Another Free Bag/Purse Tutorial

Thank you to everyone who left a comment or emailed me about the last post.  I hope you all had/have fun making the bag.  Since I last posted I've done an Arts and Crafts market at Stoneacre.  This is a National Trust property near Maidstone in Kent.  It was fab.  The house is lovely and the organisation was fautless.  Even though it was a cold and wet day plenty of people turned up. 

I found it very interesting talking to the other stall holders.  Some were seasoned fair goers, having a stall at every event they could, while others were there for the first time.  I like talking to other crafters because on the whole they are very nice people but also because we speak the same or at least a similar language.

They are going to be doing another Fair at Christmas and I will be returning for that. 

Because you were so enthusiastic about the last tutorial I have done another one for this post.  This time it's for a basket bag.  The bag is firmly interfaced, has a rigid bottom with feet and a magnetic snap closure.  It is a super bag for the warmer weather and you could use wooden handles as I have done or matching lucite handles.  It is also a great size, it will hold all your essentials and then some.   I have put a PDF on the tutorial page.  I recommend you download the PDF and use that.  It is easier to read and has more pictures.  You can get the bag making supplies from my shop and I have linked the individual items.

DAISY BASKET BAG
Materials:
Half metre quilting weight cotton for exterior of bag
Half metre quilting weight cotton for interior of bag
Quarter metre co-ordinating quilting weight cotton for pockets
Heavy (Pelmet weight) sew-in interfacing
Iron on heavy interfacing
Toning zipper at least 13.5cm long
Magnetic snap
Wooden handles
Piece of handbag base grid
4 metal handbag feet
I recommend using a 14 needle (or a jeans needle) in your machine and a zipper foot for sewing the zipper.
Cutting list
Using the pattern for the body of the bag, cut 2 of each fabric for the exterior, lining, and heavy sew in interfacing. Using the pattern for the tab closure cut one in exterior and lining fabric and one in heavy sew-in interfacing and one in iron-on heavy interfacing.
Handle tabs: Cut two strips 4.5cm wide and 37cm long, one from the exterior fabric and one from the lining or pocket fabric. Cut two pieces of iron-on interfacing the same.
Interior zippered pocket: Using the pattern for the zippered pocket cut two pieces of co-ordinating fabric. Cut two pieces of iron-on interfacing the same, and one piece 20cm by 7cm.
Slip pocket: Cut two pieces of co-ordinating fabric 10cm by 15cm and two pieces of iron-on interfacing the same.
Finished Size
26.5cm wide at top of bag, 21cm high, 10cm deep at base
Pattern notes
All seam allowances are 1cm unless otherwise stated. Transfer pattern markings to fabric except for the zippered pocket markings.  The exterior fabric and lining are both Daisy Dot flora and fauna by Patty Young for Michael Miller Fabrics. The interior pockets are toning Batiks.
Step 1. Prepare Tab Closure Apply iron-on interfacing to the wrong side of the exterior fabric and use spray baste to apply the sew-in interfacing to wrong side of the back. Measure 4.5cm from the bottom of the back in the centre and mark on the wrong side. Take the top of the magnetic snap pieces and mark where the holes need to be cut. Carefully cut the holes in one piece with a seam ripper tool and push the front of the snap through from the right side of the fabric. Put the back over the prongs and push the prongs apart to keep the back on.
Cut a small piece of sew-in interfacing and place over the snap back. Glue into place using fabric glue. Place both pieces of tab together so that right sides are together. Stitch around the sides and bottom of the tab leaving the straight top open. Turn out through this to the right side. Press. Topstitch 1cm from the edge.

Step 2. Bag Body. Apply the sew-in heavy (pelmet weight) interfacing to the exterior fabric with spray baste. Place both pieces right sides together and stitch down both sides and across the body. Leave the corners unstitched. Press the seams flat. Take one corner and push together so that the bottom seam and the side seam match up.

Stitch across the corner. Repeat with the other corner. Turn to right side making sure to push the corner out. Find the centre of the back and the centre of top of the tab. Place the tab and the back of bag together so that right sides are together – the snap will be facing out. Stitch the tab into place using a seam that is just less than 1cm. Fold the tab over the top of bag. Leave 5-6cms between the front and back of bag, that is don’t have the tab so tight that the bag front and back are touching at the top. Mark where the tab snap touches the front.

