Alice in Wonderland swap: What I sent

My lovely swap partner, vInTaGeVioLeT, has received her package so I can blog about what I made!

When I did a search on Etsy for Alice in Wonderland fabric, this is the one that I fell in love with. It is a Japanese fabric in linen with scenes from the Mad Hatter's tea party on a charcoal grey background.

I made a rather large flat-bottomed bag with a zipper closure and lined with black and white polkadot corduroy so it stands up very well. The zipper ends are covered with black and white polkadot grosgrain ribbin to match the lining. It was filled with a gracious plenty of Thornton's chocolates.

With each of the swaps I've participated in, I've tried to do one new craft that I've never done before. So this is my first entirely handmade journal. I made a 'Eat me, drink me' motif on the computer in different fonts and sizes, printed it onto iron-on fabric transfer and sealed it onto pink and white polkadot fabric. The edges were serged, the front of the journal is padded (with my trusty Thinsulate) and I folded blank paper to make it 100 pages. It has an elastic loop to keep it closed with a big mushroom button.

I found a tutorial online for a Japanese bookbinding technique and bound the journal that way. Other than poking through a bunch of layers, it wasn't very hard at all!

This is probably the strangest item that has even been craft-swapped (unless they do swaps in asylums)... A Mad Hatter shower cap. This was a bit of a joke because when I asked if my sweater beret looked like a shower cap, Megan insinuated it did. So I made her one, with a teal polkadot exterior and lined with waterproof nylon. And of course the Mad Hatter authentic '10/6' label.

And finally, the supplies... I included a double sided fabric from Japan, with one side with cameo-esque Alice scenes and the other side pastel suits of cards. And a rather lovely printed twill tape from France with verses from the book.

So a big thank you to Megan for my goodies (and an apology for my lateness!) and to Meridian Ariel for organising. Check out the Flickr pool for everyone else's amazing crafts!