Another Bye Bye Love

When my dear daughter-in-law was here in NC last, I forced made asked her to choose the bag pattern and fabric that I would use for her birthday present.

She chose the Bye Bye Love pattern previously blogger here. I don't think I made any changes to the pattern this time (unlike the first time it I just followed the instructions!). I did use a heavier zipper in the top. And I was running low on the Soft and Stable, so this bag has tricot bonded foam that was too thick for the bras I had bought it for.

Since we were headed to the coast this past weekend and it was going to be the only opportunity to get my daughter's opinion before I sent it off, I got her to help with some on location photos -

The front

 

The back

 

Interior

Close up of the front to show the handbag bling

 I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out and I hope she will be too! Dear daughter has claimed dibs if dear daughter-in-law doesn't like it -

Can I keep it? We don't really have to send it to OK do we???

I leave you with some pictures of where I have been the past week -

Jeanette's Pier - Nags Head, NC

Bodie Island Lighthouse, NC

Sunrise over the ocean - Kill Devil Hills, NC

 Happy Sewing, Suzanne

City Slicker

Christine called the City Slicker, but I would have called it the Goldilock's Bag, because it's perfect!!! It's the perfect size, the perfect shape, perfect number of pockets, perfect kind of pockets, etc.... you know perfect.

 

Here is her description - The CITY SLICKER Advanced is the perfect sized handbag for a day out shopping, with loads of pockets to keep organized while you shop! It features a front twist lock pocket (perfect for your keys) and a back slip pocket which is handy for quick access to your phone. A top zippered closure keeps your main compartment nice and secure. Inside you will find a zippered pocket, a pleated pocket perfect for your sunglasses, 6 slip pockets, and 2 pen pockets.

And it's on sale now - both versions - the intermediate and advanced. I got them both through the Bag of the Month Club.

Mine is the advanced version and I would have had it done before, but once I got into it, I kept procrastinating when I would get to the advanced parts, like the welt pocket.  Just a reminder to myself for the future "GOOD GRIEF Suzanne, just take a breath! and do it!" I have avoided welt pockets on jackets, skirts, etc... like the plague, because, ermmm, well I don't know now because why. Just follow the directions, they are excellent.

Don't what was going on or how I managed to capture that face!
 

Also excellent was the drafting.  Everything fit together perfectly.

More handbag bling!

The only un-perfect thing about this bag is it's the last one in the club. BOO. If anyone is listening, please, please, please do this again.  It was SO. MUCH. FUN.

All six Bags of the Month

Happy Sewing, Suzanne

Evelyn

This is a great pattern for a small bag.  Although the small part may just be my perception.  Until recently I had been carrying larger, slouchier bags. Who knew that I would like the smaller more structured ones so much?

Her description - "The Evelyn handbag is not only practical BUT stylish too! Complete with two zippered pockets (One exterior and one inside) to keep your valuables secure. Two elasticized exterior pockets for your phone or keys, 3 additional inside pockets as well as a pen pocket. With a little patience it is easy to make! Dress it up with some nice shiny rivets & bag feet or keep it simple! The choice is yours! Finished bag size = Approx. 33cm (13")  X 20cm (8") X 10cm ( 4")"

Front

This is a great pattern!  Much like the free pattern I tried by Christine it is well drafted, well-photographed and the instructions are impeccable.

I changed a few things -

• I did not have rectangle or oval rings, so I used the square ones I did have. I think it still worked out and looks nice.
• I used Annie's Soft & Stable instead of the fleece recommended.  It just gives a bag a little more structure.  I may never go back to just fleece.
• The directions tell you when attaching your lining to leave an opening along the top front edge to turn your bag through.  It will be closed by pressing the seam allowance to the inside and edge-stitching and top-stitching. I have never been able to get a neat closing like that, so I left an opening at the bottom of the lining and slip stitched it closed after turning.

Inside - please ignore messy stuff!