Apply the snap bottom at the mark on the right side of the front using the details in step one.
Step 3. Handle tabs. Apply the iron-on interfacing to the exterior fabric. Fold both sides to the centre and press. Fold both sides of the lining fabric to the centre and press. Lay the front fabric on top of the lining fabric, folds together, and stitch down both sides. Cut into four equal pieces and thread the fabric through the holes in the handles.
Step 4. Zippered Pocket. Measure down 5cm from the top of one piece of the lining. and mark on the wrong side. Place the 20cm by 7cm iron-on interfacing so that the top is on the mark and the interfacing is central. Press. Turn the lining over to the right side. Apply the iron-on interfacing to both pieces of the pocket. Transfer the pocket markings from the pattern to the back of one pocket piece. Place this piece centrally right sides together on the lining piece level where the other interfacing was applied. Stitch around the transferred sewing lines. Now carefully cut along the transferred cutting lines.  Take care to cut the corners as close to the stitching as possible without actually cutting the stitches. Push the fabric from the front through the hole and smooth out on the back (wrong sides should now be together). Press.

Take the zip and lay it under the hole. Line up the teeth and the zip start so they are in the right place and stitch around the zip.  Trim the zip to fit. Lay the other piece of pocket lining over the piece with the zip. Match top and bottom corners, right sides together. Pin and stitch right around the square. Press.

Step 5. Slip Pocket. Apply iron-on interfacing to both pocket pieces. Place pieces right sides together and stitch around all sides leaving a 5cm gap at the bottom. Clip the corners and turn out through the gap. Fold the fabric through the gap so it creates the appearance of a flat seam. Press.

Place centrally on the other piece of lining 6cm from the top with the unsewn gap at the bottom. Stitch around both sides and the bottom, triple stitching at both top corners.

Step 6. Bag Base and Feet. Stand the bag base on the plastic grid and draw around the base. Cut the plastic .25cm inside the marks. Check it fits into the base. Hold the grid against the right side of the bag bottom and mark where the feet will go.

The feet should be in each corner but allow the bag to stand without the bag touching the surface. Cut a hole in the grid large enough to take the feet prongs. Hold the grid against the bottom again and mark on the bag through the holes in the grid. Push holes through the bottom of the bag at each mark. Put the grid inside the bag base flat on the bottom. Push the feet through the holes in the bag base and the grid and push the prongs flat.

Step 7. Lining. Put the lining pieces together with right sides touching. Stitch down both sides and across the bottom. Stitch the corners as per step 2. Press.
Step 8. Assemble Bag. Place the lining into the bag. Fold over the top of the bag into the body by 1cm. Fold the top of the lining and pin into place making sure that the lining is sitting square and that the top of the lining is a fraction below the top of the bag so it doesn’t show from the outside of the bag.
Step 9. Final Stitching. Stitch around the top of the bag. Make sure you use a size 14 or jeans needle for this step. It may be easier to sew this step with the zipper foot and you may need to sew this in sections. Triple stitch over the handle tabs.
Step 10. Finish. Give the bag a final press. If a dirt resist finish is required spray the bag with stain resistant spray otherwise spot clean only during use.


Bag back

 HANDBAG/PURSE PATTERN

You will need to measure these out onto paper and cut them out marking them as you go.  You can then use the pattern in the normal way, transferring the markings to the pocket fabric as instructed in the tutorial.  If you like this tutorial please leave me a comment.  Also if you make this bag or the previous one please take a photo and pop it in the flickr group.  I love to see what you've made.

Free Tutorial for a Gorgeous Bag or Purse

I had some beautiful Heather Bailey fabric in my stash that was reaching out to me to be made into a bag.  It's in lovely colours of green, yellow and turquoise with touches of red.  Really pretty for summer.  I played around with various bag designs until I came up with this.

