A simple bag

A few months ago, I posted about a little bag I made and intended to post a tutorial.  Well, months later, tomorrow I am teaching a workshop on it and have been writing notes, so here is the tutorial.

Easy Bag construction

Main Bag fabrics

Decide on the size bag you want
Basically, the base size for my bag is 25 (height) x 16 (width) inches.  This is a good size to start and as you get experienced at the technique, you can change it to suit.
If you want a taller bag, add to the height, conversely if you want a wider bag, add to the width.  Getting your shape and size will come with practice and, you can also change the proportions slightly during the shaping process
In the picture above, there are three pieces which are cut to the size you have decided on.

• A lining.  I use a light fabric like satin, but for easier handling, a simple cotton will work.  It is sometimes a problem to use black, simply because, you might find it hard to find things in your bag later.  This is a personal preference.
• Interfacing.  I generally use a heavy interfacing for most fabrics, as it gives a sturdier result.
• Outer fabric is a personal choice.  Choose what you like, as it will be with you for a while!

Some other alternatives are to use quilted  or embroidered fabric, which might not want any stabilizer.

Handle construction

The handle lengths are dependent upon the wearer, but for a long handle, about 32 inches is standard. For short handles 8 to ten inches is suitable, but you can change it to suit yourself.

1  2

3  4

Following steps 1 to 4 above

1. Cut two 4 inch wide strips of your chosen length.  If you wish to use interfacing or batting to made them thicker, cut 1 inch wide strips of the same length (not shown)
2. Fold and press the strips in half and open out.  If you are adding batting or interfacing, add it at this stage and place to one side of the centre fold.
3. Fold each side of the strip into the centre and press.  Use pins if you need to.
4. Finally fold in half so the raw edges are in the middle.

Depending on your bag, you can either topstitch each edge of the handle, or use decorative stitches to match the bag.

Constructing and shaping the outer bag

The fabric needs to be attached to the interfacing to create a quite sturdy fabric.  This can be done using some decorative stitching, foundation or crazy piecing (if you are using several fabrics) oreven hand stitching and/or beading (however with hand work, keep the stitching an inch or so from the edge so that the threads are not cut during trimming)

You can fuse the fabric to the facing, but the fusing will come away with time and use, so for a sturdier bag, all over stitching is advised.

Once you have the hang of the method, you will be able to stitch up 'blanks' or rectangles of fabric and interfacing using any technique you like to make bags from (I will post separately about this)

Fold the main outer bag piece in half along the width.  Sew a 1/2 inch seam along each side.

Turn the piece inside out and fold the bottom of the side seam back against the base of the bag See first photo, above.  You can see that the seam splits the triangle formed in half.  I use a triangle template to mark the stitching line.

Stitch along the line, reinforcing at the start and end for stability and repeat on the other side.

When the bag is turned right side out, it will stand up easily on it's new base.

You can trim the triangles, but leaving them in gives the base more heft.

Support the base of the bag (optional)

To add support to the base.  Cut a piece of thin plastic (I use plastic covers from plastic pocket books) the same size as the base of the bag.

The easiest way to attach the bag is with some glue on the folded in triangles inside the bag, but I like to use large brads to make little feet to protect the base fabric.  I make small holes in the plastic and the base fabric and push the brad legs through, opening the legs on the top of the plastic inside the bag.  You can add a little bit of tape over the legs, to stop them wearing on the lining if you want.

You can also sew buttons through the base and the plastic in the same way.

Construct the lining

This is exactly the same as the main bag construction (leaving an opening for later)

1  2

1. Sew up the edges of the lining (right sides together)
2. Leave an opening on one side for turning the bag out later

Construct duck bills for the base in the same way as for the outer bag.

Construct a pocket

Decide on the size pocket you want.  Cut a piece of fabric twice as large or two pieces of the size, both need to have seam allowance added.

With the pocket pieces right sides facing, stitch together around the perimeter, leaving a 2-3 inch opening

Reinforce the beginning and end of the stitching around the opening by backstitching.

Turn the pocket out and use a turning tool if you wish, to push the seams and corners out.  Press and press the opening in at the same time.  You will catch it down when you stitch it in place.

Sew the pocket to the inside/right side of your lining piece.  Work out the placement using the lining and outer as a model.

Constructing a tab or flap

You may wish to add a tab or flap to the top of your bag.  Decide on a size or shape you like

Or, you could construct a flap, which folds over most of the top of the bag.

The tab or flap is constructed in the same way as the pocket, however, the top seam is not stitched (see above) and this is where you turn it out.  If you are stitching a decorative element onto the tab or flap, stitching it on before doing the seams and turning will hide the back of your stitching.

Putting the bag together

At this stage, you will need

• The outer bag, inside out
• the lining, right side out
• the tab or flap
• handles

First, pin the handles to the inside of the main bag, with the loops inside.  Do the same with the  tab or flap.

Then place the lining inside and line it up with the raw edge of the main bag.

Pin, replacing the tab and handle pins as you go.

Stitch the top seam, reinforcing the handles and tab by backstitching.

