Tag: ByAnnie Pattern

Mother’s Day Gift

Take a Stand Bag for Mom
Take a Stand Bag for Mom

The Take a Stand** bag (which for some reason I keep wanting to call the “Without a Trace” bag) bag is done and I am on my way to give it to my Mom for Mother’s Day.

This is the first time I have made this bag and it has the usual things that annoy me about a ByAnnie pattern: quilting all the pieces and lots of binding. It is also a great size and shape. It might be a good replacement for my Travel / Go-to-Sew-Day Bag. Or at least a partial replacement.

Yes, I used the Tula Pink webbing for the shoulder strap. It isn’t the perfect color, but works ok and Mom can unhook it and use it for other things. Using webbing means that I don’t have to make straps. I seem to remember making straps with webbing as the inside a la ByAnnie, but I can’t remember (or find) what project they were used on. It wasn’t a completely smooth process, but the strap went together pretty quickly and I am happy with them.

I adore the rainbow hardware!

Take a Stand Bag for Mom lining/inside
Take a Stand Bag for Mom lining/inside

I am pretty proud of the inside/lining. It is hard to see in the photo, but easier if you make the photo larger. I used a text print with color wheel type paint blobs on it. It is perfect for my mom and came out really well in terms of placement in the bag.

I have two more in the works, meaning that I have two more cut and quilted (such a chore), so you’ll see at least one of those soon. I decided that I want to make the larger size as well, but will have to cut and quilt that one before I can decide if it will be a good replacement for my Travel / Go-to-Sew-Day Bag.

I hope Mom likes this bag. She is getting quite the collection.

 

 

 

 

 

**Obviously, you should shop at local quilt shops. However, I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item’s link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

Take a Stand Start

Take a Stand cut pieces
Take a Stand cut pieces

Finally, I started the three Take a Stand totes. Yes, I decided to make three.  I had all the supplies and, of course, plenty of fabric, but just couldn’t start cutting. I went on Saturday to sew with a friend and that was the impetus I needed to do the cutting.

One bag is due next month so I focused on making sure I had all the pieces for that. I am just waiting for one piece of webbing for that one, but it is already on its way, so I am not worried.

Take a Stand Straps
Take a Stand Straps

I am not making straps out of fabric.  I am using Tula Pink’s webbing. I wish ByAnnie’s patterns would say “if you are using webbing, start here –>”. Of course, I have only used webbing twice (this time and for the APfE v.2. Still, I am a convert. I really like it. Tula has fun colors, but they are not for every instance. I’ll have to explore some of the other colors available.

I am resigned to all the prep ByAnnie bags take. I am trying to teach myself not to want to get to the end as ASAP as I seem to demand of myself. It is that old problem for my brain of process vs. product. I can’t seem to get over it, though I do try.

I ran out of Soft & Stable so there are a few pieces of that I need to cut. Since I have that deadline, I quilted as many pieces as I could.  I have now started sewing. I want to do the three at once, but have to get the one done.

APfE v.2 Finished

A Place for Everything finished: closed
A Place for Everything finished: closed

I finally finished the A Place for Everything Bag. This bag is not for the faint of heart. If I had known what it would be like, I might not have made it, but I am glad I did.

I have a love-dislike relationship with ByAnnie patterns. There are a lot of them. Many of the bag shapes are interesting and useful. I can’t, however, wrap my mind around some of the directions. This is not a surprise to those of you who have been reading for a long time. My brain doesn’t work like others. Videos have been helpful. In this case, I found that Annie skips some steps that are considered very basic. After looking through the basics videos, I emailed them and they gave me some suggestions, but also said they don’t have enough resources to do full length videos for every project. Sigh. I blundered through.

Suddenly, the bag was put together and just needed finishing touches, as mentioned the other day.

I spent a couple of evenings hand sewing the binding down. I know that takes time, but I couldn’t stand the thought of cramming the bag through the machine. I had the time so I hand sewed the binding. I looks great.

APfE: pages strapped in
APfE: pages strapped in

The strap that keeps the ‘pages‘ in place was WAY too long. Instead of trying to figure out what was going on, I just cut it off, resewed the velcro and moved on with my life.