It has a front pocket, two (or three) internal pockets, shoulder length straps, rigid base and feet, and optional zippered top closure.  I've interfaced it with quilters fleece (Thermolam fleece by Vilene) nad finished it off with decorative buttons on the sides and front pocket.  It's roomy but compact.  I love the spotty contrasting straps and top binding.  It looks a bit complicated but, trust me, even a basic sewer could make this.  I've written a full tutorial with step by step instructions and pictures which you can download for free.  If you wanted to tell your friends that's fine, just ask them to get their tutorial from my blog too.   Here's the tutorial in PDF.  It's easier to read and it has more pictures than the blog version.  I'll also put it on the tutorials page.

 

See how pretty the side view is with the buttons?  And the base is protected by the feet.

Here's the tutorial:

TUTORIAL FOR BEAUTIFUL BAG WITH SHOULDER STRAPS

This beautiful bag has handy shoulder straps, internal pockets and a rigid bottom with feet. It also has an optional zippered top closure and zippered internal pocket. The outside pocket is closed with Velcro. Gorgeous, but well within the reach of a basic sewer. This tutorial gives step by step instructions with pictures and loads of tips to make the job easy but also to give a professional finish.
(All the measurements in this tutorial are given in cms. You can find these on most measuring tapes-sometimes on the reverse of the inches side. If you want to convert the cms to inches you can use this converter )
Finished size: 29cms wide and 16cms deep at the bottom; 25cms high, 31cms drop from handles to the top of bag; 35cms wide at top.

Requirements:
0.5 metre of main fabric, 0.5 metre of lining fabric, 0.5 metre of handle fabric,
0.5 metre of interfacing (Thermolam Vilene Fleece)
0.5 metre of iron on Interfacing (H250 Vilene), Zip 24cms(can be longer but no shorter), 27cms open end zip, 23 x 14cms base plastic grid, 4 bag feet. Medium size d-i-y button kit (or 3 medium sized buttons). Small piece of Velcro.

Cutting instructions:
Bag body: 41cms by 34cms by 37cm across the top – cut 2 in main fabric, cut 2 in interfacing and two in lining.
External pocket: 17cms wide by 14.5cms high – cut 2 in main fabric and cut one in iron on vilene.
Internal slip pocket: 26cms by 14cms – cut 2 in handle fabric
Internal zip pocket: 22cms by 13cms – cut 2 in handle fabric
Zip top closure pieces: 5cms by 26cms – cut 4 in main fabric and cut 2 in iron on vilene.
Bag top: 74cms by 10cms in handle fabric cut on the bias.
Bag straps (handles): 131cms by 10cms – cut 2 in handle fabric cut on the bias and cut 2 in iron on vilene (cut straight)

PATTERN ADVICE:
Cut the bias strips first and join where necessary. Then cut to the required lengths. Use spray baste (temporary spray glue like 505 by Odif) to attach interfacing to main bag pieces.
1cm seam allowance throughout unless otherwise stated.
Fabric: Main fabric: Pineapple Brocade - Pop Garden by Heather Bailey for Free Spirit. Lining fabric: Paris Apartment by Bari J for Lecien. Handles: Ta Dot by Michael Miller.

Step 1. Bias Strips.
Cut the edges of the fabric so they are straight. Fold the corner over so that the fold is on the bias. Lightly press the fold. Draw a line on the fold. Measure 10cm from the line and draw a parallel line. Continue for a total of 5 strips and join the strips together.

 Picture from here: http://www.farthingales.on.ca/tips.php?article=23

Without stretching, measure the strips needed for the bag top and the handles. If your don’t have enough length cut more strips as required and join as before. For the bag top leave one end with an angled cut.

Step 2. Handles
Iron the vilene to the wrong side of the handles. Fold in half long ways. Press. Open out and fold both sides to the centre. Press. Fold over again. Press. Stitch down both sides.



Step 3. External Pocket
Iron the vilene to the back of one piece of the pocket. Place the pocket pieces right sides together and stitch around the edges leaving a gap in the bottom for turning. Clip the corners. Turn out to the right side. Push the raw edges into the gap and press. Top stitch across the top of pocket. Place a piece of Velcro in the centre at the top of the pocket and stitch into place.

