Still Doing Bags

Finished another one of those excellent Victoria Tote bags that I did in September (find two of the posts HERE and HERE)

Well, had some of that nice modern zigzag fabric left over and promptly finished another bag, this time a size in between as the last bag got a bit very roomy. This time I enlarged the original pattern by just an inch. That just left enough for the handles and a little piece for some additional pockets inside.

Used this very nice french inspired fabric for the lining

Had only bitses of fusible fleece left , so I started to piece them together as I was too lazy to make a trip to the shop. I do this with wadding, so saw no reason why this should not work with fusible fleece.

Piecing the fleece together worked absolutely fine

Put a zipper pocket in and the magnetic closure like in the original bag and then included some pockets on the other side using the last of the zigzag fabric.

Here is the finished bag

Came out very cute and will be claimed by my other daughter in due course.

I think that might be it for a while in the bags department...will need to get going on my next pillow for the November FMQ Challenge at Quiltshopgal. Bought some nice fabric at the local quilt show for this...

Until next time

Karin

Another Finished Bag

And here it is...the second bag from the Victoria Tote Bag pattern by RebeccaMaedesigns found on Craftsy.

Love this fabric for a bag

Made it a bit bigger and stabilised the bottom a bit more as this is for my daughter who was in urgent need of a carry-all bag for uni. I made this super strong, reinforcing the handles, stabilising the bottom and double stitching some the seams. This baby should hold.

Not finished with my temporary bag obsession...will make another one. Learned a lot with this one as well, i.e. by accident I used Extra Loft Fusible Fleece which I did not actually realise until it was finished, all the while wondering why this appeared somewhat more bulky to sew together...while still ok it did make it a touch more lofty obviously.

I did a lot of researching on Interfacings while making these bags. found several very good posts at YouSewGirl!
Combining Interfacings for bag-making 
Comparing Vilene and Pellon Interfacings/Interlinings

and at Sew Sweetness: All About Bag Interfacing 

Karin

More Bags

My sewing room is a mess...there is interfacing and batting, various quilts in certain stages of construction. For some reason I am completely immersed into bag-making at the moment.

Took the pattern for the Victoria Tote by Rebeccamaedesign that I found on Craftsy and played with the dimensions...needed it a little big bigger to make another bag for my daughter. Also changed the  stabilization a bit for the bottom, given its bigger size.

Exterior done and handles ready to go

It looks great! Bit worried about the size though. Here is a comparison to the first bag that I made

I am really impressed with this pattern and the way it described every step. Learned so much from it and as you can see was able to make some adjustments to fit what I needed. For the inside of the new bag I made a pocket instead of a zipper as this might be more useful for my daughter. Still attached the D-rings on the interior as well as the exterior as this looks quite cute and on the inside of the bag this is quite useful for attaching keys etc.
Will make another one after this as I still got heaps of fabric left from the first bag. So enjoyable!

Linking up to the Creative Goodness Linky Party over at Quiltshopgal

Karin

Victoria Tote Bag Finished!

Finished my tote bag 'Victoria Tote' by RebeccaMaeDesigns. Found the pattern on Craftsy.

I had been looking for bags for a while. I find bags quite hard to look for as they are very individual. I was looking for something that was not too floppy with some structure in it. Also needed to be not too big but also not too small...just right. I liked the pattern by RebeccaMae Designs as it used coordinating fabrics with additional outline quilting...again adding to the stability of the bag. In looking at bags I am somewhat limited, so the bag needed to have some hardware, but not too much, otherwise it would be too difficult for me. So this one had a zipper pocket inside, a magnetic closure and some D rings...this sounded do-able. A little bit of challenge, but not too difficult. In purchasing this pattern I also checked out what the designer was using for stabilization...in this case it was fusible fleece and interfacing. Having completed some boxy bags with fusible fleece, I quite liked working with it. Also the bag pattern had additional options...a patchwork option and another bag with additional hardware (swivel clips for the handles).

Making it was thoroughly enjoyable. The pattern was easy to follow with a photo for every step, so off I went...

Exterior Panels done

Exterior completed

The structure of the bag is just right for me...firm but not stiff and as you can see it nicely holds its shape.

Have no pictures of making the lining as I got totally immersed in doing it. Here was the zipper pocket and I must say I was somewhat nervous about this. The pattern said 'You can do this!'...cutting a slit into my panel filled me with horror, however followed the pictures and managed to insert the zipper on the second attempt and it is looking pretty good. Similarly with those magnetic closures...no trouble at all! Also like the fitting of the lining...fitted like a glove.

Inside of bag

The completed bag looks fantastic

11.5"H x 11"W x 4"D

The length of the handles is just the way I like it

Beautiful tote...I still got fabric left over for a second tote...bonus!

Made some hilarious mistakes during this bag-making exercise. Somehow, inexplicably, fused a dark thread into one of the panels. As I had taken my time with the fusing, there was no way I could remove this to retrieve the thread...had to prey the thread out from the front without causing a disaster. Could not believe it!
Second issue occurred during the final stages late at night. Had turned the bag through the lining and had spent some time, neatly sewing the lining close...then discovered a pin on the inside of the upper section...WHAT??...had to undo some of my lining and retrieve the pin. Anyway, all worked out, but did have some anxious moments with this.

Until next time

Karin

In the mood for bags

Don't know about you, but I find that bags are extraordinarily difficult to choose. I have been looking around for a simple tote bag for some time and let me tell you there are hundreds of free patterns on the web...you would think that I would find one relatively quickly. So far I narrowed it down to about three bags. Lucky for me I am not that skilled in sewing hence have to look for those that are more simple to construct.

There is a lovely Market Tote Tutorial over at Bijou Lovely, also another one at the Pellon website by Amy Smart

Then I found a pattern on Craftsy that I really liked, the 'Quilted Tote Bag' by RebeccaMaeDesigns.

RebeccaMaeDesigns: Quilted Tote Bag

So I decided that I needed some special fabric for that...

Could not find anything in my stash...actually finding that my taste in fabric is somewhat changing, influenced by the many bright fabrics that are around. My fabric stash carries mainly darker, more muted colours, so off it was to the fabric store. Here are the supplies that I purchased:

Gorgeous bag fabric

Gorgeous mix of fabrics...all on special, of course, and also bought some hardware. The bag has a magnetic closure and also a zippered pocket. This will be very interesting.

Also had a look at some duck cloth the other day and purchased some modern Cloud9 fabric (they had some great designs!) and went ahead and whipped up the Twenty Minutes Tote bag by The Purl Bee for my daughter. She has been running around with this awful canvas bag, so I wanted to quickly trial this bag. 

The Twenty Minute Tote by The Purl Bee

This took me about an hour and a half and was great fun to put together. The bag has no lining andI spent most of my time overlocking the exposed seams...the pattern uses a zigzag stitch but I thought I may as well use what I have on the machine...this worked really well! Also using the Stop/Start function on the machine (Pfaff 4.2) more and more...just pressing a button and then have the machine go at a constant speed, allows you to fully concentrate on keeping the line of sewing nice and straight. Planning to do another one or two of these (of course I bought more of this duck cloth) and making the bag a little bit bigger...find it very hard to judge what size of a bag I need/want. Having done it, I am more able to judge how much bigger I do want it in width and length.

No wonder I am not getting any quilts done...I continually get side tracked. For some reason, this year has been particularly bad for this.

Linking up to Quiltshopgal's Creative Goodness Weekly Linky Party

Karin