Things for me to note for the next make -

• Work on the edge-stitching and top-stitching.  To me it still looks kinda wonky.
• Use a thumb catch or other latch on the flap.  It's strictly a personal preference, not a design flaw, but I'm finding out I don't really care for magnet closures on the outside of my bags.

Back

All in all a great bag! I love all the pockets and the inside zipper pocket is such a neat trick! (wish I'd have gotten a picture of it)  Received several unsolicited compliments on it while out and about, can't beat that!



More handbag bling!

Because of some of the curved pieces and the thickness of layers that builds up in places, it can be kinda tricky to sew. But I definitely recommend this pattern if you have some experience under your belt.

Side pockets

Happy Sewing, Suzanne

Midtown Messenger Bag

This pattern is by Betz White and is called the Midtown Messenger Bag. Great well written instructions and illustrations.

I met my completely self-imposed deadline of sewing each Bag-of-the-Month in the same month that I received it.  By the skin of my teeth, but still it was done in April. I probably could've gotten this done sooner if I had quit waffling over all my decisions.


First the pattern recommended waxed canvas - there is no waxed canvas to be found locally.  Didn't even look.  Then there is the issue(s) that when you find it on line it is - a) limited colors, b) hideously expensive (at least to my budget) c) in some cases there was a 5 yard minimum per color to order or d) any combination of the above.  So off I go to Google it - there must be a better way.  I found this easy tutorial that I pretty much followed to the letter, Hah! Except my proportions were closer to 1 part beeswax to 2 parts paraffin, and I waxed a yard of canvas before cutting it out a sewing it.  It was actually pretty fun to do, but time consuming.  I see now why it's so expensive. 

Waxed, waiting to be melted into canvas

OK then, now that's done, it's on to the cutting and sewing.  And another horse change midstream - I had my hardware all lined up, nickel finish.  First I'm debating over the thumb catches that I have, they're heavy, more suitable for leather I think.  Then I decide I don't really like the nickel finish with the material I'm using, so off to Etsy to purchase rectangular loops, sliders, and thumb catches in antique bronze.  There are some great vendors on Etsy and I highly recommend both Sewing Supplies and Michelle Patterns.  Order my parts from both on Thursday morning and received the following Monday afternoon! That's pretty stinking quick.

Since this bag was made with my daughter in mind, I got her to help with the picture taking and modeling.

Front

I think she likes it!

Inside

Back

A couple of points about this bag -

1. I would call it and intermediate to advanced pattern.  Mostly because of the layers involved in several places, waxed canvas is heavy and stiff.  There was seam matching across the gusset, front and back.  Fitting a waxed canvas gusset around a curved piece is no picnic. Did I mention it's heavy and stiff?
2. I highly recommend using a jeans or topstitching needle - refer to 1st point.
3. I used Annie's Soft and Stable in the flap instead of the batting called for.  It just made it look nicer to me.  The rest of bag was made with batting as the pattern called for.
4. Take your time with your topstitching, there is a lot of very visible stitching on this bag.
5. I left ends on both sides of the zipper, giving my daughter a place to pull open and closed.

Overall a really great, challenging pattern and pretty much the perfect size.

Silly out-take

The face I got, when I told her she would have to wait
to actually get the bag

Happy Sewing, Suzanne

A bag for Easter

I made a bag to go with my Easter dress.  An easy, quick make with a pattern from Sew Sweetness'  Accordion Bag. 

Just a couple Several quick points about this bag -

1. It's super easy to sew.  I had the thought that it would a great pattern for teaching someone to sew.
2. I would call it a medium sized bag (although sizing can be subjective). Personally I like my bags a little deeper, so next time I make this I will adjust my pattern.
3. All fabrics were from my stash and I don't remember where most of them came from.  A good many were just pieces I couldn't seem to let go of.
4. Instructions for the braided piecing was found at Studio Kat Designs. Also pretty easy to do.
5. I added some additional pockets inside.  Next time I may add a zipper pocket on the back exterior.
6. The bag bling came from Emmaline Bags.



