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

Remember.....

Remember that line from the song Fame "I'm going to live forever, Baby remember my name."  Yes, well I'm not going to live forever and was thinking about that a little yesterday and today.  Mostly I was thinking about that because I was digging through my stash looking for a specific fabric, after I finally found it, I dug through the pattern stash for the pattern floating through my head.  After hours of looking, and reminding myself what great patterns and fabrics I have, and telling myself I really need to get organized (so badly), what I decided was - I already have more than I need and probably more than I will ever use.  So this years goal - sew more, buy less.

I pretty much already put myself on that program with the fabrics when they just got overwhelming.  I know some people love and are inspired by their large stashes, it just doesn't seem to be working that way for me.  So I am shopping the stash first and only buying fabrics that I need to complete a specific project.

What I realized yesterday, was that the pattern stash is getting overwhelming too! I have so many great patterns that I want to try out.  Like the Meissa Blouse from Papercut Patterns -



Paired with some light colored peach/coral silk, wouldn't that be great??

Or this from Lolita Patterns -



I'm seeing it shortened and in a large brown/cream buffalo plaid.  Turn the side panels on the bias to play with the pattern a little, great yes?

Also I have all 3 books from Alabama Chanin and her craftsy class, every time I look at them I see something new. Something I want to do. Something I must have!

So many more ideas going through my head, so little time.  Why, oh why, do I continue to clutter it up with new patterns/fabric/classes???

So my mantra this year - Sew more, buy less!

There are some other goals knocking around my head, but they all kinda go with the sew more, buy less theme. 

There you go - Happy New Year and Happy Sewing -

              Suzanne

King of the Road

Or queen in this case.  In any case, I'm ready for the roadtrip.  Show me the roadtrip! (said with the same inflections as "Show me the money!")

My overnight/weekend bag is done. Done! Done! Done! and I'm so pleased.  Can ya' tell?  It ended up with a retro/carpetbagger vibe and while that's not really what I was going for, I really like it. What I was going for was to use up stash fabrics - which most of this was.  It was given to me by a friend who worked for a now defunct furniture factory. 

This pattern is the Melly&Me Sleepover pattern. It's great pattern and generally pretty straightforward, although there was one step in the directions for the zipper gusset, that I had to read 6-7 times to figure out.  It was probably the late hour and subsequent brain fog.  So other than the operator error and trying to find a suitable stabilizer for the bottom (finally found a piece of plastic grid that was large enough) a really great sew.

And without further ado -

 

My daughter agreed to model for me and I cut her head off! In my defense we were in an hurry.

 

 

The inside, which is made of the same upholstery fabric as the outside, because I had plenty of it.

 

And the side. It's kinda hard to see the details in all that print, but I thought it turned out pretty nice.

 

 

All in all I like it although next time will probably attach the handles in the seam between the zipper gusset and the bottom of the bag.  And there will be a next time, Mr. Suezyque has requested one slightly smaller and in camo. I guess that's a vote of approval.

 

So - Show me the roadtrip! and Happy Sewing!  Suzanne

 

 





 

 

WIP's

UFO's everywhere and nary a sighting of finished one!! Snags here and there and everywhere I turn. Sigh. Anyway - pressing on -

Future lingerie sets -

Future overnight bag -

Future Alabama Chanin inspired boleros -

 

 

Happy Sewing, Suzanne

Mamma knows best

I'm on a roll with these song titles! I would say I would stop, but I'd probably be lying.

This new pocketbook was for my DDIL's birthday.  I actually managed to plan and execute the plan in time to get it to her on time! Whoot Whoot! Ask my kids - I'm not real good at the executing in time part. Her birthday was last week so I can post now.

This is a Studio Kat Design (love supporting NC businesses), it's the DittyRoo pattern, 'cause it's got a kangaroo pouch on the front, doncha know?  You can find it here and she has lots of beautiful samples on her website.  This is the second of this pattern I have made and I really enjoy it although I don't recommend it for a beginner. You know, unless it's a determined beginner.

Pros:

1. Lots of well marked pattern pieces.
2. Very good directions and illustrations that are clear.
3. It's a good size, slightly slouchy, and easily embellished.
4. Love the straps and have used a variation on other bags that I have made. 

Cons:

1. Lots of pieces.  For instance, there are 3 pieces in back of that kangaroo pouch.  I didn't really see the point unless you were running low on your main fabric, so I cut another piece like the back and used that. Also the pattern adds seams in the lining for pockets.  Not necessarily bad, just unnecessary IMO.  I cut 2 lining pieces using the back pattern and applied/topstitched pockets on the solid piece.
2. The balloon edging is "fiddly".  Like I said the pieces are well-marked and there are lots of match points, but matching the edging to the top of the pattern and then gathering seems like a lot of work.  I tried measuring the top edge and using elastic cut to that length for my gathering, then feeding the piping through that.  I had mixed results - there are just a bunch of layers on the top edges.  I am still studying a better way to do this on the next one.
3. Also the 2 small loops holding the d-rings to the bag are really "fiddly".  You sew one end in the seam, feed the ring on, and then topstitch the edges of the loop encasing the 2 ends of the edging fabric and piping inside.  Trying to get and keep all those layers lined up and seam lines matched was enough to make me cross-eyed with annoyance.  Studying on a better way to do that also.