Step 4. Covered buttons (optional)

If you don’t want to make the covered buttons you can use three co-ordinating buttons from your stash (or buy them)
Following the manufacturers instructions cover the buttons with the handle fabric.

Step 5. Bag body.
Apply the interfacing to the main fabric using the spray baste. Measure 12cms from each end of the main body pieces at the bottom and mark. Place the ends of the handles at these marks. Measure 12 cms from each end at the top and mark. Draw a straight line from the bottom marks to the top marks. Pin the straps to these lines. Measure 8.5cms from the top of the bag front in the centre and mark. Place the external pocket top on the mark and pin the pocket so the sides are under the straps. Stitch across the bottom of the pocket from strap to strap. Stitch along both sides of the straps up to the top of the pocket and to the same height on the back, stitching through all thicknesses including the pocket sides.

Mark where the Velcro on the pocket touches the bag body. Stitch the other piece of Velcro to the bag body.   Place the bag body pieces right sides together and stitch around both sides and across the bottom. Clip the corners. Turn to the right side. Push the corners flat. Measure 7cms from the corner along the seam line.

Draw a line across the corner.

Stitch across the line. Fold the corner along the stitch line and pin to the side of the bag. Ditch stitch (i.e. stitch in the “ditch” made by the side seam) along the seam. Hand stitch the button to the corner.

Step 6. Slip pocket.
Place the pocket pieces right sides together and stitch around the edges leaving a gap in the bottom for turning. Clip the corners and turn to the right side. Push the raw edges into the gap and press. Topstitch across the top of the pocket. Measure 10cms from the top of one piece of bag body lining and mark. Pin the pocket at the mark centrally on the lining. Stitch around the sides and the bottom of the pocket reinforcing at the top. You can stitch down the centre of the pocket to make two pockets, or to fit your mobile phone.

Step 7. Zipped pocket

(Having made the slip pocket, if you want to skip this then feel free! However, once you make a zipped internal pocket you’ll wonder why didn’t make them sooner!)

Iron some vilene onto the wrong side of the top half of the pocket. Measure down 5cm from the top of one piece of the pocket and mark. Draw two parallel lines .75cm apart and close the ends to make a rectangle. (see picture below.)

Place the pocket piece on the lining right sides together, 6.5cm from the top of the lining. Stitch around the sewing lines ( the BLACK dotted line in the picture). Now carefully cut along the BLUE dotted cutting lines. Take care to cut the corners as close to the stitching as possible without actually cutting the stitches. Push the fabric from the front through the hole and smooth out on the back (wrong sides should now be together). Press. Take the zip and lay it under the hole with the start under the start of the hole. This will mean that the end of the zip overhangs the pocket. Line up the teeth and the zip start so they are in the right place and pin (or tack) into place. Stitch the zip close to the hole edges and over the teeth at the end of zip. Trim the zip to fit. Lay the other piece of pocket lining over the piece with the zip. Trim the end.

Match top and bottom corners, right sides together. Pin and then stitch right around the square but do not stitch any of the lining fabric.

Step 8. Lining.

Place the lining pieces right sides together and stitch down both sides and across the bottom. Press the seams flat. Take one corner and push together so that the bottom seam and the side seam match up.

Draw a line 7cm from the corner. Draw a line across the corner and stitch along the line. Repeat with the other corner.

Step 9. Bag base.
Mark the 4 places where you want your bag feet. Make two very small cuts at the markings that correspond with the ends of the bag feet. Use a seam ripper or embroidery scissors for this. Push the prongs into the right side of your fabric. Push the prongs down flat (away from each other) with your thumb. Mark the plastic grid base and make a cut where each of the feet will sit. Place the plastic grid on the bottom of the bag body. Push the feet prongs through the holes in the grid and bend the prongs away from each other.

Step 10. Body and lining.

Place the lining into the bag body and match up the side seams. Pin the tops together and stitch around the top. Take the top binding and fold it as for the straps. Press. Put the binding around the top and pin into place.

Fold the end of the angled cut under by 1cm. Pin into place. Rather than stitch the angled cut I used a bit of fabric glue to keep the fold in place.   Making sure to keep the handles out of way, stitch around the bottom of the bag top binding. Then stitch three more parallel lines around the bag top.