Despite the problems, I am pleased with the way this came out. I spent a lot of time on the details and it shows. The bag isn’t perfect, but it will be great for when I take the project to Sew Day next week.

APfE v.2 Nearing the Finish Line

After not working on this bag much on Saturday, I decided to do as much as I could on Sunday. I was quick to remind myself that there were too many steps and I couldn’t possibly finish.

A Place for Everything Bag almost finished
A Place for Everything Bag almost finished

I was right, mostly.

I was not able to finish the bag, but I made really good progress and the bag is almost done. I have to finish the binding.

The product came out pretty well. ByAnnie patterns do come out pretty well, though I wouldn’t suggest this bag for someone who hasn’t made a lot of bags. There are videos, but Annie skips over some of the parts she considers to be basic or easy. Of course, those were the ones I had the most trouble navigating.

A Place for Everything Bag - detail
A Place for Everything Bag – detail

I know the picture above looks weird because of the binding, but I am really pleased with how the bag looks, e.g. the fabrics that I chose. I am also pretty happy with the webbing, though I did have to make up some parts of using it as I went along.

I love this hardware, especially, as I said, the triangle piece. I don’t think I really need the carry strap, but I wanted to make it. I can always use it for a different bag.

I am tempted to make a Take a Stand Bag that matches this one. I have to make one as gift, so I might as well make two, right? I need to finish some other projects before I do that.

APfE v.2 Progress: Handles and Straps

I spent Sunday working on the A Place for Everything bag. I despaired at making any progress, because the handle instructions didn’t seem to make any sense.I know part of this was that I had lost momentum. It makes me think I need to make the Take A Stand bag that has been on my list while I am in tune with ByAnnie bags.

Fortunately, ByAnnie has a series of Handles and Straps videos, which were very helpful. I’d like to see a list of the projects that use the techniques included under the various videos. There may be a list, but I haven’t found it yet. It took me some time to sort through them to find the one I needed. I used:

APfE: Adjustable Strap
APfE: Adjustable Strap

I finally got the adjustable strap made and am pretty pleased with it.

I am also super pleased with the triangle hardware. I have known about them, but don’t think I have used them before. This won’t be the last time! They are great, because they don’t roll around after installation  like D-rings. I am in the process of installing them on the bag pockets. Once the bag is finished I will be able to clip the adjustable strap to them.

Webbing ends show
Webbing ends show

I didn’t follow the handle and strap making directions, because I decided to use the new Tula Pink webbing. I ran into a few problems. First, I ended up making handles from fabric and Soft & Stable, because I didn’t have enough of the webbing. Second, there were no instructions on finishing the ends of the webbing. The webbing frays/shreds like crazy, so some kind of sealing process needs to take place. I couldn’t find any tutorials or even any pictures of what others have done. I ended up using Aleene’s Tacky Glue** on the edges of some of the pieces and L’Oreal Miracle Base Coat** on others. I wanted to see the difference. I considered burning the edges, but was reluctant because of the smell and, also, I didn’t want the edges blackened at all. The webbing edges will show, regardless, and I wanted them to be as neat as possible.

Both worked well. The glue took longer to dry, but I worked on other things while it dried. I would recommend cutting the end and sealing it immediately. The cut end seems to spontaneously fray. I covered my work surface with wax paper**. I like the wax paper because one side is slippery-ish. It is covered in wax and while the glue sticks it doesn’t bond to the wax paper. I haven’t tried it, but parchment paper** would probably work as well.

In general, I found the webbing easy to work with. I was able to sew through two layers plus fabric and Soft & Stable pretty easily. I did put in a new needle and sewed slowly.

This bag takes a long time. Stay tuned for more progress!

 

 

 

 

Resources:

  • ByAnnie A Place for Everything v.2 pattern**
  • Tula Pink video on how she deviates from the pattern to make more design decisions
  • Tula Pink video on applying ribbon to cover ‘connections’
  • #5-Making an Adjustable Strap Using a Widemouth Slider : Watch step-by-step as Annie shows how to attach a widemouth slider to make a strap adjustable for carrying over the shoulder or for carrying cross-body
  • #6-Making a Detachable Strap : Learn to attach the necessary hardware to make an attachable/detachable strap

 

 

 

 

 

**I use affiliate links and may be paid for your purchase of an item when you click on an item link in my post. There is no additional cost to you for clicking or purchasing items I recommend. I appreciate your clicks and purchases as it helps support this blog.