 

 

 

with dress and goofy expression

Happy Sewing, Suzanne

The Convertible Bag

It's the March pattern from the Bag of the Month Club.  The pattern designer blogged about it here. 

Mine is made from a left-over linen blend, pieces of an old skirt that was in the mending pile (I hate mending so it was pretty easy to donate to this cause), and some quilting fabric hiding in the stash. 

 

 

I followed the directions and made this pattern as written, mostly.  I did add another interior slip pocket.  But when I make again, and I will, it will be made a little wider and deeper, and leave off the convertible parts of the pattern. 

Overall this is a great pattern, well written and clear pictures.  The zipper pockets were probably the hardest part.  I would rate this as a beginner-to-intermediate pattern.  If you left off the zipper pockets, I would say a beginner could do it with no problems at all. 

It does have the neatest little pleat forming the bottom of the bag.  It's such a great trick and one that I had not seen before.

I also managed to get done some pj's for my son's birthday and get them in the mail in time for him to receive them on his birthday.  Don't look now, I think pigs may be flying with little pink wings! These are pretty straightforward, I just want to record them here so I remember what I did later.  It is a New Look pattern that is long out of print and I don't have the number in front of me, but just basic pj's in the large size.

Happy sewing, Suzanne

Butterfly Sling Purse

She's done!!! even though I almost gave up and crushed her in her chrysalis. This project ran a whole gamut of emotions - from receiving the pattern (top of the very first roller coaster hill, WHOO HEE! FUN!) to despair over my fabric choices (plunge down said hill, OH NO! What have I done?). But I have persevered, would not say totally successfully, and the butterfly has emerged -

 

 

When I first received this pattern, I was so excited.  It looked like a challenge (and it was), it looked like fun, I immediately thought of some fabric I had that I thought would be great.  I could not find that particular piece, but ran across this and thought it would also be great.  Pulled out some coordinating pieces and immediately cut it out. And almost as immediately started second guessing myself that those don't really coordinate as well as I thought in natural light.  After getting DD's second opinion decided they would work and proceeded to finish.

 

Best laid plans and all that - this main fabric turned out to be some type of double-cloth, which raveled like it's life depended on it and would not hold a press. So the ID holder and the slip pocket were ripped, er I mean, carefully unpicked and redone with a quilting fabric that I found and thought played nicely with the other two. This time when I did the ID holder, I measured the finished measurements, outside and inside, and cut a small frame (sort of like matting a picture) from Peltex to fold my fabric around.  Then I decided that the zipper pocket needed to be the same fabric as the slip pocket and the ID holder so it was ripped oops, again I mean carefully unpicked and redone.

 

 

 

The card organizers went pretty much as planned.

 

 

I never could get the corners nice and square like the pattern picture.  Totally not the patterns fault, it was an operator inefficiency.  Like I said the fabric was hard to work with, but the main problem was that I tend to check out the pictures/illustrations and think I know what to do.  So the zippers were not trimmed as closely as they should have been.  All the corners look like this, so they match, and they were ripped and resewn 2-3 times to get this, then I actually read the directions, decided I was not ripping again, so good enough. Have highlighted this in my directions for the next make, they will be square!

 

 

One more finished picture -

 

 

 

The casualties of my war -

 

 

I should also note that I had issues applying the purse lock, again very good directions, but I need better tools especially the one punch small holes.

 

In conclusion, this pattern is a challenge that brought up some skills that I need improve.  It's very small, perfect for traveling in my opinion, and a great sew.

 

Happy Sewing, Suzanne

 

 

 



Bye Bye Love

Or "What's black and white and red all over?"  Song titles and corny jokes, just can't get away from them.  Although in this case, the song title is the name of the bag.  Back in December I joined the Bag of the Month club - a new bag pattern January thru June. Sounds like fun, sign me up! And I did with the intention of sewing the bag the month I receive the pattern.

So far, so good! I would have gotten done a little sooner, but I had An Incident with the local wildlife

 

 

Poor little car is now in the shop being appraised and repaired.