Step 11. Zippered top closure.
You can, of course, stop here and not put the zippered closure on. You would have a lovely bag but it would not be not secure. Iron the vilene onto two pieces of the zip top pieces. Fold all the edges on all four zip top pieces under by 1cm and press well. Place two of the zip top pieces wrong sides together and pin into place. Pin the zip long one side and match up the other side and pin.

Pin the zip top into the top of bag, lining up the zip top with the bottom of the top bias and stitch into place.

Press the bag and admire!

Winner of my giveaway

Thank you sew much to everyone who entered my giveaway.  I used the random number genereator on my iphone and came up with KraftyK.  Can you please get in touch with me so I can have your details.  Off now to finish some sewing...

Super giveaway and sewing news

In this post I thought I'd giveaway some lovely prizes as well as some sewing tips. First I'm giveaway a £10.00 voucher to spend in my shop. You can choose anything in my shop which is full of bag/purse making goodies.  As well as the voucher there is some fabric, some vintage buttons and some vintage patterns.  The patterns are from my stash and you can choose from the late sixties to the nineties.  (All women's clothes)  A nice little haul I'm sure you'll agree!  Here's what you have to do to win it. Become a "follower" of my blog (not necessary for current followers:-)) and leave a comment on this blog.  The comment should also include a link to your favourite sewing blog.  Let's spread the sewing loveliness around!  Anyone can enter from anywhere in the world - the more the merrier.  I will announce the winner on Tuesday 17th April.  Please leave an email address so I can contact you.

I guess most people have a kind of standard sewing kit like scissors, thread, tape-measure etc.  As well as these basics I also use some other tools which I thought I'd share with you as I find them most helpful.  For marking anything that can be ironed I use Frixion pens by Pilot.  They come in three colours- red, blue and black and are sold in most big stationers and Staples.  They are sold as regular biros but after you've drawn on your fabric I promise you they iron clean away!

So you use spray baste (spray repositional glue like 505) and you get it where don't want it-like the ironing board!  What do you use to get rid of it?  Next time try Eucalyptus Oil.  This is a great Australian secret like Four and Twenty pies and Passiona.  (I grew up in Australia)  Eucalyptus oil will remove sticky residue and even hard to shift glue from metal purse frames.  If you machine embroider try it on your frames- it's perfect. And it smells heavenly!

When you cleaning out the bobbin area there is nothing better than a spray of air to really get rid of the dust and fluff.  It works anywhere that's hard to reach and needs to be dust free.  I use it on all my machines including my overlocker.

A little tack hammer is a very handy tool to have.  I use it for quite a few jobs when making bags with metal hardware. 

This teeny tiny orin is the very thing for bag makers.  Want to get your corners sharp, your inside pockets flat or your lining smooth?  This little iron will do all that and more.  I honestly don't know how I finished my bags before I got it.  You can get it here.

Finally, if like me, you have a sewing companion you'll need one of these lint rollers.  They roll across fabric and pick up any stray pet hairs nad when the roller gets unsticky you can tear off one layer and hey presto you're good to go again.

I have just signed up to monetise my blog and as a esult I've got some ads in the side bar.  I hope they are they not too intrusive and they should reflect the type of blog this is (crafty, sewing, bagmaking blog).  

New Cover and sewing musings...

In my last post I showed you the cover I made for my sewing machine.  I said it was quick and easy and so it proved to be.  I made this cover for my Brother 4000.  My Brother is a big machine but the pattern worked just as well as it had the first time.

Even though it's just a sewing machine cover I feel quite pleased with it.  Not only does it protect my machine but it's pretty and improves the overall decor of my guest/sewing room. 
I had a great time at the Stitch and Craft Show at Olympia.  I was quite anxious about my workshop which I did twice (Thursday and Friday) and I wanted to make sure the participants had a good time.  I think it went quite well and all the girls seemed to both enjoy the workshop and were pleased with their pouches.

