Bag of the Week 47

Flapper Bag

This is another lovely embroidery design by Evy Hawkins of A Bit of Stitch, one of her Flapper Girls.  This bag was stitched from silver dupioni silk using Vogue pattern #9893 to match a jacket and dress I made for a friend.  The top is trimmed with eyelash fringe and a button closure with frog, and a tassel hangs from the bottom point.  It measures about 9”.

A quick post this week as I have so many other things on my plate at the moment!  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Bag of the Week 46

Grip It

Each year my American Sewing Guild Neighborhood Group (we’re called Sharing Threads) has a challenge.  The topic is announced at the beginning of the year and the results are presented at the November meeting.  This year’s challenge was an ugly fabric challenge.  Everyone chose a piece of fabric from someone else’s stash (that had been deemed “ugly” by the owner).  The new owner then turned that fabric into anything they wished.

I wasn’t around for the fabric exchange but I wanted to participate in the challenge so I found a solution that fit the spirit, if not the letter, of the event.  A number of years ago I participated in another ugly fabric challenge and I had a piece of that fabric left.  This is a great example of “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” because I think the teal cotton twill that was ugly to its previous owner is just lovely.  At the time, I was interested in discharge dyeing so I took the fabric and, using a stencil and Soft Scrub cleaner, discharged a design onto the fabric.  The piece you see above was another piece I dyed at the time but didn’t use in my final project.  So I used it in this years’ challenge.

I used Nancy Ota’s Grip It pattern but changed the dimensions to fit the fabric piece I was working with.  I used a coordinating stripe to bind top and bottom edges of the fabric before topstitching it onto the screen panel.  This pattern was so fast and easy.  I made this bag, start to finish (including time to gather all of the materials) in less than two hours.  It is a handy size for carrying books and papers.  It also felt good to use up a scrap that’s been hanging around my sewing room for years.

Unfortunately, a sudden illness kept me from going to the meeting this week where everyone presented their finished projects, and I was so disappointed to miss seeing them all.  I’ll have to take my bag to next month’s meeting where we will be planning all of the programs for the coming year and choosing the topic for our next challenge.  Can’t wait to see what that will be!

Bag of the Week 45

Asian Portfolio

I started this portfolio during a class at The Sewing Expo at the end of September.  All supplies and the instructions were provided, and I felt lucky that the fabrics selected were so lovely and to my liking.  The first step was to embroider a crane on dark brown velveteen; this piece became the back panel. 

Next, I strip pieced the various printed cottons to make the body of the bag.  The flap’s Courthouse Steps design was pieced from leftover strips and more of the velveteen.  The three elements were sewn together and the entire piece interfaced with iron on interfacing.  Next came a layer of canvas that was basted to the wrong side of the resulting panel.  The side seams were sewn and the bottom corners boxed.  A lining was added and the raw edges bound with a bias strip.  The scariest part was cutting the hole for the grommet; I proceeded with baby steps, gradually increasing the size of the cut hole until it was right.  I found it helpful to stitch around the opening before cutting to ensure the three layers could be cut as one unit.  The strap, which is edged with a serged wave stitch, was attached last.

I really love this bag and think it is very reflective of my style and taste.  I plan to use it to carry books and notepads to my various sewing events and meetings.  It can also hold a laptop.  I had enough scraps left over to create another little bag which I featured a few weeks ago.  All in all, a nice class with a beautiful finished product.

Bag of the Week 44

Knitting Needle Case

I’m taking a little liberty this week with my definition of “bag”.  This is a knitting needle case that I made several years ago featuring the lovely embroidery of Evy Hawkins from A Bit of Stitch. 

I found directions on the internet and adapted them for my own use.  Here are two links that show you how to make a rolled up case that will hold knitting needles or paint brushes/tools.

Roll-up Knitting Needle Case

Paint Brush Holder

Bag of the Week 43

Trick or Treat?

This past week has been Halloween central in my sewing studio.  Halloween is not a holiday I get into in a big way (no elaborate decorations, etc.) but I am enjoying making my kids’ costumes.  My oldest son is 4, just old enough to understand that Halloween means candy.  My youngest (2) just thinks the costumes are fun.  The great thing about kids this age is that two pieces of candy from six houses seems like a treasure trove. 

Last year my good friend Joyce brought my oldest a little fabric treat bag (she makes dozens of these each year, fills them with goodies and hands them out on Halloween night – lucky kids!)  We keep this bag on the top of the fridge with a few pieces of candy in it for special treats.  Since Son #2 needs his own treat bag this year I decided to make both boys new bags to use for our trick or treating on Sunday.  If you wait until right before Halloween you can get great deals on cotton Halloween fabric.   I used the same stripe for the lining of both bags and varied the outer fabric and trim.  I keep a roll of black webbing on hand and used that for the handles.

Come back on Sunday for a peak at the costumes I made.