Tutu Tote

Another little girl's birthday party today, hurray!  I am really enjoying making little gifts for the girl friends of my two sons.  It is finally an opportunity to sew some frilly stuff.  Today's party theme was princesses so I created a little bag for the now-3-year-old birthday girl that is reminiscent of fairies and ballerinas. 

I made this bag using the instructions for my ribbon-handled tote which you can find here.  Since the outer fabric I was working with was fairly light weight, I added a layer of thin batting before embroidering the recipient's name on the front.  For the tutu portion I cut tulle 12" deep by the width of the fabric.  I pieced together three widths and then folded the long strip in half lengthwise, making a very long 6" strip.  I stitched a gathering stitch just inside the folded edge, drew up the stitches and pinned the tutu around the bag, overlapping the two ends.  I stitched it in place on top of the gathering stitches on the outer portion of the bag before inserting the lining as per my tutorial.  Striped ribbon handles finished it off.

I love the pink and chocolate brown color scheme (as you can tell from two other projects I've recently completed here and here) and I've just about depleted my stash of these fabrics so I guess it's off to the fabric store next week to restock.  I'm sure I will have many other girly-girl birthday parties in my future.

Purses, Bags & More Blog Tour

Hello to everyone today, and a special greeting to those who are joining me for the Purses, Bags & More Blog Tour sponsored by Clotilde.    When I was approached a couple of weeks ago about participating in this event I jumped at the chance.  The opportunity to make and review a bag would have fit right in with last year’s recurring post on my blog, “Bag of the Week”. 

Purses, Bags and More is a fantastic new book, with designs by Pearl Louise Krush and published by House of White Birches for Clotilde.  I was sent an advance copy of the book, asked to look it over and write a review of the book as well as one of the included ten projects which was assigned to me.  Pearl Louise, whose motto is “Happiness is homemade” is the owner of The Thimble Cottage Quilt Shop in Rapid City, SD.  She has come up with ten beautiful and unique bag designs using cotton quilting fabrics.  The 48-page book is filled with bright, full-color photos and clear, well written and illustrated instructions.   

I was assigned the Ragtime Blues bag to evaluate.  I read over all of the instructions which were very clear and easy to understand.  I decided the best way for me to truly test the pattern was to make it up.  Here’s a picture of my own version of the bag:

Instead of the quilting cotton called for by the pattern, I substituted some denim left over from a previous project.  This worked well and created luscious, fluffy fringing with the exception of the light blue piece which, it turns out, contains some lycra which prevented the fabric from fraying.  So stick with 100% cotton fabrics as instructed.

The pattern calls for pairing two squares of fabric, sandwiching a piece of cotton batting between, and free-motion quilting them together.  I am a self-proclaimed lousy free-motion quilter so instead I used a simple machine embroidery design to quilt the pieces together.  I absolutely love the technique described for cording the top edge of the bag for stability and can’t wait to try in on another bag.  But, given the extra weight of the fabric I used I chose to skip the cording on my version.  Lastly, I confess I am not a fan of braided handles so I substituted a corded tube (love my FasTurn!)

I found the bag very simple to construct and a fun project to complete.  This is a very forgiving pattern;  because of the way that it is constructed, precision is not critical (any uneven seam allowances are hidden in the rag fringe layers) which makes this a good choice for either a beginner or for experienced sewers who want to take a break from the demands of garment sewing or quilting. 

An additional project in the book is for a removable organizer that fits this purse.  You can fill the many pockets and change purses by simply removing the insert and placing it in a different bag.

I am already eyeing several other projects in this book for the future.  If you would like to see more projects from this book you can read the other participants on the blog tour who have each reviewed a different bag.  Here is a list of links to those posts:

Monday, March 21 -- Tara of Tinkerfrog
Tuesday, March 22 -- Cindy of Sew Blessed
Wednesday, March 23 -- Stephanie of Unfinished Project Party
Thursday, March 24 -- Ruth of Sew Chic 

If you would like to purchase a copy of the book for your very own, please use this link to connect with the Clotilde website where it is available in print or as an electronic download (both for $9.95, a steal!).  I think you will be happy to add this book to your sewing library.  Please feel free to browse the rest of my blog while you are visiting.  I’ve just posted a new tutorial for an Accordion-Fold Photo Album that will appeal to quilters, machine embroiderers, crafters and just about everybody else.  Happy sewing, everyone!

