Tiki Cargo Duffel

Over the last two weeks, I've been slowly putting together my first Noodlehead Cargo Duffle {sic}.  I say first for a couple of reasons:  this one was my "muslin" to try out the pattern; and I had so much fun making it that I want to make a bunch more!

As you can see, I used some of my leftover Tiki Winki fabric for the main part of the bag.  I ended up buying two contrasting fabrics:  a brown print that reminded me of woven coconut fiber, and a batik with splotches that reminded me of the Polynesian Islands, for an overall Island theme.  I used the wrong side of the batik fabric, because the color was a little lighter and matched my Tiki print better.

I really love the pleated pockets on this pattern:

The bag isn't actually 100% finished.  I decided that I want to use Velcro tabs to close the pocket flaps, and when I went to my stash I discovered that I only have one left.  So I'll have to go to the store and get some more before I can finish it.

I added some strips of leather to the zipper pulls to make them more stylish and easier to grab:

One thing I'll change the next time around is the straps.  As written in the pattern, they're softer than I like.  Next time I'll add in some canvas between the two layers of fabric to make them stiffer.

Because this bag was a trial run, I decided to serge the inside seam allowances rather than apply bias binding.  You definitely want to finish these if you plan to use this bag as an overnight bag - you don't want to get frayed pieces of fabric all over the clothes you've packed!  For future bags I will use the binding though, or even line the bag - there are plenty of tutorials online showing how to do that.  My serger wasn't too happy about going through all these layers.

I had wanted to make this bag ever since the pattern was released last October, but kept putting it off because I thought it would take a lot of thought and energy.  But really, it wasn't very difficult!  The instructions are a little sketchy, but if you've ever made a bag before you will be able to figure it out.  For me, this was a great project to work on bit by bit over time.  Each piece gets quilted before you put the bag together, so it's not a quick process, but one I found relaxing.

There are a couple things I did to make it a lot easier for me to put together.  First, I marked the place where the seam allowances intersect on the front and back pieces.

The front and back are sewn to the loop created by the bottom and zipper gussets by sewing the top and bottom seams, and then the side seams.  To make it easier to sew those side seams, I cut into the seam allowance of the gusset right up to the stitching of the top and bottom seams, so I could spread the side flat.

The only other thing I'll do differently next time is to apply fusible stay tape to my outer zipper gusset piece.  When I was sewing in the zipper, that piece kept stretching, so I switched from my zipper foot to the walking foot I used for the rest of the bag.  Needless to say, it wasn't very easy to sew in a zipper with a walking foot!  It didn't occur to me until much later to use the stay tape.  D'oh!!

But it all worked out and I'm very happy with my bag.  And now I'm having fun daydreaming about fabric combinations for duffel bag #2!

A not-so-little something.

A few months ago, just before my birthday, I came across this tutorial for an awesome zip bag made from printed fabric.  I HAD to have one, so I ordered a fat quarter of the fabric from Spoonflower as a birthday gift to myself.  I haven't had much energy or time for sewing this week, but I did manage to cut this project out on Wednesday, and sew it together yesterday.

I did a few things differently on my bag from the tutorial.  I had my fabric printed onto organic cotton sateen, which has a lovely sheen but is quite thin.  To give my bag a bit more heft, I used fusible fleece on the outer rather than regular interfacing.  The added weight also helped because I used my leftover orange lining fabric for the inside.

I used a nylon zipper because the colors are more fun and I hate metal zippers on bags - they always ding up my nails!  After I finished the bag I felt like it needed a little some thing more, so I popped on one of my tassel keyrings.

At 9" x 14", this bag is quite a bit bigger than the ones I usually make.  I think I like it though, although obviously I haven't had a chance to carry it around yet.  Doesn't it just say "Summer?!"

Because of the way the fabric was printed, the palm trees on the front are a bit taller than those on the back.

The corners on the bag are boxed:

I have a pretty sizable piece of that matte black sequin fabric left.  I'm thinking it will make a great bag, using this pattern.   But for that I probably will have to cut the sequins out of the seam allowances, so it will be a project for another time.

Field Study Bag

For a long time I'd been wanting to try Elizabeth Hartman's quilt-as-you-go technique for creating bag panels, and this week I finally got around to it.  I really loved doing this - it's so fun to build your panel as you go, deciding which piece of fabric to use next. 

