elizabeth_mn

I put off sewing this for quite a while. I had a purse that sort-of worked, and other projects kept getting bumped in front of this one. But now it's done!



It's made from two cotton/linen blend prints, at least one of which is an Echino fabric, and lined with solid unbleached/undyed linen. The outside pieces are interfaced with Decor Bond, a really heavy craft fusible.

I made up the pattern but relied heavily on techniques in The Bag Making Bible, a really great handbag reference. The author also has a blog and shop at U-handbag.

( more details! )

Toy bags!



I wanted these to store some of F's toys, mostly a bunch that I got at garage sales. I wanted something kind of generically old-timey looking for the wooden ninepins and tops.  I made a few different styles of drawstring bag, all done from scraps on hand.  The two woven-stripe fabrics are scraps from some Victorian shirts I made for my man.



The labels were a pdf download I got here.  I used olive brown text in various fonts (because playing with fonts is fun, no matter what the Good Taste Police say).



I experimented with printer fabric for these. I used June Tailor 'colorfast'* printer fabric sheets (cream color). The images printed very crisp and nice, but the fabric quality is not what I expected. It is so stiff, even after washing, it is almost like paper. Pins made nearly permanent holes, so eyeballed the placement and just held it with my fingers. I could have used glue stick, but I was being lazy. I liked using this for a craft project, but I doubt I would use it in a quilt.

I don't know why I made the "string" label; I didn't end up using it. I wanted to fill up the page to avoid waste and I couldn't think of anything else (and F likes to play with string, when she can get it).  Now I realize I should have made it say "jacks." She doesn't have any, but she will eventually.



Btw, I have no idea what game you play with the wooden rings. Any thoughts?


* It's only colorfast when hand washed in cold water with no soap and dried flat. Or so the label says. In my opinion, if you can't use soap, it's not really colorfast. Next time I will try the non-colorfast ones because they cost about half as much.

I decided a while ago that my new stroller really needed a bag (to hang unsafely from the handle like the manual tells you to definitely NOT do, and which everyone does anyway).  I also decided that the cute Ikea fabric I bought did not match and was too girly for my HB to want to carry, so on Monday this week I bought some black twill and some bright green dot for lining & piping.

Then I had to decide I wanted to have the bag done for our visit to the State Fair, which is tomorrow.

Hmm.

All the pieces are cut, interfacing is fused, and piping is made, but that's about it.  Perhaps I can scramble and get it together, perhaps not.  I hope I can.

I know it is silly to make myself hurry and do this, especially when I have a hundred other things to do, not least of which is planning F's first birthday party for this Saturday, but going to the Fair will just be SO much easier if we have a bag (that we don't have to carry!) for all of F's snacks, water, dipes, etc.

My sewing machine is malfunctioning!  None of the stitch controls are working; it turns on, but only does a straight stitch, the default setting.  I knew when I bought a computerized machine that one day the keypad and electronic controls would stop working.

While I was in straight-stitch-only mode, I had to put down the pants I was working on, but I really felt like making something, so I made two little box pouches using the tutorial here.



The tutorial is not perfect; the instructions are a bit vague, like where it says to "stitch the layers together," omitting the fact that you only need to do this along one long edge.  But how much detail do you need?  It's so simple.  And the pouches are cute.  On the one with chickens printed on it, I added a little twill tape loop to aid in pulling the zipper.  The fabrics are fat quarters from Jo-Ann.

Now to figure out where to scrape up the change for sewing machine repairs.  Either that, or figure out some more straight-stitch-only projects to do.

My bag is finished!!



I really like it!

( Lots more photos! )

I weighed it on my postal scale; it's just over 2 pounds.  Not bad, considering it's made of heavy canvas and tons of interfacings. I was worried it would be really heavy.

The pattern is Amy Butler Weekender Travel Bag.  There are six pages of pattern updates for older printings of the pattern, although if you buy the pattern now, you probably won't need them.  I used Amy Butler fabrics from Treadle Yard Goods, and I found the template plastic at Jo-Ann. My awesome zipper is from Custom Zips.

I ended up trimming my bottom panels to about 18".  The pattern gives 20" for the bottom panel measurement, but when I cut them to 18", they fit. I don't know why.  I cut the Peltex for the bottom panel 16 3/4".  The false bottom now fits pretty snugly, but I think it makes sense that way.  Although if I had made the false bottom last, I might have made it just 1/2" shorter.

I really want to make this again at some point.  I am envisioning it in grey herringbone with bright orange piping.

I found what I think might be a couple errors in the weekender bag pattern.

First, the materials list specifies ONE sheet of 12" x 18" template plastic (which I had to make four stops to find; the two local quilting stores have both closed in the past couple years, and the first two Jo-Anns I visited were closing and everything was sold out, then I tried Blick, and finally just drove to a farther away Jo-Ann) but then direct you to cut TWO 7" x 16.5" pieces. Which doesn't add up!

However, I think this is corrected in the update from the website, because it says to cut just one piece from the template plastic.

I'm glad I bought two sheets though; it was such a pain to get that I figured I might want some in the future and didn't want to have to drive far away again to get it. Instead I jsut cut into both pieces to get two 7" x 16.5". Now my false bottom is almost done (just need to slipstitch the open end).