 

The bag, on the other hand, is great! January's bag was from Sew Sweetness and she named it Bye Bye Love.  I'm not quite sure why, because as I remember the lyrics, they go on to say "bye bye happiness, hello loneliness, I think I'm gonna cry". Well, contrary to the lyrics, I am extremely happy with this bag and the only tears I'm shedding are tears of joy.

 

 

Pros -

1. This is a great pattern.  Very well written and clear pictures.  For my first one from this designer, I am extremely pleased.
2. It's a structured bag, holds it's shape really well.
3. Inside pockets!
4. It's huge.

 

Cons -

1. It's HUGE! If you are not as Amazonian as I am (I'm 5'10"), this may not be the bag for you.  Although I think it can altered down or shortened without any problems.  I may try that the next time I make it.
2. Not a major con, but it uses Soft & Stable to give it structure, and she gives you several alternatives, but I was not able to source any of them locally.

I added a solid bottom, by adding a seam.  I also left the handles flat, the faux leather I used did not want to cooperate with the rolled handles. All fabric is from the stash! The only thing purchased for this bag was the 22" zipper for the top.

 

 

Overall a great bag, and I will be making again.  Next time I will take a little more time to find a heavier zipper for the main bag.  I'm not sure how long this one will hold up if I used it a lot.  Not a problem because I tend to just leave a bag open once I have it open.

 

Oh, and the answer to the question "what's black and white and red all over?" - MINE!

 

 

Runs away cackling gleefully "mine, mine, mine, all MINE!"

 

 

Happy Sewing - Suzanne

 

 

 

A new bag for a new year!

It was supposed to be finished in December for my daughter's birthday, but my sewing was interrupted by my husband's request for this -

He so rarely asks for anything, and then when he gets it, he is so appreciative and proud.  I can't say no.  It's a McCall's Palmer/Pletsch pattern that is so far OOP I can't find any links for it.  This is probably the 5th or 6th one I have made for him with this pattern.  So it was any easy request to say yes to.

And she is 27 and was completely understanding about the delay.

And then there was the trouble finding the tools to complete this bag - rivets and grommets and hardware, oh! my!

 

 

This is the free Coco pattern by ChrisWDesigns.  It is really a great pattern and I did I mention it's FREE! Free is always good in my book, but when it's a really good pattern too?? Score! you can score yours here.  The instructions and pictures are very clear and easy to follow, I think even a beginner could handle this pattern without a whole lot of trouble. 

 

When she picked out the pattern, we looked it over, compared it with a couple of her favorite bags and decided that it needed to be a little bigger. Not a problem, I took the pattern pieces to a copy machine and increased the size by 115% - I think.  I can't find where I wrote it down and I wouldn't swear to remembering that number correctly.

 

The only other change we made, was to make the inset piece a kangaroo pocket.  It looks like it should be a pocket right? Turns out, it was really easy to turn into a pocket - just use your inset pattern piece to cut the pocket and a lining and baste to the front of the pocket.  I cut the front and back main pieces by putting the inset pattern piece with the corner pattern piece, eliminating the seam, and cut 2 of my fabric.

 

 

 

Other than those two really easy changes, I made the pattern as is.  Just one note, when she suggests that you read through the directions first before cutting, maybe you should.  Then you won't be like me, trying the put the handles together, muttering that can't be right, it's too wide and re-cutting.  Then figuring out that she was right all along! But I'm pretty sure no one else ever does that ;)  It worked out OK, because the fabric I was using for the handles was thicker than what was recommended.

 

I would also recommend getting a few extra rivets and grommets to practice installation before trying it on the real thing.  Unless you too have beginners luck that runs out as soon as you go to work on the one that matters.

 

 

Isn't the lining fabric cute? I found it here.

 

Overall I really like this pattern and will be using again to make myself one. 

 

 

I gave it to her last night, she seemed pleased then.  Today I got the text "I LOVE the pocketbook!!! It's perfect."  Gotta love that!

 

Happy Sewing - Suzanne