APfE v2 Bag Progress

I felt confused and exhausted the other day when I finally got the pieces I needed quilted and cut. The prep on these ByAnnie bags are not trivial.

Zipper pocket installation
Zipper pocket installation

I spent time on and off prepping pockets, then all day Sunday making the ‘pages’, which are a big feature of this bag.

I chose to make all vinyl pockets, but with either type of pocket (mesh or vinyl), you have to add zipper heads to the zipper tape and then sew the zippers to the vinyl. There are a lot of pockets so it took forever. It took even longer, because, again, I used Tula Pink’s suggestion of covering the edges of the zippers with ribbon. I really like the effect, but it did take time.

Finished Pages - front
Finished Pages – front

I added a few more pockets than the pattern suggested. Fortunately, I was working on the project in little bits of time. This gave me time to think about the sewing before I actually did it. I realized that I would be sewing pockets to the back of a page that had pockets on the other side and that I had to be really careful. I only ran into problems one time and I was able to cover the part I didn’t like with ribbon. I am pleased, though, because I ended up with more pockets.

Finished Pages - back
Finished Pages – back

There are two sets of page. Each full page has two facing half pages. The pattern suggests you can play around with the pages and put they type of pages you want, but the choices are limited by the sewing.

You have to put one of the full page pockets (see pink back, bottom left) behind the two or three pocket pages, for the most part. If I make this bag again (or additional pages to swap out), I will make sure there is a full page behind a page of pockets with 2 or 3 pockets.

The pages are done and I am really pleased. This bag is taking much longer than I thought. Forget about the months I just thought about working on it. These four pages took me about 8 hours just to sew, not including prep. People will make these bags for you on Etsy for about $200 and the money is totally worth it!

A Place for Everything Bag Progress

A Place for Everything Bag to be
A Place for Everything Bag to be

I thought I would be able to finish this bag over my break from work. HA! I spent a lot of time on it, though not as much as I anticipated. I made progress, but didn’t finish.

There is a lot of prep to this bag. I took a different route by following Tula Pink’s sketchy directions on cutting out the fabrics in such a way to highlight the designs. I finally finished all the quilting and such and felt exhausted and confused. I hope have done the right thing and it won’t all go off the rails..

 

 

Resources:

  • ByAnnie A Place for Everything v.2 pattern
  • Tula Pink video on how she deviates from the pattern to make more design decisions
  • Tula Pink video on applying ribbon to cover ‘connections’

APfE v.2 Started

I bought the supplies for the ByAnnie A Place for Everything Bag when I was waiting for the La Pass BOM to start. A lot of people in the group decided to make the bag to keep their project in. I thought it was a good idea and bought the supplies.

I thought I would make it over Labor Day weekend, but didn’t get around to it. I have been strategizing and finally decided that cutting all the pieces that needed to be quilted and quilting them first would really help with making the bag once I had time to sit down and do it.

I spent a good portion of time on Saturday picking out fabric. At first I was sure I would use Brocade Peony fabric, but I just wasn’t feeling the love. I searched through a lot of fabric and, finally, I chose a Philip Jacobs Chrysanthemum print because it was different. It is darker than I usually like, but had some pink and turquoise in it, so I can those colors as accents.

APfE v.2 quilted pieces
APfE v.2 quilted pieces

Sunday, I quilted almost all day. Well, I cut out pieces for the bag and quilted. I know it doesn’t look like a lot of work, but the quilting really took forever. I got more done than I thought I would, but I still have a lot to do.

I plan on making as many of the smaller pieces as I can, and, of course, cutting out the regular,non-quilted pieces so when I do have time to put the bag together,  I won’t have to stop to make handles or zipper tabs or whatever.

I am really pleased with what I got done on Sunday.