The second thing is the bottom panel. I was about to attach the top/side/bottom unit to the main panel, but I saw that there was about 1" extra in the bottom piece. It did seem odd to me that the bag bottom was so much bigger than the false bottom insert, but I figured there must be a reason. Now I think maybe the bag bottom is just a little too big. I re-checked my measurements about 6 times in both the original and the updated directions and my panel is the size directed.

I still have to sew it together, but I think I will leave a side/bottom seam open when I attach the main panel so I can trim off any excess if needed. I am glad the bottom panel is just a rectangle.

I got my zipper in the mail yesterday and I feel the need to re-post the link to the zipper company.

I got it from Custom Zips, which is almost the only place I could find a 30" zipper, and certainly the only place I could find so many styles and colors in that length.  Nobody in my area sells them retail, and I couldn't find any on the web, either.

The pattern doesn't specify zipper style, just length. I chose a heavyweight plastic one (this is a seriously durable-looking zipper!), 'luggage' style; it is closed at both ends and has two pulls. I sent them a fabric swatch and ended up with a color that, while not a perfect match, coordinates well.

They don't show the colors on thier website, and they don't accept internet orders. But even sending through the mail, with a check, it arrived pretty quickly. I mailed my order on a Friday afternoon, and the zipper arrived 10 days later, on a Monday. 

I had a "duh" moment.  I finished sewing the bag straps and I was thinking about the interfacing problem, when I realized I could just tear it out, remove the extraneous lightweight layer, and hand-baste the Peltex back in.

Simple and obvious!

Clearly, I do not do enough hand sewing, or this would have jumped into my mind sooner.  I suppose I forget that there are other ways to make modern things besides with the machine.  And I forget also that the machine is not best for every task.

I ripped the interfacings out yesteday, discarded the lightweight one, and began hand-basting.  When that's done, I'll trim away any more excess Peltex from the seam allowances.  I'll leave the basting in until I can topstitch it down permanently - I'll have to check the directions for assembly again, but I imagine maybe after the piping is put in?

Next time I am going back to my old way.  Still, it's nice to try a new technique, even if it doesn't work.

I cut out my Weekender Bag last week. That was kind of a process since there are a few pieces that only have measurements given, so I made paper templates for them to make cutting a little easier. Plus there are just a lot of pieces, for a bag. And two different interfacings. It was hard keeping track, but then again, I did cut it out while sitting and talking with baby.

Anyway, here's about where I'm at now:



The dots are the lining and piping; the little tree/flower things are the outer.

On Friday I was about to order my zipper. It calls for a 30" and the Treadle employees gave me an order form from customzips.com. They only do mail order, though, no internet orders, so I went to Amy Butler's website to see if they had a source listed for a 30" zipper. I didn't find one, but instead I found SIX PAGES of updates for the bag. Eek! I saved the file but didn't print it because F was sleeping.

Yesterday I covered all the piping cord with the bias strips, then I remembered the extra instructions. I printed them out and saw that the update called for a fusible interfacing, which I didn't have. I am generally wary of fusibles.

The point of the fusible is to attach the super-heavy Peltex to the bag fabric without having the bulk of the Peltex in the seams. You cut off the seam allowance from the Peltex entirely, then sandwich it between the bag fabric and a lightweight fusible (cut to full pattern size). That way, you are never sewing through the Peltex, except when you topstitch later. I had to read this a couple times before it made sense, but then I remembered reading a very similar technique in a Kennith King article about tailoring smooth lapels.

The update called for a woven fusible. I was worried about shrinkage. I went back to Treadle and none of my favorite knowledgable employees were there, so I talked with someone else; she wasn't really sure what I needed but was helpful anyway. I ended up with a lightweight non-woven fusible.

Or so I thought. I pre-washed it in a sink of warm water and let it drip dry (Power Sewing's directions). But as it dried, I kept checking it, and I couldn't see any fusible dots anywhere on it. I was so sure I bought fusible, and that lukewarm water could not have washed it all away! But I tested a scrap this morning, and it did not fuse at all. So either I grabbed the wrong bolt or it was mis-labeled.

But I think sew-in will work fine, in fact, I will probably prefer it. I'll just cut off the Peltex seam allowances as directed, then stitch it to the interfacing close to the cut edge, and treat them as a single piece of sew-in interfacing when I attach it to the bag fabric.

I'm excited to actually get sewing on this!

Today F was in a good mood so I did some sewing while we hung out together.  I finished making this Buttercup Bag I started a few days ago, from the scraps leftover from the laptop bag.



I tried to do the little decorative button tab like in the pattern, but it ended up looking like a dorky cotton potato chip, so instead, I cut circles from scraps with the pinking shears and sewed a couple buttons in the center.

I lined it with a black and white cotton print from the stash.  I wish it had been black and cream to match better, but oh well.  I used a magnetic snap to close. The strap is cream twill tape stitched to black petersham, and it's shoulder-length instead of handbag-length.

( lining & strap detail )

This is smaller than my current purse, and the first non-messenger bag I've made for myself in a while.  But it's nice to go smaller sometimes.