Bag Madness

I think I have a great excuse as to my lack of blogging the last few weeks, sewing.  Yes, sewing up a storm in fact.  With the weather being quite hot (oh the A/C feels so good these days) I have no problem sitting in front of the sewing maching coming up with new ideas.  I've made a total of 11 bags/wrislets!  Plus I've manage to finish a quilt top, bibs and even make a pair of earrings!  Now that I call accomplishment. 

All thanks to a little bit of motivation.  Between my husband and I, we have 13 birthdays to celebrate from April to July. Plus holidays (Mothers and Fathers Day, Easter, etc) and other random events. Needless to say, its a bit crazy! But I'm thankful because I was able to get my craft on and come up with a few new bag patterns all by my lil ol self, with the exception of the little wristlets. 

I've also signed up for a gift exchange via Craftaholics Anonymous which I am very excited about. Be on the lookout for what I made and what I recieved in a few weeks.

With all that said, I'm going to leave you with some pictures of the newest bags.

Phew, now back to the sewing room to keep up the good work!

Enjoy!

Scrap Happy – Scrunch Tote

After making my first Scrunch bag I had a few requests for a tutorial.  So here it is!  I had a little bit of fun with the second bag.  Namely,  this one is quite a bit bigger than the first, much more of a messenger style bag versus handbag.  But don’t worry, the process was the same.  Another change is the strap.  On this larger version I used a women’s belt.  That’s right, a belt!  I absolutely love the look. 

So lets get started, shall we.

Needed supplies:

• 2 pieces of outer fabric measuring (W) 21.5” x (H) 30”
• 2 pieces of interior fabric measuring (W) 20” x (H) 13”
• 2 pieces of iron-on medium weight interfacing (same measurement as lining)
• 2 pieces of fabric 2.5” x 6” from outer fabric
• 1 belt (mine was a women’s small)
• 2 rivets
• sewing supplies (machine, thread, etc)

1.  Ruffle the 4, 30” long edges of the outer fabric.  Start the ruffle approximately 1.5” inches from edge so you have a non-ruffled top edge on both pieces.  Easiest way to ruffle, set your straight stitch to the longest length and set your tension to the highest level (9). 

2.  Take the ruffled edges and adjust them, by pulling on the threads, so that all ruffled edges measure 14”. 

3.  Place the 2 ruffled outer pieces right sides together and pin the 2 ruffled edges and one unruffled edge.
  4.  Sew the 3 pinned edges together.  Make sure to have a larger seam allowance than what was used when making the ruffle.
5.  Turn the outside of the bag inside out and take a look at all that ruffled, scrunchy goodness. 
6.  Moving on to the interior of the bag.  Attach the interfacing, per manufacturers instructions to the wrong side of the interior fabric.  Take the interior fabric and place right sides together.  You will want to leave an opening in the bottom of the lining in order to turn the bag inside out.  In the picture you can see I placed 2 sets of pins close together to indicate where to leave an opening. 

6b.  If you want to add a pocket, do so before sewing the lining together.  I made large pockets that went across the entire width of the bag.  However, make a pocket, or pockets, that will suite your needs and sew into place after you iron on your interfacing.  Be sure to place the pocket at least 4” up from the bottom.  Then proceed to sew your 3 sides together.  Remember to still leave an opening in the bottom of the lining to turn inside out. 

7.  Now we are going to want to create a boxed bottom to the bag.  Lets start with the lining and then do the same with the outer bag that we sewed together first.  You will want to create a triangle and sew in 2 inches from the tip of the triangle, as seen in the picture.  Again, do this on both bottom corners of the lining bag and on the outer bag.
  8.  Time to put your bag together.  With the lining turned wrong side out, place the outside, turned right side out, into the inside of the lining. Essentially, you will want right sides together with the lining being on the outside.
9.  Line up the side seams and pin.   You may need to adjust the lining so that the lining piece and the outer piece line up without having the two bunch together.  You want the lining and the outer bags to line up smoothly all the way around.  Once they do, sew all the way around.

10.  Turn the bag inside out through the opening you left in the lining.  Once turned inside out line up the boxed corners on either side. 

11.  In order to keep the scrunched outer and the lining in place, we are going to attach the bottom corners together.  Once you have them aligned pull them back out through the lining opening and sew the cutoff corners together.  This will keep the bottoms of the bag together.

