gone shopping ...

with my new market tote. In Germany, you normally have fabric totes or fabric baskets. So do we. Only that the normal tote is plein beige. I wanted something more pretty and did some stash shopping for it. The apple canvas was just big enough and certainly as sturdy as needed. The brown binding and the tangerine piping was quickly added. The hedgehog is a raw edge applique using up the few brown scraps I had. (My scrap bag is rather tiny.)

 

Didn't take too long to make and makes me smile everytime I go to the grocery store :)

the promised bag post

I still owe you a post about the Sophia Carry All bag pattern, if I remember correctly. Well, here it comes.

As it was for a swap, I actually did two versions of the bag. One following mainly the instructions to check if it will have the right size and look for my partner and just for some practice. Never used real piping before. The first bag is the one seen here. The outside is an AMH home dec which was easy to stabilize with some low-loft, iron-on batting.The only alteration was an additional big pocket on the outside.

For the second version a bit of stash shopping was in order. I dearly miss all my trusty fabric shops back in Munich! Nevertheless, my stash is happy to get actually used LOL and there were some nice fabrics for my partner. Grey and yellow was one of here color combinations, so I picked a grey linen/cotton and added mainly yellows. This version did get a little pocket with a sandpiper peeping throuhg that is integrated in the additional outer pocket. I added some pleats - a project on itself - on the other side and changed the handles for one shoulder strap. Oh, and I almost forgot: the zipper is covered which looks just great.

The linen did get some more stabilizer, still it wasn't enough. It did look like a ugly plop of fabric after sewn together for some happy nights with my seam ripper. Oh my, there went the schedule. It still looked crap with more stabilizer. Finally, the linen was backed with some home dec and luckily my machine got through all the layers which were at times more then ten. It took so long to fix it and there was no way to get enough fabric in time for a fresh start. Hence, no time for a proper photo shooting. Still it was a lot of fun to see it all come together.

Here are my mental notes of the project:

• Nice bag that is big enough for the normal stuff carried around and a bit more. And pretty versatile depending on the fabric used. Easy adjustable, too.
• The project is suitable for anybody that is not afraid of sewing a zipper and some piping (even if it is the first time). You only should take your time and know how to sew straight or with consistent seam allowances.
• Next time making the shoulder strapes, they will be 4-8" longer. Well, they are actually long enough but I don't like the tight fit.
• Lazy as I am, I bought some piping. Works like a charm and saved me lots of my night time.
• Any fabric needs to get heavily stabilized if not a home dec fabric.
• The covered zipper looked great, so it will probably be my go to. The cover is about 1" wide and the pattern can be easily altered to integrate it . You only have to be carefull with the batting and stabilizer for the cover part.Otherwise the fabric might be difficult to handle.
• Lots of topstitching. Still could be more.
• You definitely should follow the lining instructions especially how to connect the outside and inside at the side seams!
  Someday, I might try to get the bottom stiffer and try out some nice little feet.
• Drink more coffee when sewing around midnight (or less for breaking the addiction HAHA).

Next bag project will be a shoe bag, lingerie bag and all the stuff to get into a new travel bag. That is, when I finally get around to sew it. Still need some hardware and to figure out the pattern or to get a nice one. More time would also come in handy.

If anybody wanna try, I might be willing to swap pattern (or try me.)

 Love the fishes on the inner pocket and all the sunny yellow :)

need a bag? giveaway

Can a girl ever have enough bags? Fancy yourself a bag in lovely red and aqua? For free? Thought so LOL This one is the Sophia Carry All Bag with some changed pockets (and without the false insert bottom), which I made to test the pattern for the Goodie Bag Swap. Just reckoned it would be more fun to use some nice fabric for it and to play around a bit. The writing is some color that fluffs up when heated to create some interest. The font fits quite nice to the overall feeling of the bag. It went quite well for my first trials although not all lines are as clean as I would which them to be. Next time I need to improve my stencil for easier removal and practice will make up for the rest. Best would be to find somebody for handsewing the lining to the bag, nevertheless. Especially since I didn't find a protection for my fingers which I would enjoy so far.



Long story short if you wanna be my guinea pig so to speak you might win the bag :) You just have to say hi, might chat a bit or you could help my poor little fingers. I will draw a winner Monday, 4th July. You can only win if you I can contact you via mail either by your profile or by a mail-address in your comment.

Good luck!