I had great fun as everyone who did the workshop was really lovely and some were very funny.  I have to say more than one person has been put off sewing by the comments of sewing teachers in the dim and distant past.  I can fully sympathise with this as my sewing teacher at school said I'd never learn to sew.  Mind you, we spent mind numbing classes sewing straight lines on paper with no thread in the machines and practising different types of seam styles.  The first real sewing I got to do was sewing seams on a tea towel.  Not really designed to enthuise anyone!  One of my projects that I had to do for end of year marks was threading raffia onto some kind of quite thick fabric in a design.  Not only was it boring it was also useless!  The finished product was neither beautiful nor worthwhile.  The thing couldn't be used for anything.  The teacher of this inspirational year wrote that I "didn't have the aptitude for sewing".   On the other hand my grandmother had a treadle Singer machine and she was most encouraging and let me use it whenever I went there for holidays.  She showed me how to make dolls clothes and how to turn a tube out to make straps amongst other things, and that "everything looks better when it's ironed".  Some of the women who did my workshop had wanted to learn to sew for a long time but had been thoroughly discouraged by their school experience.  Thank goodness things have changed.  Remember the monk's costume workshop I did in Cirencester with the school kids?  They were keen and confident about their sewing and I'm sure that is due to the changes in educational techniques.  I hope your school sewing experience was uplifting!
Here's a really cute bag (or purse) that's on a half circle kiss lock frame.  The fabric is Daisy Chain by Amy Butler for Rowan Fabrics and the lining is Little Apples by Ameela Hoey for Moda.

 

These frames are available from here and the bag is for Sew Hip Magazine. 
Next post I will be doing a great giveaway so stay tuned.

Sewing room

Who wouldn't love their own room to set up as sewing room? When I moved house last year I moved into a room that is a good size but sadly doubles as a spare room. That means I have a bed, sidetable etc in there with my sewing stuff. Of course I know I'm lucky to have as much space as I have. I can leave my machine set up ready to roll for most of the time. The only time I pack it away is when someone is staying in the room. Even then I've got a lovely Horn sewing cabinet so it is just a case of pushing the machine into the cabinet using the air lift mechanism and closing the cabinet door. I also use most of the wardrobe for sewing storage which is really useful. I've seen some wonderful rooms on the web like these:

Sewing room, a photo by wildolivekids on Flickr.

These all look like purpose dedicated rooms to me. When my daughter last moved house she asked me if I could store a narrow pine dresser in my garage. It's been there for a while and I spotted it on saturday when my DH was tidying up.  I bought it inside and gave it a clean and put it in my sewing room.  (It will be better cared for in there than in the garage)  Now I've got some added storage space and some pretty open shelves.  Of course I've also got a room and stuff reorganisation on my hands.  It's gone in the space where I had a little table with my portable machine on it.  Number one project was to make a cover for said machine so it could sit on the dresser.  The empty shelves now waiting to be filled.

Making the machine cover wasn't as hard as it sounds.  Remember this?

Well I used the same principle to make a cover.  Scraps of fabric cut into strips, joined together and quilted onto fleece.  I used a thicker fleece this time.  I measured from the bottom of machine across the top and down to the bottom on the other side.  This was my length measurement.   I measured from the middle of my machine at the side, across the front to the middle of my machine on the other side.  This was my width measurement.  Make allowances for seams.

Then instead of binding I sewed the backing on around the edges and turned the whole thing out the right way.  I then stitched the side seams together leaving a small slit at the bottom.  (This makes it easier to get on)

Finally I stitched across the corners like you do for a bag bottom.

It was easy, quick and effective.

Now my machine is protected from dust and pretty too!  I will have to make another one for my big machine.  Oh and one for my overlocker. 

While I've got you here I will just air a few commercials.  Did you know I have a facebook page?  It has some photos of finished work as well as comments from me and other sewing people who have dropped by. If you are going there anyway and you like it can you click the "like" button please?  Thanks.   Did you know I have a shop cram filled with bag making supplies?  You can get everything to make your own bag creations including some hard to get things.  Like these really big frames and this lovely soft and strong interfacing.  You can also get some one off Sewchristine bags and purses.  Finally, I've joined Pinterest although at first I couldn't see the value in it.  Now I think I'm addicted!  What do you think of Pinterest?  You can see my boards here.