I selected some leftover bits from my scrap box in mostly pinks and purples.  I love it that even the small pieces are useful in this technique - some of my bits are only about 2 inches square.  Here are the two panels I created:

On both my panels, I decided to use pieces of the printed selvage.  The first one says "Field Study No. 2" -

And on the other side, I decided to keep the feathered edge on the outside.  When I showed the finished bag to Hubby, he said that was his favorite detail.  It's mine too :-)

 And here is how the quilting looks from the back.  The bits of fabric are quilted directly onto a layer of batting with a backing.  My backing is a heavier muslin.

To make my bag, I roughly followed the directions for the Style B bag from Elizabeth Hartman's Perfect Zip Bags pattern.   However, I changed my dimensions and the inside pockets based on how I wanted my bag to be.  After my panels were quilted, I cut them to 10.5" x 7".  On one side of the lining I sewed a 2-slot card pocket, and on the other side I made a single pocket.  I'm proud of myself that I thought about what kind of pockets and strap I wanted before starting, and then did all the maths to figure them out.  I usually just delve in, and then have to make corrections later, or get an outcome I'm not happy with!

For my strap, I decided I wanted a D-ring at the side, but a swivel clasp that could be connected either to the D-ring or the zipper pull.  About a month ago I ordered a bunch of swivel clasps from this Etsy vendor, and D-rings from this one.  The swivel clasps aren't that easy to track down, because they go by a lot of different names!   Now I have plenty to last me a while :-)

My finished bag measures about 9.5" x 6", and is quite sturdy.

And here's the finished bag from each side:

And the pockets on the inside:

Can you tell I love my new bag?  This one has room for a packet of tissues and a lip balm!  And all the different fabrics make me happy - they're all leftovers from garments I've made.

Have any of you ever tried this technique?  I think I'm a little in love with it!

Va bene! Va molto bene!!

I know I've mentioned a few times that I planned to purchase Elizabeth Hartman's Perfect Zip Bags pattern.  Well, I finally got to it a week or so ago, and this week I set about reading through the pattern and making myself one of the bags.

What a revelation!  If you have any interest in making zippered bags, I highly recommend this pattern.  Elizabeth goes about the construction in a way I hadn't seen anywhere else, and I think the results are just incredible.  The tutorial includes instructions for three different styles of bag, with a couple sizes for each.  Two of the bags are boxy, so dimensions are given for cutting the fabric.  The other bag has a pattern in two sizes. 

I decided to make the smaller size of the darted clutch.  The pattern is a half pattern with instructions to cut on the fold, but I chose to trace off a full pattern piece because I'm hoping that I can use this pattern with leather in the future.

You really don't need much fabric at all for this little bag.  I used scraps from the Dear Stella Va Bene collection that I've used for a few other projects:  Italy Map in White, Vespas in White, Va Bene Stripe in Red and Tuscany in Taupe. 

I followed Elizabeth's instructions to the letter, except for one thing.  She recommends a sew-in interfacing, but I used the stiff collar interfacing I'd used previously on Hubby's shirts.  I wanted to see if it would give the fabric a canvas-like quality, and it almost did.  But it also made it much harder for me to get my bag turned out nicely.  What you see above has been heavily ironed after completion, and it's still a little lumpy because of that interfacing.

I really love the covered zipper ends - this wasn't the first time I've tried them, but it was the first time I've been successful with them!

I tried to get a good picture of the lining and pocket, but I wasn't able to get the bag open enough while keeping my hand out of the way!  I fussy-cut my pocket so I'd have trees and some pots of flowers on it.

Although I'm happy with the bag, I do wish it were a little bigger.  I have such a hard time judging the finished size of anything from the pattern pieces!  Next time I'll use the larger pattern for making this bag.  Still, it fits my phone, and I could also put in some pocket tissues, a lip balm and my ID and bus card - that's all I really need!

I tied a ribbon into the zipper pull to make it easier to grab, but I feel like it's a little "too much" so I'll probably remove that.  Aside from the interfacing, the only thing I'll probably do differently next time is to shorten the loop that attaches the bag to the D-ring that holds the strap - just a personal style preference.

Have any of you used this pattern and tutorial?  Are you tempted?

Va Bene!

