make it after being taught at the age of 5! Here's a tutorial.

Meanwhile the outer box got a couple of coats of black acrylic paint.

Then it was time to decide how to arrange my collage pieces. I quickly came up with this for the inside (Edgar Allan Poe themed, the large picture is an illustration to "The Raven" which is super appropriate for a corvid box, and the small one in the top right has lines from the poem "Lenore"). I'm still unsure about whether I will also do the base as its going to be covered most of the time anyway. I may just line it with more of the floral paper.

The outside was harder, but I've gone with some anatomical drawings, plus a couple of space-fillers which look pretty.

The edges are a little narrow so I'm not going to collage those for now, but I might see if any of the charms from my shiny things box would look good glued onto the sides instead.

Unfortunately I can't finish it just yet, as the only thing I haven't been able to get is modge podge - every shop I went into said "we used to have that but don't stock it anymore". So I ordered some online and I should have it within a few days.

Then all I'll need to do is decide how I want to fill it, I have lots of items to choose from 😁

Huge thanks to those who inspired this, it has been a project that I've absolutely loved, and I'm going to be on the lookout for more nice boxes so I can make another, I still have plenty of supplies!

[yoursghouly]

x

[seasonofhorror]

THE CRAFT

1996, dir. Andrew Fleming

[teashopcrafts]

The Colorful Spirit Board Collection is growing! For all the whimsical spooky people out there.

Rainbow, 80s Cyberspace, and Notebook Doodle make up the list so far, but there are so many more ideas kicking around in my head.

What theme should I do next?

Use code JUSTBECAUSE for 20% off!

Check out the shop: https://teashopcrafts.bigcartel.com/

[livingdeadgrl666]

she is me, i am her🦇🖤

[cryptocism]

current affliction: any moody-looking photo on pinterest is instantly used as reference for drawing The Guy