You can now pull the lining out of the bag and turn the whole thing inside out using the opening in the lining you left earlier.

Once you have turned the bag right side out, push the lining back into the bag

Press the top seam and topstitch.

Add press studs to the tab or flap and the front of the bag

To make the bag cinched at the top

Work out how much you want the bag to cinch, by folding the top seam at the sides until you like how it looks. Mark where you need to add the press studs to hold it in place.

The press studs will go on the sides of the bag at the top.

Enjoy your bag!

This has been an overly long post!  I will try and remember to take pictures of student work tomorrow to share with you.

Happy Creating!

A tea rose

well not really, but a little tongue in cheek picture for T for Tuesday.

This is one of my old tea cups and saucers, with a rose in it.  Why?  Well, Mother's day which was this Sunday past is one where I generally get a bit depressed, but my hubby decided that some flowers were in order even though I am not a mother, but he said that they were from Tammy, Reubin and Ruby (The cat, dog and puppy respectively), who are my babies, which I thought was sweet.

Here are the roses, and they are fragrant ones, but as I was putting them in a vase, one of the buds fell off and so as not to waste it, I put it in the teacup with some water and as it opened, it filled all the cup.  I think it looks beautiful, so I thought I would share it with you for T Tuesday over at Elizabeth's blog.

Happy T day!

What I have been up to

I have been absent for a few days.  I was inspired (shamed) into having a clean up after reading a friend's post about rearranging and tidying.
This is what I am confronted with every day in my store room.

And this

and even this!

So for the last four days I have been sorting, throwing and rearranging.  My body is aching and every joint is painful and my arms and legs are bruised from lifting and moving, but I have achieved some sort of order.

I can even get to my cutting table!  and find what I am looking for
I spilt cleaner on the floor, but it will dry up.

there is still a little bit of work to do, but I am sooo glad I have finally done it.  Now I can actually get back to work with it not annoying me every day.  The cotton bag in the corner is full of yukky fabric I just can't bear to look at any more.
And you know the best thing?
Because I reorganised and consolidated quite a few things between this room and my studio, I was able to do this-

Create a design wall that is six foot high and hasn't got tables in front of it for my large pieces, which often get neglected because I have to put them away and get them out and can never look at them properly.
There are two here, a large one at top and a long skinny one on bottom.
Elizabeth, you will be happy to know that I recycled some  foam that was around a friend's new fridge to make a wall I can pin into!

So I am pretty happy with my clean up.
Now onto some work!

Happy creating!

Teapots again

I have been in town most of the day with the other half, getting his stitches out, but had some time to get some interfacings for my new embroidery machine and have only just sat down to contemplate what to show you for T for Tuesday.
I did have a lovely cup of tea and muffin at the shopping centre, but alas, I forgot my camera!  So here is a machine embroidered teapot for you.

It is not my design.  I am certainly not that quick!  I downloaded it from here.
Hope everyone is having a lovely T for Tuesday and Happy Birthday Halle!

Happy creating!

Using my new toy

I have been playing and learning and making samples with my new embroidery machine, but I thought it was time to make something!
Last night I put together the first steps of a bag for the workshop I am teaching in a few weeks.

I have quite a number of satin samples that are 4.5 x 12 inches.  You can see them in the layout above.
I embroidered a celtic knot on one of them and  basically used the size of the pieces as the bag pattern.  The picture above is before I sewed them on to a piece of interfacing cut to the size above.

This picture is bit closer to the real colours.  I have sewed the strips onto the stabiliser and peeping out from the bottom, you can see the lining cut to the same size.
This is as far as I got, since I was thinking about the handles.
This morning, I embroidered another and made a quick little ipod or phone case.

My favourite colours again!  I did not line this one with interfacing, so it is very soft.

This photo shows the construction (including a little boo boo!)  All i did was to sew the lining and cover right sides together, leaving a few inches unsewed, then turned it inside out.  I folded it to fit my ipod and hand sewed the sides up, and added press studs and a little embellishment to cover the press stud.
Voila!

I am thinking of lots of new ideas to use this new tool, but my fingers are itching to do some free motion, so hopefully I will get some done in the next few days.

Happy Creating!

Still digitizing

I have been absent for a few days,  but as well as having a bit of a cold,  the hubby had surgery on his wrist on Tuesday and is totally helpless (aren't they all?), so all i really have had time to do was play with my new embroidery machine in my free time.
I enrolled in a craftsy class on digitising and have been going through the lessons bit by bit.  I found it a really useful class and it made me much more confident and less frustrated.
Here are some of my samples from the course.

This is one of the early samples and even though it is a simple design, I learnt a lot, which will come in handy with quilting designs.

This butterfly applique lesson gave me tons of ideas for applique!

And this final sample was really interesting.  All of the lessons taught you how to do the design from scratch and I feel now that I could do just about anything!

And this last one is one I did on my own., Of course the lesson designs all  belong to the tutor, but since I am not teaching you and am basically advertising her class, I don't think she should mind ;-o!

Happy Creating!