Remember when I made that little photo zippered pouch for my BFF for her birthday? Well, I also made her a large Open Wide Zippered Pouch to use as a knitting project bag.  I didn't write a post about it, but I did put a picture of it on my 2013 Sewing FOs page.

For that bag, I used London Icons by Makower UK, a super-cute fabric.  But what I really wanted to use was the Vespas print from the new Dear Stella line called Va Bene* - my friend is nuts about Vespas!  Sadly, it was out of stock at the time I needed it, so I had to give her a rain check.

I was able to order the fabric about a week after her birthday.  In addition to the Vespas, I also got Va Bene Stripe and Italy Map.  I ordered a half yard each, so I had enough to make 2 large bags - one for her and one for me!  I made these yesterday:

Sally's bag, in front, has the Vespas on top and the stripe on the bottom, with the Italy map inside:

And my bag has the Italy map on top and the stripe on the bottom, with the Vespas inside!

I really love this bag for knitting projects.  This is the largest size given in the tutorial.  It uses a 14" zipper, and the pieces are cut to 11" x 14" before sewing.  The flat bottom enables the bag to stand on its own without flopping over; I used fusible fleece as interfacing to make it even sturdier, but still soft.

Here's mine, with the almost-completed back of my Still sweater:

See how much room is in there?  Love it!

I also love that I didn't use up all my fabric - I have enough left over for a couple of small projects I think!


*The same line as the Tuscany in Taupe print I posted a couple weeks ago that everyone loved so much!

Divertissement

Over the weekend, I finally got around to doing something I've been wanting to do for a long time:  making zippered pouches.

I've been pinning various tutorials for different styles of bags for over a year, but I kept putting off actually making any.  They always seem to have so many steps, and I don't always have the mental energy to follow along.  Sadly, I wasn't able to figure it out on my own - and believe me, I spent a fair amount of time trying to do so!

Last Friday I finally got some time to sew, and decided I wanted to make something small rather than start a garment.  So I looked through my pins, and pulled up all the tutorials on zippered bags.  Bad idea - I was quickly overwhelmed!  Finally, I decided to just pick one website and make one bag to start with.  I picked Noodlehead. 

What a great choice!  This lady has a bunch of very easy-to-follow tutorials for designs I find useful.  She also has some lovely PDF patterns - I'm likely going to buy the Envelope Clutch pattern.

One of my goals in making these bags is to use up some of my scraps, so I started out with the Scrappy Makeup Pouch.  And scrappy is right - these bags can be pieced with very small bits of fabric.  Since I also have a lot of quilt batting leftovers, I used that instead of interfacing.  (Actually, this bag calls for batting.)  I used bits of fabric of random sizes to piece the front and back, but did cut them to the dimensions given in the tutorial.  Here's my first finished bag:

Perfect for holding my crochet hooks!

Chuffed by my success, I decided to make a second bag, so I got out my last bit of velveteen left over from the skirt, and some magenta corduroy.  I decided to get all fancy and add a D-ring and handle.  This one also used batting instead of interfacing.  Boy, did that take a herculean effort to sew through all those thick layers!

Same construction as the first bag, but not pieced.

On Saturday, I did indeed work on my quilt, but I couldn't leave well enough alone, and decided to try out the tutorial for the Open Wide Zipper Pouch.  Anna has made a really great chart showing three sizes for this bag, and even the sizes to cut the pieces for a constrast bottom!  I love this bag - it is perfect for knitting projects, as the top really does open wide!  For this one, I used fusible fleece to give the bag more structure.

I made the medium size, which uses a 12" zipper.

Sunday, I got up bright and early and headed off to JoAnn's to pick up some heavy interfacing.  When I got back, I tried out the Lil' Cutie tutorial.  This is such a practical little bag - just big enough for some cash and your keys, and a phone if it's not too big.  My phone is too big, so next time I make one of these I'll make it about an inch bigger each way.

This whistle keyring was the only one I had in the house!

I really had a blast making these bags, and I know I'll be making a lot more of them in the future.  I'm also very glad to have finally gotten over my apprehension about it.  Once I did it, it really made sense and now I feel kind of silly for being scared of these little projects!  It got me to thinking about how what is easy for one person can be confounding for another! 

Those of you who sew, have you ever made any of these?