Winter bag for a friend

In August I posted about my friend Cyane and the bag I had created for her using fabric of her own design.  The fabric was printed at Spoonflower, a very cool business that will take your original artwork and turn it into yardage.  Cyane asked if I would make her a bag for the winter with some more of her fabric and this is the result.

My starting point was a fat quarter of quilting weight cotton so I knew I would have to use some ingenuity to create this bag.  My pattern stash turned up Vogue 8099, View B which I used with a couple of modifications.  The first thing I realized was that the fabric would need more body so I began by fusing it to some fusible fleece and channel stitching with topstitching thread between the motifs on the fabric. 

Adding a home dec fabric for the lining (along with some inner pockets) gave the bag plenty of structure.  I also combined the cotton fabric with a pewter gray linen which formed the bottom of the bag and the flap.  The Vogue pattern had only the flap and button as a closure.  Now, I happen to know that my friend Cyane has trouble with the contents of her purse spontaneously leaping out at unplanned moments so I felt that I should add a more secure closure.  I inserted a zipper into the top edge of the purse; the flap is purely decorative and folds over the zipper closure.  I added her monogram to the flap and bound the edge with some of the lining fabric.  The strap is made from the gray linen. 

This was a fun bag to make, and I hear the recipient loves it.  It arrived at her house on her birthday, an unplanned little lagniappe for a creative friend.  You can see other examples of Cyane's creativity at Snazzy Frogs and more of her fabric designs at Spoonflower.

Bag of the Week 52

Placemat Bag

This is my last Bag of the Week post.  I made it all the way to week #52 before I depleted my supply of bags and said, “what am I going to post for my last bag?”  Well, since it looked like I needed to come up with something at the last minute I decided to use that as a theme for a bag.  With New Years Eve arriving tomorrow you might be looking for a quick bag to sew for the festivities.  This little clutch began its life as a placemat (you can see a picture of it in my last post).  I simply seamed the two sides together, boxed the bottom just a wee bit, and it was done; it took me less than 20 minutes.   I think a frog closure would look great on this but you could also add a large snap to the inside.  Placemats are a great starting point because they already have some body to them and they are fully finished and lined.

I will continue to post pictures of bags as I create them but this is the last of my year-long feature.  I have enjoyed posting a recurring theme each week and I have some ideas for more of these in 2011 (but probably not a year-long venture).  Happy New Year to one and all.  I’ll see you next year!

Bag of the Week 50

Folded Quilted Tote Bag

Many years ago (before I had kids) I used to attend a sewing retreat with the Richmond Chapter of the American Sewing Guild at Holiday Lake 4H Camp in Appomattox, VA.  Our sewing space was a lovely lakeside cabin with beautiful views.  I met so many nice people at those retreats, and one year I watched as a number of the ladies made this fantastic tote bag.  I went home and made one for my mom out of fabrics I had in my stash.

This bag is terribly difficult to photograph – it has lots of nooks and crannies that are just impossible to show properly.  In the photo above there is a pocket underneath the triangular flap and an identical one on the opposite side of the bag.  In addition, in the center of the bag (between the top folded edges is another pocket.  PLUS I added a zippered pocket on one inside wall.  This bag starts out as a flat square, 31” in this case, which is then folded and stitched into the tote you see.  It is a fun and easy project.  Below are instructions for folding your finished square into the bag.  You can make your square in any method you choose.  My sample is strip-pieced onto a solid fabric foundation (with a thin layer of batting between) and the edges bound.  You can also use whole cloth for both sides and either bind the edges or stitch right sides together and turn. 

1.        Fold square diagonally with right sides together to form a triangle.

2.       Measure along the folded edge, divide this length into thirds and mark.  Beginning at the folded edge, draw a perpendicular line at these points stopping 1 inch from the top of the triangle.  Stitch along these lines, backtacking well at the top.

3.       Turn the side points to the outside of the bag along the stitching line – they will overlap and form a pocket on each side.  Stitch the two layers together where they overlap.

4.       Add a strap by stitching the ends to the inside of the bag, centered over the side seams.  Customize your bag by adding pockets to the inside of the bag before assembling.