Bags ............. and more bags

I was sure the (sewing) muse had left me for good, but inspired by a recent post on this blog I dug out fabric, zippers etc. and started sewing again.

I used the following tutorials and came to realize that I like a combination of the two best. So, in future, that's what I will do. There are things I could have done better and that's what I mean with combining the two tutes.
Next was this bag, made from a tutorial on an Italian blog. Google translate and a metric ruler were very helpful here.

The pouch is cute, but very floppy, definitely would have benefited from either interfacing or quilt batting.
The mini version of the  Sew Together Bag was made quite a while ago but never photographed or blogged. There are several more in the pipeline, just as soon as I can work up the enthusiasm for them.

And this was was whipped up yesterday afternoon before dinner. I used this tutorial but changed things a bit.

Quick and easy and fun.
I had hoped I would make a dent in my fabric stash, or, at least, in my scrap bucket, but no such luck. I guess I will have to keep on sewing. Let's hope the muse stays around for a while.

Bendy Bags and Seam Rippers

There's been quite a lot of sewing going on over the last few weeks, just not any blogging about it - until 2 days ago, anyway.
I made my first Bendy bag a few weeks ago.

This one came together beautifully, I read the pattern carefully and worked my way through step by step, without any problems. The only problem was the sewing machine which misbehaved and was traded away.
Number Two wasn't quite so easy, operator error. I obviously didn't pay close enough attention to the instructions, but it turned out well, too.

The third one, though, ..... well, let's not go into details other than to say everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Not the pattern's fault, partially again, not paying close enough attention and partially the material. It's ............ oh, no ................. pleather. Not really that hard to work with, but not as easy as quilting cottons.

All those problems notwithstanding, I love this bag. This one is definitely mine.

One thing I haven't quite resolved in my mind (a lot of my sewing prep goes on in my head) is the issue of thread color. I like to use matching thread whenever possible. So, that's brown for the zipper and the seams, but after changing threads back and forth several times while cleaning up the seams on the inside in the first two bags, I got tired of it and just stuck with brown on this one. I wonder how anybody else making these bags handles that issue.

I can highly recommend the pattern, it's a pretty quick project and the result is just plain good and enjoyable. Love the way the leftover zipper is used as a tab. Any problems I encountered were not in any way related to the pattern. And I will definitely make more, not that I need more bags.

As I said, I ran into problems, especially with the last bag and the seam rippers and I got to be really good friends.
My husband took up wood turning last year and after making lots of pens of various kinds and moving on to bowls and hollow vessels and segmented bowls (I really need to write a blog post about his projects), he made me a couple of seam rippers which where quick projects. He has also moved from wood to stone and used a slice left over from one of my pens to embellish my newest seam ripper.
I like that they are safe, you just pull out the whole metal piece and pop it into the opening backwards, no danger of poking yourself.
So, here are my new best friends:

Pattern used: Bendy bag by Lazy Girl.
Fabrics: mostly out of my embarrassingly large stash, except for the pleather which was bought just for this project.

Sew Together Bag

This, finally, turned from UFO into finished. I am late to the party, as usual. There are beautiful Sew Together Bags all over the web.

This is actually my second bag, the first one is a lot more colorful and, as yet, hasn't been photographed. It'll happen. I've also made a mini bag and can't lay my hands on it at the moment.

This particular bag languished in the "to be finished" pile for months. And I have a good excuse. Sewing machine No. 1 sort of gave up its ghost. Even after servicing there were problems, stitches skipped, it seemed much less powerful than it had been. So, it was traded in for a fancier model which also developed problems. Another trade and a big learning curve. The machine and I seem to be making friends, though, and I finally buckled down and finished this bag. There wasn't much left, only the last zipper had to be sewn in.

I frequently consulted the tutorial in sew along form from the Quilt Barn. The pattern is good, but a little extra help is called for on occasion.

There are more sew together bags in the pipeline. Partially sewn, cut out, stacks of fabrics co-ordinated. They'll all be done in time. It's not an easy project and it takes some time, but the result is so worth it.

Pattern: Sew Together Bag.
Tutorial to go along with the pattern: Sew Along.

Little bags for a little girl

I had a request to make some drawstring bags for my granddaughter so she could store her blocks in them. Obviously, she isn't old enough to do the storing herself, her mom will be doing that.

 I used the pattern I had used for these for the two bigger bags and changed the pattern for this one to make the ladybug bag. There is no divider and the dimensions are different but I used the technique for the drawstring tunnel.

And this bag is for my daughter. One can never have too many project bags, right?

