Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Wine Bag reform

There are many kinds of events held in San Francisco.
At some tasting events, they give away bags.
This is one of them, from Loire Valley Wine Tasting.


I like the design so I want to use this as a main bag, not a sub bag, but it has a little novelty feel.
To use daily, I want a little more durability since I tend to carry a lot of stuff.
I need to do something to promote this bag to everyday-use main bag.

From my bag making experience, I think the bag handle is one of the critical factors of the quality of the bag, so I decided to remove the fabric handle and change it to leather.

Cut out two leather handles.
Smooth the rough edge with water and sandpaper (do not make water stain!), and polish both front and back of the handles.


Use rivets to attach the handles to the bag.
This hand press is, by the way, one of the best investments I made in my craft life.


I also planned to add a lining for durability and convenience.
Make a pocket and fix magnet to the lining.



Make it into bag shape.
Attach the lining to the bag, baste and machine sew.


Finished!



It's cute, cuter than I expected! 
It possesses some cool, French-feel (I believe!).
Thank you Loire Valley Wines!

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Honey Wine

I'm a conservative shopper. When I buy something, I tend to stick to what I already know such as books from my favorite authors, shirts with my favorite color, or wines from my favorite producers.
On the other hand, JC enjoys unexpected encounter.
He is curious, especially when it comes to food & drink.

The other day we happened to find a tasting booth at Whole Foods (organic super market).
I usually just pass by these events, but JC wanted to try, especially when he saw it was a little unexpected drink. It was mead.

Mead is an alcoholic drink made by fermenting honey. It is not a very popular drink now, but has very long history.
I didn't expected a lot from this ancient honey wine, but it was surprisingly good!
It was dry but had the flavour of honey without stickiness.


Meadery Forest Flower
Honey, caramel, dried fruit, herb and rancio-like quality, which reminds me of the oxidized wine from south France, or even Koshu (aged sake).
It feels rich but smooth,

Another good thing is that it would last for a month in a fridge after opening the bottle, in case if you want to enjoy this slowly.