Super School Project!

This is a project for my son's class for the school auction. And it was some serious crafting time! The artwork was pretty easy and enjoyable, but the assembly was kind of a bitch. I spent a ridiculous amount of time just mulling over the construction.

 In the end I went with a quilt as you go method. I sewed one large quilt of random squares, cut the entire quilt into squares, embroidered/appliqued the artwork, then made the individual quilted squares. So far so good. Then the assembly. That was a major pain. The embroidery makes for pulling on the squares, which makes for some uneven pieces, which makes for some less than straight lines. Anyways. It turned out ok! And pretty cute!

 Depending on the picture a mixture of applique and embroidery worked out.

 

I also used the embroidery foot on my machine to do a loopy free motion quilting. Makes it really fun and whimsical. Not to mention covers up any mistakes, aka "character".

I also used the sewing machine to zigzag lines in the images. Then I threaded embroidery floss behind it. Some of the artwork was crazy with colors so I had to use some artistic interpretation.

 We used a spring theme. Lots of sun and flowers!

I'm hoping my friend and fellow quilter Carmen will ignore my trim lines!

I really hoped the parents liked this and I think they did! It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work.

Copy cat

I couldn't help but make a hobo bag for myself. That's just how I roll. And it was much easier the second time around. I believe I will start actually making bags for sale soon. I'm feeling like I've tested out a variety of bags enough to be ready to make decent sale-able items.

More of the awesome fabric from fabric.com/

Handle/shoulder strap.

Nice and big, but soft enough to fold up.

Simple shape.

Full zip closure.

Owls for Brynn

My dear friend Brynn is heading north to Alaska to return to her old stomping grounds. She requested a hobo bag with owl print. So I gave this one a whirl.

It's a good size and fits well around your body.

Tried my first full zip with a "make a zipper" type. Worked out ok!

The original Owl fabric was a little different, but alas I didn't have enough to make her a hobo, but really most owls are cute, so it should be fine.

Meza wanted to model. How do I say no to that?

Big flowers

New bag, big bag.

Hidden zipper, umm... may have forgotten to include the pocket so it goes to straight into the lining. Oops! I'll fix it when the work week is done.

I'm starting to like bigger bags more. Will be testing out hobo bags this week.

New Closure

Been rolling this closure idea around for a while. I'm not super happy with the bag shape, but I love how the closure worked out.

My friend Brynn helped with modelling. Thank you Brynn!
So basic idea is the handle is a loop that can be used as a hand bag, as seen above.



And pulled through as to be used as a shoulder bag.

Vinyl coating of course.

Loops for the handles

Cute lining.

And a pocket of course.

No hardware

One of the ideas I'm digging with bags is using closures that are hardware free. I saw this really cool closure on artsycraftsybabe.com and replicated it on my Owls Bag. After I did it I really wanted to figure out how I could make bags without using metal closures and still have secure closings. By using the fabric to create the closure it's a bit like origami boxes and envelopes.
So I've been experimenting with bag shapes and interfacing and here is how my first prototypes turned out.

 This guy was the result of too light of interfacing. I ordered a bolt online that was of course mislabeled.
Cute fabric though

The rim is too flimsy. Needs a stiffer edge to create a firm, safer closure. I'm liking the contrast border though. Also I've been experimenting with the side gusset. I like the shape the folds create.

All in all, while a good experiment, I don't like the shape. Too much like a gift bag. And the handle was too short. I really like a squatty hand bag.

Cute pocket.

Here is the next version. Much better. I doubled up the flimsy facing and use a super stiffy sewed in one for the rim. This made for a nice firm closing.

As you can see it closes much tighter. Add a few items like keys and it closes very well.

I made the handle a smidge longer, which is perfect.

No pocket on this one, it was too small. All in all this one was a really good shape. Too small though, I'm still working on sizing. I like the width/height ratio so this will likely get made again, just larger.