12.  Once you have sewn the bottom corners together, stuff them back through the lining opening and sew the lining closed.  Either machine stitch or hand stitch.

13.  Time to attached the strap.  As mentioned in the supplies this larger tote uses a belt.  In order to attach I used both rivets and made a fabric tab. 

14.  To make the tab, use the 2.5” x 6” pieces of outer fabric and create a tube.  You will want to turn the ends in about a half inch first to create a smooth outer edge, then sew down the long side.  Turn inside out when sewed and iron flat.

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15.  Loop the tab around the buckle end of the belt and align on the side of the bag.  Making sure to center it over the side seam.  Sew in place by sewing a box shape around the edges of the tab.  Secure as necessary.

16.  Next its time to attached the other end of the belt to the bag with rivets.  I had so much fun hammering the rivets that I did not get pictures of the process.  But line up the end of the belt with the holes onto the opposite side of the bag, over top of the side seam.  Use the holes of the belt that you feel will make the strap the right length for you.  Use the rivet instructions to attach belt to the bag.  You can also attach snaps as opposed to rivets so you can adjust the strap as needed ~ I will definitely be doing this on my next bag.

17.  Now admire your new pretty, scrunchy bag! 
 
Alternatively, if you want to create the braided strap like the first smaller scrunch bag, make 3 long 1 inch tubes and braid.  Make the length that you desire and attach the strap to the side seams by placing in between the lining and the outer bags in step 8 above. 

Hope you enjoy making you very own scrunch bag! 

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Please be kind and only use for personal use and give credit.

Danae

Scrap Happy ~ Scrunch Bag

First on the Scrap Happy Project train is - drum roll please.......

A Scrunch Bag!

Isn't it cute.  I think I thought more about how to approach this project than it took me to actually make it.  I've had several 5" pre-cut Amy B. squares stashed for such a project and I'm happy with the way it turned out. I'm already planning on making a bigger version.  It was really easy to make and I even had time to get a little fancy with the braided strap. 

Let me know what you think and if you'd be interested in a tutorial.

Carry Me: The Cover Bag

Here is the bag the book was bought for: the Granny Bag.  I had originally thought I would save it for the last one; you know, something to look forward to at the end, like dessert.  But, like always, I have a hard time waiting!  Since I hadn't intended to make this bag at this time, I hadn't exactly had the fabric picked out for the design yet.  I'm still not 100% sold on the color choices that I used here, but its growing on me.  What do you think?  Oh and yes, I made 2 (count them, 2) bags in one afternoon! 

One big pro on this bag, it is HUGE.  Certainly a bag where keys will be lost!  However, the way the top is designed it opens up nice and wide, so will be easy to get items in and out.  Also, a fairly easy bag to put together (hence I cranked out 2 of these bad boys - maybe that should be girls, lol).  I was a little hesitant at first with the split side, but not nearly as hard as I thought it was going to be.  The diagrams on this one were really helpful. 

There you have it, another bag down with 9 more to go (that includes the one bag that I'm not doing).  Half way there!

Let me know what you think about this bag (style, color, size, etc). 

Enjoy!

Carry Me: Expandable Carry All

An accomplished day... finished a project, started and completed 2 more projects, opened an Etsy shop, took pictures, did laundry, cleaned my craft space, took the dog for a couple of walks and a play date, and now writing a blog post.  Now that is what I call a productive day!  And I still have a few hours left.

As promised here is a very impressive bag (and expensive) from the Carry Me book that I am sewing my way through.  For those new to the blog, I am sewing my way through the book Carry Me: 20 Boutique Bags to Sew; one project a week.  So far, I have finished 8 of the 20 projects.  The projects have ranged in both complication and size, but all have been fun to make.  This particular bag contains 36 sets of snaps!  It certainly is an impressive bag and weighs about 5 pounds!  I don't think that I ever would have been able to finish this bag had I not been gifted a handy dandy set of snap pliers - saved so much time.  As the name of the bag suggests, it expands.  All snapped up its a bag about 4 inches wide and you can unsnap it to an expanded bag of about 8 inches wide.  This was also the first time I made this type of pipe handle - I really like it.  Oh, and LOVE the fabric!

The rosette is also a pattern from the book.  Its kind of cute and I veered slightly from the book instructions and made my own center stems with some beads and wire.  Turned out cute, however think I would start with a longer piece of fabric the next time to make it a bit chunkier. 

So, there you have it, 2 more projects in my attempt to get caught up. 