A small miscalculation

So, last week, I made this ingenious sock sack from a pattern on Craftsy. Even though there's quite a bit of detail there, it came together easily and pretty fast. Would have been faster if I hadn't had a couple of small mishaps.
Anyway, I liked the way the drawstring bit is done, so I thought I'd make a slightly larger version and went ahead and recalculated. I multiplied everything by 1.5 and ended up with a humongous bag.

Here it is - this one easily holds 5 balls of yarn, maybe even 6, I didn't fill it completely when I got ready to take pictures. It's just a bag, no divider, no tabs.
And here are the two bags together for comparison:

Big difference, right?
I'll try again, this time multiplying by 1.2 - maybe.

Project bags

These are birthday presents, but, since the birthday girl doesn't read my blog, it's safe to put them up here:

 

I made the bag in two different sizes.

Trying to get a decent picture was a challenge again. The ones taken inside were just plain bad, no matter how much I fiddled with PSE, it wasn't until I dragged everything outside, that the colors became true. 

The fabrics came from my embarrassingly large stash of Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

The pattern can be found here. The free tutorial is for the smaller version.

Summer sewing

I'm trying to get back to whatever passes for normal around here these days and it may still take a while. Summer hasn't been easy, with the death of my sister, not unexpected, of course, but difficult all the same.
Of course, there were good things, too: two visits to Colorado to get to know our little grand daughter.
And I've tried to keep busy, but don't have much to show for it. Hopefully soonish.
I did sew a bit, quite a while ago and here's what I made:

I used one of my favorite (free) patterns: the dumpling bag. Not only do I love the pattern, but the inspiration I found here: cooking dumplings for quilt-as-you-go. I love that technique, I get to use up my scraps, those little bits of my favorite fabrics, and quilt (almost) straight lines and it's just plain fun and relaxing to me.
The little bowl is another free pattern: round basket. Quick, easy and great to use up small bits of fabric (not scraps this time). I went for the shabby chic look with that one. Here's a better look:

And a few more pictures of the dumplings. I'm wondering whether I should put them in my etsy store, after all, how many dumplings do I need?

A giveaway at Summerfield Designs

I've been meaning to do one of these a month, but October frankly was challenging and I never got around to it.
So, here is the deal: Like Summerfield Designs on Facebook, look at the latest photo album, entitled Dumplings and/or Tacos, and leave a comment telling me which one you'd like if you were to win.
The pictures are not great, I'm the first to admit, but, you know, I'd much rather sew (or hammer or torch) than take pictures these days. I'm sure it'll change, I hope it will.
Here then are the pictures as well:

All bags were made from a tutorial by Michelle of http://www.michellepatterns.com/.

New listings in the etsy shop

Linen pouch

Mary Engelbreit box bag

Lila Tueller fabric

Kaffe Fassett fabric

A few new items in the etsy shop, a box bag, a couple of small zippered pouches and one of the linen pouches I have been working on recently. I am having a hard time letting go of those, but, I figure if one sells and I end up with serious separation anxiety, I can always try to re-create it.
Have a look and let me know what you think.

A giveaway at Summerfield Designs

To celebrate the re-opening of my etsy store, I am having a little giveaway.

The little pouch above is the prize, one of my new favorites, scrappy and quilted on the front, a solid piece of fabric (not solid color, mind you) in the back, also quilted. There's a layer flannel between outer and lining fabric for a bit of padding.

Here's how to enter:


Visit my etsy store.  Like Summerfield Designs on Facebook and leave a comment there telling me which of the bags in the store you like best.

The giveaway is open until Friday evening. I will draw a name on Saturday and announce the winner both here and on Facebook. Please make sure I have a way to contact you for the address to send the bag to.

New in the shop

The above pouches have just been added to the shop.
I spent many happy hours sewing, using up scraps, trying out new things, a few months ago and couldn't quite get myself to do the rest that's necessary to upload them to the shop. It takes quite a lot of time and it's just not my favorite way to spend my time. But, I buckled down and here they are. More to come .................

Summerfield Design on etsy is open again

It's been a long, long time, I know ................
Having spent the last couple of weeks cleaning out the house and trying to re-organize my studio so I can actually work in there without tripping over things, I came across all those nice bags I had made for my etsy store. Took a deep breath this morning and started re-activating my expired listings. I'm not done yet, there's more work to be done, including a fair amount of photography, but, the store is open again.
In order to celebrate the re-opening, I am offering free shipping on all items until the end of September.
I am hoping to list more over the next few days.
Go have a look ..................
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SummerfieldDesigns?ref=pr_shop_more