(Funny aside - when my husband asked how it was going, I told him it was OK, but some of the process was very fiddly.  He looked at me strangely and asked "Is that a sewing term?" I thought everyone had heard that description of a fussy process, but apparently its just me.)

Overall I really like this pattern and as I said I've made it twice and plan at least one more (the one I made for myself it about worn out and needs replacing) it's just that it seems like there must be an easier way to do some of it.  I made DDIL's out of a faux suede that's been in the stash forever, the balloon edging was left over from some valances I made 3-4 years ago, and the kangaroo pocket and lining is  quilting weight cotton also from the stash.

My DD agreed to help photograph it before it was mailed -

Inside -

 

 

And, outside - 

 



And just for fun, an imitation of DDIL opening and pulling out her present -

 

 

 

HAPPY SEWING!! Suzanne

Mamma's got a brand new bag!

So I've been frustrated with sewing clothing - The Weight - she comes and goes and changes ALL my measurements along the way.  I have some serious body frustration issues going on right now, but I won't go into all that, at least not today. So not much fashion sewing going here. But, on the other hand, bags, totes, purses, carryalls, and as they are called here in my neck of the woods, pocketbooks, do not have to fit body parts that can't decide what size they want to be.*

Several weeks (months maybe) ago sewmamasew.com had an online sewing bee.  I loved watching the competition and the projects that stemmed from that.  One of them was this pocketbook - It's a Cinch Tote - you can find it here.  Loved the look of this pattern, nice and roomy, kinda slouchy, had instructions for pockets, it's perfect for embellishing AND there was a coupon code. HA! and HA!

The pattern was a PDF download - can anyone say woohoo for instant gratification! There are no pattern pieces, per se, just instructions about what size pieces to cut out. I was OK with that, the pieces were all square and rectangular and anyone who has followed a quilt pattern should find it pretty easy.  The instructions were great, very clear and easy to follow, the one gripe I did have is that the pictures do not line up with the corresponding picture.  So if you, like me, tend to breeze along looking at the pictures/illustrations and only read the instructions when there is a question, this may cause a slight issue.

I made the bag as published the first time and over-all am very happy with it.  I have been carrying it everyday since I finished it.  One note - on the corners, when she says to be careful it is "layertastic" she's not kidding.  I didn't quite get the layers on the corners lined up and had to open the lining and redo two of the corners, because of slippage.  So without further ado -

My lovely daughter thought that I purchased this when she first saw it.  Now she could be prejudiced, but she doesn't usually mind telling me (tactfully as possible) when I have missed the mark. I do really recommend this pattern and I plan on making it again soon, with a few changes of course.

Just because I thought it was pretty this morning, the view from my front porch -

Of course in the picture, you can't really see the lake just the mist rising off of it, but it is still pretty.


* that sounds like I'm hating my weight/size right now, and I'm not, not really. Overall I'm healthy, I just wish it would stabilize to make my sewing/fitting easier instead of changing for no apparent reason.  Of course if I would be more active and improve my eating habits yada, yada, yada.......

She wore a raspberry ....

I heard Raspberry Beret on the radio about 2 weeks ago and it is stuck IN. MY. HEAD!!

So I am dragging myself out of a sewing funk - kicking and screaming, but still coming out. AND I finally made myself take some pictures and some notes so I will know what I did and what to do differently next time.

This project was a combination of experiments.  I used my Makebra DL01 pattern for the bra again.  Still not entirely happy with it. 

Changes -

1. The first one I made had a gap where the strap met the neckline edge, so this time I overlapped that area slightly - approximately 1/8" - effectively creating a small dart.
2. I also used a thinner foam, 1/8" instead 1/4", which I do think I like better.

Changes still to do -

1. I did not do a gothic arch on the bridge and I will do this next time.  I really like this detail on my bras regardless of the pattern.
2. I have gained some weight so the cup is a little small.  I read somewhere that the down-n-dirty way to increase a cup size was to add 1/4" at the wireline. So will do this next time if I am at the same weight and size.
3. The directions instruct you to sew a piece of twill tape or a thin ribbon to the outside edge of the strap.  Next time I think I will also do on the neckline edge of the strap.  It seemed to stretch out a little.
4. Need to improve my skills in applying fold-over elastic.

I used the free Makebra hipster pattern and found it to be a very straightforward sew.  Both patterns can be found at makebra.com.  I will add a little more cheek coverage to the next pair but otherwise these were good.

Now comes the second part of the experiment - adding color.  It's much easier to find everything in white so that's generally what I stock up on, but I really like a little color. Sometimes a lot of color, I think that's because my general public wardrobe is not very colorful. Anyway - I read on Beverly Johnson's blog years ago about using Kool-Aid as a dye. I couldn't find the blog entry again, but I have a set of white lingerie and I have black cherry Kool-Aid. Well all righty then lets give this a go!

I used hot tap water, enough to cover my material, and dumped the non-sweetened Kool-Aid in. Get the material wet and dump place gently in the pot also.  The time in the water didn't seem to matter, it turned this color almost immediately and did not get any darker after 30-40 minutes.

So I give you raspberry lingerie. 

 

It turned out with an almost tie-dyed look.  The fiber reactive dyes give a more even look.  But this was an experiment and I kinda like it.  We'll see how the color holds up after a few washes.  I wish I could tell you I hand wash all my lingerie, but I'd be lying.

 

Happy Sewing,  Suzanne