I have my sewing mojo back! Introducing the Cavernous Carpet Bag

Last weekend I finished the Cavernous Carpet Bag designed by Lisa Lam of U-handbag.
I love Lisa's designs and I have made a few of her bags, the last one was the Grace Kelly bag and looking back, it was more than 12 months ago!

I am happy with how this bag has turned out and especially now that it is done, I am quietly excited because this is a present for a very dear friend who is having a milestone birthday this week.

To ensure that I have all the components, I purchased the kit from U-handbag online and it includes everything except the fabrics which has worked perfectly because I had a very specific picture of how I wanted the bag to look. I bought the fabrics from an Etsy store called BeeYourselfFabrics, very speedy delivery, definitely shopping with her again! The exterior fabric is called Marqueterie Ginger from Indie Collection by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics and the lining fabric is Fiesta Stonehill - Green / Teal Polka Dots by Donna Wilder for Fabric Traditions.

As usual the pattern is extremely thorough, all the details are there, just need to pay attention (the most important ingredient in this recipe) - ahmm… the kit came some weeks ago but I procrastinated because hardwares and I don't mix well. I read the pattern twice before measuring and cutting and even with this level of preparation, I was still a little nervous… Yep, I felt like I had lost that sewing feeling…

I couldn't help thinking that this isn't a draft, I only have one set of the tubular bag frame, one set of the leather handles. This is going to be something for a friend. So deep breath and off I went.

I had trouble with the plastic bag bottom. Not anything to do with the pattern, full instructions are there, I just couldn't seem to top stitch properly, even with the walking foot.

I broke the needle! There were a few thick layers, the needle got stuck, I tucked thinking I could push through, I slipped and stepped on the presser foot… well the result is one broken needle and some crooked stitches! Grrrr… Well, good thing I wear glasses - that's all I can say. At this point, I just stepped away from the machine, cleared my work surface and packed up for the night.

The next day, I examined the top stitches, took a deep breath, still unhappy that they weren't straight but I kept chanting "there are worse things in life" and hopefully apart from her dog, no one will look up to see that often. I just hand stitched the plastic bag bottom to the inside of the external bag all the time being careful not to stitch through to the outside - VICTORY! All secured inside and nothing outside!

 

I then stitched my label onto one of the inside pocket pieces. In hindsight I should have made another pocket with a zipper too.

The rest of the bag was mishaps free - YAY!

Check out these neat corners - so chuffed!

The leather handles give the bag a classy look but one must be prepared for numbed fingers afterwards. I am just thankful that they were even - by naked eyes anyway :)

I forgot to take pictures of how I inserted the tubular frame but it wasn't as scary as I thought and so happy that the joints matched up nice!

The bag is very roomy, as the name suggested. I made the large size which has the finished size 48cm by 23cm by 12.5cm. Yes, my finished bag has the same measurements as the pattern intended.

** HAPPY DANCE! **

An iPad 2 fits comfortably, laying down!  

I do have some extra lining fabric but I have learned that there are worse things in life….  

All in all, I am proud of this bag. I think I have my sewing mojo back!

Stitch on!!!

A light bulb moment - my own screen printed simple satchel

I had light bulb moment this morning as I ferreted through all the drawers in my craft room looking for some tissue paper to wrap a custom ordered softie.

Remember those placemat sized calico pieces I printed on at the screen printing workshop I did in April this year? Yep. DING DING DING DING!!

Wouldn't it be nice to present a handmade softie in a handmade bag? I picked one of the bigger pieces and whipped up a simple tote/ satchel bag. I would have liked to put in some drawstrings but I don't have any at home (or they are buried in the mess that's my sewing cabinet, it's hard to tell). 

I also purposely left the selvage and raw edges in the side seam to give it that old time charm.

I did want a closure of some sort so I used a craft knife to gently cut 4 little slits at the top of the bag so I could weave a small ribbon through. 

The result is charming which I think is fitting for the occasion. This custom softie holds great sentimental value to my customer so I want to wait until he reaches his owner before showing more proper pictures of him.

Next time I have another one of these bags, I will take more photos! Until then I have another project to sink my little mitts in...

Stitch with Love!

Hello 2013!

Hello 2013! May this year fill us with happiness and good health and fun crafty adventures!

I love this time of the year, especially when we hadn't made any concrete plans. With the public holidays and the extra couple of days I had off work between Christmas and New Year, I got into some fun crafty stuff... although of course I could have been tidying up the craft room/ office or tackle the 3 months worth of filing etc... but what's the fun in that!?


The Sunnyside baby cardigan is making good progress! I really don't know how big a 6-12 months baby girl is so I am just winging it - nothing like a surprise :)  

Just to mix things up a bit, I decided to have a go at making a couple of new origamis. The Santa is a design by Jacky Chan via this video and the Swallowtail butterfly is a design by Evi Binzinger and demonstrated by Leyla Torres.

I started sketching for a new bag pattern... I got the first draft of the pattern pieces cut out so hopefully I get to start on some sewing soon!

Lastly, I have actually made this little softie last week but not wanting to blog about the finished project just yet. It is a gift for a friend I am catching up with soon so just in case she happens to read the blog before we meet up... so more about this later!

It's going to be great year - I can feel it!!

I made a bag!

I made a bag! All by myself!! with tricky parts! So excited that my new On-the-go bag is done and every part is as they should be.

Check it out! It has an adjustable strap...

 

Concealed top zipper...

  

Perfect for day trips, fits a Lonely Planet book, a wallet and a phone comfortably, even the Kindle as well.

A small bottle of water too...

Ideal for iPad as well...

I wanted a bag to take on an upcoming trip to New Zealand in mid November but I couldn't find one pattern with all the features I wanted so I thought I would modify an existing one which also proved to be more difficult than originally thought so I decided to have a go at making my own.

Using Lisa Lam's The Bag Making Bible as reference, I started to build it bit by bit. It's been such a fun experience and I learned so much! 

I am planning to write down how I did this step by step so I can make more. I really like this size but I will make the inside pockets bigger and perhaps learn to make a zipped pocket on the outside... 

Ah, yes I am already thinking about the next one - a sure sign that I really enjoyed this experience - woohoos!

Happy stitching! x

Books!!!

I was excited to receive these books I ordered from Borders a few weeks ago. I was actually surprised at how quickly they were shipped out.

First up, check out some of the cool patterns from A Bag for all reasons by Lisa Lam of U-handbag. I have made a few bags from Lisa's patterns and I love them as they are always full of details and handy tips.

Next, look at Felt Friends from Japan by Naomi Tabatha. Do they spell cute or not!

Finally the Anatomy of a Doll by Susanna Oroyan is more a reference book rather than actual patterns.  I have heard a lot about this book (originally from here and a few other places since). Although my softies making style is not life like and generally disproportioned, I have heard that this book has great fundamental techniques even beginner doll makers like myself would benefit from.