Bag of the Week 2

This week's Bag of the Week is the Safari Bag.  You can read more about this bag in my previous post (New Beginnings).  I have created a tutorial describing how I made this bag so you can create one for yourself.  The sidebar on the right hand side of the screen contains a tab for Tutorials.  Enjoy.

New Beginnings

A new year.   A time to set goals and begin fresh.  Each year I vow to become more organized and, on a macro level, I’m happy to say that I achieve that – year end finds me a little more organized than the beginning of that same year.  But there is still a lot of room for improvement.  Particularly in my sewing space.  It could use a lot of help.  Each time I step into the closet (an act that is becoming increasingly difficult with each passing week) I see projects that need completing -- UFO’s (that’s Unfinished Objects for those of you who may not know).  One year I vowed that for each new project I started I needed to finish a UFO.  That didn’t last long.  Once again, this year, I am hoping to finish a few of these long overdue projects.  The satisfaction factor is pretty high with UFO’s – not only do you get the usual satisfaction of completing a project but you get the bonus of feeling virtuous about clearing something out that has been hanging over your head.

Back in 2006, before my first child was born, a very dear friend asked me to make her a dozen bags that she could give to clients at the successful completion of their work together.  This is a friend that I would do just about anything for so I readily agreed.  I enjoyed creating a label to go inside the bag and quickly whipped up four of the bags.  Well, along came child #1 in late 2006 followed by child #2 in late 2008 and the other eight bags remained uncut fabric in my closet.  When my friend asked me about these bags recently I knew that I had to finish them for her and clear my conscious, along with my closet.

The Safari Bag is made from chenille upholstery fabric in an animal print.  The outer fabric is soft and drapey so I knew I would have to provide some sort of stabilizer for the bag.  I contemplated fusing interfacing to the pieces but rejected that idea as too time consuming and a risk for crushing the nap of the fabric.  Instead I purchased heavy black canvas (duck) for the lining fabric.  With that stable layer on the inside the bag holds its shape nicely.  This bag will be my bag of the week for this week – look for the post on Wednesday along with a tutorial and pictures on creating the bag. 

(And if you ever need a realtor in the Annapolis, MD area contact The House Huntress, you just might end up with one of these bags for your very own).

Bag of the Week

I love to make bags:  purses, totes, shoe bags, pails.  You get the idea.  In fact, I have made and photographed nearly enough “bags” (some of the items may be somewhat loosely defined) to feature a bag a week for the entire year.  Check back each week for new ideas and pictures.  Tutorials will be included on some of the pieces.

The Vintage Reticule Pattern was created by Hope Yoder.  I first made this bag in a class with Hope (watch for pictures of that bag in the future) at Sew Special Studio.  Each year I make and donate a few items to a silent auction for the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, and this is the bag I created for them in 2008.  The color scheme was inspired by the fabric used for the top band – a chocolate brown printed velvet with tones of taupe, green and rust.  The bottom portion of the bag is crazy quilted with coordinating silk dupioni using Hope’s instructions and then embellished with couched fibers and bobbinwork decorative stitches.  The bag was lined with rust colored silk dupioni; the same fabric was used to make the top ruffle and to cover the large button on the front.  Beaded eyelash trim separates the two bands and the bag was finished with a beaded tassel.  The strap was made from thick cording covered with bias cut chocolate brown wool crepe using a FasTurn tool.