Oh, and more to come on the shop opening.  Still working on items to add to the shop, but at least it is started.  Wooohooo!

Now onto my last few hours of the day...what more can I accomplish!

Small Purse

Amongst the mundane tasks of the weekend there was a little bit of excitement.  Our Mango graduated from high school!  Ok, so maybe it was just advanced dog obedience class, but she still deserves a little bit of a shout out for all her hard work.  Now with her several diplomas proudly hanging on the wall she is now displaying her new skills by barking at all the neighbors and refusing to drop the ball!  Hmmmm...guess she is still a puppy and we love her in any event. 

In other news it was a tax-free weekend in Florida.  So it was off to the outlet mall to take advantage of some good deals and of course, no tax.  I wrangled in quite a few deals, including some t-shirts for $2.99 each.  I certainly couldn't pass up that deal, so I grabbed a few and plan on adding a little bit of Nae Chic styling to them, so be on the lookout.

And not to leave it to the last topic, but onto the Carry Me: 20 Boutique Bags sew along project of the week.  I had all the intentions in the world of making 2 small bags this weekend.  However, with my distractions plus a non-intentioned movie I have yet to get the second bag started.  But what do you think of this one?  I have to say I was on the fence about it, but as it started to take shape I gradually began to fall in love with it.  I even took some extra time (in between the 10+ doggy walks) and hand embroidered some extra detail on it.  As has been the case with the other bags, I made some slight modifications.  For starters, this bag didn't have a pocket, so I added one.  The pattern called for a leather button closure, however I wasn't all into the button closure style, so I changed it to a magnetic snap.  And the last modification was the handle.  I decided to go with a fabric handle versus the leather one that was called for; I think it still turned out pretty good.

All in all, I really like the way this bag turned out and have so many ideas of how to make further modifications to it.  I'm sure you will be seeing this bag, or verstions of it in the future.  I particularly like the way it nicely fits under your arm for easy carrying. 

For comparison, here is the picture from the book of the "Small Purse" (the one in the front). 

Enjoy!

The Market Tote

After agonizing over which was going to be my second bag for this book sew along, I went with my sisters suggestion and just chose the next one in the book.  Easy enough, right?  I made my list of needed supplies.  I even put the list in my super gadget phone knowing that it would be easily found.  I went to the store walked in and went to pull out my phone to review my shopping list.  Wouldn't you know it, I forgot my phone!  So much for being prepared with a list.  In the end it turned out for the better.  None of the items I intended to get were on sale (my bargain hunter prowess gets in the way some times!)  SO, onto plan B - buy things that weren't on my list but were on sale!  I like that kind of plan.

Without the needed supplies to make said intended bag, I went back to the fabulous book to ponder over a new #2; now with the full intention of making one with matierials I did have on hand.  So along came the Market Bag.  Its such a  nice roomy bag and super easy to put together.  I did increase the size of the inside pocket - guess I'm learning I have a thing for big pockets!  And I also recycled an old purse to make the faux leather handlee (which I have since changed).  The instructions got a bit fuzzy when it came to putting the outer and lining fabrics together, but I was easily able to put it together after now understanding the process of putting a bag together.  Hey I'm learning!  I'm thinking that in its current state its a tad bit on the boring side, so I do plan on jazzing it up a bit with some beads or buttons, what do you think?

As a recap, this is bag #2 in my attempt to sew my way through Carry Me: 20 Boutique Bags.  The book poses 10 various larger bags (from the practical to the trendy) each with their own coordinating smaller "bag".  Hence 20 boutique 'bags".  I used the word bag loosley for a reason, because after further review there seems to be a few missing "bags", hmmmm.  Perhaps they were lost in translation??  (As an aside, this book was translated from Japanese.  Other than the mis-count, everything seems to be in order.)  So, technically we are down to 16 actual bags and 4 other projects that include a book cover, a zipper flower, a cloth wrapping and a luggage tag. 

However, since I fell in love with the majority of the bags in the book, I have taken it upon myself to sew my way through each bag (and now miscellaneous items) in the book. With the exception of one luggage styled bag since I really don't have a strong desire to search for the needed materials to make it. Who knows, I may change my mind as I work my way through the others. Wish me luck!

Now, which will be #3, or better yet which material to use!  It actually took me longer to decide on the material for this market tote than actually making it! Maybe I'll post some options during the week to get your opinion.

Enjoy!